Need Help with pricing my car...

[M26]

'97 Lux. coupe' M3
Arctic Silver\Black
44k Miles
5-Speed
Super Sprint Exhaust
Arm rest
5 CD changer
Leather Interior
On board computer
Heated Seats
Factory Spoiler
Active Autowerks chip
ECIS
UUC Short Shift
Clear blinkers all around

Unfortunately, i crashed my car 2 years ago, cost $7500 for repair(insurrance ofcourse), frame shifted to the side a little, after the repair the car drives and looks as good as new...i know i know, regardless of that, im taking a hit on the price!

So how much do you guys think the car is worth? besides Kellys Blue Book which quoted me $25K with or without the accident(wierd!), where else can i get estimates?

btw, i treat this car better than i treat myself!

thanks!

Marwan

[ChrisFL]

Well, is your title still clean?

[M26]

Originally posted by ChrisFL
Well, is your title still clean?

clean as in? tickets, accidents you mean?

[Oxcart 1]

Originally posted by M26


clean as in? tickets, accidents you mean?

no , he means because the car was wrecked. is the title clean?

[ChrisFL]

Run your VIN through CARFAX (www.carfax.com). that should let you know (if you don't already).

A salvage title is given to a car that an insurance company deems a complete loss. This DOES NOT mean you cannot drive it/it cannot be repaired. A common misconception. A salvage title will, however, cut the value of your car to nearly zilch and some states really give you trouble registering a car w/ a salvage title.

Hope this helps.

[M26]

Yah my car has a clean title, i bought it new from the dealer with appx. 10 miles on it!

[North Florida]

Here is the wholesale auction results for a major auction located in North Florida:
(Sorry that the table formatting was lost when I cut and pasted the data from my on-line source, but the data is still there)


Auction Make Model Subseries Year Color Drs Cyl Fuel Trans 4WD EW Radio Top Int Miles Price
2/12/02 B M W M3 1997 HELLRO 4 6 Gas 5 N Y Tape SR L 61,275 $23,200
2/12/02 B M W M3 1998 TITANI 4 6 Gas Auto N Y Tape SR L 30,878 $23,400
1/8/02 B M W M3 1998 ARCTIC 2 6 Gas 5 N Y CD SR L 57,569 $22,400
1/22/02 B M W M3 1998 BLACK 4 6 Gas 5 N Y Tape SR L 52,899 $18,800
1/22/02 B M W M3 1998 WHITE 4 6 Gas 5 N Y Tape SR L 53,099 $23,100
2/12/02 B M W M3 CONV 1998 TITANI 2 6 Gas Auto N Y CD CV L 47,002 $26,400
2/12/02 B M W M3 CONV 1998 WHITE 2 6 Gas Auto N Y CD CV L 36,750 $25,500
2/12/02 B M W M3 CONV 1999 WHITE 2 6 Gas Auto N Y CD CV L 20,019 $33,400
2/12/02 B M W M3 CONV CONV 1999 TITANI 2 6 Gas Auto N Y CD CV L 35,398 $28,400
2/12/02 B M W M3 CONV CONV 1999 TITANI 2 6 Gas 5 N Y Tape CV L 15,239 $34,600
2/12/02 B M W M3 CONV 3M CONV 1999 COSMOS 2 6 Gas Auto N Y CD CV L 37,216 $25,600
2/12/02 B M W M3 CONV CONV 1999 FERNGR 2 6 Gas Auto N Y CD CV L 39,975 $26,500
2/12/02 B M W M3 CONV 1999 FERNGR 2 6 Gas Auto N Y Tape CV L 30,390 $29,000
1/15/02 B M W M3 1999 BLU/BL 2 6 Gas Auto N Y Tape CV L 36,591 $31,000
1/22/02 B M W M3 1999 COSMOS 2 6 Gas 5 N Y CD CV L 42,660 $29,500
1/8/02 B M W M3 1999 SILVER 2 6 Gas 5 N Y Tape SR L 24,742 $31,500
1/15/02 B M W M3 1999 BLUE 2 6 Gas 5 N Y Tape SR L 37,814 $27,800
2/12/02 B M W M3 1999 SILVER 2 6 Gas Auto N Y Tape CV L 22,375 $32,800
2/12/02 B M W M3 1999 BLK/YE 2 6 Gas Auto N Y Tape CV L 39,509 $30,800
2/5/02 B M W M3 1999 BLK/RE 2 6 Gas 5 N Y CD CV L 25,445 $27,000
1/29/02 B M W M3 2001 BLK/BL 2 6 Gas 5 N Y Tape 1,351 $51,000
2/12/02 B M W M3 2001 BLK/SI 2 6 Gas 6 N Y Tape CV L 681 $54,100
2/12/02 B M W M3 2001 BLK/RE 2 6 Gas 6 N Y CD CV L 18,334 $50,500
1/8/02 B M W M3 CI 2001 YELLOW 2 6 Gas 6 N Y CD L 6,889 $45,000

