Thinking of buying this 03 X5 4.4 (CARFAX/photos included)... help please

[TwinTurboGTR]

I personally don't like to buy a car with a blemish on the CarFAX. While I don't agree with Carfax a lot of times, I.E. Carefax doesn;t always report accidents when they happen. A member here bought a E53 from the dealer. Dealer shows a clean carfax. 9 Months later, he does his own research and gets another carfax on the same car, what do you know, the X5 got popped in the back in an accident before he bought the car.

A PPI will certainly help but to find an accident will be difficult. To give you some general idea of how bad the accident was, ask the PPI'ing dealer to use a paint meter to check the paint. If the meter spikes in the rear quarter panels, I mean the entire back, then you know to walk away.

Best way is to PPI it, test drive it, and then really sit down and think hard. Remember, there are plenty of other X5's out there. This isn't the only one. If you feel yourself getting emotional over the car, you need to step back and remove yourself from the deal and gather yourself together. Remember this is business. You want a reliable car and the dealer wants to make money. As others have said, keep in mind about resale.

For example, if you listed this X5 online and I just happened to see it and ran the CarFax... The minute I see the accident, I wouldn't even write and e-mail reaching out to you. Others might see it as an opportunity to shoot low ball offers on the vehicle knowing they wont be able to sell the X5 for market price and will have to discount it.

In my honest opinion, I would find another one. But if you really have your heart set on it, drive it an review the PPI. Then go back to the dealer and shoot them a number. Remember, NO EMOTIONS! They have a bottom line number and you have the cash. Throw a low number out there and back the number up with the reason why you are offering that price. After you get it all out, just be quiet. Worse case he is going to say no. Just ask open ended questions. Ask him, if he says "no"; "Ok, then if you needed to get rid of of this X5 right now, what would you need to make a deal?" Then just be quiet again. If he throws a number that is reasonable and you can live with it, then pull the trigger.

Again, just my opinion.