FWIW: Had my car appraised at CarMax

[VisualCSharp]

BIMMERPOST / Classifieds

Asking Price:

None

Item Interest

Specs:

2009 Alpine White 6AT 135i, delivered May 2009
Premium package
Premium sound
Boston lemon leather
Brand new Potenza RE-11 tires
Tint
7200 miles
HPFP replaced once

Kelley Blue Book trade-in values:

Excellent: $35,800
Good: $34,100
Fair: $31,000

My girlfriend took the car over to the CarMax on I-35 in Austin to see what we could get for it should we decide to downsize. They told her the car was in "excellent" condition. Appraisal value?

$30,000.

That puts me more than $7,000 underwater on my 60 month loan! I know that CarMax is trying to get what they can out of me but more than $7,000?!? Is the resale value of the 1-series *really* that bad? Or is it they just thought my girlfriend was dumb (and of course she's not ) and would fall for that?

I guess I'll be owning this car and beating it into the ground all the way to 200,000 miles if necessary to get some of that value back.

[bradford]

You will be underwater during the first half (or more) of a 60 month loan.. The car loses most of its value as soon as you drive it off the lot. Look up the amortization table on a 60 month loan vs. a 24 month loan and you'll understand why you're underwater.

[randomquickness]

more importantly, why haven't you come out to meet the locals VisualCSharp? you need to come out to some austin area meets.

[larryn]

Never get your car appraised until years later... seconds after you drive off the lot, it loses thousands in value, as a used car.

[Freakazoid]

(I like your name)
But yes, that actually sounds like a pretty good estimate from carmax. Carmax is usually a pretty low offer (equal or less than trade-ins)....and to be 100% honest you'd have quite a bit of trouble selling the car for more than 34k private party.

[former]

Originally Posted by larryn

Never get your car appraised until years later... seconds after you drive off the lot, it loses thousands in value, as a used car.

Yup, typically about 25% in the first year, on average.

[confusion]

As of 1/6/2010, there is virtually no 135 coupe inventory in Austin. BMW of Austin has none. AutoTrader has a single listing. Ebay has none. So, your issue is not a saturated market. The obvious implication is that demand is equally low (which I personally find unlikely). Though I'm not surprised by CarMax's valuation, you have to consider that they evaluate cars based upon _their_ sales nationwide. They price based upon what they've successfully sold similar cars for. They don't go off of pricing guides and they have to factor things like shipping cars to starved markets and/or wholesaling when they can't move inventory quickly. In your situation, I think you would do just fine selling privately. You may also get a higher offer from BMW of Austin since they don't have any 135 coupes. Timing is everything and CarMax is not your only source to get out of your car if you need to. You should also consider looking at the surrounding major markets (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio).

[VisualCSharp]

Thanks for all the useful information, folks.

[My135]

Actually, I found CarMax appraisal is closer to true market value than Kelly blue book value which is over appraised.

[ulrichd]

For comparison, they have an 09 with 10K miles on their website for $34K.

[ulrichd]

Originally Posted by confusion

As of 1/6/2010, there is virtually no 135 coupe inventory in Austin. BMW of Austin has none. AutoTrader has a single listing. Ebay has none.

Looks like eight 135s on ebay.
http://motors.shop.ebay.com/Cars-Tru...&_sop=7&_rdc=1

[Freakazoid]

Originally Posted by ulrichd

Looks like eight 135s on ebay.
http://motors.shop.ebay.com/Cars-Tru...&_sop=7&_rdc=1

he's referencing austin market
(which no offense but isn't a particularly good idea to stick with market only areas....any more you need to go 300 miles or so outside of your area to see the competition. People are willing to drive now...)

[BooFlash]

I bought Corvette for my daughter from Carmax. It had a good price. But now when I want to sell it costs nothing. The best price I can find is in Carmax, But after all expenses and repairs the price decreased. I declined their service. And found a lot of things about them on http://carmax.pissedconsumer.com/ . Read before make your decision.

[Haywood]

Carmax is a joke. I had a Crossfire SRT-6 and brought it there when I decided to get my 135i. Mind you, they only made 3000 of these cars. Had it for a year. Paid $24k. They wanted to give me $11k! I laughed at the guy. He told me that was a good deal and I'd be lucky to get $10k. I ended up selling it for $19k privately.

[oasis3582]

FWIW, I sold my 09 135i, similar specs, with 6500 miles for 31.5k. Best offer I could get. That too put me ~$7k under, which sucks, but I had to do it.

KBB is quickly becoming worthless. If anything, you are better off getting a Black Book quote for something more realistic.

[Freakazoid]

Originally Posted by oasis3582

FWIW, I sold my 09 135i, similar specs, with 6500 miles for 31.5k. Best offer I could get. That too put me ~$7k under, which sucks, but I had to do it.

KBB is quickly becoming worthless. If anything, you are better off getting a Black Book quote for something more realistic.

you sold it for a pretty good price too unfortunately.

and ya kbb is useless...just ends up aggravating sellers more than anything else

[Artmasterx]

As a comparison, I took my 2008 128i in for appraisal, great shape, well taken care of, with a MSRP of about $35k. It was less than 1 3/4 years old at the time. They offered me $21k, and I figure they would have sold it for $27k base on other listings.

Ended up selling to a friend for $24k.

On a side note, my dad had a 2009 Pontiac G8 GT with about 10k miles, in like new condition. Carmax offer an amazing $26k for a car purchased a year earlier for $30k new (well of MSRP to be sure plus 0% 60month financing when Pontiac was a sinking ship). The $26k was way ABOVE KBB trade-in value. I don't know if they screwed up or if there is a really good market for the car. Regardless, he took carmax's offer as he is looking to get into something a bit more refined.

Who knows what the hell they do. My guess is that they think the market for 1-series is pretty weak, at least with their customer base, and they tend to offer lower prices... but who knows.