Quote:
Originally Posted by Hoppyumr
I would personally opt for a professional PPI (pre-purchase inspection), especially on a car that has had previous damage.
I looked at one local to me that I found out had minor damage. Thinking I’d consider if it was really minor damage that was repaired right, when test drove it I took it to my body shop that has done top notch work for me in the past and one of the techs and I spent about an hour looking thru it only to find it wasn’t 100% minor repairs made. The whole drivers side had been damaged; we found a bad weld on the front fenders rear lower mounting bracket that was rusting and had already broken loose, and it appeared the door had been replaced or something as we found the cavity wax that keeps the welds from corroding was missing from the door, the doors paint job along with all of the other paint wasn’t done well at all (the tech showed me some of their repairs where they were able to match very closely the paint texture from the factory and not leave a car with multiple textures and buffing swirl marks, the rocker panel wasn’t secured properly, and the rear quarter had been repainted. Otherwise, the car seemed great and to be honest these things aren’t easy to spot without staring at things for a while. Look for bolts that have been removed from body panels, look at fender mounting brackets, look underneath, etc. feel the paint, look at the paint from all angles up closely. Bright a bright flashlight. Assume someone is trying to pull the wool over your eyes; if the cars problems are why they are selling it, do you really want to inherit those problems?
I passed on the one local to me and instead bought one a week ago from a great guy in the Sacramento area. As for the PPI, I had it inspected before I hopped my flight, and knew what I was getting into.
Don’t buy long distance without someone you trust or a trusted shop going thru it bit by bit and be super picky about every little rock chip or scratch; if the seller dens aggravates our doesn’t want to work with you on these things then it’s time to walk away - there is no “good price” makes up for a bad deal. Read on other threads about people buying cars long distance only to find out the bought junk.
Start reading this thread, then go to page 10 and you will be blown away what dealers will do...
https://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1780097 |
Thanks for the advice! I had it PPI and no issues besides a couple scuffs in the front, tiny dent passenger rear door and some paint on driver side. The shop specializes in BMW, and guy said he’d buy it if it were him. Sent me a couple pictures and we were on the phone a lot. He said he didn’t trust dealers too.