[Oxcart 1]

oh my god!
"1/22/02 B M W M3 1998 BLACK 4 6 Gas 5 N Y Tape SR L 52,899 $18,800" is that for real? 98 M3 for 18 grand???

[North Florida]

Not 18 grand , it's $18,800, plus when you add the buyer's fee, it's slightly over $19,000. Don't forget, this is a dealer's only wholesale auction. Typical markup on the retail side for this same car on a car lot is another 3g to 6g.

Further, if you don't include this '98 in the average for all '98 models sold, the average is much higher. So it is possible there was something peculiar about this one at the time. No way to know for sure unless you were there at the auction on 01-22-02 and saw the car personally. I did not see it personally, the data is from http://www.manheim.com.

I think it's safe to say that '98 models can be had at the auction for under 24g.

[yardboy]

because facts are better than guessing...i just paid 28k for a cpo lux 97 m3, boston green/modena, bone stock w/33k miles. super clean except for a couple little dings in the rear directly over the bumper. i think you are probably going to be in the low 20's in my guess.

if i turned around and sold my car today, i would expect to get maybe 26 for it.

jason
97 m3
98 328i

[umnitza]

Couple of important comments about buying/selling.

Auctions (dealer) have almost NOTHING to do with the "real" market. Auctions are places where dealers only go to buy cars.

The mark-up = time, hassle, reconditioning, advertising, etc. all costs of running a business.

You would be best served looking at:
www.nada.com
www.kbb.com
www.edmunds.com
www.cars.com
www.autotrader.com

THEN take the average price of all of that and subtract about $5K if you are a conscientious seller because of your shifted frame.

Keep in mind several attributes:
Location of car during the majority of its life - up North, bad down south better.
Type of miles
Type of driving habits
Number of long vs. short trips (you can accumulate 5K miles cross country then spend the majority of the life of the car driving it 4 miles to work ever day).

Other factors:
quality of interior
who was in the interior - friends, kids, dogs
cleanliness of engine compartment
scrapes on the underside of the car

etc.

[M26]

thanks for the help guys...$24-$26k sound like a good price!

[North Florida]

A word about auctions and dealers. To say they have nothing to do with the "real" market is to be misinformed.

Auctions in which licensed dealers buy/sell cars and trucks at wholesale "Define" the market.

To a car dealer, a car is nothing more than a commodity, and is worth nothing more than what this commodity can be liquidated for immediately. The auction provides that forum where the commodity can be immediately liquidated within a day or two.

You account of what constitutes the "mark up" is absolutely accurate and correct, that is, ALL the costs of running a business.

Auctions are designed to be places where "only"dealers go to buy/sell cars, but if you have any experience with auctions, you would know that a fair share of those in attendance are in fact "retail" customers (yes, they were brought into the auction with a licensed dealer.) These dealers may make a net gain on this transaction with their retail customer at the auction, however, in the big picture of the used car industry, is only serves to shorten the "markup" or the difference between wholesale values and retail values. This problem, if you can even say it is a problem (dependes on your perspective), can only be addressed by the auction industry. Manheim Auctions (http://www.manheim.com) is making some effort to address this issue.

