Dilemma trade-in vs sell

[GeorgeJ.]

My dilemma is whether it is better to save the hassle and just trade in my 135i or sell it privately. Now living in San Francisco a bit I have concluded it is time to move on from my truly loved 135i (6M) to a more a more city friendly car that other members of the family can drive. I leased it for three years and for the first time in half a dozen previous cars (all 3 yr lease's) I bought it at the end of the term as I could not bear to let it go. Times have changed and I am getting an i3.

Just curious if the knowledgeable folks hear would encourage trade or sell and if the later how? As I said I've been leasing for decades so I have not sold a car since the advent of the internet I think. Thanks -

[mrvco]

Of course a trade is more convenient, but it all depends on what the dealership offers you for it and how much patience you have for dealing with the private sale process. Finding someone with cash that isn't begging you to take $5k plus a clapped out Civic and a bag of weed can really try the patience.

[2012_135i]

Here in Honolulu my service rep told me that if I ever wanted to sell the car to let him know. He said a 135i with MT would get snapped up in a heartbeat by guys in the shop.

[3002 tii]

If I were in SF I would totally get the i3 with range extender!

[GeorgeJ.]

Thanks for the insights. Good points on selling, Craigs List could be ugly, though I would think the sales section might be a bit more civil on this forum.

After forty years of driving manual gearbox cars and almost all small BMW's the i3 is pretty much the biggest 180 degree switch. I love the tech and with the insane traffic these days will be a calming means of getting around.

I guess I will see what the interest is. Cheers, George

[Lucky1]

Originally Posted by GeorgeJ.

Thanks for the insights. Good points on selling, Craigs List could be ugly, though I would think the sales section might be a bit more civil on this forum.

After forty years of driving manual gearbox cars and almost all small BMW's the i3 is pretty much the biggest 180 degree switch. I love the tech and with the insane traffic these days will be a calming means of getting around.

I guess I will see what the interest is. Cheers, George

Maybe someone on the forum will take it off your hands? Could start here...might be less frustrating than Kijiji or Craigslist or Auto Trader. If it doesn't work you could trade in. If you have the time of course.

[GeorgeJ.]

Originally Posted by Lucky1

Maybe someone on the forum will take it off your hands? Could start here...might be less frustrating than Kijiji or Craigslist or Auto Trader. If it doesn't work you could trade in. If you have the time of course.

I just posted an ad in the sales section. If nobody likes it the dealer will be happy to take it. Thanks

[NVHoo]

Originally Posted by GeorgeJ.

I just posted an ad in the sales section. If nobody likes it the dealer will be happy to take it. Thanks

First, go to CarMax and find out what they will pay. That way you will know the wholesale price. The go to KBB.com or Edmunds to see what the "book" value is. Check Cars.com and Autotrader to see what cars are actually being offered for in your area and use all that data to price accordingly.

Then place an ad in Craigslist and use the free ads in Cars.com and Autotrader and see who bites. You are unlikely to get scam artists selling a late model BMW. Insist on cash or you go to the bank where the buyer is getting a loan and receive the check from the bank. I've always got several $K more than any trade offer.

[m_thompson]

Some states reduce the sale price of a new car by the trade-in value so your sales tax is on the new car less. In RI there is an implied warranty on any car sold, even from a private sale. If the car will not pass the state safety and emissions test the seller must pay for the repairs to get the car to pass.

I didn't want to go through the pain of having strangers show up at my house to go for a joy ride with no intentions of buying, or offering a really low price. On my last car, I had a firm trade-in value offer from the dealer. A friend-of-a friend tried to talk me into selling him the car, and offered me less than the dealer. He couldn't understand why I wouldn't take his offer.

[jkoral]

Obviously YMMV, but I've sold three BMWs on Craigslist (Boston area) and two were bought by enthusiasts/BMW CCA members (the 3rd brought me a brown paper bag with $10K cash).

Only had 1 low baller (who was also a BMW owner) but he didn't bother test driving when I wouldn't budge on price and left the offer "open" if I later decided to reduce the price.

One buyer didn't even want a test drive, the other was trustworthy and the cash-buyer didn't mind me coming with him for the test drive.

I also listed on the model-specific BMW forums, BMW CCA (national/Roundel and local chapter) classifieds and AutoTrader, etc. and never received any interest at all from those sources.

[aloksatoor]

try weatherford berkeley. The dealer was saying the same thing when I choose to buy mine, 6MT get snapped up easy. try your luck there.

[NVHoo]

Originally Posted by m_thompson

Some states reduce the sale price of a new car by the trade-in value so your sales tax is on the new car less. In RI there is an implied warranty on any car sold, even from a private sale. If the car will not pass the state safety and emissions test the seller must pay for the repairs to get the car to pass.

I didn't want to go through the pain of having strangers show up at my house to go for a joy ride with no intentions of buying, or offering a really low price. On my last car, I had a firm trade-in value offer from the dealer. A friend-of-a friend tried to talk me into selling him the car, and offered me less than the dealer. He couldn't understand why I wouldn't take his offer.

