Warning! Please read! Houston, TX M3 for sale

[dantm3]

Just floating out a warning to all you buyers. There is a silver M3 for sale in Houston at ford/buick dealer near momentum bmw. I actually called over spoke to the sales guy, and we worked out an amazing deal on the car. He said he would get an inspection from Momentum BMW and the car would ship out to me ready to go with Fresh oil change. Wee agreed on amazing price of 30,500. I thought with 60k miles and all the mods it was a great deal. It was for sale here 3 weeks ago on the forum, so I figured it was not a wreck or auction but the forum member trades it in there to buy a new car. PMed original owner but he never responded. Anyway, the car arrived Thursday, I backed it off the truck from the shipping company... The tail lamp light warning for both rear lights came on... of course the car had LCI tail lights so I thought it must have to do with that... Drove the car 20 feet to pull into my driveway and noticed a surge in RPM's and the whole car shook with the surge... turned off A/C and it stopped... Im thinking Ok no issues here, may just be something with A/C pump or pulley... Then the fun really starts... I drove 2 blocks more and the increased emissions check engine light comes on, then low oil light, please add 1 quart immediately. At this point I turned around pulled it back into my driveway and shut it off. Called the sales guy who played dumb with me, and said he had no clue of any issues and then asked if I redlined the car! I was so upset at this point, that I told him I was calling the bank to cancel the loan... He said he would fix it all.. I said no the sale is void, you can sue me but Im cancelling my loan. He agreed to take the car back at this point, and will be picking it up today via transporter. Car had 60 k miles and some 20" DPE's... Car will be for sale again once they get it back... DO NOT BUY IT!

[dantm3]

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthr...ht=silverstone

link from original AD, not this seller selling it... He did the right thing and traded it in...

[X5-User]

Now I am scared to buy any M3 that was traded in

[Amirsm3]

Originally Posted by Palestine

Now I am scared to buy any M3 that was traded in

PPI and checking the maintenance record should weed out a majority of the bad ones.

Don't be scared. Just do your due diligence as an informed buyer.

[Amirsm3]

OP, sorry to hear about your misfortune. Glad it was of no financial burden.

[bmw46033]

I have made the decision to never buy a BMW that is not under the original warranty. I like the peace of mind. If something goes wrong I just take it in.

[dantm3]

Got lucky my loan did not fully fund... They had no choice as my bank basically told them no money coming your way, and now it's a liability as they already shipped the car

[Amirsm3]

Originally Posted by bmw46033

I have made the decision to never buy a BMW that is not under the original warranty. I like the peace of mind. If something goes wrong I just take it in.

Just look at the maintenance record. It's definitely great to buy warrantied BMW's, but that doesn't mean all BMW's outside of the factory warranties are ticking time bombs.

[Sebringjetta]

sorry to hear about this op

[Amirsm3]

Originally Posted by dantm3

Got lucky my loan did not fully fund... They had no choice as my bank basically told them no money coming your way, and now it's a liability as they already shipped the car

Sucks for them :::

[odiesback]

Originally Posted by bmw46033

I have made the decision to never buy a BMW that is not under the original warranty. I like the peace of mind. If something goes wrong I just take it in.

my decision has always been to never buy any used car, period, especially an M.

[gatorfast]

You mentioned that a local BMW dealer inspected the car and changed the oil before taking delivery...what did their report look like?

[rdoctor]

OP, I totally understand your position and if none of these issues presented at the inspection I would be pissed too. However, assuming an inspection was really done...everything you described could be attributed a bad battery and an extremely low fuel level (possibly exacerbated by the slanted shipping position if it came that way). These cars have a long list of often false sensor alerts if the battery is not fully charged and in good shape. Ask me how I know. $30K is a really good price and if you really liked that car otherwise, I would have let the dealership make it right with the agreement that if they couldn't (or wouldn't) you would walk. For that price I would have probably bought some kind of extended motor/driveline insurance policy as well. Just my .02

[s85e90]

And here comes all the posts about never buying or being scared of used cars.

[dantm3]

Originally Posted by s85e90

And here comes all the posts about never buying or being scared of used cars.

But whatever.. I bought a car off here a 2 years ago sight unseen and car showed up perfect.. Its luck of the draw sometimes.. You can sell something u think is perfect, then a week later get a call from the buyer saying the tranny went out.. No way to know

[LarThaL]

Originally Posted by odiesback

my decision has always been to never buy any used car, period, especially an M.

Depends on the car and the mileage. I bought a 1 year old Porsche Cayenne with 8600 miles. No issue. However, a higher end model with 60,000 miles....No way. In fact, if I have to get to that amount of mileage to afford the car, then I can't afford the car.

[Semi-Poor]

Originally Posted by LarThaL

Depends on the car and the mileage. I bought a 1 year old Porsche Cayenne with 8600 miles. No issue. However, a higher end model with 60,000 miles....No way. In fact, if have to get that amount of mileage to afford the car, then I can't afford the car.

[TTG]

Well, honestly, you bought yourself a $30K M3.

You just simply don't get a "deal" with these cars.

If your budget is $30K, I would consider a decent E46 M that i taken care of not a E9X

[whats77inaname]

Originally Posted by odiesback

my decision has always been to never buy any used car, period, especially an M.

And my decision been to *always* buy used cars and let some other person pay full price for a depreciating asset.

Originally Posted by s85e90

And here comes all the posts about never buying or being scared of used cars.

+1 and all that nonsense makes me *smh*. Bought my M3 used, sight unseen, from a dealership in FL. Bought the modded '06 STi sight unseen out of FL, too. No issues with either.

No offense OP, but Austin to Houston is a 2.5 hr drive. I would have made the drive to check it out in person. Add'lly, did you have them get the *EXACT* mileage immediately upon putting it on the transporter and then compare it to when you received it to rule out any transporter shenanigans?

[PhillyNate]

Originally Posted by LarThaL

In fact, if have to get that amount of mileage to afford the car, then I can't afford the car.

Well put

[M3-S65]

Well here is a quoted fact:
A car tends to lose about 45 percent of its value over the first four years of ownership. In other words, new car buyers are paying a huge premium simply because the car is newer — not necessarily better — than a car that’s a year or two older. That’s just bad value.

I bought my car for 53k and the original owner paid 75k....if you test drive it, have it mechanically checked ....everything works out.
If it doesn't you do what the OP did and everything still works out....Never buy new...its just plain financially, stupid unless your going to keep it forever...

[dantm3]

Originally Posted by whats77inaname

And my decision been to *always* buy used cars and let some other person pay full price to a depreciating asset.

+1 and all that nonsense makes me *smh*. Bought my M3 used, sight unseen, from a dealership in FL. Bought the modded '06 STi sight unseen out of FL, too. No issues with either.

No offense OP, but Austin to Houston is a 2.5 hr drive. I would have made the drive to check it out in person. Add'lly, did you have them get the *EXACT* mileage immediately upon putting it on the transporter and then compare it to when you received it to rule out any transporter shenanigans?

Car was on transporter for 3 hours or so.. Doubt anything was done by them.. Like I said, I just think dealer was trying to off load the car.. Basically they lied about 150 point inspection that was done at a bmw dealer.. They sent a report, but it was bs