valuation advice

[jas328sport]

we are considering selling the x as i think a mid life crisis may be approaching as i am again hankering after a hot hatch and could do with some help on what to ask for my x if we do decide to sell as i just cant seem to find anything similar to compare it to local to me.
it is a 2004 53 plate facelift 3.0i sport auto in toledo blue with full grey leather, it does not have sat nav, sunroof or heated seats but does have all the other usual extras including factory bluetooth, electric seats, auto wipers and headlights, dual climate, computer, newer model mp3 cd changer etc, it also has a dvd player with alpine screens in the headrests and a cordless headphone set up.
the car has done just under 74k with fsh and the last service was a main dealer inspection 2 with coolant and brake fluid change, i had this done under 6k ago and still has 3 lights remaining, tyres are all matching bridgestones and have also done only 6k.
it has no faults and runs/drives perfectly and has never given me any trouble and everything works as it should.
it will come with a new mot and is taxed until january.

we are not 100% yet as we both still love it and it has been very reliable for us and is obviously complete luxury to drive but the biggest problem we have is that it is only used for short journeys and that is just not ideal for a car like this and it would also be nice to clear off some debt through the sale.


valuation advice would be most appreciated.

[AW8]

Like it or not - if selling you need to undercut the competition.

Ebay has a trader selling a black/black & comms 2004 facelift with 86k for £11995 asking price.

Nothing to doubt yours is anything other than a fine car but to some buyers the colour/trim combo, abscence of comms, (plus competition from indies supposedly offering sale of goods &/or warranty cover), may require you to price competively.

My personal feelings are £9995 to sell but others may disagree or perhaps tweak this figure up or down a grand or so...............Also please appreciate I havent seen the car or it's history thus I am assuming its spotless, well documented & wanting for nothing - adjust vauation if appropriate.

I havent followed 3.0i prices for a while or done an in depth analysis, thus maybe study P.H. autotrader &/or ebay to get an idea as to where you need to be price wise. The price &/or availabilty of similar spec used X5's in your area may be a factor to your asking price too. Sadly a few X5's have failed to meet auction reserves on ebay of late.

Be careful with pricing/timing as an prolonged optimism may cause you to end up unsold up to Christmas & beyond, (Dec & Jan not best time to sell).

I appreciate the above may hit a nerve it is near impossible to be tactful when responding in a constructive & reasoned & manner to every valuation request.

Good Luck whatever you decide to do

[jas328sport]

The price I was thinking of starting at was £10500 ono so we are certainly not far apart in our thoughts. Very few 53 plate facelifts in my area although there are a few 03 plate pre facelifts.
Going to have to sit down and have a heart to heart with er indoors and decide once and for all whether we want to sell or not as I doubt I will ever be in a position to pay this much for a car again so doubtful I will ever own another.

[Turks]

Sad conversation to be having and not one I would want to have after owning my X5 as there isn't much that could relplace it in my eyes.

£10.5k is about right I would say but expect offers to come in around 10% less than this. You have to discuss what you need to recover or what you would be happy to accept and then add a percentage margin for sale negotiation.

Hopefully you are successful with the sale, you manage to clear some debts and get yourself a little hot hatch (Civic Type-R or something?) all with as little stress as possible. Stick around though on here even if you do sell up...

Good luck


Turks.

[Pete]

I spent a LOT of time searching for my X5 and my gut feeling is that £10,750ono with you willing to knock a couple of hundred off is about right. The grey interiors do seem to hang around a bit longer but the fact that it is a facelift will attract people. If buyers (like me) were looking for their first X5 I don't think the lack of comms etc is a major issue if the car is tidy but I think it isn't attractive to a previous bmw owner that is used to the toys. Good luck with it

[jas328sport]

Without a doubt I will still be hanging around here because it is nice to be part of a mature forum where everyone gets on, I am a member on plenty of other forums that are almost playgrounds such is the behaviour of other members.
Cars that I am considering are indeed type r civic although I feel that room in the back could be an issue with 2 kids, also looking at focus st-3 and my personal favourite and most likely candidate is the r32 golf now prices have come down a lot.
It's funny now that after running the x for a year other cars mpg's are no longer scary.

