fast

1)- I personally like to purchase one owner,low mileage (< 20K miles) cars with some sort of warranty left on the car.

2)-Always buy from a reputable car dealer.Now-a-days any one can go to an auction and pick up a car and put it up for a sale. Most of the times,these cars have issues whether it's cosmetic or mechanical.

3)-Before you drive or fly to the dealer to check out the car,you want to make sure the car is what it's described and is what you want.

Verifying the Mechanicals:

The first thing you want to do is to make sure the car has been serviced regularly.Have the selling dealer run you a service history on the car.If it's an independent dealer who won't/don't get you that informtion,then call the nearest BMW service dept and have them run that report for you. You can pay them few dollars ($15-$25) just for getting that info or have that done the first thing when the car goes for a PPI. I nearly bought a one owner pristine '06 330i with 24,000 miles from an independent dealer in OH until the local BMW service dept read the service history to me. I was shocked to hear that the car had messed up suspension where both front shocks were bent and 3 wheels/tires were damaged too and all that with out any cosmetic damage. Service history is a must on any used car.

Pre-Purchase Inspection:

If you ask me,a PPI at a brand name dealership like BMW/Mercedes/Porsche is a waste of time and money. If possible have an enthusiast shop do a PPI for you as they know a lot more about cars then any dealership out there. Who ever does the PPI,always have the service dept give you the check list of what's been verified on the car as later on if you do have issues,you can call the dealer.
Make sure they comment on Electronics,seats,wheels/tires,brakes and if a performance car then compression/leakdown numbers.

Verfiying the Cosmetics

To most people it's the selling price of the car that matters and not the paint work. Yes fender bender can happen but i would rather buy a car that has not had any paint work at all.All dealers including BMW/Mercedes/Lexus etc etc will never disclose you the re-painted panels so you have to do the homework yourself. I don't care how experienced the used car sales mangaer is or how charming/friendly/reassuring they are or how good the body shop owner is,always have the car checked out by the paint meter,period. Most dealers have the paint meter and if they tell you they don't,then they know that the car has issues. For out of state purchases,have the dealer take the car to a body shop and email you the paint meter readings with the Vin number of the car. If they don't do it then forget about the car.

4)- Try to do the correspondence via email so that you have the paper trail as to what has been discussed about the car.I know it's hard to do it as we just want to call and get the deal done but trust me this correspondence will go a long way. I personally ask all the important questions like,history,ownership,any evidence of paint work/accidents/paint meter readings via email for the sake of records.

5)-Ask the dealer about the source of acquiring the car.If the car was bought at an auction,ask them to send you the auction disclosure report as it would tell you if the car has had any issues or not. Don't forget the auction companies by law have to disclose to the bidder as to what's wrong with the car. Painted panels,accidents,mechanical issues,dings and all that has to be disclosed. Request to look at the documents. There is no reason for the dealership not to share that information with you.

6)-Carfax/Autocheck: Make sure you run both reports on the car but don't forget clean history doesn't mean the car has not had any accidents. The BMW (White CPO '06 with 34K )at Direct Off Lease in Florida had clean reports.

7)-Leaving a Deposit Car dealers especially independent one's will make you leave a deposit as that's their way of making you commit to the purchase. I am fighting a $1000 deposit with a this shady dealership in Florida called ( Direct Off lease,inc) for the same reason. They reassured me about the paint work,never sent me the auction report and made me fly 900 miles to pick up the car. One glance at the car and i knew the car had a painted door not to mention the missing vin tag from the trunk. The owner has been buying and selling cars for 25 years especially BMW's and never knew (roll eyes) that BMW's always have vin tag on the trunk. So buyer be aware.
Never pay the deposit by PayPal as they won't do a shit to get you your money back. Ask me how i know that ?

8)-Please don't pay much attention to what other people tell you what they paid for their cars. Their are several variances like,condition/service history/options/geographical location/warranty to name few that can change the price of a car. The independent dealers would say they have put the new tires but they are probably General Exclaim/Kumho tires ($300) vs brand name at a good dealership.

In net shell this is how i would pursue a used car especially an out of state car.

a)-Email about the ownership/history/accident/paint work and the over all condition of the car on a scale of 1-10.
b)-Get them to email you the pictures/service history/option list and the paint meter reading on the car to you.
c)-Schedule a PPI pref at an enthusiast dealership with them emailing you the checklist of what was checked and all that.
d)-Leave a refundable deposit with a clause that if you didn't purchase the car that you will get the money back. Pay it via a CC and have this in writing.
e)-I don't care how far and who has the car,try to look at the car before you actually pay the money. Flights are pretty cheap now-a-days and always get a return ticket so that if the car doesn't woek out,you don't feel pressurized in compromising the purchase.
f)-Remeber car dealers are just car deealers and for the most part they have no values at all. I don't care how big the dealership is,how charn=ming and reassuring they are,once the car is sold,you are pretty much on your own. So do your home work before you purchase the car and never ever get too excited when you do find your car until the deal is done.
g)- I have always said" Pay more up front and drive a nice well maintained no story car or pay less upfront and have issues later"

I will try to add more stuff as i recall, but in the mean time i hope i am able to help the entusiast community from my experiences. This post is for informational purposes only and please feel free to ad to this list.

SmG-Deuce

Helpful post !!! Hope you get your money back

lopealle

good info