Ever sold a car?

[roz]

I'm looking at the Volvo S-40 T5 with the six speed manual transmission or the S-60 R with the six speed manual transmission. The S-80 is not on my list at all!

[Kristie]

I drove the BMW 325 and 525 tonight...the 525 just seems like too big of car for me, the 325 fit me nice and snuggly...but for some reason, it didn't seem to have a whole lot of power (even being a V6)...so i'm wondering if the 330 or 328 is anymore powerful. The 5 series drove just like my X5 and i really liked the way it picked up power right away but that car is just toooo big (like a lincoln towncar kinda big).

Other than that, i'm still really liking BMW's warranty and maintenance plan (esp for CPO's)....

I still have the drive the Audi's and others but I'm now headed towards the VW Passat and BMW 325/330/328 (depending on CPO's that are avail).

The 325 I drove tonight was a CPO, fully loaded with all 3 packages incl satellite ready/rear parking thingy, $13.5K miles and they were asking for $30K.

Anyone drive the 325, 330 or 328 BMW's?!

[LauraL]

Originally Posted by Kristie

ok, so this is my list of "cars to test drive"

I test drove the VW EOS and Passat today.. the EOS was "cute" with the whole convertable and/or moonroof option but it left very little trunk space and it rode kinda like a truck (tighter suspension)... i was pretty impressed with the Passat and sometime this week, we're gonna go back and test drive the Jetta cuz i could always get a Jetta and soup it up some to Passat standards (altho i don't know if it'd really save me any $$).

Does anyone have any of the above cars that can give me their opinion on how it runs/how they like it/how repair is working etc etc?

Hey Kristie,

I'm terrible at posting but couldn't resist when I saw your car question above. We bought a 2006 Jetta as soon as the new body style came out. It is by far the sweetest car I've ever owned, and nearly the smartest car I've ever ridden in. We got the best model available at the time - it has everything! Leather, satelite radio, automatic trans with a triptonic optional six speed shifter, wood trim, ac in the glove box, rain sensor wipers, six disc in dash cd changer, blue tooth, auto everything (seats, sun/moonroof, windows, doors), dual climate control, all the buttons on the steering wheel, huge trunk ... plus it has reeeally cool blue dash lights that automatically go on when it gets dark (or even in a tunnel). And like you mentioned before, it tells you how many miles till empty, mpg, avg speed ... I could go on an on.

My mom has a '04 Volvo S40, and my best friend has a '04 BMW 325 and they both look like base model vehicles compared. And I believe the new Jetta even beat the Volvo in side impact testing for the first time. It has standard side curtain airbags in addition to the normal front airbags. The new (2005 1/2 and newer) fully loaded Jetta (NOT the weird new sporty 35K version) is more like what a Passat used to be. They're a little bigger than the 2005 and older Jettas and like I said, have a lot more stuff in 'em. I've had mine for two years now and never had a problem with it. To keep them under warranty I do take it to the dealership for oil changes which cost upwards to 70 bucks. Which is the only thing that I can think that I dislike about it. I had an older '97 Jetta before this one - had it up to 130K and nothing ever went wrong with it.

Anyway, I promise I'm not a car salesperson. I'm just really impressed with the car for the price (not much more than a Honda) I would recommend you at least test drive one to see all the stuff!

[flygirl813126]

That is the kind of car you drove with DH and I in Chicago.

[Kristie]

yeah.. i like the feel of the VW's...the only thing i like better about the BMW's is their warranty.. get a certified pre-owned (we'd never buy one new) and you're covered for 6 yrs up to 100,000 miles AND a maintenance plan (which can be extended)... that pretty much beats any other CPO type of car. so that's the only reason we're still interested in a bimmer... if VW had that, it'd be a much more difficult decision because VW has the same "amenities" i like that bmw has.

[HeffsRah]

Originally Posted by Kristie

sometimes the little plastic things in the windows break. happens in all bimmers

i HATE that... i drive a BMW 318ti ... i have literally had my driver side window fixed five times in the past two years...and my mechanic tells me that he wants to remove the entire door and rework everything in order to fix it. Damn plastic whatever you call its...end rant. hahaha, seriously though, such a PITA

[HeffsRah]

oh, and, ebay works for selling cars.

my brother had a 1980 bmw 325 and sold it for 3 grand on ebay...the guy actually flew up from texas and drove the car all the way back home... i guess he was an enthusiast and were talking about a classic, but ... you never know who you might find on ebay.

[roz]

DH bought his BMW K1200 RS on ebay. He flew to Salt Lake City to get it and rode it back! He also bought his F150 truck on ebay. But that was local--although it turns out it spent it's whole life garaged in the DTW area! It ended up with one of the local auction houses as it is a manual transmission which made it more difficult to sell after trade in.

[christykay]

Someone else mentioned CarMax...

Although we have never SOLD a vehicle to CarMax, we have friends that have and did VERY well. Easy transaction and good money.

I HIGHLY recommend CarMax. We recently bought a car with them and are very pleased. We searched their site which included cars all over the US and found a car in Kentucky that we liked. They shipped it from Kentucky to our local CarMax dealer for a very small fee ($100) and informed us on the progress the entire time. (Of course you could purchase one locally without the fee). They have an unbelievable selection and are very choosy with which cars they buy and sell. Their warranty program is equally unbelievable.

If we ever buy another used vehicle we will only buy through CarMax. Good Luck!

[Kristie]

I'll have to check that out next week.

We went to the BMW dealer before doug left...i liked the little 325 i drove...and offered to take it off the lot... doug gets a great auto loan rate at DECU and because of that, they were only willing to give me $14K for my X5...

$14K....i was seriously taken aback.. utterly flabbergasted!!!!

so, it looks like we'll try to sell it on our own.. or i'll take it down to carmax and see what they'd give for it... but i won't accept $14K when KBB tells me i can easily sell it for $20-$25. I mean the guy put in the computer that it was in "clean" condition and i was pretty upset by that because i've kept it in excellent condition ever since i've had her. he said for it to be in "outstanding condition", it would have to look like new...and it does...a detail fixes all the little imperfections.