Do Americans well maintain their x5??

[goldenbird]

As I DID found through some carfax reports US citizens tend to not well maintain their cars. They mostly do minimal maintenance in case of minimal problems (bulb replacement, fuel cap, wipers etc...). or whenever their car still under warranty. As I've been told by many mechanics & used cars resellers, that they tend to continue driving their car till they start facing big problems & they sell it at this stage. Sure most x5 enthusiast like you, do well maintain their car. To which extend it is true? Do you suggest purchasing used X5 imported from US in general ?? We get them mainly from California

[motordavid]

Impossible to predict the condition of any used car that may turn up in your mkt, imo...
I would think that most BMWs or any brand of car, are simply driven and giving a minimal amount of maintenance attention, especially if they are leased.

Lease is up 3 yrs later, or oe warranty is gone after 4 yrs: the car is turned in, and either CPO'd for resale through a BMW dlr, or off to auction.

A large percentage of US/CDA drivers are simply buying/leasing a car and driving it, with some repair during warranty and maybe an annual oil change.
The interest level of 'cars', maintenance, repair and upkeep in general, is not as high as what one might glean from the enthusiasts on this or any car board, imo.

A 'California car' may or may not be any better than a car from Ohio or Colorado or Alabama or...a thorough PPI is still recommended, imo.
GL, mD

[jgold47]

Carfax is absolutly worthless. This will only tell you if a car has been in a major accident. It will only tell you if the major accident was reported. Ergo, its worthless. I do my own work on all my vehicles, so that wouldnt show up on a carfax. You dig?

Thats also a pretty stupid premise for a question. Do us lazy stupid Americans with our capitalistic ways abuse our cars? Is everyone in the middle east a terrorist? in America, lots of Jews tend to own BMW's. Evil Jews who dont get the oil changed regularly. You should probably stay away.

**PS I live in Detroit and have some good Lebanese friends, so take the above in jest. Unless your a terrorist **


I posed this on another BMW forum regarding the number of previous owners, but I think it holds true for this car as well and makes sense here.

****
the number of owners is irrelevant. Either the car is in good shape or it isnt. These are at best 7 year old cars and at worst 13.

First owner was original. 2nd was CPO. 3rd was to you if your over 27, and 4th is to you if your under 25. 5th is to the HS kid whos pissed he didn't realized that oil changes cost 100 bucks in this car.

I dont care if 90 people owned the car as long as it was well taken care of. The first owner could treat the car like **** and leave it in worse condition than the condition that the second owner sells it in. and so on and so on. I have sold every car I've ever owned in better shape than when I bought it sans miles.

[Ricky Bobby]

outside of this forum, probably not.


Although there are always exceptions to the rule, I always try to buy from an enthusiast if I buy used, or a "car guy" of sorts, someone who cares about their vehicles.

[ndabunka]

Originally Posted by goldenbird

As I DID found through some carfax reports US citizens tend to not well maintain their cars. They mostly do minimal maintenance in case of minimal problems (bulb replacement, fuel cap, wipers etc...). or whenever their car still under warranty. As I've been told by many mechanics & used cars resellers, that they tend to continue driving their car till they start facing big problems & they sell it at this stage. Sure most x5 enthusiast like you, do well maintain their car. To which extend it is true? Do you suggest purchasing used X5 imported from US in general ?? We get them mainly from California

The good news: The reality is that newer cars don't typically need much maintenance. Oil changes & bulb replacements might be the ONLY things needed on the majority of late model US-owned vehicles. On top of that, ALL BMW's INCLUDE dealer maintenance FOR FREE for the first 50K miles so if you are buying a late model BMW (less than 4 years old), the owner would have (most likely) had ALL their service done for free.

The bad news: Wrecked or salvaged cars are often sold overseas & such vehicles USUALLY are nightmares that have NOTHING to do with the WAY their prior owners maintained them. Rather, the problems those vehicles experience is often due to a poor repair job or do not "qualify" for resale here in the United States (e.g. Lemon, flooded, catastrophic mechanical failure, etc). Often, unscrupulous dealers buy such cars here for literally pennies on the dollar and then export them into other countries that do not have a restrictive conditions on resale. This leaves the buyers will the (FALSE) impression that US cars are damaged goods because in some case, that is what they are being sold.

