2002 Z8 (#61379) - Sold

[trussillo]

Sadly I am moving from Southern California and must sell my my 2002 Z8 (61379). I bought her new in Dec. 2001. She's perfect, never been wet (except with mild soap and water), Silver with Black and just 5102 miles. Best offer will take her to a new home. Make me an offer.

[macfly]

Do you have any pictures of her?

[trussillo]

I actually don't but There are no surprises.

[hayvenhurstkid]

Where is the car located in relation to Los Angeles?

[Scott Pettit]

Are the offers going to make public or is this a blind auction?

[trussillo]

Doesn't seem to be much action for Z8's right now. My local dealer has a 2002 silver/black in his showroom with 15k miles for $101K. no action at all. I really need to move my car. Does anyone have any ideas that might help?

[macfly]

Well you could try selling it on consignment with a group like Autohaus in Newport, or possibly call up John in Scottsdale, he has bought a few Z8's from owners who didn't want to wait, or deal with tire kickers and time wasters. http://www.scottsdalesport.com

[thegunguy]

Publishing your price would be a good start. Many buyers don't play the "make an offer" game.

[dnalor007]

Never seen bevor on the market-> Z8 Individual Bicolor !! -> http://www.autoscout24.de/Details.aspx?id=biihutdr2ndv&asrc=fa
for euro 169'000.-- very nice ,dont know how much they produced Z8 Individuals....greets roland

[dnalor007]

Never seen bevor on the market-> Z8 Individual Bicolor !! -> http://www.autoscout24.de/Details.aspx?id=biihutdr2ndv&asrc=fa
for euro 169'000.-- very nice ,dont know how much they produced Z8 Individuals....greets roland

another painting -> http://www.autoscout24.de/Details.aspx?id=biff3kjkypbw
Price euro 139'900.--

[hayvenhurstkid]

Price it realistically and I will buy it. Cars for $100,000 are not selling. I know John in Scottsdale very well. He has two Z8's currently in stock that he cannot get rid of. They have been sitting for over a year and things are not getting better. He would only buy your car if he could steal it. He will not pay fair market value, which in my opinion is in the low 90's if the car is perfect with none of the issues Z8's can have. That is where the market is today.
P.S. If your local dealer you are referring to is Irvine BMW, they have two silver with black cars both with 15,000 miles on them. The 2001, which really is not worth that much less than a 2002, has a buy it now of $95,995 or best offer.

[dnalor007]

.... i just enjoy and will drive this Beauty for the Future ..... greets

[1mean3]

Have you determined the price you are looking for?

[redz8]

He would only buy your car if he could steal it. He will not pay fair market value, which in my opinion is in the low 90's if the car is perfect with none of the issues Z8's can have.

Fair market value is nearly impossible to determine on a Z8. There just aren't enough transactions. For as long as I can remember, KBB has been way off and ebay is worthless, as nothing ever sells on ebay.

The price of a Z8 is simply what you can get for it. I would say post a lot of pictures, provide plenty of information/history and hope someone falls in love with it.

Then, work out a price.

[Z8Mania]

Heres a 2002 with 3600 miles and they are asking an absurd price on it:

http://www.isringhausen.com/Inventory/2002/BMW/Z8/VehicleID/3951

[hayvenhurstkid]

As with cars and houses and anything else you may have for sale, asking price and sale price tend to be vastly different. Homes in my neighborhood, which is in a very nice area of Sherman Oaks, either sit and languish on the market for months on end or the owners lower the price until it sells. Some people will not lower their price to fair market value and end up renting them out, waiting for the market to get better, which is fine if you have the means to do so. Another house down the street sold three years ago for just over $1,000,000. It just resold again for $800,000, and that is before commissions and closing costs. They suffered a $250,000 plus loss on the house. It is all about the economy, timing, motivation, etc. The link to the car above has a crazy asking price. If they stay there, I hope they have a box of candles on hand. They will need them when it is time to throw the car its first birthday party after sitting there for a year unsold. :)

[Z8Mania]

Exactly right.

[edmcnulty]

Sadly I am moving from Southern California and must sell my my 2002 Z8 (61379). I bought her new in Dec. 2001. She's perfect, never been wet (except with mild soap and water), Silver with Black and just 5102 miles. Best offer will take her to a new home. Make me an offer.

