perfect sounds good..

i'm doing the test drive this evening and i'll make sure to report back to everyone. you guys are always super HELPFUL as always. i came off a 07 335i sedan and have heard many great things about the e60's so i wanted to make sure this would be a good purchase.

 

Carfax is crap! Sorry guys. Fact is they aren't 100%. They are very limited to their information and if your car is in an accident it seems Carfax will just slap a Frame/Structural incident to your vin. I read somewhere a Florida lawyer in did a study on Carfax - based in his research he found Carfax reports to be only 60% accurate. Can you tell I'm a little bit bitter at Carfax? My special situation is my wifes 330i was in an accident that required the door and corner panel to be replaced. When dealing with BMW they said there was no frame damage! Yet Carfax said there was frame damage and stopped the sale of my 330i in it's tracks. Unfortunately it would seem Carfax is like our US credit agencies - once something is filed on your report it takes an act of God for to removed

If you research you will find some cases where cars came to a buyer with a clean record, but after inspection had unreported frame damage. This could be for many reasons, such as the body shop never reported it, or possibly it was filed under the incorrect vin, which also happens.

I find it hard to use Carfax anymore. While most cases are spot on I fear there's a good, good, good margin for error within their reports, or lack their of. The only way to be sure is to have it thoroughly inspected.


Just my rant, sorry for the hijack!

-Jay

 

Interesting topic - so what DOES get reported in Carfax?

If you have a fender bender but dont have a police report, does carfax know of the accident via the insurance or bodyshop? I have heard that carfax only scans public records so unless there is a sale, police report or any other public record, carfax wouldnt show it.

any inputs?

 

When buying a car, I just use carfax as a bargaining tool and to see the previous owners, whether it was original a lease/fleet vehicle, etc. As far as damage or accidents reported on the car fax, I could honestly care less as it is a MUST to have the car thoroughly inspected by a reputable mechanic before purchasing it. The $100-$300 spent on the PPI is probably the most crucial step in buying your car. That's the real 'carfax' report.

As far as bodyshops reporting damage, I had a minor fender bender (me and a wall) on my previous car and had replaced some parts at local auto shops and nothing got reported. The carfax is squeaky clean. Of course I disclosed the damage verified by mechanics and provided proof of repairs at the time of sale but this shows how carfax is generally pointless except to see major issues or use to bargain down prices.

Test drive it and have it inspected. If everything looks A-ok, bargain that baby, close the deal, then drive it and love it!

 

Agreed, but put yourself on the other side - be the seller who's report is jacked. That sort of puts you in a very awkward potions since you don't have a leg to stand, not to mention it makes you look like someone who's trying to pull a fast one on the buyer. Sure there's the PPI, but I honestly don't think many people think of this. We've been beat to ask for this highly reputable Carfax report, which really isn't reputable at all. Well in most cases it is, but now we're talking percentiles and risk if the Carfax report is the only deciding factor.

 

I hear ya. This is what would annoy me if I was trying to sell a car with some carfax incident records. A potential buyer would come flashing the carfax report at me like it's one of the 5 Willy Wonka golden tickets and keeps arguing with me over what it says. For some reason America likes being lazy and relying 100% on these types of quick and easy reports instead of doing actual research about the car model in general and the specific car for sale.

I've had potential buyers come along insisting I had a paint job done or arguing with me over the specs of my car.

Buyer: Does your M3 have the sports package?
Me (confused look): No it doesn't, none of them do.
Buyer: No there is a sports package for the M3, my buddy has one with it. Also, my old 330ci had it, and it's awesome. Sucks that yours doesn't, I really wanted to find one with the sports package. I'll have to drop my offer by $2,000 to compensate for your car lacking it.
Me: Good luck, if you find one, let me know. I have a feeling you'll be searching for a long time. Oh and don't trip over your big head filled with rocks when you leave my house. Thanks.

Ok I don't know how I got that off topic or where this came from, but it's about time to leave from work so I'm probably exhausted haha. Rant over!

 

quick question? i know having a mechanic look at the vehicle probably the best thing to do prior to the sale but to clarify. should a hire a mechanic to schedule something with the dealer and come straight there to go through the inspections at the dealership? the dealership said i would have 3 days after the sale to inspect the car if needed in case i wanted to take it to a mechanic after the sale.

the last 3 cars i've owned have been new so i havent gone through this process with a used car yet so i apologize if some of the questions sound dumb.

 

Before signing or buying anything, I would have the car inspected. While most dealers SAY they will allow a "return" within 3 days, this is more of a headache than is needed should the car have significant damage. Hell, the dealer might even make you trade the car in and lose money should you not be satisfied. Not a good road to travel down.

Talk to your salesman, or the sales manager. Have them understand your concern and your right to inspect the car. Tell the dealership people work out a time that is good for them to have a lift available for the person to inspect the car. If they give you any resistance to this sort of request, I would not buy from them.

In summary, never sign on the dotted line for ANY product until your concerns about its quality have been fully satisfied. Especially a car.

 

hello again everyone -

so i had a chance to finally test the drive the car today. i can honestly say the car drives like a champ, no rattles, and everything is working electronically. i amost want to say it drive smoother than my previous 335i but then again i haven't driven a BMW since October so it could be that new feeling again.

my sales rep was very patient and let me look over the car as much as i wanted with the exterior and from my naked eye i could't tell if any of the paint was off. so i was able to contact 2 body shops that my local BMW dealership works with and 1 mechanic agreed to visit the dealership for me tomorrow to do a quick inspection of the car.

(now correct me if i'm wrong but the first two mechanics stated they needed me to bring the vehicle into their shop in order to really double check all of the frame work on the car. i told them that the dealership wouldn't be willing to do that because they wouldn't have any ideas what goes on after the car leaves the dealership)

but the rep that is coming to the dealership tomorrow said he would be willing to do a visual inspection for me, not sure if this would be sufficient as recommended by the forum members. so i would definitely love some feedback on this topic.

now if everything goes well then we'll start with pricing. here goes the details

2007 530i (bought in april 2006, 1 owner that financed
54,000 miles
MSRP: $24,900

i am planning to offer $22,000-22,5000 at most due to the accident report with carfax, car is out of factory warranty, the m tech bumpers were not the original bumpers that came with the car, and bottom line with this economy MSRP listed cars are out of the question. is asking $2500 off listed price too much??

to owners that recently purchased their e60's, what are your dealerships giving you off on your price talks?
SORRY for the long response but everyone has been so helpful, i wanted to give everyone an update.