Price hike experiment

[lance1a]

I have had no real interest in the BMW 635CSi despite it being advertised in a few places. So, I have decided to raise the price to see what reaction it gets.

I have had two people view the car. One, a french guy, who said it was better than most he had already seen, but went on to buy a more expensive manual model, and the second a London solicitor who said the same thing, then complained that the brakes were crap ( I have fitted new discs and pads front, new pads rear), she was worried about curbing the nice alloys, and that......the indicators were too loud. FFS .... She also wanted it inspected by a BMW franchised dealer. Like they would say that it was all fine and bear the brunt if anything packed up. I will not sell the car to someone who is under the misunderstanding that the f-ing thing is new, or a concours car worth £12000. I just cannot be doing with all the bs that would arise.

Anyway, I have increased the price by a whole £2000. So....lets see if I get a bit more interest, other than someone saying...' hey, that was £2995 last week! WTF?'

Any bets?

[cecotto479]

I had this same chat with a trader today. He has a really smart, good condition Highline advertised at £3995. Nobody interested. My view is that people are expecting it to be £1500 worth of shed advertised at £3995. I told him to take it off for a month and put it back up at the end of October at £6995. At that price, he should attract the interest of folk looking for a good one and hopefully get it gone. Let me know how you get on, Rob.

[Kos]

the prices of good ones need to go up

i've seen what a "tidy" $ grand one looks like underneath.

[Tedswagon]

In these times of limited spending it is really interesting to read this. Totally understand the reasoning and I think there are few enough good ones out there for the price to be heading sky wards. Interested to see how this goes for you Lance1a. If someone does call you up and ask why the price when up - I'd guess you have another potential buyer.

[Jon_Bmw]

I've always wondered this. You are pricing it away from the dross.

This should be interesting, I bet you will sell it at the halway point between its current and old price.

[Morat]

It's fake rolex syndrome.
"this is a fake rolex, but it's not a CHEAP fake Rolex. Oh no, this is a £100 fake Rolex so it's better than the £10 copies you get on the other stall"

I'm not saying your car is a bad one, just that people can feel uncomfortable when looking at something nice which is priced the same as something tatty.

[lance1a]

Well.....still no movement. But then nothing on the 67000 mile 1983 E30 either at £2295 or the almost mint Nissan Almera 1.4 at £700. Maybe people are just not buying at the moment?

[rp2]

i think it must be a bad time of year as ive just sold my civic for £1500 less than the glasses guide price. didnt even have a phone call untill i dropped the price to the same as the crap ones.

keep it on and see what happens

in regards to your almera i would try ebay. ebay seems to be amazing for cheap little cars ive sold a few and they have all done better than i thought. i put a 1996 polo on there a few months ago and my phone rang off the hook! ended up getting £200 more than i would have accepted for it

[lance1a]

SOLD!!! Ok, for what I wanted in the first place, but typically I had an email from a guy where it was advertised at £3000 more, just after I sold it.

[TPS]

Brillant, thats a bargain for someone, lovely colour, late E24s are nice cars.

[daimlerman]

Classic car selling and pricing is a real mine field.

My Daimler V8(1963 with a manual post '65 all synincro 'box)was in good condition 2,guide price at £5500,had a joker from Wales insist on meeting me at the Cat and Fiddle in the High Peak to view the car,he then telephoned and offered me £2000.... took me two years to shift the sorry turd,in the final it went to a trader in Germany for 6k euros,naturaly the euro was only worth 75p then

One guy came to view it and told me the back axle was in the wrong place...
Another told me the oil pressure was 'wrong',but could not tell me the correct pressure,I showed him the workshop manual giving the readings that the dash gauge showed and the bloody gauge was wrong,sort that out!

In the current Practical Classics I see some joker has unearthed an eldery Lagonda,needs a full resto and the auction guide price is 45k....

I reckon the OP had a lucky escape!

[Andyboy]

Nice E30's - even basic spec 316's - are selling for strong money right now*. The key is in the detailing. If the engine bay has dead leaves and shyte everywhere, it will not sell.

E24's have always struggled. Only the very best cars sell, and that means concours low mileage stuff, low mileage being under 100'000. There are so many rubbish examples about that there's really very little interest in them. Ebay is awash with shagged examples with f8cked wings, non working aircon and the suspension hanging off and it'll be another 3-4 years and another cull to get all the shitters gone.


*The best place to sell stuff like that is Car and Classic by the way - it works every time.

[lance1a]

I've had only one enquiry on the E30, despite it being a really nice and super low mileage car. I don't think the fact it's an auto or 320i is against it, the condition and mileage sets it apart from the usual stuff to ensure it appeals to a perhaps 'different' market. No problem though as I have taxed it now and enjoy using it.

[TPS]

It'll sell, its a lovely car, the right buyer will appear in the future.

[snakebrain]

Is this the one that just sold over on the bmw5 forum? Bloody lovely if it is....

[lance1a]

Is this the one that just sold over on the bmw5 forum? Bloody lovely if it is....

The E24? yes...thats it.