Your reference to the "real" market is what is commonly known as the "retail" market. There is a clear distinction between the "retail" market and the "wholesale" market.

Kelley's Blue Book and other sources are a car dealers dream. It's no wonder that such sources are operated by car dealers and the used car industry. KBB inflates the value of used cars to the consumer for the benefit of car dealers. The more the consumer believes the cars true value holds, the better the dealer makes in the "mark up."

To a consumer, a car is worth nothing more than what someone will pay for it. Whether the consumer advertises the car on the open market or finds another buyer through any other forum, the cars is only worth what someone will pay for it.

An (educated) consumer looking to buy a used car should understand these basic economic concepts in the used car industry, if one is genuinely interested in obtaining a good deal.

Don't forget, there is a small segment of the consumer market that does not place a priority on obtaining that good deal. To these consumers, they just want what they want, and they want it now, regardless of the cost. This, is also the used car dealer's dream customer.

In summary, good luck selling your used car for as much as you can get for it. However, if you are unsuccessful selling it for what you really want for it, look back to the fundamental economics that drive used car pricing guidlines.

[umnitza]

Originally posted by North Florida
A word about auctions and dealers. To say they have nothing to do with the "real" market is to be misinformed.

Auctions in which licensed dealers buy/sell cars and trucks at wholesale "Define" the market.

To a car dealer, a car is nothing more than a commodity, and is worth nothing more than what this commodity can be liquidated for immediately. The auction provides that forum where the commodity can be immediately liquidated within a day or two.

You account of what constitutes the "mark up" is absolutely accurate and correct, that is, ALL the costs of running a business.

Auctions are designed to be places where "only"dealers go to buy/sell cars, but if you have any experience with auctions, you would know that a fair share of those in attendance are in fact "retail" customers (yes, they were brought into the auction with a licensed dealer.) These dealers may make a net gain on this transaction with their retail customer at the auction, however, in the big picture of the used car industry, is only serves to shorten the "markup" or the difference between wholesale values and retail values. This problem, if you can even say it is a problem (dependes on your perspective), can only be addressed by the auction industry. Manheim Auctions (http://www.manheim.com) is making some effort to address this issue.

Your reference to the "real" market is what is commonly known as the "retail" market. There is a clear distinction between the "retail" market and the "wholesale" market.

Kelley's Blue Book and other sources are a car dealers dream. It's no wonder that such sources are operated by car dealers and the used car industry. KBB inflates the value of used cars to the consumer for the benefit of car dealers. The more the consumer believes the cars true value holds, the better the dealer makes in the "mark up."

To a consumer, a car is worth nothing more than what someone will pay for it. Whether the consumer advertises the car on the open market or finds another buyer through any other forum, the cars is only worth what someone will pay for it.

An (educated) consumer looking to buy a used car should understand these basic economic concepts in the used car industry, if one is genuinely interested in obtaining a good deal.

Don't forget, there is a small segment of the consumer market that does not place a priority on obtaining that good deal. To these consumers, they just want what they want, and they want it now, regardless of the cost. This, is also the used car dealer's dream customer.

In summary, good luck selling your used car for as much as you can get for it. However, if you are unsuccessful selling it for what you really want for it, look back to the fundamental economics that drive used car pricing guidlines.

well put - I totally agree.
When I said "real" market it was not just the "retail" market.

As you can tell by some of the sites that I listed they are "real" sites...that is...what are people actually selling these cars for on the "open" market. Wholesale markets are by and large closed off to the regular consumer. Wholesale markets are purely about commodity purchasing. Whereas the "open" market is more governed by price, desire, status, availability, "color" and options.

Thanks for the extra detail!