Pagemaster

Hey folks...my first post. I really appreciate all the information here already!

I just put a deposit on a 2008 550i - CPO - 6500 miles, clean carfax, the car was bought and returned to the dealer I am buying it from, pictures look great and the price is reasonable for a car with such low miles ($42.5k). It has the sport package, sport transmission, cold package, & Nav. Feel free to correct me if you think I am wrong on the price. The car is located 160 miles away and I have not yet seen it in person. I am planning to go pick it up next week, but am wondering what steps I should take and what I should be closely looking at to make sure everything is as good as it appears to be. A picture is below.



Thanks in advance!

-jp

Laci535i

Make sure to have the rest of the factory warranty and you are good to go. Test drive is a must! Check the paint to see for any body work.
Otherwise enjoy it.
2009 535i White/Beige interior Premium, Sport package w/paddle shifter, Navigation, etc

4.8is

Good luck with your purchase. I bought a 2008 550 about 2 months ago (with 13K miles) and am very happy with it. I would be sure to give it a very thorough test drive before completing the transaction. Make sure the steering is true and straight with no vibrations; listen for rattles, buzzing and squeaks from both the inside and outside. Check the wheels and tires carefully for curb rash. Even with low miles, these can be issues. The price seems pretty good. I paid about 40K for mine. Is this CPO? If not, how much time is left on the warranty.

Enjoy.

BE

Pagemaster

Thanks for the replies and the advice! I am sure I will need to balance my excitement when I see the car with the need to give the car a critical look. It is a CPO and I think it has about 18 months left on the original warranty, then the CPO. Should I have the dealer put it on a lift to look underneath or is that overkill? Again, the carfax is clean and no accidents have been reported, but I want to be sure. It is comforting to know that I have plenty of warranty left to cover virtually everything that could go wrong.

luigi524td

Is this a BMW Dealer or some other car store? IF BMW ask for a printout of any warranty work and services performed. They may balk but that's only to protect the identity of the original owner(s) - If they are hesitant just ask them to black out the owner's information.

You're only a couple of hours away - I'd want to get eyes on this car or at least have the dealer give you an inspection report. Even BMW CPOs have been known to have spotty quality control work before they deliver the car - and you don't want to have to return in a week or two to have any IOU's done. Remind the dealer that if you have to do that it'll be on their dime. Time is money for most of us!

Found the car - in New York. Services done by time, not miles and the tires were recently replaced (October 2010). There is also a note in the record about a "service contract". If that is a BMW Extended Maintenance Program on the car - it follows the car! That is very handy and would provide 6 yrs / 100K miles of scheduled maintenance. Ask the Service Adviser to print out an options sheet for the car. That will tell what equipment and other options are installed - including BMW Service and Maintenance Options that follow the car.

Good luck - it looks like a great car that was barely driven around Brooklyn for the past two years!

John@Motorcepts

Hey Pagemaster,

This looks like it's in NYC. If you want, we have MANY members from NYC who can help you look at the car and also test drive it before you purchase it. If I have time, I can happily help you go look at the car.

tuffluck

for 42.5 i feel like you could find a local deal just as good. 6,500 miles is super low, but really what's the difference between 6,500 and 35,000? a 2008 has 2 more years on it as far as warranty goes, so unless you're putting a significantly higher amount of miles annually than the average, i wouldn't let the low miles tempt you as much. in other words, you're warranty is going to be the same no matter what the mileage, so if you're not going to hit 50k by the the time the 4 years of warranty expire, don't let the mileage be a huge concern.

damn you're perceptive i read the post again and scanned for context clues and was like, "uh i guess 160 miles away from maryland could be NYC, but it could be like VA beach too...how does he know it's NYC?" then i looked closer, at the pictures

Pagemaster

Wow, Luigi....nice investigative work! ;-) And thanks! The place selling the car is a BMW dealer - you probably knew that though. I saw the service contract entry in the carfax although I guess I was thinking that was the BMW warranty - but I guess not. Will definitely check on that. The dealer has been great and sent me the options list, although it didn't have the service contract on it. It looks like it was purchased after the car, so it may not have been part of the options list. The dealer has been great and said the BMW service records are perfect. I asked for them to be emailed to me, but they said they would show them to me, although they couldn't send them to me because (as you said) it has the previous owner info in it. I am trying to balance my enthusiasm for what looks like a really nice, lightly used car and decent deal with wanting to make sure I cover all the bases and do my due diligence.

Thanks again for your help!

-jp

Pagemaster

Guys, thanks for the replies! Brabus, I am blown away by the offer, thanks! It would be awesome to have another enthusiast's eyes on it other than the couple dozen pictures I have seen. The car is in Brooklyn, so let me know how convenient that would be for you - I worked in NYC for a while and know that Brooklyn is a big place. I won't be able to pick up the car until next weekend (ugh, the wait!) so any time this week would probably be cool.

Tuffluck, I looked quite a bit more locally and haven't been able to find what I was looking for. The one car I found with 20k miles on it, the dealer was asking $50k....silly, I know. I really like the white with brown interior combination. I agree with you on the miles, I was looking at cars with up to about 25k miles for comparison and most of the prices I found were within a thousand of this one, but weren't the color or options I wanted.

Thanks again!

-jp

luigi524td

jp ... I can't disclose my sources to mere mortals ... you know the drill, if i tell ya I have to k_ll ys

I can tell you the satellite readings show no photochromatic or magnetic irregularities of the upper surfaces of the vehicle. The thermal scan was inconclusive because of overhead heat sources. When the vehicle electronics were interrogated all appeared 'normal' considering this is a rudimentary, earth-based mode of conveyance.
Good luck with your purchase ... peace out ...