Its never as much fun ending a relationship as it is starting one. Of course it depends on who’s ending it, but I reckon it’s always the case when you sell a car. That brilliant feeling driving away from a dealership is overshadowed by the pain when it’s time to sell, and it’s all part of the joy and heartache of car ownership. But I didn’t quite think it could be as bad as my experience last month. Let me explain. I bought my 2003 BMW E46 M3 Coupe in December. It was purely an emotional decision and I learnt very quickly that the emotion thing doesn’t last forever. Firstly it was insurance. A whopping $980 a year from Tesco’s that’s with five year’s no claims and a relatively clean license. Then it was fuel consumption at an average of 21 mpg. Not fun with petrol prices going through the roof. So the bottom line is that my M3 wasn’t a cheap toy and the cost of performance car ownership was starting to grate.
I decided it was time for something more sensible, but not too sensible. So I put M3 up for sale. I’d paid $23,500 through a franchise dealer. Not a bargain but not bad if you have vale the BMW used Approved scheme and extended warranty. I remember thinking that my guaranteed residual of $10,470 after three years was a joke. An M3 for so little in such a short time? Never going to happen. I was wrong.
