I put my 2001 5 series e39 BMW on carsales.com.au almost 6 months ago. It's the cheapest car on there for that model/year in Melbourne by a long shot. In that time I can count the number of calls I've had on one hand, I've had two people look at it. I've been watching all the other cars that are the same, and nothing is moving.

Really didn't think it would take this long to get some phone action happening. I don't think it's so much as a price thing, but maybe I'm wrong. Really at a bit of a loss to understand why I'm not getting a few more calls.

Is it a tough market to sell used cars at the moment? Do I need to find a better medium: is gumtree, ebay better; do I need to get far more aggressive in my marketing/pricing? Is there a better medium than carsales to get some results? Should I just keep on driving it and forget about selling it as the car actually rocks?

I just bought my wife a near new car off Gumtree. Plenty of people putting them on there also...

And, new cars are so cheap now with 5yr warranties... Personally, I would rather have a new Hyundai or Kia than a 14yo Beemer...

^^^ I'm thinking the same. New cars are so cheap now. I should really try gumtree and reduce the price.

Personally the older cars do it for me - always have.

How much?

ATM I'll take 7K with 11 month rego. I don't remember what they were new, but I'd say just over $100K. I've had it for over 8 years and it cost me $39K - that's a lot of depreciation for a lounge room on wheels.

I do have to wonder how much landfill will be taken up in 15 years with all the new hyundi's and Kias being sold

Almost kind of happy to keep my BMW, just to run up the shops occasionally - just don't have a use for it anymore since I bought myself an 80's GMC Vandura 350V8 that better suits my semi-retired lifestyle.

Solely in my own opinion, I would hazard a guess based on the people that I have worked with in the past. They want a BMW to show how successful they are, but a second hand one is not going to cut the mustard. They will know its an old one, and the other people they work with will know its an old one, so its not much of a status symbol.

Now, as for the people that want to buy a cheaper older one, they probably won't know anything about cars, so they will be buying a car based on image. As they know nothing about cars, they will be getting them serviced at a dealer, which will cost them a bomb. A thousand dollar service for a 100K car is fine, but not for a 9k car.

So, maybe you want to add the words 'not a fairmont' or 'not a statesman' in the ad You might attract people that can afford it but can service it themselves?

Gumtree will attract far more muppets but i think Carsales is still the best bet. It's definitely a tough economy at the moment so unless its dirt cheap (ie 5k for an E39 given that its 15 years old and probably 200k kms), no one will rush to buy it. Perfect example is the orange Koenigsegg on carsales. It's been for sale for years now but if they dropped the price to 750K it'd sell tomorrow. Instead it just sits their getting older, less appealing and costing a bucketload in insurance etc. My first car was a WRX and it sat on carsales for 11 months. the first person who looked at me offered me a low ball price but 11 months later i sold it for another 1K cheaper.

The used kite market is the same. 1000+ 2nd hand kites currently on here and every seller wants maximum price. Hardest thing being a seller is realising that your item doesn't carry the value it should or you think it should

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sotired said..
Solely in my own opinion, I would hazard a guess based on the people that I have worked with in the past. They want a BMW to show how successful they are, but a second hand one is not going to cut the mustard. They will know its an old one, and the other people they work with will know its an old one, so its not much of a status symbol.

Now, as for the people that want to buy a cheaper older one, they probably won't know anything about cars, so they will be buying a car based on image. As they know nothing about cars, they will be getting them serviced at a dealer, which will cost them a bomb. A thousand dollar service for a 100K car is fine, but not for a 9k car.

So, maybe you want to add the words 'not a fairmont' or 'not a statesman' in the ad You might attract people that can afford it but can service it themselves?

I reckon you are spot on. The only two peeps who have looked at my car were BMW loyalists. They were aware of all the problems and did all the right checks. Both were looking at buying a car for someone else: their girlfriend/wife and the other for their son. They know the car/model inside out and know it's great car. Issue is - these cars were very popular, and there is so much to choose from.

