Trade-In or Private Party?

[Aimster]

The car is a 2001 BMW X5 3.0 with 122,000 miles
Every month something goes wrong with this car and it is only a matter of time before something big happens. I'm tired of this.. car is in excellent condition but seriously enough is enough.

I can trade it in for about $7000 or..
I could do a private party for $10,000. I'll even let it go for $8,000. Just want this thing gone. Use the money as a down-payment on a new car.. 2009 Escape .. NO HEADACHES!

Thing is I never sold a car private party and I don't feel like having the buyer come back to me in a month and say "why the f is this broken you ripped me off". It's a 10 year old BMW of course something will be broken!

What would you all do?

 

[Vette73]

I sell private party.

I clean the car up well and do any basic maintaince needed like oil, air filter, etc...

Any thing that needs repair I tell them before they drive. And then sell it.
A used car is as-is unless you sign a contract saying other wise.

BMWs are not known for their reliability. I still rate them better then VW/Audi, MB, etc... but that is not saying much.


Also see what the same is selling for at craigslist. Price yours about $100 or so less and then sell it.

 

[StageLeft]

I can trade it in for about $7000 or..
I could do a private party for $10,000. I'll even let it go for $8,000.

There's your answer. If you can honestly get $7k trade in and would take $8k private I think it's worth just trading it in. Private gives money but it depends how tolerant you are of dealing with imbeciles as most people buying your car will be.

People won't come to you asking why things are broken if you have a contract but selling it is a hassle. People calling saying they're on their way and never showing up, asking if you take payments, can you hold onto it for two weeks until their pay check comes in, etc.

IMO your best place to sell cars is the newspaper, not autotrader or the like. They can't necessarily hurt but the most serious buyers just seem to go to news papers.

Your car's prestige brand plus relatively low price I think means it will be an absolute magnet for assholes looking to buy it. Far more than, say, a Camry worth the same price.

 

[Vette73]

Is this your X5?

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/cto/1580190599.html

If so take out the "its a peice of crap..." part and raise the price to $8400

 

[StageLeft]

Is this your X5?

http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/nva/cto/1580190599.html

If so take out the "its a peice of crap..." part and raise the price to $8400

Whoever is selling that car on CL is doing their damnedest to not sell it. That is about as poorly worded an ad as possible, for all intents and purposes saying "I cannot stand repairing this POS anymore. Chances are that you'll have just as many hassles as I will and probably end up hating it, too."

Include a picture. Otherwise the ad is ok if you remove:

"You are buying a 10 year old BMW. I hope you are not buying this car to impress your girlfriend. With any old BMW you should know that minor things will go wrong. That is why I am selling it. It's very annoying having to take this to the shop every other month for silly things like a window regulator or the windshield wiper gets stuck because of a loose screw. If you can handle the minor annoyances then this car is for you. "

and

"Don't come beating me up a month later if you have something minor happen to the car.. its a BMW! "

 

[Tristicus]

Whoever is selling that car on CL is doing their damnedest to not sell it. That is about as poorly worded an ad as possible, for all intents and purposes saying "I cannot stand repairing this POS anymore. Chances are that you'll have just as many hassles as I will and probably end up hating it, too."

Agreed.

 

[PricklyPete]

Don't tell SSSnail about this one...BMW's are cheap to maintain.