North South debate

[bigsanj]

OK guys, my sister in law is putting her E53 up for sale privately. She reckons her car is worth more down south then up north or the midlands.

What would you say?

[huck]

Dunno really. There was a recent articIe I read (can't remember where) which said cars in Scotland were cheaper. Not sure if there's a huge difference in England, particularly with t'interweb equalising previous geographical differences.

Also depends on the market, car being sold etc. I imagine you'd have a pretty decent market for an E53 in/near any major city.


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Huck (iPhone mode!)

[Don Coffey]

When I looked at selling my 6 series, London was getting better prices, but it had to be very well specced.  So there maybe a higher premium in the big smoke, but the car needs to be fully loaded to get the dosh.

Don

[Don Coffey]

On a side not.  A lot of second hand cars a brought in NI for resale on the mainland because they are cheaper, however, premium brands tend to be similar money but often not as well specced here in NI.

Don

[JimmySpeed]

Maybe so for a car sitting on a forcourt and thus dependant on passers by to some extent. But stick it on auto trader and location won't matter as much. I live in the Midlands and have traveled down south a number of times for cars priced better than locally. I have also had people travel to me from further north for my cars...

[Bargain Bucket]

I've looked at buying various different cars over the last 2 years and cars in the far north (more especially Scotland) definitely were more "competitively" priced. Some bargains to be had there compared to the southern half of the UK.

[535dboy]

Everybody is poor up north except snipez who is almost as rich as pvr.

[Horizon]

Unfortunately E53's aren't fetching good money anywhere, especially private sales. People will pay extra from a car dealer for a bit of protection / warranty.
As mentioned above look on Autotrader to see the difference in prices. 55 plate good examples are only advertised at 8/8.5k.
For some reason RRS are still demanding a lot higher prices, but some say the X5 is a better built car.

[graemeX5]

Prices of X5 E53 shape are dropping probably because nearly 10 yrs old and new model out. Plus if petrol people seem less interested due to cost of fuel.

The RR & sport seem to have also dropped but command better prices as consider more fashionable than an X5, which is why they sold 100,000 evoques last year. They will become as common as a ford focus next.

For me Iike the RR sport but drove brother in laws diesel 2.7 nice but didn't handle as well and was as a lot bigger than X5 and doesn't fit down my drive.

But for me the E53 is ok but will get an e70 one later when saved up a bit. 

[Jamee]

I was always under the impression that down south were much cheaper, but at the end of the day people will pay what they can.

[Greydog]

One reason I ended up buying the X5 (owned it a year this month) was on average it was almost £2k down on other marques Merc ML, Range Rover, Landcruiser, Cayanne etc. Initial thoughts were a RR or Disco it was my wife who had seen the X5 at a local car sales so we went to look/try.
This is the first BMW I have owned in a long list of cars, I was impressed with the trim/equipment levels while my wife liked the colour and the noise!
I still cant get my head around why X5's seem to sell at lower prices, having owned a Range Rover I think it is equal on fit finish and trim but on the road is far far better to drive. The lower prices bothered me so I did a lot of research before committing to buy, I still don't understand why just enjoying it.
I haggled hard with the dealer that's part of the fun of buying anything if I had had to travel to collect then I would have made those costs part of the haggle.
So North vs South I don't believe the difference is enough to make it a major factor as has been said the internet tends to even out regional differences.
Good luck with the sale, I hope you get the price she want's.

[Nat]

I would be very hesitant top buy a car from the North, and by that I mean scotland. The winters are much harsher up there and cars are exposed to salt/grit for much longer than cars in the south. I have  seen quite a few cars from scotland and underneath they are in much worse condition that the equivalent car down south. Don't believe me, go look at a 5 year old car and have a good look at suspension/general underbody fastenings/ fuel lines/brake lines  etc etc...............all will be rusty.

Just my opinion,

Regards,

Nat.

[Raj]

I've bought many cars from all over the country. Apart from within the M25 there are heap deals to be had all over. I've bought from Manchester, Middlesborough, London, Bath, Isle of Wight, Swindon, Birmingham, etc. they do say that cars further up north are cheaper but as you can see from the different places I've bought cars from there are reasonably priced motors all over.

[Denis O]

[quote="Nat"]
I would be very hesitant top buy a car from the North, and by that I mean scotland. The winters are much harsher up there and cars are exposed to salt/grit for much longer than cars in the south. I have  seen quite a few cars from scotland and underneath they are in much worse condition that the equivalent car down south. Don't believe me, go look at a 5 year old car and have a good look at suspension/general underbody fastenings/ fuel lines/brake lines  etc etc...............all will be rusty.

Just my opinion,

Regards,

Nat.
[/quote]

Got to agree with Nat. I bought mine in Aberdeen and within 6 months had a brake pipe let go. Once my indy got inside all the undertrays it was a complete metal hose change. Thankfully the rest was fine.

I went to Aberdeen to buy because of the spec, very few without dreary black interior and the price was probably a couple of grand cheaper than darn sarf. Good 600+ mile test drive as well which was a bonus.

As Horizon says, prices are pretty depressed everywhere and selling privately is really tough. Most punters seem to want the so called protection of buying through a dealer or the opportunity to finance. I had little interest in my 04 X5 and eventually sold it to the trade where it immediately went up for sale at almost £3k more.....and sold within a couple of weeks. Now he may have come down a bit but it certainly needed no prep so a warranty cost of £200 and VAT on the profit and it's still well over what it would have cost direct from me.

[Nat]

I think dealers take the piss , and have absolutely no sympathy for them. Its just outright greed.

I concede condition/provenance is everything, but IMHO dealers seem to have got greedier recently. I don't mind someone making a living, but found them insulting.
If you car has all the supporting paperwork and is priced correctly I think there are plenty of buyers out there. Too many people see their car at a dealer for £10 k and put theirs up for £9995. It's not going to happen people.
I had a 4.8 iS, under 64 K on the clock in lovely condition with reams of history all from BMW , great spec and still under full BMW warranty.........so needed nothing. Not even preparation IMO you could have stuck it on a forecourt as it was.  Crap 4.8's were selling for £11/15 K all with higher mileages and all without the benefit of a full BMW warranty. Lower specs too.  Thus I should have put mine up for sale @ the top end of that range, say £14. Instead I advertised it for £11 to leave a little something on the table for the next owner.
What did the dealer offer in P/ex against a brand new X5 ................£6-6,500.  Piss taker. Hence I didnt buy a new car from him, nor the other 4 dealers I went to. Nor will they get servicing or any business out of me. I offered 1 local dealer the car on a sale of return basis ,  sell it and you get £1000.............wasn't interested, aptly not enough money in it. Greedy wankers.

Anyway, my car sold straight away and there were 3 other buyers waiting to have it if the original buyer had fallen through.

I would rather have sold it for £5000 to another enthusiast than a greedy dealer for more.

I absolutely hate them.

Eventually I found a great dealer, a family run business, not a multi chain dealership like say Coopers BMW or Sytners BMW ( both of which seem to have multiple dealerships ) who have so far given me great service and  I hope to give them all my business, because they didn't take the piss.

Just my opinion,

Regards,

Nat.