Bottom line: You must work with a reputable importer to your country. Often, that means that they are not the "cheapest" so you may end up thinking that you paid more than someone else may have but in reality, you would get a reliable car. The importer is more important than the actual car.

PS - As others have stated, where the car is imported from is not material. It is VERY common for sellers to buy a car in Georgia & sell it in California. The one thing you WOULD want to stay away from for the mext 6-12 months would be ANY vehicles that were previously registered in the area of this country that was hit by the hurricane called Sandy in the upper NorthEast. A Carfax or even a basic registration check will show if it was from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania or other areas but it won't (yet) show that it might have been totaled by insurance do to having been submerged under 20 feet of water for several month. A LOT of those vehicles are being "dumped" in foreign countries. Some of them can even "appear" to be relatively new cars. I know of one guy who only drove his new car 40 miles & then parked it in his underground garage and then learned that the garage was flooded 30 feet so his vehicle was totaled by his insurance and he got a new one. Unfortunately for someone else, that car will probably end up in some foreign country with no details of such flooding. It may have electrical problems for YEARS that BMW will not help repair. Then again, it may be perfectly fine mechanically but could smell like mildew for years do to the interior being saturated with water for 6 days.

[SlickGT1]

Originally Posted by ndabunka

The good news: The reality is that newer cars don't typically need much maintenance. Oil changes & bulb replacements might be the ONLY things needed on the majority of late model US-owned vehicles. On top of that, ALL BMW's INCLUDE dealer maintenance FOR FREE for the first 50K miles so if you are buying a late model BMW (less than 4 years old), the owner would have (most likely) had ALL their service done for free.

The bad news: Wrecked or salvaged cars are often sold overseas & such vehicles USUALLY are nightmares that have NOTHING to do with the WAY their prior owners maintained them. Rather, the problems those vehicles experience is often due to a poor repair job or do not "qualify" for resale here in the United States (e.g. Lemon, flooded, catastrophic mechanical failure, etc). Often, unscrupulous dealers buy such cars here for literally pennies on the dollar and then export them into other countries that do not have a restrictive conditions on resale. This leaves the buyers will the (FALSE) impression that US cars are damaged goods because in some case, that is what they are being sold.

Bottom line: You must work with a reputable importer to your country. Often, that means that they are not the "cheapest" so you may end up thinking that you paid more than someone else may have but in reality, you would get a reliable car. The importer is more important than the actual car.

PS - As others have stated, where the car is imported from is not material. It is VERY common for sellers to buy a car in Georgia & sell it in California. The one thing you WOULD want to stay away from for the mext 6-12 months would be ANY vehicles that were previously registered in the area of this country that was hit by the hurricane called Sandy in the upper NorthEast. A Carfax or even a basic registration check will show if it was from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania or other areas but it won't (yet) show that it might have been totaled by insurance do to having been submerged under 20 feet of water for several month. A LOT of those vehicles are being "dumped" in foreign countries. Some of them can even "appear" to be relatively new cars. I know of one guy who only drove his new car 40 miles & then parked it in his underground garage and then learned that the garage was flooded 30 feet so his vehicle was totaled by his insurance and he got a new one. Unfortunately for someone else, that car will probably end up in some foreign country with no details of such flooding. It may have electrical problems for YEARS that BMW will not help repair. Then again, it may be perfectly fine mechanically but could smell like mildew for years do to the interior being saturated with water for 6 days.

This is exactly what I wanted to type out. It is not the fault of us Americans maintaining cars, it the fault of YOUR importer buying the cheapest shit they can get their hands on, and selling it to YOU. Do you really think you are buying the cleanest example of an X5? No, you deffinatelly purchased the cheapest car your Importer/Exported found to make the biggest proffit. Chances are, that is exactly the car that would not pass US regulations to be on the road.

