As BMW's Web site proclaims: "The Z8 is the stuff that dreams are made of: an engine that is nothing less than a work of art, encased in a brilliantly designed aluminum spaceframe and open to the heavens. The Z8 is a two-seater sports car in the tradition of the legendary BMW cars of the 20th century. It's a classic based on the essential principles of car design, made with the best engineering on earth and the finest technology available. When you drive the Z8, you'll experience a car that is the very embodiment of a passionate love for mobility."

The Z8 pictured here is fully loaded, featuring the 5-liter V8 engine, a six-speed transmission, sport and Harman Kardon packages and an onboard computer. Its odometer shows 3,008 miles and it has a clear title. It is like new

SCM Analysis

Detailing

This car, item number 1873666272, sold for $105,100 on eBay Motors, December 7, 2002.

There are really two parts to this transaction analysis, the car and the medium. Let’s dispense with the Z8 first.

The Z8 is BMW’s flagship roadster, overall a car with superior performance, stunning retro/modern looks and an air of exclusivity due to relatively limited production. (Fewer than 1,200 have been built to date.) For sheer nastiness, I actually prefer the M5, which is built using the same engine and chassis, and could very well be the top-ranking bad-boy sedan on the market.

The overall market for pre-owned Z8s is very, very soft (i.e. near dead, reach for the defibrillator); especially compared to the zaniness when the car was launched. These cars did trade well above the $128,000 MSRP when new, with one selling at Barrett-Jackson in 2001 for $178,200. The market was so hot, people actually imported gray market examples in order to get one. (These are now worth $15,000 to $20,000 less than their US-sold brothers and are a tough sell.)

The buyer here paid full retail in today’s market, but this is not a car that is going to appreciate in the foreseeable future. And every mile that is put on the car will probably knock its value another $10. So let’s hope he bought it to drive and enjoy.

Now, to the medium of the sale: the Internet and eBay Motors.

What did we do before eBay? I love the James Bond lunchbox that sits in my office, procured from eBay. EBay is as useful sometimes as your ATM card, your remote-entry keychain fob or your ability to circumvent theater lines with Fandango.

The flip side to all this is that the people trading online can be as dishonest as Charlie and Raymond Babbitt counting cards in “Rain Man” or as useless as Bill Buckner on first base when you need him to make one out in a World Series game. (We Bostonians loathe Mookie Wilson instead.)

There are more characters selling or claiming to be true bidders on eBay than you’d find in Elmore Leonard’s latest novel. The time wasters trawling the pages of eBay seem to make bottom dwelling on price a full-time occupation. Not to mention the 14-year-old bragging to his classmates about the Ferrari Maranello he just bid on. But the overall picture here is a very shiny one. Really.

I know this firsthand because of successfully buying and selling a number of cars with this service. I do actually believe at the end of the day that bargains can be had, from dealers with old inventory, collectors trying their hand at selling cars and just plain everyday folks wanting to rid themselves of their last pride and joy.

Editor Martin has a seminar available during some of the larger collectible car auctions. This seminar can easily be adapted to give an honest heads-up about any online auction service. To paraphrase Martin: Do your homework ahead of time, set a market-correct realistic high bid, ask a fellow enthusiast/owner about the practicality of living with your heart’s choice and by all means, make sure you have the car inspected by a knowledgeable mechanic/expert/dealer.

This particular car was presented on a very nice Web page and was offered with all of the appropriate niceties that you would expect from your local BMW franchised dealer: Carfax, a contact name, address and phone number were all presented in a top-notch fashion.

They encouraged bidders to inspect the item for sale before bidding to make sure there are no disappointments after the fact. Great instructions on payment, delivery, title and deadbeat bidding are made terribly clear in the fine print.

The buyer got a fair deal, assuming the car checked out. The seller got a fair price, assuming the buyer wasn’t trading Pokemon cards, waiting for his two front teeth to come in and suddenly thought it would be fun to bid on a Z8 using Daddy’s screen name and password.-Steve Serio

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