Finally, Selling Our BMW 320i

The other day, we finally said goodbye to our beloved BMW 320i (F30). I briefly mentioned it in a previous article, but this time we decided to use an online simultaneous trade-in appraisal service. Also, my husband, who is experienced in these matters, handled all the negotiations, while I observed and learned from the sidelines.

By the way, I want to make it clear from the start that this article is not an advertisement or a sponsored post for any car trade-in appraisal site.

Why We Chose Simultaneous Appraisals at the Same Time

We chose simultaneous appraisals because my husband said, “When I sold my previous car this way, it went really well.” He explained his reasoning like this:

From past experience, once you bring your car to a dealer, they really push hard and try to make you sell it there, making it hard to leave.
The same goes for home visits; the first dealer to arrive is very persistent and pushy, and before you know it, you get mentally exhausted.
So I wanted to avoid any negotiation altogether. No hard feelings, just one shot. The only way to do that is through simultaneous appraisal, so for me, there was no other option.

That made sense—dealers do have a reputation for being aggressive. I feel like I’d probably get pressured into a bad deal if it were me.

Selling via Simultaneous Trade-In Appraisal

Now, let me share how the sale went using the simultaneous trade-in appraisal service, based on our experience.

① Apply for an Online Simultaneous Trade-In Appraisal Service

Previously, we used Rakuten’s appraisal service, but this time we applied through Car Sensor’s Easy Online Car Appraisal.

In the past, most trade-in services had a free comment box when applying, but recently many have removed it. Car Sensor’s form still allowed some comments, so we chose them.

My husband wrote this in the comment box:

Please have all dealers come simultaneously on [Year] [Month] [Day] at [Time] for a live bidding format to decide the buyer on the spot. Only dealers who agree to these conditions, please contact us.

The key points were specifying the date and time and using a simultaneous appraisal format, so we could take control of the process.

② Respond to Calls from Dealers

Right after applying online, calls started coming in within about five seconds. These initial calls were from large dealers’ call centers, which handle many calls simultaneously.

After a while, sales reps who received the call from the call center would call saying, “We can come right now if you want…” (several calls like this came in this time too). We politely declined and reiterated that the appraisal would be done simultaneously at the specified time as stated in the comments.

Local smaller dealers tended to call a few days after the application, not immediately.

So it’s better not to set the date too soon after applying. In our case, we set it for one week later (and chose a sunny day).

③ On the Day, Deal with Dealers Who Arrive Early

On the day, we started early by going to a nearby gas station to have the 320i’s body and interior cleaned.

A wash really made the car look amazing—about 50% more stylish than usual.

In the afternoon, about 20 minutes before the scheduled time, my husband went out to the parking lot with a mosquito coil and found about five dealers already waiting. Since there was still some time before the start, he waited until all dealers arrived. Eventually, all eight dealers showed up before the scheduled time, so we started right away.

Everyone casually inspected the body, opened the hood, checked the interior, and started the engine. Honestly, I never expected as many as eight dealers to come. (I was hoping maybe two would show up.)

While chatting with some of the sales reps, they said:

There are still some old BMW manual cars around, but F30 manuals are rare, and a normal 3 Series that’s not an M Sport is very unusual. Because it’s rare and in good condition, we’d really like to buy it.

I see, that makes sense.

Since all eight dealers came by car, their vehicles lined up around our house, which was a bit of a nuisance for neighbors… My husband said, “I didn’t expect this many to show up. Maybe next time we should pick a large coin parking lot or a place with fewer people and cars.”

④ Set a Time Limit

After a while, my husband asked the dealers, “We’d like to set a time limit. How long will it take to come up with your offer? Would 5 minutes be enough, or do you need more time?” and so on.

If you don’t set a deadline, the process can drag on and become hard to wrap up.

For typical Japanese cars, dealers usually give an offer quickly, but since our 320i was a rare manual, some dealers said, “We might need a bit more time to come up with a price.”

However, since “other dealers have appointments after this, we won’t extend the time,” we set the limit to about 30 minutes after the inspection.

⑤ Have Dealers Write Their Offers on the Back of Their Business Cards and Reveal Them Simultaneously

In the end, even the dealers who said they might be late managed to submit their offers, so all eight dealers provided their prices.

The method was to have them write their offer on the back of their business cards and hand them to my husband, then everyone revealed their offers at the same time.

I won’t disclose the actual amounts here, but the difference between the lowest and highest offer was an astonishing 1,033,000 yen!
We asked the dealer with the highest offer to stay, thanked the others, and let them leave.

Results of Trying the Simultaneous Appraisal Method

If you’re considering trading in your car for a new one at the same brand’s dealer, that’s probably the best way. But if you’re switching to a different brand, trade-in offers tend to be low (when we switched from a Volkswagen Golf to the BMW 320i, the Golf’s trade-in offer at BMW was quite low), so it might be worth trying simultaneous appraisals.

What we learned from this experience is:

Well-known, major nationwide dealers tend to offer very low prices, while local used car dealers tend to offer higher prices.

In fact, the highest offer came from a local used car dealer, and all the higher offers were from local dealers.

My husband said:

From a business perspective, it makes sense that big dealers can’t offer high prices because their costs are higher. Advertising expenses, labor costs, and facilities are all significant, so even if their commercials say “We buy cars at high prices,” it’s tough to deliver on that.
This became very clear to me this time.
Next time I sell a car, I think I’ll skip the big dealers and just invite a few local used car dealers who gave high offers this time.
Also, this time we applied through Car Sensor’s appraisal site, which attracted local dealers too—nice. I think I’ll use this site from now on.

You really learn a lot by trying things out. After preparing the paperwork, the 320i was picked up two days later.

Goodbye, 320i. I hope the next owner who loves manuals will cherish you.

If you’re thinking about selling your car, why not try the simultaneous appraisal method once?