I've been looking to replace my Xfire with a BMW 535i Y-reg (2001). I found the one I wanted at about £17.5k

My Xfire has just over £22k left on the finance. I just want them to take it off my hands and clear the finance for me, but... the trade price for the Xfire is only £17k!!!!!!!!!! Jeez, I'm £5k negative equity to get rid of the car. What can I do?!

 

The trade in price is the wholesale price of the car; not the actual value. The dealer will make 4-5 thousand on your trade. He will sell it for 25,000 to 27,000. Go to other dealers and bargain or try to sell your car yourself. You always get screwed on a trade.

 

one on the dealers lot today for under 20k only a few thousand on the clock

 

Yup, these things hold their value like ***, pardon my french. Im in the same boat as you though im in about 7-8 grand neg. equity U.S. Dollars. NOt sure what 5k is in your currency. Doesnt sound good though, isnt 1 euro dollar like 1.43 per U.S. dollar?

 

Saldous,

Frightening low trade-in value, but a BMW dealer won't want a 2nd hand XF on the lot.

Does your company not allow you to take cash as your car allowance and drive any car? I could have a company car (4 doors etc.) but I take the cash instead.

If you are going to lose that much you could get a much cheaper runaround and keep the XF as well.

I kept the Voyager for transporting the kids and for shopping in France. It has only done about 200 miles since April; the XF has nearly done 12,000 miles since April.
Good luck with your decision.

 

I take the cash for my car allowance. Can't afford a second car. Thought I'd sell the XF and get something a bit cheaper. But looks like I'll have to put half me deposit money on payinig off the neg. equity!

 

Sorry to be stupid here. But are you talking euro dollars? or pounds? or something else. Not clear on what currency you are stating.

 

I just looked up the prices in Kelly Blue Book; this is what most banks base their financing on. The retail ( at Dealers lot ) is $29,000 US. 6000 miles on car and automatic; Private party value is 26,460 and trade in is listed at 23,480 which is basically wholesale or auction price. Of course prices may be different in the UK. Unless you have a lot more miles (over 12,000) and dents or dings I would hold off on a trade. Also note that trading any car within one year is a no-no. You will get almost the same price after two years on a trade.

 

Sorry about the confusion; I meant US Dollars.

 

Well, I did get $23,500 offer for my car trade in when i was trying to trade it in on a gto. But i had only 1000 miles on my car. Now I see crossfires advertised retail for around 24900 and in alot of cases less. With low miles also. 4-8k miles. Looks like I have to ride this car out.

 

What's happened is the Chrysler UK got a whole load of bad reviews saying that the car was too expensive and people cancelled their orders, so they subsidise the price by UKP4000 / USD8000 which means the brand new price is about UKP24000 / USD48000. It's normal for any car to lose 20% in the first year. Most lose 50-60% by the end of year 3, but the longer you keep it, the lower the average depreciation is.

Saldous - don't get a BMW, everyone wil think your a sales rep ;-)

 

The current exchange rate between the UK Pound and the US dollar is 1.93 at the moment. This means that using one UK pound = 2 US Dollars is a good approximation. A list price XF over here is therfore just over $50k, before discount.

One UK pound is currently worth about 1.4 Euros, so my trip to France a couple of weeks ago was not so profitable, but I have plenty of food and drink for New Year.

 

Yes, I wasn talking UK Pounds. I'll try to sell it privately then.

 

Saldous - Does this mean ownership has only cost you £5k? If so think yourself lucky. Did you pay the full original cost of £28.5k? My Crossfire has lost around £1k per month since I purchased it last year, to lease a 911 turbo is only £900.00 per month, but still that's life.

 

There are too many 911s (and Boxsters) in our works car park already. Only one XF, and I (only?!) pay £403 per month. I am paying £337 per month for the wife's PT Cruiser.

On the work's scheme I can get a BMW M5 for around £900 per month inclusive of insurance. There are a few M3s and Evo's and Impreza's and TVRs, but speaking to their drivers, they all have their own problems.

I bought my XF on Chrysler Finance with a guaranteed trade-in value of £13k after 4 years of ownership. Given Saldous' experience of the second-hand value of an XF, looks like I have a good deal.

I suppose it is rare not to lose money on a car in the UK.

 

I'm thinking about swopping mine for a MONDEO ST220

 

Mark,

Not a bad choice imo if you need the seats and can afford the depreciation on your XF.

Make sure you test it out thoughly; I have a Ford hire car at the moment and the windscreen washer has broken with 3,000 miles on the clock, it rattles at all speeds and feels like it will fall apart at any moment. Fuel economy good. Engine struggles but is OK; storage and boot space are good. Driving position very uncomfortable and CD controls on steering column get in the way of indicator stalk. Steering acceptable; brakes v. spongy. Both rear seat belts do not lock if pulled hard. Looks like every other car on the road. Cup holders good.

 

So let me get this right, a regular crossfire over in the U.K. costs up towards 50 thousand american dollars? Hot damn. Thats insane. What does a e46 m3 cost then? I bought mine what would be the equiv to around 28k Uk pounds.What you paid for the crossfire. I purchased mine for only 14.600 Uk pounds. Thats like half. WOW if the crossfire was that much here i wouldnt even looked at it. Another car i am curious about how much would a used focus RS go for? This different economy thing is interesting. And i assume that double cost goes for everything? Such as DVD's? I pay around 7 uk pounds for a DVD. Thanks for you time. I wish i could sell my crossfire over there. I would make 6 thousand american dollars, just trading it in. Too bad i have those pesky barriars of the alantic ocean and left hand drive. :-D Cheers

 

Bullseye,

A new BMW M3 costs around £40,000 (i.e. $80,000) depending on the xtras/options.

I did look at the 330i Coupe but with the alloys and sports pack etc, it was going to be around £34,000 (i.e. $68,000).

A new Viper here has a list price of £70,000 (i.e $140,000).

You can save some money by importing a car from a European dealer.

 

A joke -surely?