Selling car - price suggestions and advice please

[cerebus]

Well we've been offered a car deal from a friend that is truly too good to pass up, so we're going to try to sell our current car - a white 1988 316i with 134k on the clock.

Now the body and interior are absolutely immaculate except for one tiny indent on the front and a scratch on the bumper (which may even come off with Handy Andy). The tires are in great condition, and the guy we bought it from had put in a new cd stereo system. And when we took it to a garage recently they said that the engine is still pretty faultless. All in all it was a great 2ndhand buy and we've been very happy with it for the two years that we've had it.

But there are a few other problems that are starting to manifest - the brights turn on by themselves all the time, the glove compartment lock is broken off (suppose that counts as an interior fault).

More seriously, we took some bad advice and put unleaded in for a couple of months - only realized now that it screwed up the timings, so we'll put lrp in and hopefully it'll fix. And there looks to be about R5k worth of repairs that need doing - it takes too long to heat up, the shocks are worn, wheel alignment is a bit off, small things like that.

Ok so - the question is how much should we sell it for and what should we do to it before we try to sell it? My thought is to have the brights/glove compartment/heating problem fixed - altogether about R1-1.5k worth of repairs - and sell it vootstoets (sp) for around R25k. Recently someone offered us 25k on the spot for it so I think that should be about what we can ask.

Advice, opinions welcomed

 

[adamr]

the car does really look clean and E30's in this condition are really in demand ... R25k seems about right, that is if it has FSH (clock not turned back), all the keys, service and user manuals ...

EDIT:
did not read the problems it had ... id say voetstoets R18k-R20k

 

[cerebus]

It does have FSH, keys, user manuals and service history. So what if we did the pieces of repair I'm talking about - fix the brights, the cubbyhole lock and the heating problem?

 

[davemc]

Don't even try to fix the problems, they'll see you coming a mile away and rip you off.

Sell it if you want to sell it, but, it's worth more than the 25K you'll get for it in usability. i.e. Replacing it is going to cost you more than 120K easily, excluding insurance.

 

[cerebus]

Well like I said - we're only selling because we want to subsidize the cost of the car deal that we'll be getting from a friend. Otherwise I'd pay to fix the problems and keep running it because I really do like this car and it is in very good condition notwithstanding the few faults it has.

BMW has quoted us R800 to fix the brights problem - I've googled it and it seems to match this thread so I think R800 is a fair price. And I reckon we can get a cubbyhole lock from a scrapyard for not too much - there is one in the area specialising in bm's. And fixing the heating problem is around R600 - also I think not too expensive.

Replacing it is going to cost you more than 120K easily, excluding insurance.

What do you mean by that?

 

[adamr]

if you say those things wont cost a lot to fix then fix it, the cubby aint a big thing, but sort out the heating problem at least, people will see the car and some may be put off by that

EDIT: R600+R800 do it! ... then ask your R25k and you will get it ...

 

[cerebus]

Thanks I figure if someone tests the car out it's obvious that it doesn't heat up fast enough so we should fix before selling. The other problems - mechanic said they aren't a trainsmash anyway, can wait a few months before worrying about.

 

[Goobie]

it doesn't heat up fast enough so we should fix before selling.

that sounds like the thermostat on the cooling system stuck in the open position which is not such a big deal, rather have it stuck open than stuck close where the car will keep on over heating.

 

[cerebus]

I'm not sure exactly what the problem was that they diagnosed - but it definitely causes the car to underperform when it starts up, especially on a cold morning.

Ok here - the invoice says side&rear water gasket (112 + 168) + antifreeze (76) + labour costs (640) = R996 - so more than the R600 I thought. Worthwhile?

Additional work quoted - front & rear shocks; wheel alignment; ball joint cover, side shaft. Thinking we can leave those alone when we sell it.

 

[Fazda]

The big money whack comes when you start replacing shocks and ball joints...then what led to the side shaft going, and what has it done to the diff in the meantime??

Every time I look at that shopping list I would knock a couple of k of the price, as you are going to have to fix all that before you can get a roadworthy certificate. The Roadworthy guys won't be interested in the cubbyhole and the water temp, but they will have a huge beef with anything suspension and driveshaft related.

 

[cerebus]

hm ok - the side shaft is the boots. So what do you recommend we spend our money on? Wheel alignment + ball joint cover + side shaft boots + labor cost is 986.

 

[Fazda]

hm ok - the side shaft is the boots. So what do you recommend we spend our money on? Wheel alignment + ball joint cover + side shaft boots + labor cost is 986.

OK, you will NOT get a RW Certificate if the boots are torn or damaged in any way, so they have to be replaced. Same goes for any wear on the ball joints. Wheel alignment won't be checked, but will HAVE to be redone after working on shocks or balljoints.

Cosmetics and a thermostat should be the last things on the list!

 

[cerebus]

Ok now taking all that into account where is the best place to advertise the car to get it shifted? We need to move on it - the window of opportunity here is pretty narrow.

 

[Fazda]

Argeeee!! Or Cape Times