[AW8]

R32 very nice though beware the high car tax on cars from 3/06 if going for one that late. Iirc a year or 2 ago many of that shape couldnt be shifted & were sold heavily discounted from new - this impacted residuals. Golf GTI & (popularly bluefin mapped), rated, lighter on the nose & better MPG, (edition 30 likely to hold better value than most).

Golf & hatches aside E46 330, RX-8 230, Tidy E36 M3 4 door, Cooper S - Off top of head.......best we dont discuss more for now.

Back to X5. If you try to sell on back of price at £10,495 most will expect to negotiate for £10k or less hence £9995, (perhaps "STRICTLY NO OFFERS"), would be likely to better secure a quicker & firmer sale. If you end up reducing it later the sub £10k headline figure may be less useful when competing against others moving nearer to your asking money.

I suspect ultimately the boss will decide or strongly influence your choice(s).

[jas328sport]

[quote=""AW8""]

Golf & hatches aside E46 330, RX-8 230, Tidy E36 M3 4 door, Cooper S - Off top of head, best we dont discuss until sale decision made.

I suspect ultimately the boss will decide or strongly influence your choice(s).[/quote]

you are correct in that the boss will most likely be the main influence although to sell it was an idea actually started by her as she knows that we could do with finding a cheaper car to run even if it is only a bit cheaper as it all helps, trouble is that the way that we use the x means that we only get 17mpg which although isnt a surprise it is hard to swallow, my old 330i touring auto only managed 18mpg with the same use but for some reason even this small difference can add up.
i know that she doesnt really want to sell it as it was bought for her really and has always been her baby even if it is me that has to do all the bloody cleaning

as far as the other cars go, i have had 2x e46 330i's in both coupe and touring and whilst i loved them both they were cramped in the back and it would probably feel a lot more of a backwards step than it would going to a different manufacturer. i have 2 mates with rx8's which is enough for me to never want one due to very silly mpg, rust problems, general reliability and massive dealer service charges, e36 m3 i would have always loved and was once on the verge of buying an e36 m3 convertible but the boss thought they were old fashioned and that was a few years ago now plus the good old vanos issues would always scare me.
golf gti with a remap may be worth a punt as they can be picked up cheaply and can be made to look very individual due to the massive amount of aftermarket parts, the only worry with that for me would be that i have had that engine once before in a skoda octavia vrs and it was quite troublesome although i may have just been unlucky.
decisions decisions

[jas328sport]

Well ive gone and done it
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... ?logcode=p

[jas328sport]

Well it certainly does not seem to be the best time to be trying to sell an X, only had one bit of interest so far which came to nothing as he was based too far away.
Looks like i am going to have to drop the price next week although i dont think it is badly priced anyway

[Chompers]

Early days yet mate, keep the price as is for the moment and try not to panic, as you say price seems to be in the right region. A couple of things to point out if I may. Most people won't have been paid by this time in the month and this can influence peoples excitementimpulse to purchase. Also most buyers will be looking at this time in the week to try and arrange viewings over the weekend unless on your doorstep. What with the nights drawing in and all that, the chances of getting an evening viewing is somewhat shortened. Your add looks good and informative, you state FSH is that BMW or indi?

This time of year has always been a bit hit or miss, but it only takes one phone call and one viewing to get it gone. Good luck.

[jas328sport]

The service history is a mix of main dealer and a couple done by a supplying dealer.
Not too fussed this week as i have several things going on that would be very difficult if i were to sell it as i need a car. If i get no interest at all this weekend then i will probably drop to a fixed 10k next week and if it doesnt sell at that then sod it i will keep it

[AW8]

Not being confrontational with good folk here but I stand by my prior advice.

Good Luck whatever you decide

[celica]

I have a mkv golf r32 5 door dsg and it's a cracking motor
I'm looking for something with a big more space and stylish and at the same time something a bit more economical. Any questions on the r32 welcomed

[jas328sport]

Sorry bud but am after a mk1V for tax reasons and dont want a dsg either.
Word of advice though mate, if you are looking into an x5 as you want something more economical then you are going to be very disapointed