Considering purchase of x5

[MarcMcc]

I am looking at two X5s today, both are used. I wanted to get some insight about pricing and other considerations I may not have thought of. I am leaning towards the 2006 just because of the mileage and the terms of the warranty. I just don't know how concerned I should be about the CarFacts issue/ "Buyback"? Thanks in advance for your help.

1: 05 X5 3.0i Sport Premium
37,820 - Black on Black

Manufacture Warranty expired so I would need to purchase a 3rd party warranty

Initial ask price is $24,998 - Dealer is Perillo BMW in Chicago
Kato is the name of the person I have been dealing with

The tax for the purchase of the car is between $1000-$1250

2: 2006 X5 3.0i Sport Premium
23,829 - Silver w/ black interior

Manufacture Warranty is good through 4/10 so I would not need to purchase a 3rd party warranty until next year

Initial ask price is $25,999 - Dealer is Perillo BMW in Chicago
The reason the price is so low with the miles according to the dealer is that it was a "buy back" from a customer in CA. Apparently the brake light switch was faulty and the car was returned. As a result they say the CarFacts sheet is not clean. Dealer said they fixed the problem and guarantee the car is in good condition now

The tax for the purchase of the car is between $1000-$1250

[BGM]

Well if you aren't already aware BMW is offering 0.90% financing on 2006 models if you are going that route. Second, there is the CPO warranty on them that is 6yrs/100K miles from when it went into service---so the '06 you would probably have about 3 years of coverage. Now if you are wanting a warranty past that there's been a couple of threads on here about warranty companies you can just do a search.

As far as which one I would go with the '06 because of the extra year of CPO and the lower miles for basically the same price (and of course try to get them to come down a bit on it). The "buyback" on Carfax I'm not sure what that entails but maybe the dealer is right---I would research yourself or someone else on here might know more.

[MarcMcc]

I don't know if the car has been stamped with the CPO tag. A couple of the dealers around Chicago have said that they don't stamp CPO because it automatically jacks price $2300. They say because people living in the city don't drive as much, they leave off CPO so 3rd party warranties afford consumer more flexibility. I can't tell if that is BS or fact. However, without CPO it looks like the .9 is not available either. Chicago has been charging 5.9% for financing.

Thanks for your help.

[DoubleA]

Dont put all your trust in CarFax, many informations may have not been reported, how do I l know that ? Let me tell you a story: Back in sept 08, I found what seem to be a nice and clean 2k2 BMW M5 in Chicago, after talking few day with the salesman, he started to make a subtil pressure so I give a deposit saying few guys where very interested in the car, blah blah blah... so I first check the record with CarFax and the title looked very clean, 3 owners, car always maintain at the dealer and only 51k miles on the odometer, the price was very attractive. After doing much research I called the sales man and agree to pay the car, but my main condition being that the car must pass the inspection to an independent BMW dealer otherwise they would have to refund me no question asked, all this done in writing. I wont mention the car wholesaler but it's a big one in Chicago close to the airport. Basically I paid to have someone to bring the car to a BMW dealers in Chicago, the dealer performed the inspection and called me, and first thing I know is this car had been in crash and badly repaired, there was no muffler, some part where put in a wrong way and the list goes on. Visually & esthetically speaking the car was very clean, it's when they looked underneath that they found the crap, at that point it was obvious that I would recall the sales.

Apparently the car wholesaler got the car in a trade, they claimed they where not aware and such. It ended up costing me 4000$, a net lost because of CDN - US currency exchange, 2 x air ticket that couldn't be refund and the 200$ inspection.

That day I've learned some lessons: Dont give your trust to someone you dont know, they have to earn your trust, dont put all your trust in the CarFax report, then if it's to good to be true, run and dont touch that even with a 30 foot perch. Lol

If you are not mechanically incline bring one of your buddy that is, so you can visually inspect the car and test drive it. Checking with CarFax is a good thing but dont rely on the sole report, knowing that an accident may have not been reported, I know the law in US & Canada say that you have to report any accident, but people are ready to sell their kids for 100$ so Imagine what they can do for 25 000$.

Have the seller to agree that the car must pass an inspection by an independent BMW dealer unless you buy directly from a BMW dealer.

Dont get me wrong there are many very good deal out there but finding the right one require that you do your homework meticulously.

BTW: I ended up buying a 2004 X5 4.4i from a private seller and got a very good deal since the guys had to sell the truck and needed the money to support his family after he and his wife lost their jobs. I paid close to 10 000$ cheaper than the real local market value. I've searched over 100's of truck and found this one like 20 minutes after they had place an ad in a local internet classified, I called the guys and went right away to see it, test drove it, inspect it and I did the purchase directly with their bank. This is the best car deal I have ever made in my life.

[BGM]

Originally Posted by MarcMcc

I don't know if the car has been stamped with the CPO tag. A couple of the dealers around Chicago have said that they don't stamp CPO because it automatically jacks price $2300. They say because people living in the city don't drive as much, they leave off CPO so 3rd party warranties afford consumer more flexibility. I can't tell if that is BS or fact. However, without CPO it looks like the .9 is not available either. Chicago has been charging 5.9% for financing.

Thanks for your help.

If it's not a CPO then go to a suburban dealer if that's the case---or out of the area for that matter. There are plenty of CPO '06s out there-- you can go to BMW's website, cars.com or autotrader.com and search by Certified. Why pay 5.9% when you can pay 0.9% and why deal with an after market warranty company when you can deal directly with BMW on it. Just my $.02.