Still available?

[trussillo]

Yes it is. Highest offer so far was 93$

[or2]

I am interested, if you can send me info to michael.morais@yahoo.com that would be great.
-Mike Morais

[hayvenhurstkid]

If you need to sell the car that is a top dollar offer. I would take it.

[macfly]

Sound like it will be sold soon, let us know so I can mark it as sold.

[lanny]

I might be interested in your car however at more than the $93k offer however I would need to see some pictures of the car before I fly from the east cast to the west coast to look at it.

Lanny

[hayvenhurstkid]

If you settle on a price and do not feel like making a cross country trip, I can offer my services to you for a pre buy inspection. Not to brag, but I have owned three Z8's and know these cars as well or better than anyone as far as condition and what to look for as far as the original items the car came with, the various problems these cars can have, if the paint is original, etc. For less than the price of an airline ticket, I will give you a complete report on the car. I live around 70 miles away from where this car is located. If interested, PM me to set something up. I think you can ask anyone who knows me on the board and they can vouch for the fact that I know how to do a pre buy inspection.
P.S. I have been in the car business for 35 years now.

[redz8]

Absolutely take Marty up on his offer, even if you end up coming down for a final visit yourself. He really knows what to look for and how to look for it.

[Norcal]

I agree, Marty is a pro, really knows the Z8 inside and out, and is a perfectionist. I did a local inspection on an Alpina V8 roadster for a euro buyer last year, and was surprised how long it took to do a thorough job, at least 2-3 hrs. if I recall, not including travel time.

[macfly]

Ditto that, Marty will do you right on the inspection.

[Charles]

Marty is the guy I would use in So Cal for sure. I learned that the So. Cal dealers are not as thorough as you would like and Marty's advice saved me once already. I will use him if I buy a So. Cal. car.

[lanny]

I want to thanks everyone for their help and this is just another good reason to be a member of this great club. I have owned several Z8's over the years and currently have a 2001 Red / Black Z8 with 2k miles. I just sold my 2003 Z8 with 927 miles and the empty slot in my garage is driving me nuts. I'm not saying I'm right, however, I feel that if someone is trying to sell a $90k + car thay should be able to have someone take some good pictures of the exterior and interior and either post them or e-mail them to potential buyers. If they are not willing to do this I would have concerns. Thanks for the great response.

[hayvenhurstkid]

You are right. Why the owner will not post pictures or email them to you directly is odd.

[thegunguy]

I really need to move my car. Does anyone have any ideas that might help?

If feel like we've all made the same suggestions when asked by the OP. If I were in a hurry to sell, I'd have amazing photos, tons of documentation, and a price, not "make me an offer". That works great if you're fine with waiting many months for an outstanding offer, but if you want to move it quick, it's best to go full disclosure at a price that is set to sell. With the state of the global economy, this is certainly a Buyer's market, and sellers have to compete for attention and dollars. Thankfully, the Z8 has remained relatively resilient in light of current conditions.

To me, it seems like the seller isn't very motivated, despite what they have stated. I wish them the best of luck, but I'd hope that they'd take some of the suggestions from those here with unparalleled industry/Z8 knowledge, like Marty and Andrew.

[macfly]

Indeed, this owner isn't known to us, he only logged in to make this sale. I'm always wary of scams, so I advise the utmost caution when it comes to doing business online with people who are not absolutely upfront and clear. For all I know he plucked this number out of some dealer inventory, and is trying to run a scam.

[hayvenhurstkid]

Sound advice, but I have spoken with the guy and I think he is for real. He is just a real PITA to deal with. " You can figure out what PITA stands for I am sure, but the first word is pain." Sellers, whether they are motivated or not, always have an asking price. As nice as the Z8 is, it isn't a Faberge egg being auctioned off by Christie's or Sotheby's. I can't stand doing business with the "make me an offer" type of seller. I walk away from those deals. Fastest way to turn off a potential serious buyer. And I am a serious buyer!

By the way, thanks for the kind words of support!!

[macfly]

Life's too short, and there are lot of great cars out there!

