I have a stock 2001 E39 M5 with 61,000 miles on it. It's in excellent shape, never been driven in snow, never had any problems with it etc. etc. We split our time between Florida and Northern Ontario and the car has been sitting in Florida with little use 8 months of the year ... it's a waste of a car that likes to be driven.
Kelly Blue Book private party sale shows the car worth 29,000 and change. Here's the thing -- I purchased the top-end Easycare Warranty through my BMW dealier and it has more than a year to run (to May 2009) and many more miles (100,000 but it'll never get there unless someone drives it around the world and then some).
The car has a set of Pilot Sports with <2,000 miles on them. As a bonus I also have a set of 4 winter tires and rims from a 540i/6 that I saved and carry one around as a spare. The other three are up north and I'd have to get them to any new owner if he/she is interested.
Irrelevant information -- we have an X5 that makes the trips between Ontario and Florida. It gets all the miles. The M5 gets used down here but only for short trips and, frankly, most driving around here on the highway is cruise control driving anyway, not nearly as much fun as the hilly west Philadelphia suburbs where we used to live. I'm thinking of replacing the M5 with perhaps a Mini that will take less room in the garage and will still be good for around here.
I'm not sure what I want for it ... just testing the water. The extended warranty should increase the value for a buyer who knows that he/she has more than a year to shake out any undisclosed problems. If there were problems, I would get them fixed, since they would be covered by the warranty anyway.
On the other hand, I could just keep the car ...
Kelly Blue Book private party sale shows the car worth 29,000 and change. Here's the thing -- I purchased the top-end Easycare Warranty through my BMW dealier and it has more than a year to run (to May 2009) and many more miles (100,000 but it'll never get there unless someone drives it around the world and then some).
The car has a set of Pilot Sports with <2,000 miles on them. As a bonus I also have a set of 4 winter tires and rims from a 540i/6 that I saved and carry one around as a spare. The other three are up north and I'd have to get them to any new owner if he/she is interested.
Irrelevant information -- we have an X5 that makes the trips between Ontario and Florida. It gets all the miles. The M5 gets used down here but only for short trips and, frankly, most driving around here on the highway is cruise control driving anyway, not nearly as much fun as the hilly west Philadelphia suburbs where we used to live. I'm thinking of replacing the M5 with perhaps a Mini that will take less room in the garage and will still be good for around here.
I'm not sure what I want for it ... just testing the water. The extended warranty should increase the value for a buyer who knows that he/she has more than a year to shake out any undisclosed problems. If there were problems, I would get them fixed, since they would be covered by the warranty anyway.
On the other hand, I could just keep the car ...