No One Buying or Something Wrong With My Ad?

johnmolloy554

My 320ci has been on carzone for a few weeks now with 2600 views and 3 phone calls with the usual nonsense from prospective buyers about how they want this done and that done. Is my price too high or is the market at the point that price is irrelevant and that no one is buying at the moment ?

http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/BMW/320/Ci-Coupe/900898/

Should I adopt a wait and see approach while holding the price as is?

Johnny

hellboy99

Nice car

A lot of people have tightened the belts with spending and it's a lot harder to sell a big engine car, what with current fuel prices and tax.

Good luck with the sale.

Alanstrainor

The ad seems fine, the only problem is that it's a buyers market and if you're desperate to sell there's only one answer to it, reduce your asking price. The demand for second hand cars has dropped significantly, so you could be waiting a long time for a sale at the current price. Unfortunate, as it's a lovely looking motor!

johnmolloy554

Thanks lads. It's very frustrating as I've taken great care of the car for the three years I've owned it. A mate of mine is a BMW dealer and this time last year, he had a waiting list of buyers for coupes. Now he has three sitting there for the last six months. I suppose the most frustrating thing is when a potential buyer looks at it and then starts to discount for 2 new tyres, a tiny (invisible) scuff on the rear bumper etc and offers a fair bit less. Then again with the NCT up in three weeks time, I'd better let it go......

hellboy99

Getting it NCT'd would increase your chances of selling it. (Change the NCT date on your ad, it's down as Aug 08)

johnmolloy554

Done...

finbarrk

It just seems to be difficult to sell any type of car recently. I had one up for a month and only one phonecall. ( a different car btw).

mikemac

It's easy to sell a car but it's the market setting the price and you need to match this.
You may think you know what it's worth but as said, many people are cutting back on big expenses and of course there are many cars being imported by private motorists these days.

The ad looks good and a nice car but probably best to drop the price. What you think it's worth obviously isn't working

itarumaa

Nice looking car, but if I would be spending 16k for a car, then a must is two years NTC and at least 6months tax, no point to buy otherwise,

johnmolloy554

itarumaa wrote: »

Nice looking car, but if I would be spending 16k for a car, then a must is two years NTC and at least 6months tax, no point to buy otherwise,

Yes I can see where you are coming from but the whole point of a private sale is the car is cheaper than one from a dealer hence no warranty, service before you buy, full tank etc. You buy private to save money but there has to be an element of risk on the buyers side for this saving.

-Chris-

I wouldn't buy a car without an NCT, and if I did I'd be taking a decent whack of money off my offered price as there's a large element of uncertainty for me there...

Get it NCT'd before selling.

puntosporting

If its in decent order it will sale through an NCT unless it needs a few jobs done just get it done could be the difference between selling or not!

Henry Ford III

Looks good, it's well advertised, and at a reasonable price too.

I guess there's just a glut of used cars at the moment, and people are looking at July and beyond and are accutely aware of VRT and motor tax costs. The credit crunch is undoubtedly stopping people spending.

Larger engined petrol cars will most likely become tougher and tougher to sell.

JHMEG

johnmolloy554 wrote: »

You buy private to save money but there has to be an element of risk on the buyers side for this saving.

As a seller you should not make people feel there is a risk involved with your car.

Your car has no NCT probably because there is something seriously wrong which will cost thousands to put right. That's what I'd be thinking if I was a prospective buyer.

E92

The arse has fallen out of the used car market. Now is a great time to be buying used, but a terrible time to be trying to shift something. The fact that BMWs similar to the OP's will be considerably cheaper to buy new doesn't help the OP either I'm afriad.

And the NCT issue as others have said too. Pity, because it looks like a great car, but get that NCT done at least.

johnmolloy554

JHMEG wrote: »

As a seller you should not make people feel there is a risk involved with your car.

Your car has no NCT probably because there is something seriously wrong which will cost thousands to put right. That's what I'd be thinking if I was a prospective buyer.

I am not making people feel there is a risk involved with my car. My statement was a general one in which I emphasised my point that by not buying from a dealer and paying less than a dealer is charging, you are buying an element of "unknown" with any private sale. If you want to eliminate this unknown, pay a few grand extra with a main dealer. This is the crux of the whole buying private v dealer issue.

Just to correct you, it DOES have a valid NCT until the end of next month. And please refrain from making statements like the above because you haven't actually seen it.

-Chris-

johnmolloy554 wrote: »

I am not making people feel there is a risk involved with my car. My statement was a general one in which I emphasised my point that by not buying from a dealer and paying less than a dealer is charging, you are buying an element of "unknown" with any private sale. If you want to eliminate this unknown, pay a few grand extra with a main dealer. This is the crux of the whole buying private v dealer issue.