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MDSXR6T said..
The used kite market is the same. 1000+ 2nd hand kites currently on here and every seller wants maximum price. Hardest thing being a seller is realising that your item doesn't carry the value it should or you think it should

Like almost every other used commodity. It's got to be a price thing. If I put it on there for $6K it would sell.

I may try that for a week and just play hardball with anyone who calls, and see how I go. It would have to be more enjoyable playing hard with some bargain hunter, than waiting around for months for another call from a BMW loyalist who is gunna jump on my balls.

The other issue with these $100k plus to purchase new European cars is the cost of maintenance and repair once they "get old". The whole idea of purchasing a once expensive luxury car for less than 1/10th of its initial price is highly attractive till you start watching these many amazing electronic features start to fail. Once a car starts getting 200k+ kilometres on it its panic time if something goes wrong. As you said your target market will be the BMW loyalists/enthusiasts or the unsuspecting teenager who wants to impress his/her mates with a flash car.

All the best with the sale Oliver.

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shi thouse said..
The other issue with these $100k plus to purchase new European cars is the cost of maintenance and repair once they "get old". The whole idea of purchasing a once expensive luxury car for less than 1/10th of its initial price is highly attractive till you start watching these many amazing electronic features start to fail. Once a car starts getting 200k+ kilometres on it its panic time if something goes wrong. As you said your target market will be the BMW loyalists/enthusiasts or the unsuspecting teenager who wants to impress his/her mates with a flash car.

All the best with the sale Oliver.

Having some experience with this I don't think it's as expensive as you may perceive. I recently had my ABS module go - known problem, the silicone deteriorates, as it's too close to the engine. It cost me $350 to get the module reconditioned. Which I thought was pretty good. In my way of thinking as long as you have regular services these cars will go on for a very very long time, without problems. They were very well constructed.

The analogue TV that came with my car outlasted the technology.

In my experience it's the stuff you can see that is the most expensive to correct - exterior/interior deterioration.

^^ really that is expensive......

on a 10 - 15yo Falcodore, Camgna, etc, you'd find a dead car and get the module from it for free.

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Mark _australia said..
^^ really that is expensive......

on a 10 - 15yo Falcodore, Camgna, etc, you'd find a dead car and get the module from it for free.

BS, by the time you pull yours out, find one, pull that out and fit it only to find it breaks in a week/month/years time ......

I pulled my ABS out, sent it in an envelope with a check to Sydney and it was returned to me the same week, better than new.

Going off topic here, but with my 1988 GMC. I've been buying some parts from the U.S. online. Not only am I paying about 1/3 of the price for parts that I would for a compareable part here (air compressor/condensor/accumulator/tx valves/serpentine belt). I am able to find almost every conceivable part for my van online.

I've also been, pleasantly, surprised to find that if I order it late on a Friday afternoon the part/parts arrive at my door lunchtime Monday. How does that work?

My daily is a 27 year old Beamer -e30. Had 22 years of trouble free use out of it. would I buy a new one ? NO WAY anything 2nd hand after early 90s NO WAY.

Just bought misses new Renault 18k 5 year Warranty capped price servicing , pretty sure depreciation won't exceed 18k.

Circa $7k, sounds like a reasonable price!

Sounds like a nice ride to me, maybe buyers are worried about the maintenance costs, I probably would be,
jalopnik.com/four-reasons-why-you-need-to-buy-a-bmw-e39-540i-right-n-1659284463

A mechanic once told me "once a car reaches 13 years old it's value is zero*"

*mint condition collectables/rarities/etc excluded.

There are a lot of 13+ yr old cars going for a song now that were in the 100-200k range when new. Your bmw is possibly one of the better ones in terms of looks (not really dated) and reliability.

We've been very fortunate of late with many car owners deciding to donate their cars to SES for our road crash training rather than accept the pittance they would receive from a car dealer or wrecker.

The past year has seen many car owners drive their preloved cars to our training yard as opposed to previous years where the cars would be write-offs and towed to us.

The training for our rescue volunteers is invaluable and donations always appreciated as they allow us to be better at what we do at a rescue.

