63 Mile 4.6is

[BlackE32_SilverE53]

I see BigGar has already responded but I was suprised to see one of the pics of the 03 4.6is was actually on zerochiefs friends photobucket post......

[butundo]

I would be worried about dry rot.

[BigGar]

Originally Posted by Imola R

I can agree with you on points 1, 3 and 4, but definitely not 2.

All cars have problems? I can think of my last half a dozen that were never taken in for a warranty issue before it expired. These were not garage queens, all bought new by me and varied in prices from $22,000 up to the beloved X which was right at $70,000.

Thought I would throw this into the mix .

And I thank you for that

It's hard to say if there would be problems or not. I've done my best with all of them and any flaws or issues that I have noticed were taken care of when the warranty was in effect. Not that one would expect much to happen in the first 100 miles, but the new car flaws, recalls, and any other problem so far, no matter how minute, have been addressed.

I certainly don't think dry rot would be a problem. The belts and hoses get regular flow and heat cycling. I always run the a/c when they're started to get that moving too. Flip all the switches, basically play with everything to check for problems and move things around. Of course, cosmetically, they're far cleaner than the day they left the dealership and there's not a scratch, chip, or flaw on them.

Are they worth it?
I think we've priced them pretty high.
Opinions?
What exactly would you pay?
Don't worry, I'm not the owner and my skin is pretty thick anyway.



Gar

[FSETH]

Originally Posted by Imola R

I can agree with you on points 1, 3 and 4, but definitely not 2.

All cars have problems? I can think of my last half a dozen that were never taken in for a warranty issue before it expired. These were not garage queens, all bought new by me and varied in prices from $22,000 up to the beloved X which was right at $70,000.

Thought I would throw this into the mix .

I have to disagree with this big time. All of the little common known isues with the X5 have not yet come up on this car and when they do, it will be on the owner to fix. Anyone who buys this is essentially buying a car with all of it's mechanical issues in front of it with absolutely no warranty coverage. My X5 went through $7k in warranty repairs from 60,000 -90,000 miles and I am not certain what the original owner had done in warranty repairs before 60,000k.

I also don't really like that the seller says the X was "started and run to operating temperature regularly and then driven a few miles to circulate things". The engine isn't even broken in yet and it has been allowed to sit still and idle for hours. Doesn't sound good to me.

I don't mean any disrespect, but I wouldn't touch this thing unless I had a lot of money I wanted to throw at future repairs. It is a great car, but it is not a collectors car yet and who ever bought it should have actually driven it a little bit.

A quick search of Autotrader revealed these listings;

2003 4.6is with 29,500 miles $25,900
2003 4.6is with 18,700 miles $32,700
2004 4.8is with 21,000 miles $37,500

IMO, you need to drop the price by a minimum of $10,000 or wait for the one perfect person who is willing to spend as much as you are asking for your car. I personally would feel much more comfortable buying a 6 year old car with 30,000 miles on it than one with only 69. At least all of the above listed cars have had their engines broken in and some glitches were probably fixed under warranty.

I also have to ask the question that was brought up earlier. Why in the world would someone buy a car like this, never drive it, spend the money to store it and waste their time starting it and taking it to a dealer for maintenance just to lose their ass on depreciation?

[LeMansX5]

Imagine the viscosity of oil in that engine. Not to mention the carbon.

Engine will need major cleanup.

So he bought these cars just to sell them few years later.

[BigGar]

Originally Posted by LeMansX5

Imagine the viscosity of oil in that engine. Not to mention the carbon.

Engine will need major cleanup.

So he bought these cars just to sell them few years later.

I guess you guys don't really understand my little exercise program.

As far as the "why" goes. Your guess is as good as mine. I just take care of the cars. I stopped torturing myself with that question awhile back.
It ain't my money. . .



Gar

[FSETH]

Originally Posted by BigGar

I guess you guys don't really understand my little exercise program.

As far as the "why" goes. Your guess is as good as mine. I just take care of the cars. I stopped torturing myself with that question awhile back.
It ain't my money. . .