[Scott Pettit]

Andrew,

If the guy seems bizarre, I'd delete his post so as to protect your members.

Just a suggestion.

[redz8]

I don't know about deleting the post, but making it a requirement to have at least 1 photo and an asking price in order to post in the "for sale" section might be a good thing for potential buyers (future members).

[macfly]

Good suggestion, I think 3 images mandatory minimum, and if Marty gives this guy the thumbs down I'll just mark it as sold, I don't want our members and potential owners havingto deal with jerks.

[hayvenhurstkid]

I think he is a time waster, so based on that Andrew, I say thumbs down.

[macfly]

OK, I'll remove him from the board, life's too short to mess with time wasters like that, but I'll leave the thread up incase anyone wants the history of the car and its first owner.

[thegunguy]

Good suggestion on requiring photos. In today's content driven digital world, it really is a low threshold. For me (and many others), I don't bother looking at homes or car listings that don't have photos. So, it really is a benefit to future sellers to have to put up at least a minimum number of shots. For the buyers, it helps build a base level of confidence and reduce the likelihood of scam.

I don't have a problem with not listing a price so long as the seller is open about their expectations and understands the likely increased time on market. As we all know, pricing on these things varies from car to car, and the buyer's desire for a particular color, etc. can greatly swing a deal. So, "make me an offer because I just don't know what it's worth right now" is not unreasonable. According to Marty, this guy had unrealistic expectations with "needing to sell fast" but expecting a price well above market.

[thegunguy]

Thinking further, I might be enough to make the top Sticky in the FS section be a quick list of ad requirements/suggestions. Maybe even Marty could donate some time to write up a check list. I seem to remember there was one floating around here somewhere before. Perhaps a quick cut/paste/edit.

[hayvenhurstkid]

There is a posting somewhere that lists all of the original items the car came with. As far as cosmetics go, well, you just have to know what you are looking at or hire someone who does. The typical problems a Z8 might have " delaminating dashboard, leaky rear view mirror, inop radio, foggy headlights, seams that are not uniform from front to back between the engine hood and the fenders" are fairly easy to spot even for a novice if you know what you are looking for. The tricky part is establishing if a car has original paint if that is important to you. The only sure fire way to do that is with a paint meter that will also read aluminum. If a car has original paint, the meter will get a reading anywhere from 4.0 to 6.0. Any reading that goes higher, especially 8.0 and above, is a sure indication paint work has been done to the car.

[macfly]

The 'rules' are here (http://bmwz8.us/vbb/showthread.php?t=1170&referrerid=2), it isn't possible to make a sticky sit above other newer stickies, which is why it seems to float amongst the ads. The only way to change it is make all the 'for sales' un sticky, but then they you have to pick through other posts rather than finding them easily at the top.

[Charles]

There is a posting somewhere that lists all of the original items the car came with. As far as cosmetics go, well, you just have to know what you are looking at or hire someone who does. The typical problems a Z8 might have " delaminating dashboard, leaky rear view mirror, inop radio, foggy headlights, seams that are not uniform from front to back between the engine hood and the fenders" are fairly easy to spot even for a novice if you know what you are looking for. The tricky part is establishing if a car has original paint if that is important to you. The only sure fire way to do that is with a paint meter that will also read aluminum. If a car has original paint, the meter will get a reading anywhere from 4.0 to 6.0. Any reading that goes higher, especially 8.0 and above, is a sure indication paint work has been done to the car.

Having looked at a few of these cars now and read a lot of the good advice here, there a a few things I have begun to see which only get noticed when you look closely and are not typically discussed. Please don't get offended if you have these. All cars age. They would be (1) faded red seat belt inserts,which means to check for further sun damage, like the convertible headliner fading in front, (2) scratched inside of driver's door pull, which means to check the inside of the storage bins and elsewhere for wear, (3) cracked covers wear the seat adjustments are located, which means you should look more closely at all the plastic parts, (4) driver's seat bolster crushed, which means you look to see if the leather is torn or just creased and (5) tail lights where top or bottom bulb does not work.

Let me echo again the great help that Andrew, Marty, Dana Caldwell at Peter Pan and Pat Arnold at Classic have given me. These gentlemen have been outstandingly charitable with their time and insights.