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oliver said..

I've also been, pleasantly, surprised to find that if I order it late on a Friday afternoon the part/parts arrive at my door lunchtime Monday. How does that work?

obviously not via the Australia Post camel train!


stephen

I thought about one of these for a while:
http://www.carsales.com.au/private/details/Audi-S8-2001/SSE-AD-3257274/?Cr=0

Also have aged well looks wise.

Were 180k new in 2001, currently 300k new. It's also 14yrs old and no-one wants to pay 15k for it now.

In the end I saw too many ads that said 'just spent 10k' or 'receipts for 15k'

In the end I bought a V8 commodore 7 years younger for similar money. It needs a new harmonic balancer soon, will cost me $550 where a BMW recently cost a mate close to 3k for the same job.

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kiteboy dave said..
A mechanic once told me "once a car reaches 13 years old it's value is zero*"

*mint condition collectables/rarities/etc excluded.

There are a lot of 13+ yr old cars going for a song now that were in the 100-200k range when new. Your bmw is possibly one of the better ones in terms of looks (not really dated) and reliability.

I think it drops to around the price of the rego and a grand or two.

I also think things might be slightly different here in NSW with annual inspections. Some cars become too hard to maintain perfectly after a while, and too hard to re-rego, so they disappear. Interestingly a visit to Vic or WA shows cars that I haven't seen for ages on the roads in NSW.

If only Oliver's car was a station wagon. It's be a decent windsurfing wagon.

The only people i see driving old bmws are old gray haired creepy looking german dudes with young skinny filipino wives.

just sayin...

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stonedpirate said..
The only people i see driving old bmws are old gray haired creepy looking german dudes with young skinny filipino wives.

just sayin...

In Sydney the majority of BMW drivers are 17 year old 'P' platers. Cheaper to buy a 2nd hand 3 series than a 2nd hand Toyota Corolla. I think people are worried about repair costs.

must be a WA thing...

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stonedpirate said..
The only people i see driving old bmws are old gray haired creepy looking german dudes with young skinny filipino wives.

just sayin...

How do you know they are German, and a young skinny Filipino wife doesn't sound too bad. Unless she is barking orders at you, which is true of any wife.

Ok I've got the old Beemer so how do I get one of these young skinny Filipino women that you speak of?

I'm not german either hope that's not a problem?

I've also got a wife , will that be an issue?

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Harrow said...

stonedpirate said..
The only people i see driving old bmws are old gray haired creepy looking german dudes with young skinny filipino wives.

just sayin...

In Sydney the majority of BMW drivers are 17 year old 'P' platers. Cheaper to buy a 2nd hand 3 series than a 2nd hand Toyota Corolla. I think people are worried about repair costs.

apparently the 80's 3 series are getting trendy amongst the youth.
The couple I know bought a brand new wrx to their son for his 21st. He sold it and bought one of those bimmers because all his mates drive them...oh, and they got beards too.
My 22 y o nephew drives the one he restored himself.
They must be selling as hot cakes ATM.

I thinks it's luck of the draw. If you find someone wanting what you are selling its easy otherwise tough. We sold a mint pathfinder recently - 2 weeks on gumtree no real bites put it on car sales and it sold in 3 hours. Eastern states though - NSW. It really is a buyers market these days.

Hey Oliver

Spend 10k and get it "chopped" into a ute ( don't $ quote me on that )

Then advertise it for 30k as a one of a kind

I'm sure some cashed up tradie will think 'Hey that's cool"

I think Gumtree has seen it's day as far as buying and particularly selling cars is concerned.

It is either backpackers onselling their crap vans or whatever or desperados advertising their "it only needs this and it only needs that, but otherwise it is perfect" heaps of crap that no wrecker in their right mind would pay more than $100 for it.

If your car is a reasonable thing and has RWC and Rego it is worth spending $50 to $100 putting it on Carsales. The deal is that it is advertised until sold and you can edit the ad anytime.

It is a bit annoying though when a day after you put it on Carsales, it sells from your Gumtree ad.