Bought USED-long list of prev. repairs discovered!

[bwilden]

I bought my 06 X5 in July of 2006 with about 4500 miles on it from DeSimone BMW in MArlton, NJ. Today I needed service and used another local dealership because DeSimone was booked. When they pulled the service record from my key, I saw a pretty long list of previous repairs. It consisted of the following:

Coil Spring Cassette incorrect connection
bluetooth connection perm. malf.
transmitter/receiver internal equip. defect
"core credits Automatic via IWS Mt. Olive PDC Valid for repair dates from 12/18/97" TWICE
non-repair special goodwill electrical system (tread act) TWICE
GPS antenna perm. malf.
transmitter-receiver internal equip. defect
BMW retailer trade assist - power train engine, trans, differential (tread act)
door module for interior lighting and door lock heating permanent malfuntion
THESE all occurred between 12/30/2005 and June 16, 2006 with between 3 and 3512 miles on the car. I bought with 4k+. Today I had to have the NAD reprogrammed because the radio and phone electronics were corrupted.

Can anyone tell me if I have a lemon, or translate the above? When we bought we asked why the car was traded in after only 6 months. We were told that the owner wanted a car, not an SUV. NOW< I gotta wonder if BMW made the owner a deal because of all the service in the first 6 months!!!

Do I have any issues here or not? I am in the process of possibly selling/trading the vehicle in and believe the dealer may have low-balled me on my trade because of these issues, which I was unaware of prior to today. They offered me $31000 trade in for the X with 25850 miles in perfect condition! Premium/cold weather/rear climate control package, no GPS.....DeSimone has almost the same exact vehicle (2006) on sale now for $47k.....

[DaveNW]

You're talking wholesale trade-in value vs. retail selling price. Low vs. high. There often is a large difference in the numbers. So the low-ball offer you received may only be business-as-usual, and not a direct reflection on your specific car. If you want to compare, shop it around to different dealers (not all of them BMW dealers) and see what they'll offer you for it. Check the KBB or NADA pages for comparable values. Chances are you'll come in about the same price regardless of who sees it.

My understanding of what qualifies a vehicle as a lemon is having to have the same thing replaced more than twice in a reasonably short period of time. You have a couple of things on your list that we repaired twice, but I'm not sure exactly what that all means. Maybe they weren't fixed right the first time? Were all the repairs done by the smae dealership? Some techs are bound to be better skilled than others, so maybe the second go-round was needed to finish what the first one started. You might ask your dealer to explain those terms to you. As vehicle owner, I'd think you'd have the right to know.

And I'd recommend running a Carfax on your vehicle, just to get a feel for what may turn up. There may be other issues you don't know about.

Good luck,
Dave

[tjcin1]

Sorry to hear of your suprises. Don't know if you have a lemon, but I just wanted to throw my in experience with DeSimone. My wife and I just looked at a 2004 CPO Kalahari Beige X5 at their store. To anyone who reads this and has never been there, it's quite a beautiful dealership. We were treated great by the salesman and his manager. But someone has to pay for the marble floors and the classical music and the bathrooms fit for royalty. They could get no closer than $6500 more than Kelley Blue Book. We ended up at BMW of Atlantic City, which where my brother in law is a Honda Tech. There is also a Honda store under the same roof. BMW of AC is not as fancy, but my brother in law tells me they have some great BMW techs. He told me that when they CPO a car they really perform the items on the checklist, not just put a sticker in the window. If you have problems with a service department and are near BMW of AC, give them a crack. Just my 2cents. Tim

[X5Flyboy]

IMHO - look for the small BMW dealerships - less overhead, better deals - So far the best I've run across is in Idaho Falls, ID - reasonable rates, discount on parts, a really GOOD mechanic (vs the 7 trainees at the local SC dealer) - everyone else is a '4' to their '5'

[bwilden]

thanks for the input guys! Tim, thanks for the info on the AC dealership. Not too close for me, but I'll keep it in mind.....Are you looking for a black 06 X5 3.0...I've got a pretty decent deal...

[tjcin1]

No thanks, I just bought an 06 CPO X5 from BMW of AC. This is my first BMW and I'm very impressed. Good luck selling yours. Tim