I am not even speculating here. I know for fact that is how it works. I have a lot of acquaintances that do this for a living. As a matter of fact, I know of one 2002 4.6is, that was flooded past the roof by Sandy. I know the shop that it is in right now. I know the guys who paid $2k for it. I know that he will make it run. It's next step will the title cleaning on its way to California. Oh you want to hear the craziest part, it is already sold to someone in Jordan. How do you like them apples?

It is not about us Americans screwing you. Because cars like this don't go to Russia for example. There is no market there for it, and the dealers there won't buy it. It is the importers in your country willing to screw you. As a matter of fact, it will cost an importer three times more to send an old car, than a brand new car to Russia. Your year car, is not even allowed there.

So stop being ignorant about us Americans. Most of us lazy ass Americans can also fix most everything on our own cars.

[goldenbird]

Thanks for your info & suggestions guys. The thread title was posted as is to left your attention, not to insult anyone of you (in case some imo considered so). I got American relatives and friends there in your country

Way of living, facilities, laws & regulations differs from a country to another and that's what make us treat our cars differently. We got no leasing here in Lebanon nor extended warranty. We own our cars and that do not mean that we maintain them as it should. Exchanging such info between nations & communities is helpful (come for the info stay for friendship)

Used cars resellers here in Lebanon differs in reputation & prices. But they are mostly cheaters & you can trust almost no one. You got to check thoroughly the car you are willing to purchase & look also to its carfax, as it might help considerably sometimes.

I was willing to purchase an x5 that looks too great & rich in options and packages, but when I checked its carfax it is found to be a wrecked car with salvage title. Many importers here get those junk cars from US and resell it after rebuilding it again. Have a nice evening guys

[TiAgX5]

Originally Posted by jgold47

Carfax is absolutly worthless.........

I always thought the same until I purchased my '03 X5 2.5 years ago. Dealer trade in at Sanford Acura in FL. Previous owner provided a full and detailed service folio to the dealer that was provided to me for review prior to purchase. Dealer ran carfax for me and I found the carfax data and the service folio data were spot on with each other, Carfax even had the details of a parking lot fender bender in '05 that required a respray of the rear bumper (that incident devalued the truck by $200. according to them).

EVERY time the registration was renewed in FL was reflected in the Carfax too.

While no subsitute for a through PPI, Carfax can be a useful tool in knowing detailed info on a vehicle.

[TerminatorX5]

my 2002 4.6iS entered Russia duty free in 2009, and I drove it there for about 10 months before leaving... While there, I had people ask me if I wanted to sell the car but once they learned how much it would be to clear the customs in order to sell/buy it on the local market, it was cheaper for them just to buy a new car from a local dealer...

about 20 years ago i had shipped a car to Ukraine, in hopes to make a buck - since the car was a regularly priced car in the US, and after the shipping there, I could not get anything for the car to come up with a profit, barely enough to cover the expenses... it is natural to get something dirt cheap, like a high miles newer car in the States, "clean" the title and ship it overseas - it is illegal to manipulate the title stateside but once it is outside of US jurisdiction, it is a fair game...

In general, there is a tendency for the US consumer just to consume the products, in this case a car- since it a mass produced commodity, marketed to masses, the masses are not car mechanics (in old days you needed to know something about a car once you got one), they just use the car until the dummy light comes on and says - "change oil", or "change brakes"... state inspections force people to change tires, brakes, other safety related items... but.. the cars are like shoes - once worn out, you just get a nw pair and toss the old one into garbage - granted, cars retain some value, so, you trade it in, or sell it... otherwise - disposable, like a lot of other things ... No wonder the manufacturers do not include fire extinguishers, first aid kits, headlight manual adjustments, now, even the spare tires into the cars - something is wrong, you pick up the phone and somebody comes and helps you... lol... this is not a game of a survivor...

[goldenbird]

SlickGT1.. Where did you see in my question something related to "Americans screw me up". That's a big misunderstanding from your part.

A new law here in Lebanon took place recently. Junk cars are not allowed to enter our territories. Well this will cut off cheating customers by 50%. Let's exchange info, not anything else my friend