Gar

If you mean exercise program as in letting the engine ide for a while then driving it 5 miles, then I don't get it. I guess someone like vinuneuro or JCL can shed some light on the subject, but I don't see how long periods of idling followed by a couple miles of driving over a 5 year period can be good for an engine that is not fully broken in yet. It takes a few thousand miles of actual driving load to properly break in a new engine, correct?

Can you polease give some details as to who you are selling the cars for? Why the owner bought them and never drove them? Why you are the one maintaining the cars for someone else and so on? If you already explained it, then sorry for asking again. It seems like a strange situation.

[Imola R]

Originally Posted by FSETH

I have to disagree with this big time.

I have to disagree with you big time too. "All cars have problems" is what I was focusing on. Of course they will, a lot will have then when they are long out of warranty.

You mentioned 60,000 - 90,000, this is in an extended warranty time then, which is another valid topic of whether the 03 could get one.

My point was addressing that almost all of my cars don't see warranty work before the original expires.

[FSETH]

Originally Posted by Imola R

I have to disagree with you big time too. "All cars have problems" is what I was focusing on. Of course they will, a lot will have then when they are long out of warranty.

You mentioned 60,000 - 90,000, this is in an extended warranty time then, which is another valid topic of whether the 03 could get one.

My point was addressing that almost all of my cars don't see warranty work before the original expires.

...and guess what, the extended warranty isn't even an option in this case.

Agree to disagree then. Whoever buys this car can look forward to fixing every single issue that goes wrong with it out of their own pocket. Whereas if you bought one with 30k on the clock, some issues will most like have been repaired already and the engine was completely broken in. If you bought an X5 and didn't have any issues repaired under warranty then go buy a lottery ticket because you may be the luckiest person in the world. Most X5 owners have had at least one issues repaired under warrany. Especially the V8s.

I don't understand why anyone would want to buy an X5 with an Alpina tuned engine that had been allowed to idle for longer than the car was actually driven over a 6 year period. The engine was not properly broken in and now it is out of warranty. I don't want that on my hands. If that sounds appealing to you, then this may be your car.

You are right about one thing, all cars will have problems. Lucky for the owner of this one that they will have to personally pay for 100% of them out of pocket.

[BigGar]

Originally Posted by FSETH

If you mean exercise program as in letting the engine ide for a while then driving it 5 miles, then I don't get it. I guess someone like vinuneuro or JCL can shed some light on the subject, but I don't see how long periods of idling followed by a couple miles of driving over a 5 year period can be good for an engine that is not fully broken in yet. It takes a few thousand miles of actual driving load to properly break in a new engine, correct?

Can you polease give some details as to who you are selling the cars for? Why the owner bought them and never drove them? Why you are the one maintaining the cars for someone else and so on? If you already explained it, then sorry for asking again. It seems like a strange situation.

Well, the fact is that these engines probably have 4 or 5 hours of runtime total, over 5 years. How much damage that's going to cause I guess I can't answer. I would like to think, none at all. They're not broken in yet, just like any other car with 65 miles, and are treated as such. RPM is varied, but not exceeded. Breaking the car in will be up to the person who buys the thing to actually drive and have fun with. If there's someone here with a better program to keep a vehicle alive and happy while not using it, let me know what it is. I certainly don't believe letting it sit, not starting it, not driving it, and doing absolutely nothing would have been a better program.
The owner is a (obviously) wealthy individual who likes to buy cars. I'll never be able to answer your second question. Third question. It's what I do. I look after car collections for a few people in the San Diego area. Ultra high end detailing, show car preparation as well as traveling with the cars to shows (many first, second and third place ribbons at Pebble Beach over the last 20 years, a few "best paint" awards from Barry Meguiar, even though he knows I don't use many of his products, many other best in show and first in class awards). I travel for clients too evaluate cars for purchase, check on restorations that are in progress around the country, etc. . . Basically any car related, and sometimes not car related issues my clients need me to take care of. I'm a glorified car detailer