Trading-up the X5: PART 2
 

Today I got the X appraised while I was playing around with an SP-equipped X5.

I really enjoyed the suspension and wheel calibration. In a straight line, I couldn't really feel much difference in road texture communication between my non-SP and this SP X5.

However, whenever there was a smooth hump on the highway, the non-SP just glided over it, while the SP made a sort of controlled "hop".

Naturally, cornering was awesomely smooth and precise with the SP-equipped X5. It displayed little or no body roll. The main different feeling when cornering hard is that the front suspension doesn't dip much, whereas the non-SP X5 does.

However, the seats are no good for me. I missed the lumbar support first of all. I hadn't realized how important that had become to me. And also the side bolsters around my torso were too restrictive. I fit in perfectly fine, but there was no room to move.

But with that said, this SP-equipped X5 was otherwise exactly identical to the current one. It also had the Activity Package, which gives things like Sunshades, PDC, Ski Sack, etc.

Here's the deal-breaker:

Appraised value: $27000 Canadian :rofl: :rolleyes: :rofl: :tsk: :rofl:

You must be KIDDING me. That's what I told them. Just 15 months ago I got this thing for $53000 with 52000KM on the dial. Now she has just under 90000KM, but she's actually much cleaner now. I've detailed the interior myself 4 times so far, including conditioning of the leather. Also I had it exterior detailed twice.

$27000 is 50.9% of $53000, my original buying price 15 months ago. So am I to believe that my X depreciated 49.1% in just 15 months? Not even American econocars depreciate this fast.

If you look at BMW's own web site, you will see most 2002 X5 4.4i vehicles with higher mileage still selling for mid $40s. I understand that every time any transaction is made, I lose, and the dealer wins. But the dealer makes no more than a few grand on a car. But in this case, when every other X5 sells on the market for arond $45000, they offered me $27000 for my MINT X5. This is an insult.

I didn't want to create havoc at the dealer, in case I wanted to do business at a later date. So I politely said no thank you to that "deal". Between you and I, this dealer won't be getting business in the near future from me.

Tomorrow I'm going to another BMW dealer in Toronto to get a second appraisal. And on Monday, I'm getting an appraisal from the Benz dealer that has that potential 2004 ML.

I very much doubt that anyone else would dare to offer me $27000 trade in for a car that deserves $35000 at bare MINIMUM.

Comments? I am shocked!

I'm not surprised at all. The dealer is a terrible place to sell a vehicle. High end dealers are the worst since a higher percentage of their clients trade in for convenience and are typically better off financially. They take advantage of that.

If you're bent on upgrading then try selling the vehicle privately. I'll wager that you'll get at least $40K for it.

You should never trade in or sale a car to a dealer :doh: You'll never make a fair deal. Sell it on the autotrader, ebay, or your local newspaper. you'll get much more. When I bought my X i was going to trade my Z4, the dealer offered me U.S. $23000, I said no, he called 2 days later and offered $24500, refused...The next day he offered $26000... I sold it to a private party for $30k a week later.

Welcome to the world of a car dealer, sell high buy low.

You will always take a bath at a car dealer on trade-in value. Market your car in and around your area. Also post it on boards like this. Don't expect a rediculous return on a $55,000 car either. Fact is, buying new is not the brightest idea if all you care about is the coin it costs. I would say the car is worth something in the $30's....heck it lost $5,000-$8,000 the day it was titled.

I know I lose something every time I make a transaction, but $27000 was too low.

See actually this same dealer gave me a great trade-in on the old 330i when I was moving up to this X5. That car had cost something like $55000 new, and after 3 years driving, and 65000KM, I still got $41000 trade-in from them.

That made me very happy with them. But yesterday they just seemed beyond greedy.

Today I'm getting a second dealer to take a look at it. If the number continue to float around the $30000 mark, I will indeed be inclined to sell to a private dealer, or on AutoTrader (our biggest online personal car buy/sell place in Canada).

EDIT: And if I get crappy values from left and right, then I'm gonna keep the X5, and invest in a several upgrades instead. These being things like Bavarian Soundwerk's stage 1 audio setup, winter tires for next winter, and some aluminum pedals. :)

Dealer is definitely NOT the place to get a fair trade-in. I sold my old 328 on the web and got what I wanted.

How do you sell on the web though? I mean what are the formalities involved with selling a car?

I sell and buy lots of computer stuff over the web every week, but never done a car...

I know the obvious - list the standard features and options of the car. Take 10 pictures or so of it washed and cleaned, write a little about its history.

But how does this stuff work? Do you haggle with a buyer? Do you offer test-drives to serious buyers, etc?

Bav, I've sold three cars over the Internet. It is the easy and the best way to get the max amount of eyes on your car. On eBay there is no haggling and there are shipping services and escrow services available if you choose to use them. Autotrader online has similar options as does cars.com. The fees are worth it. It cost me $90 to sell my last car, and I made thousands more than trading locally. Might be worth you looking into it if you really want to sell your X.

Don't trade it in, I just bought my X5 2002 4.4 for $46000 from the dealer which had 34000KM on it recently, do yourself a favor sell it in the Buy and sell locally for $37-39000CDN and you will get some calls. When I was looking for my X recently I did not find any private sales that were in your price range that you wanted. So give a private sale a chance first.

Vanx5

NCX brings up a lot of goods points about selling online. He sounds more experienced than me, I sold mine locally thru carsdirect.com. I think it took about 2-3 weeks to sell, but well worth the price. I had people calling from all over and met a few face-2-face for them to test drive (if you let people test drive though, I chose to not have people know where I live, and met them at a well lit, well populated area, like a shopping mall parking lot). I was very firm with my price (since I had pretty good interest), got exactly what I wanted in terms of price (KBB value), and got a lot more than what dealers and CarMax wanted ($5k more).