135is on Cars and Bids

[NGEE]

Hi all - my car is up for auction on Cars and Bids through Thursday 2/15.

https://carsandbids.com/auctions/3yl...is-coupe?c=all

[N55e82Simon]

Glws. She a beauty

[jwolf]

First time I have ever seen an IS without leather. I know people could wipe out the standard IS equipment of the color border stitching though. I saw one with oyster leather for sale once. Good luck.

[GoRomeo]

Nice one. ☝️ 😎. GLWS!!

[NGEE]

Originally Posted by jwolf

First time I have ever seen an IS without leather. I know people could wipe out the standard IS equipment of the color border stitching though. I saw one with oyster leather for sale once. Good luck.

I believe about 10% of IS models in the U.S. had Sensatec.

I actually like it - it stays super tight.

[Finneganistan]

Originally Posted by jwolf

First time I have ever seen an IS without leather. I know people could wipe out the standard IS equipment of the color border stitching though. I saw one with oyster leather for sale once. Good luck.

Yeah, my Is is Sapphire black with Oyster leather. I never thought I'd buy a car with white interior. Loving it so far!

GLWS, lovely car!

[NGEE]

Originally Posted by Finneganistan

Yeah, my Is is Sapphire black with Oyster leather. I never thought I'd buy a car with white interior. Loving it so far!

GLWS, lovely car!

Thanks. Apparently you have one of only 2 Sapphire Black / Oyster cars sold in the U.S. I'll bet it's gorgeous.

[Finneganistan]

It is! But needs a bath, always.

[NGEE]

RNM.

This was my first auction and I learned a lot. Bidders have done their homework and know precisely what cars should go for. The high bid was $15k, and my reserve was $17k. To C&B's credit, they recommended a $15k reserve. But I set it at the price below which I was just going to keep the car. The funny thing is that bidders expressed shock that it was RNM, and I also expressed shock that it was RNM lol.

One thing I learned is that it didn't matter that I'd put $18k into the car over the last 18 months as the insanely meticulous owner I am (immediately fixing blemishes, new OEM wheels, new tires, headlight assemblies, oil pan gasket, VCG, belts, pulleys, radiator, etc., and all using OEM parts from the dealer, etc.).

This 11 year old car had only a handful of minor blemishes, but here's why it appears that it did not sell:

108k miles - IMHO, that is NOTHING for a well-maintained N55. I have an N54 335 with 250k miles and it's still pulling strong.

Paint - The car had a couple of Carfax reports of minor damage. I got bumped in traffic putting a gouge in the rear bumper. Had it repaired and bumper repainted. Looks great. Last year I had some road debris ding the front left fender. I had it repaired and the fender painted. While they were at it, I had them respray the hood to get rid of some chips that all cars have. And then I had a full paint correction and ceramic coating, at a cost of $2k. It looks fantastic. Unfortunately this apparently devalues the car. It seems to me now that you're better off leaving it alone and saving your money, because bidders do not care that the car looks great, only that it has original paint (as if it were a numbers-matching rarity at Mecum).

So live and learn. Hopefully you all will school me even more But in the end, I get to keep this awesome car as a DD, and it pairs well with my new garage queen

[N55e82Simon]

Originally Posted by NGEE

RNM.

This was my first auction and I learned a lot. Bidders have done their homework and know precisely what cars should go for. The high bid was $15k, and my reserve was $17k. To C&B's credit, they recommended a $15k reserve. But I set it at the price below which I was just going to keep the car. The funny thing is that bidders expressed shock that it was RNM, and I also expressed shock that it was RNM lol.

One thing I learned is that it didn't matter that I'd put $18k into the car over the last 18 months as the insanely meticulous owner I am (immediately fixing blemishes, new OEM wheels, new tires, headlight assemblies, oil pan gasket, VCG, belts, pulleys, radiator, etc., and all using OEM parts from the dealer, etc.).

This 11 year old car had only a handful of minor blemishes, but here's why it appears that it did not sell:

108k miles - IMHO, that is NOTHING for a well-maintained N55. I have an N54 335 with 250k miles and it's still pulling strong.

Paint - The car had a couple of Carfax reports of minor damage. I got bumped in traffic putting a gouge in the rear bumper. Had it repaired and bumper repainted. Looks great. Last year I had some road debris ding the front left fender. I had it repaired and the fender painted. While they were at it, I had them respray the hood to get rid of some chips that all cars have. And then I had a full paint correction and ceramic coating, at a cost of $2k. It looks fantastic. Unfortunately this apparently devalues the car. It seems to me now that you're better off leaving it alone and saving your money, because bidders [...]

I would also say the used car market is very soft as the economy is not doing great overall. Despite what you see on tv. lol.
As it goes I think you’re car is beautiful and appreciate the care and attention put into it. A year ago it would have been well over 20k easy.

[JustAnotherSportsCar]

I picked up a 2008 135 on C&B a few years ago for around $10k, and have since spent an additional $11k+ sorting it out to make a reliable car for the next 100k miles. If you really want a 135, or any N54/N55 car, you better be prepared to pay to play. That is just the reality. Either buy a sorted or low mile car for a high price, or buy a bargain and spend the money fixing it right. Once sorted, they are great cars!

[Finneganistan]

Originally Posted by N55e82Simon

I would also say the used car market is very soft as the economy is not doing great overall. Despite what you see on tv. lol.
As it goes I think you’re car is beautiful and appreciate the care and attention put into it. A year ago it would have been well over 20k easy.

I had to get a car loan to tide me over until my previous car sold, and the interest rate was farking criminal. So I'd say that's part of the equation here.

[N55e82Simon]

Originally Posted by Finneganistan

I had to get a car loan to tide me over until my previous car sold, and the interest rate was farking criminal. So I'd say that's part of the equation here.

Big time! Lots of places won’t loan on a car that age with those miles too. So that will make it even harder so when you do find someone willing they will charge for it.

[tracer bullet]

Originally Posted by N55e82Simon

I would also say the used car market is very soft as the economy is not doing great overall. Despite what you see on tv. lol.
As it goes I think you’re car is beautiful and appreciate the care and attention put into it. A year ago it would have been well over 20k easy.

Eh, economy is fine by any standard metric. And I formed that opinion based on data and haven't heard on TV either way. Prices a few years ago were because of Covid, when the factories shut down and supply chains were interrupted, any car was valuable new or used and since new wasn't available, used shot up in price.

Anyhow, NGEE , congrats on the 1M for sure. and thanks for the follow-up and tips on selling. Question for you, did you consider BaT? If so how did you decide on one over the other?

[GoRomeo]

Any day without a CEL on our N54/N55 its a great day!! 😂🙏

[NGEE]

Originally Posted by tracer bullet

Anyhow, NGEE , congrats on the 1M for sure. and thanks for the follow-up and tips on selling. Question for you, did you consider BaT? If so how did you decide on one over the other?

Thanks! I had a mint E36 (high miles) with 5 speed manual and brand new interior that I tried to sell on BaT but the car wasn't good enough for them. So yeah, too picky I guess. But Doug Demuro seems like a chill guy and the C&B website is awesome - very simple and intuitive.

So C&B actually came through and got this done! They contacted the high bidder and helped us get to agreement on the reserve. I am stoked it went to a good home - a real enthusiast who was very excited to pick it up this evening.

So it all worked out in the end, and I can vouch for C&B.

[darkrom]

I have been trying to push anyone I know who needed a fun car to buy that lol. Excellent example and I'll never sell my 135, so having the IS daily and a 1M combo...perfection.