Just to correct you, it DOES have a valid NCT until the end of next month. And please refrain from making statements like the above because you haven't actually seen it.

By not having a recent NCT, you're increasing the possibility of there being a risk involved in the buyer's mind.
You're buying an element of the unknown in any private sale, true. I'd feel like there was less of that element with a recent NCT.

IMHO, an NCT that expires in the next month is the same as no NCT. I'll have to buy from you and get it NCT'd myself, and in the meantime I'm wondering why you haven't gotten it done...

I also support JHMEG's sentiment, which speaks to the state of mind of your potential customers rather than the the condition of your particular car.

JHMEG

johnmolloy554 wrote: »

And please refrain from making statements like the above because you haven't actually seen it.

Read my last sentence. I'm trying to help you out.

You can NCT again up to 3 months before it expires, so it may have failed the test recently and you could be trying to flog it off before the NCT actually expires. Everyone knows that NCTs can be done up to 3 months before they expire. 2+ years NCT looks good, 1 month doesn't.

ninty9er

johnmolloy554 wrote: »

Just to correct you, it DOES have a valid NCT until the end of next month. And please refrain from making statements like the above because you haven't actually seen it.

Get real. It may as well have a NCT that expired 12 months ago as one that's about to expire...not that it counts for much.

As already said, just because YOU have an emotional attachment to the car does not give the price you THINK it warrants immunity from criticism.

YOU came here asking for help, and the truth is everyone's bang on with regards to the NCT. Don't nitpick about a month.

A dealer price would cover the scuff and the tyres.....that's the private price covered. What you pay EXTRA for is a comeback and a decent warranty, neither of which you can reasonably be expected give. Take a hit on the price and go find something nice with the cash instead of having to trade. Try trading it and even you friend will have difficulty offering you anywhere near that price for it. Get a few trade in offers and add €500-€600

bazz26

Renewing the NCT only costs less than €50 and an hour or two of your time, surely that is a low risk expensive to help sell the car faster?

Also I would get rid of the description in your ad where you say the car is taxed to the end of March 2008. We are almost into June which tells a potential buyer that your car has been unsold for ages.

Eoin

E92 wrote: »

The fact that BMWs similar to the OP's will be considerably cheaper to buy new doesn't help the OP either I'm afriad.

What do you mean?

E92

eoin_s wrote: »

What do you mean?

I mean that it will quite naturally force down the values of the old ones, that are also dearer to tax too. If new cars are getting cheaper then it makes used ones cheaper too.

So the asking price is probably too high.

-Chris-

bazz26 wrote: »

Also I would get rid of the description in your ad where you say the car is taxed to the end of March 2008. We are almost into June which tells a potential buyer that your car has been unsold for ages.

Excellent point. Gotta correct this immediately.

E92

AudiChris wrote: »

Excellent point. Gotta correct this immediately.

+1.

Johnny Utah

A lot of people will go for the 318 petrol coupe because of cheaper tax/insurance.

DonJose

"NCT till June 2008. Taxed till End March 2008"

The tax on a 2.2 litre is €791 plus the cost and inconvience of an NCT test. You'd probably need to price it at €15k to sell.

E92

Johnny Utah wrote: »

A lot of people will go for the 318 petrol coupe because of cheaper tax/insurance.

.... and because they're badge snobs.

If you're going for a Beemer then it really it shouldn't be a 4 pot unless it's something special like the E30 M3 or one of those modern diesels like the 123d.

Eoin

E92 wrote: »

I mean that it will quite naturally force down the values of the old ones, that are also dearer to tax too. If new cars are getting cheaper then it makes used ones cheaper too.

So the asking price is probably too high.

I doubt that has much of an impact on a car that was released about 5 years before the new model came out. Perhaps in the 5 and 7 ranges where many owners may be more conscious of having an old model.

Road tax can often just mean a few hundred quid difference between engine sizes - f*ck all over a year compared to all the other expenses.

I reckon fuel economy is a much bigger factor.

E92

eoin_s wrote: »

I doubt that has much of an impact on a car that was released about 5 years before the new model came out. Perhaps in the 5 and 7 ranges where many owners may be more conscious of having an old model.

Road tax can often just mean a few hundred quid difference between engine sizes - f*ck all over a year compared to all the other expenses.

I reckon fuel economy is a much bigger factor.

I don't disagree but you know what Irish people are like... they think a 1.6 will ruin them compared to a 1.4 for economy. A 2.2 will be a "ginormous" engine for plenty of buyers thanks to our silly engine size based road tax system.

hopefully this will all change from July as Co2 is directly related to fuel economy.

johnmolloy554

Guys many thanks to all of you for your helpful comments. But thank Jebus, she's SOLD!!!! @4.30pm today.

DonJose

Fair play, did you get the asking price?