My First BMW 2002 X5 4.4!!! Got Screwed!!!

[Milsy]

Originally Posted by diyanich

The X is already his,bought as is,so I guess now it's not about poking him because of his decision.I doubt everyone on this board was always wise and took all the precautions all the times.Unfortunately most of bimmers are being dumped as soon as owner starts to suspect a future failure,or already failed on him.
He'll have his own experience with this purchase.So now he's in in need of advise.
Hopefully we'll support him with valuable info.
Am I wrong?

Yeah I agree mate, hope it works out for him.

[joeboch348]

your 1st stop should be to your DMV dealer division on tuesday and find out what your legal rights are. they get off on busting dealers rocks. if you have any recourse, they'll let you know, then you can approach the dealer with a "leg to stand on". good luck. if the dealer wont do anything, maybe we can get the westborough baptist church to picket the lot for being "acceptable of gays"

[sunny5280]

Originally Posted by joeboch348

your 1st stop should be to your DMV dealer division on tuesday and find out what your legal rights are. they get off on busting dealers rocks. if you have any recourse, they'll let you know, then you can approach the dealer with a "leg to stand on". good luck. if the dealer wont do anything, maybe we can get the westborough baptist church to picket the lot for being "acceptable of gays"

The reality is the dealer did nothing wrong and they sold the vehicle "as-is" which means they're under no obligation to repair it. It's not a lemon...it's a vehicle with over 100K miles on it.

He can try to rely on a goodwill repair but it's unlikely the dealer is going to do that given they didn't inspect it themselves despite the fact the check engine light was on. From what the OP said the dealer appears to have been upfront about the condition of the vehicle. Yes the salesman said something that alluded to the fact it was a $300 sensor. And it's likely the OP signed a document stating the documents he signed were the entirety of the sale and there are no oral agreements (which is standard contract law).

To the OP: Take it to a good independent (seems you have already done this) and have them check it out. There are many aspects to the transmission and this problem alone doesn't necessarily mean the entire transmission needs replaced. A good repair facility that specializes in BMW should be able to tell you what is wrong.

Good luck and let us know what happens.

[JCL]

Originally Posted by joeboch348

your 1st stop should be to your DMV dealer division on tuesday and find out what your legal rights are. they get off on busting dealers rocks. if you have any recourse, they'll let you know, then you can approach the dealer with a "leg to stand on". good luck.

Out of interest, I looked up the Utah DMV, and read about car dealers. They have a standard form for bill of sale that they suggest car dealers use. The DMV suggested form has the clause "accepted as delivered" as the default warranty, and note that it is the buyer's responsibility to understand what they are signing. They make a point of saying that if anyone rolled back an odometer, or failed to register title in 15 days, or sold a new lemon or salvage vehicle without so indicating it was salvage, then call them, Otherwise, buyer beware. It seems a clear case of a dealer knowing they had a high mileage used BMW, not wanting to do anything with it, and wholesaling it off, clearly marked "As Is". I don't understand all the comments throughout this thread suggesting the dealer is somehow liable. Sure, the sale rep sounds optimistic about this mythical $300 sensor, but if the sale document makes note of there being no verbal warranties, then it doesn't matter at all.

[m5james]

Originally Posted by jhigbee

I bought it from a well known Dealership in town. They are a Honda dealership but got this car on trade in. I did test drive it and only thing weird was the check engine light. Salesman said it was just a sensor that costs $300.

I signed something saying as is warranty. He said their mechanics didn't even look it over because of the high mileage. They don't certify it. In fact they didn't even register or license the cat. I have to do it on my own. Yes, a lot of red flags. But they kept assuring me it was just a sensor part that would fix the check engine light.

Its in a independant BMW dealer as we speak. Waiting to hear the prognosis. Said 95% of the time its the tranny from what I described.

Hopefully you learned a lesson. You should have taken it to the indy first for a buyers inspection, and this if it passes and you decide to make the purchase, ask them to remove what you paid for the inspection off the total price of the vehicle. I hope you got a good deal on it at least.

[jmweb]

If I was you, I'd have the car towed to the dealer. If they wouldn't do anything, park it right out in front of their business in a legal spot. Let it sit there and put up papers saying this lemon was bought here yesterday and the car died within 5km. it'll get their attention and they WILL act on it, just do it legally.

[m5james]

You guys are all telling him to go stomp his feet and see if he'll get results, but you guys forget...HE is the one who signed for an AS-IS vehicle, nobody made him do anything. Live and learn.

When I bought my 7, it had only 89k on, I DID have a buyers inspection and I bought it because the inspection was fine. Not even 4K later the timing chain guide broke and the motor ate itself alive doing 75mph. Guess who paid 13K to have the engine replaced...not the dealership.

[TowX]

However, the trans worked fine when he test drove it, and when he drove it off the lot. Sure, there was a fault code identified, but the trans had all it's gears on a test drive.
I have 2 recommendations:
1) Call the dealer's General Manager. Not the sale rep, the GM. If the salesman represented the code as a simple $300 part, then as an agent for the dealership there might be something the dealership is responsible for. The sales rep is at best not knowledgable, or at worst a liar. Either way the GM should be the person with whom to talk. But know what you want to ask the GM to do. Personally, I'd want my money back.
2) Call an attorney. If the GM doesn't offer any satisfaction, hire a lawyer. Let the lawyer make the call to the GM.

As a couple of others have suggested, the OP already bought the X5, so now's not the time to criticize. Let's keep offering suggestions.

[sunny5280]

Originally Posted by TowX

However, the trans worked fine when he test drove it, and when he drove it off the lot. Sure, there was a fault code identified, but the trans had all it's gears on a test drive.
I have 2 recommendations:
1) Call the dealer's General Manager. Not the sale rep, the GM. If the salesman represented the code as a simple $300 part, then as an agent for the dealership there might be something the dealership is responsible for. The sales rep is at best not knowledgable, or at worst a liar. Either way the GM should be the person with whom to talk. But know what you want to ask the GM to do. Personally, I'd want my money back.
2) Call an attorney. If the GM doesn't offer any satisfaction, hire a lawyer. Let the lawyer make the call to the GM.

As a couple of others have suggested, the OP already bought the X5, so now's not the time to criticize. Let's keep offering suggestions.

Your suggestions are not useful. This is not going to be an issue the dealer is obligated to cover. Verbal agreements / promises to a written contract are not enforceable, only what's contained within the written contract is.

All he can hope for is for the dealer to perform a goodwill repair. Something I believe to be highly unlikely as it appears they were upfront with him about the condition of the vehicle even going so far as to say they didn't want to bother inspecting it themselves. They may offer a few dollars back but I think even that is unlikely. The vehicle was sold "as-is" and, absent fraud or deception (and IMO, a salesman saying it may be a $300 sensor is not deception in my book), I don't see why so many people expect the dealer to fix this at their cost.

[joeboch348]

here's more free legal advice from an ex used car dealer lol

im in CT so i know the CT law. check your state.

Under Connecticut law pertaining to the sale of used vehicles, a used vehicle dealer must provide a warranty cover all and any necessary repairs for cars less than seven years old purchased for $3,000 or more.

Under this law, cars purchased for $3,000 to $5,000 must be covered by a warranty over the first 30 days or 1,500 miles of ownership--whichever comes first.

Used cars purchased for $5,000 or more are automatically covered for 60 days or 3,000 miles--whichever comes first--under the law.


there is also the DMV. they can request any repairs the dealer has had done to the vehicle, if they had the tranny checked and didnt repair it, that would throw up a red flag. and there is small claims court as a last resort. get a judgement against them.

we havent heard from the owner in a while, what is going on with the car?