2004 z4-she's gone

[dfg4240!!]

I know I will want another but was undecided about keeping the car after some hair raising warranty repair bills for the top. $4600 total for the two repairs.She was 18 yrs old with 55000 miles and I started to get panicky about keeping her.
For the heck of it I stuck an ad in craigslist Rochester NY and the next morning around 10:am I received two emails about wanting to look at it. The second guy bought it for $14000. He was excited about it for the price and milage.
When I inquired about trade in value the dealers were around $7000 value.
I just paid $14900 two months ago. KBB was around the same price.
Thanks for any advice people gave me. I am a happy camper right now.
David

[chickdr]

So you bought the car two months ago for 14,900 had 4,600 in repairs (paid for by the dealer from what I saw in another thread) and sold it for 14000? I would have driven it a bit longer. My 06 has 21k miles. I have been lucky so far on issues. Just new batteries every few years.

[jwolf]

I will never understand this. You had the big stuff done for free, done by the dealer, and then you unload it. You can't hardly buy one of these cars where there is not 3k or more needing to be done. That is the price of buying an old car. How many are left with 55k? Not many. Every z4 needs the lifts done after 15 years. It's like needing an oil change really.

[wdb]

Next car should be one of those Camry convertibles. You won't lose sleep over the possibility of having to fix something.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by wdb

Next car should be one of those Camry convertibles. You won't lose sleep over the possibility of having to fix something.

Lost $900 plus taxes and tags AND fixed the car for someone else. OP should have bought an extended warranty and new wheels.

[XMetal]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

Lost $900 plus taxes and tags AND fixed the car for someone else. OP should have bought an extended warranty and new wheels.

OP lost more than $900! It's more like $900+$4,600+taxes and tags AND fixed the car for someone else.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by XMetal

OP lost more than $900! It's more like $900+$4,600+taxes and tags AND fixed the car for someone else.

That's what I said $900 - plus whatever he paid for taxes on the car and registration and tags. How much is vehicle tax in NYS? Probably a lot, I hope not 30% like you are suggesting; my state is just 4.15%.

Edit: Just looked it up. NYS vehicle sales tax is just 4%, so an additional $600 plus registration and tags.

[WickedNy]

Originally Posted by Efthreeoh

That's what I said $900 - plus whatever he paid for taxes on the car and registration and tags. How much is vehicle tax in NYS? Probably a lot, I hope not 30% like you are suggesting; my state is just 4.15%.

Edit: Just looked it up. NYS vehicle sales tax is just 4%, so an additional $600 plus registration and tags.

8.625 is the nys sales tax on purchase of vehicle

[WickedNy]

Sounds to me that the OP had buyers remorse… Each to their own… But vehicle repairs should be expected when buying older vehicles no matter what it is otherwise buy new with a warranty.

[Piper1]

Could’ve been first z4 op had looked at then panic. I know there were months I was lurking on the other z4 forum before even looking at the first one later to pull the trigger on the 5th I looked at. Always due diligence research will help. I remember some panic moments shortly after I got my MK3 Supra but boards like these can help ease that panic. Live learn repeat. Op was lucky top repairs were covered from the sounds of the original thread. I spent about 4k to have mine fixed few years ago with all new lines fittings and pump and dealer quoted 9k for whole new top replacement if I wanted. Repair bills and maintenance always have to be kept in mind as others stated for sure.

For the pricing from the op dealers will typically only give half of retail value, kbb values typically show that too, for trade, for private resale and so on.

[3798j]

Think OP might be new to the old car hobby and perceived he was vulnerable to "shipwrights disease".

Shipwrights Disease...the definition:
“Sailor owns boat. Boat has burned out light in galley. Sailor decides to change bulb. Sailor notices socket is corroded, decides to change socket. Sailor notices wiring frayed while trying to change socket. Sailor decides to change wiring. Sailor notices galley ceiling slats are rotted while changing the wire. Sailor decides galley ceiling slats need changing. This goes on and on and on and on, and pretty soon, Sailor is undertaking a major renovation of his boat because of a burned-out lightbulb.”

It's a slippery slope.

[Efthreeoh]

Originally Posted by WickedNy

8.625 is the nys sales tax on purchase of vehicle

Originally Posted by WickedNy

Sounds to me that the OP had buyers remorse… Each to their own… But vehicle repairs should be expected when buying older vehicles no matter what it is otherwise buy new with a warranty.

So, with taxes, tags and registration and the $900 price delta, somewhere around $2,300 in cumulative loss is my estimate. My N52 Z4 coupe has cost $5,400 in maintenance over 95,500 miles and $3,000 of that has been tires. The M54 that was in the OP's car has a good record for low maintenance on par with the N52. Other than the mechanical top difference, these cars in both Coupe and Roadster are as stout a chassis as BMW has ever built based on the 4 other BMWs I've owned. With a convertible, you have to expect top replacement at some point, my wife's Z3 is on its 2nd top which we replaced some 15 years into its lifecycle.

$2,300 is a close number to buying a decent extended warranty...

[Robz4]

Haha. Mine has 170,000 miles on it now. It's been my daily driver for 10 years and has been such a good car.

[chickdr]

Originally Posted by XMetal

OP lost more than $900! It's more like $900+$4,600+taxes and tags AND fixed the car for someone else.

I thought HE paid the 4600 from the post as well. In another thread he stated the dealer paid for those repairs as the issues were found right after he purchased it. So he is only out the difference in the buying/selling price plus taxes/fees. Still, I would have driven it more to see how it went. May have had no issues for years and loved the car. They will never know now....