Buying a car thousands of miles away

[sunny5280]

Originally Posted by xRide

This car is at BMW dealership. Its a e39 530.

Are dealerships such as bmw, audi, lexus, nissan, toyota more reputable than independent dealerships?.....or bottom line is a stealership is a stealership?

BTW tmv, can you post a good pic of your e39. Beautiful car/color.

From what I've read on BMW forums I would have to say no.

[AquilaBMW]

Originally Posted by xRide

This car is at BMW dealership. Its a e39 530.

Are dealerships such as bmw, audi, lexus, nissan, toyota more reputable than independent dealerships?.....or bottom line is a stealership is a stealership?

BTW tmv, can you post a good pic of your e39. Beautiful car/color.

I can say that Monterrey is a pretty wealthy area so I would imagine that dealership deals with people who have expectations of quality. Not that it is a given, but I would feel "safer" getting a warrantied CPO from them. Remember that to be a CPO, they do have to go through the car and document any work done to it to bring it to CPO standard.

And as I mentioned, we could possibly work something out and I go down there to eyeball it for you. I have an E39 as well, so I have a good idea of things to look for on it.

[tmv]

I would have it check out at BMW dealer, or BMW Indy, NOT just a regular mechanic. Must be someone who specialized in bimmers.
BMW specialized shop > BMW dealer > Individual dealer/shop

Originally Posted by xRide

BTW tmv, can you post a good pic of your e39. Beautiful car/color.

Which one?

2001 525i Sport, Anthracite/Gray (will have it for sell too, maybe it fits what you're looking for)


2003 Dinan 540i MSport Topazblue/Black (bought 11/10/13)

[Ricky Bobby]

I bought my 2011 Triumph Thunderbird Storm sight unseen and without a test ride from the original owner who was selling it on ebay in Illinois, he gave me his email and we chatted at length about the bike, he provided 3 pristine references as he said he sells cars and bikes often, and even had experience with a bike shipper.

Easy thing with this transaction was the bike was 1200 miles on it and a year old, either it was dropped or it wasn't or it ran or it didn't. Hard to mess up a transaction on something just broken in, especially with the references, etc. My father in law ran a background check on him just in case though (he's a PI)

We actually did a FaceTime chat (thank you Steve Jobs) where he gave me the walk around on the bike, and a few weeks later I sent him bank check through the mail, and he signed the title and sent the paperwork over to me with the Triumph manuals, keys and spare paperwork.

I called HAULBIKES out of Wisconsin, arranged my pickup date from Illinois, and was able to track progress the whole way to Jersey. Took two weeks as they had to switch trucks at the terminal in Wisconsin halfway through, but arrived just as described, running beautifully. I chose to get the bike shipped because even a one way plane ticket, packing my gear in a suitcase would be as much cost to ride it home as it was to have it shipped.

And I didn't have the risk of thunderstorms, accidents, etc on the ride home


Your methods may vary, and I would have no hesitation buying a used Bimmer across country, but like others have said, definitely try to find a member local! Hell if someone asked me I'd definitely check out an X for a member or take on a test drive and help them out. And definitely get a PPI especially if you don't have someone to look at it for you.


GL!

[xRide]

love both rides. Love the color of the 525.

Im not say "looking" for a new ride more so if i see a good deal on something i like ill probably consider/jump on it.

right now I have two and would sell my subaru for the right one if i think its worth it.

[tmv]

I'll let the 525i go for $6k. Service record from 118k miles, currently at 147k miles. I have receipts for everything. It'd be maintenance free for another 35k-40k miles, except oil changes.

[Daka]

Always a problem to buy sight unseen, no matter the item.
As far as the "dealers", I do not trust the salespeople one bit.
The car needs to be checked by a GOOD indie shop...ask around
Then again different people have varying interpretations of condition.
I would definitely ask if some one n the M/B could eyeball it

[xRide]

Originally Posted by tmv

I'll let the 525i go for $6k. Service record from 118k miles, currently at 147k miles. I have receipts for everything. It'd be maintenance free for another 35k-40k miles, except oil changes.

and its automatic?

[tmv]

Originally Posted by xRide

and its automatic?

It is indeed.