My E36 M3 on Trade me - going cheap......

[Apex 693]

17k is a lot for a car that is 15 years old.

[charles28 117]

17k is a lot for a car that is 15 years old.

Lol, older E30 M3's are selling for double this price so the age doesn't come into it really..

[crazyarab 6]

Hey Al.

Sorry to hear you are still having grief selling your car, it's definitely a nice example.

Funny enough, I remember considering your car when I was in the market for an M3. The reason I did not pursue it further was down to the color and cloth interior. I know this is rich coming from someone who currently owns a silver, cloth interiored BMW but in my defense I think most will agree that Lachssilber is no ordinary silver.

When selling my M3 I was lucky enough to get over 20k recently however it did not come from an enthusiast, in fact the guy knew little about BMW's!

The only reason he saw my ad was because he was in the market for an Sti and I had injected that key word within my ad copy (as I see you have done).

I also had VERY VERY nice photographs taken by a professional automotive photographer

.

It took me ages to seal the deal but a 40 minute "enthusiastic" drive around the Chch hills did the job nicely as he got to see exactly what he was paying for.

I think trademe is still your best bet to be honest. See if you can convince a photographer mate of yours to take some nice photos at night, perhaps in mall car park so the silver / interior appears darker.

Also, maybe you should consider daily driving it for a while with a for sale sticker on the windows and ensuring it's always immaculately washed and waxed. Sometimes it's much easier for people to get interested when they see it in the flesh.

In short, these cars are damn hard to sell and I know of many who just gave up and put them in storage for brighter days.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Edited September 13, 2009 by crazyarab

[Apex 693]

I would spend 20k on one but your average Joe wouldn’t.

Blame.

Japanese Imports. Flooding the market and dropping the resale values of NZ cars, in Ausi you could ask near 30k. A different generation of people (your target audience) don’t care if a car is NZ new.

Maintenance and Running costs. Not only is it an expensive to fix Euro it’s an M-Car,

BMW. For offering the exact same kit on 318i’s in 1996 lessening the appeal of the M3

The year. Mid 90’s coupes are a bit, well mid nineties, nothing else from the 90’s is fashionable either. Bad time for 90's cars.

The Economy. Lots of people have pulled the purse strings very tight. Obviously

The time of year, come summer people will be buying cars

Older M3’s are rarer and desirable, they have good racing pedigree and they also look a lot different than a stock E30.

I would say tidy E36 M3’s will get down to the low teens, the sh*t ones will all be scraped and the good ones will equalise and then slowing start climbing up in cost, I think buying one now as a long term car would be a sound investment. Same thing happened with a lot of the 80’s classics. As Crazyarab sais, brighter days will be comming.

[jjs 60]

I am sure you would get over $15k if you listed it as a $1 reserve auction. The hype created might even pump the price up a bit more.

A bit risky, but if you want to the car gone, it is the most painless method.

[Forrest 35]

^ I know someone who would pretty much definitely pay 15 for it....

[malcy25 0]

I am sure you would get over $15k if you listed it as a $1 reserve auction. The hype created might even pump the price up a bit more.

A bit risky, but if you want to the car gone, it is the most painless method.

I want to sell it, I don't need to sell it.

That is, I'm realistic on price, but I don't need to risk doing that. If it doesn't sell at what is to be fair a bargain price given it's got less than 120k on it, I'll keep it if I have to.

I've already turned down offers in the 15,5k mark.

[malcy25 0]

^ I know someone who would pretty much definitely pay 15 for it....

I know someone who would pretty much definitely keep it for $15k....

[jjs 60]

I know someone who would pretty much definitely keep it for $15k....

Well, keep it then. If you want to sell something (experience has taught me this) don't get precious about $1,000 - you could still be wanting to sell it in 6 months time and "market value" (the highest a buyer is willing to pay for said car) could have dropped into the low teens.

[crazyarab 6]

Well, keep it then. If you want to sell something (experience has taught me this) don't get precious about $1,000 - you could still be wanting to sell it in 6 months time and "market value" (the highest a buyer is willing to pay for said car) could have dropped into the low teens.

Words of wisdom.

[Braeden320 0]

Well, keep it then. If you want to sell something (experience has taught me this) don't get precious about $1,000 - you could still be wanting to sell it in 6 months time and "market value" (the highest a buyer is willing to pay for said car) could have dropped into the low teens.

Exactly. I would have thought since your asking 17k, 15k is a good base to start from (If the offer is genuine)

Don't expect people to pay your asking price straight off, most will try and give it a crack getting it for less than what your asking

Its part of the fun being a buyer!

[malcy25 0]

Exactly. I would have thought since your asking 17k, 15k is a good base to start from (If the offer is genuine)

Don't expect people to pay your asking price straight off, most will try and give it a crack getting it for less than what your asking

Its part of the fun being a buyer!

True on the fun part of being a buyer, and have done the same but been prepared to pay something in the middle!

but when it was the cheapest one on Trade me and I was asking around 19-20k mark, and the offerer wasn't interested in moving despite me biting the bullet and dropping a chunk off that, and no explanation as to why the low ball price (25% below the then asking price), I think most of us would have probably said no.....

I've spent 12 years of my working life in the corporate sales, relationship management and contract negotiation space, I can usually find a middle ground.

[twisted 45]

I've sold 4 cars this year, none of which have been on TM.

Guess I'm just lucky that my grass berm is on a 50km/h of SH1, and probably sees even more traffic than TM?

Haven't had a car sitting out there for longer than a week either. Granted, none of them have been M3's, but the last one was a specialist vehiclethat probably had a similar sized target audience.

My 2c? Try a high visibility, busy road if you can.