Georgej is in CA which does not lower sales tax by the trade-in. NV does and you need to factor that into a sell it yourself deal. I've always done much better when selling it myself but some folks don't want the hassle to save a few $K. Most states do not have an implied warranty and sales are "as is" unless specifically stated otherwise in writing. That said, there have been a few cars I've traded because I was concerned that bad things might happened soon. I'd never sell a car myself that I would not sell to my son.

[GeorgeJ.]

Thanks to each of you for your genuinely thoughtful responses. I will go to each of the selling sites and look at how they work. I am sure I will advertise on at least one of them. I looked at Car Max and KBB and think my asking price at $29k is about right and hope the figure that I will actually get is not too far south of that. Again I appreciate your many good pointers. Cheers -

[ejm3]

I traditionally have sold my old cars myself on Craigslist or wherever.

Generally by the time I've sold them the they haven't been expensive anymore. I think the most expensive car I've sold was $11k, so its always cash only no checks or bags of weed.

I'm just a wuss but I wouldn't trust any kind of check from anyone so if I were selling a car worth $30k I would be inclined to go the trade-in or Carmax route I think even if I likely won't get as much for it.

I'm not going to lie, selling your car on Craigslist is a pain for all the reasons people have noted here plus at least a dozen others.

I generally do not meet people at my house for obvious reasons. I meet at a Home Depot parking lot or somewhere like that that's close enough to my house but not too close. Sometimes if the person seems legit and has the cash money I will meet them at my house to close the deal, but not always.

I've usually encountered what I think are legitimate buyers rather than joy-riders but maybe I've just been lucky (also who wants to joyride a CRV?).

What I have enountered is people whining about every little imperceptible scratch and ding. When I sell a car I say in the ad that its in good shape but it was a daily driver for 150k miles. So the person will drive it and see that it runs great and was well taken care of (I usually save all service records) but then they'll need a reason to bargain the price down so they will whine about every little thing they can think of. Listen, I said in the ad the car was a DD for 150k miles, if you expected it to be perfect I never said that. Its all part of the process but it irritates me nonetheless.

It can also be time consuming. I've sold cars to the first person that looked at it and in other cases had to deal with 150 emails (many obvious scams) and meeting 15 people before finally selling it.

I've also had people who want to buy cars and then ship them overseas at a profit (i.e. the aforementioned CRV) and they can be an even bigger pain to deal with.

So my advice is if you can deal with all the BS and have the time try to sell it on your own. Best bet would be to find someone on the forum if you could.

Otherwise just trade it in and be done with it.

[NVHoo]

Originally Posted by GeorgeJ.

Thanks to each of you for your genuinely thoughtful responses. I will go to each of the selling sites and look at how they work. I am sure I will advertise on at least one of them. I looked at Car Max and KBB and think my asking price at $29k is about right and hope the figure that I will actually get is not too far south of that. Again I appreciate your many good pointers. Cheers -

You give the buyer the title and smog certificate. I'd wait until it is sold before you get the smog.

[GeorgeJ.]

Thanks again all. I decided to turn it over to the dealer. In the end I concluded the likely best case was a sale at $28k and more likely $26K +/-. Backing out of that around $1000 for new front tires, curbed rim repairs, and a detail and the dealer offer at $24K does not look so bad. Also too busy to mess around with this for an extended period. Cheers -

[methodz]

I was going to take my E90 M3 to Carmax, actually got a quote from them when I was shopping around. I then went to the dealer to find out they would give me $1500 more on trade than Carmax would.

I have sold to Carmax before and the process is seamless and takes just a few minutes lol. I'd say find out what Carmax will give you and then find out how much the dealer would give you.

I tried to sell my old S2000 on craigslist and eventually got tired of all the flakers that I would put my plans aside for them to come see the car only for them never to show up or respond to my text so I Carmax'd that one. Private sucks unless you have legit buyers or have lots of time with extreme patience.

[pick333]

what year is your 135i?

[twinboost_MD]

I use to sell cars.. sell it. If you dont thats just lazy and a huge hit to your wallet. just my option.

Also plenty of people browse this forum looking for cars so post it up!!

[Booey1979]

Just sold my dads 2005 Malibu Maxx and my gti 2011 on Craigslist. Both all pain free. The Maxx I met the dude at the airport. And I feel out how the guy is communicating.

Like both had many interested buyers and few low ballers I played around with (joked at their expense) but when I made the deal it was daily easy and straight forward. The gti was sold for 12.5k and I met the dude at my local police station. Since then he was cool and I was ok with meeting him at the shop or going to the bank to withdraw the cash straight up.

Feel out the buyer and trust your instink. Be smart. And meet in the public. I was offered like 8.5 from Carmax therefore selling privately was worth it.

[LuisBoston]

I sold my e90 on Autotrader when I lived in Boston. Buyer came from Rochester NY to do the sale and is an enthusiast. He texted a few times afterward to tell me how much he loves the car.

In the end, I traded for a better BMW. You're doing a 180, so it's different, but you'll likely miss your 1er as it really is special and the last of BMWs dying breed. I hope you have no regrets, and if you do, hit me up for a ride. I live in SF now

[Don N.]

Side note, I saw more i3s than ever when I was in norcal doing vinyl wraps up there for a week. Back here in socal you still see them, but not like you do up there.

-Don