Thought it purred like a kitten.. Perhaps not?

[Aslan 0]

Why bother buying a car you know is rubbish?

Unless you know your way around cars like Brent says - it's just not worth it.

Hmmm true.. I'm going to ask for the money back I spent on the inspection. They were obviously aware that it had these problems, hence their reluctance to firstly get the AA check done and their horror at the possibility of a BMWorkshop inspection.

[matt45 1]

their reluctance to firstly get the AA check done and their horror at the possibility of a BMWorkshop inspection.

i would have walked away at this point.

[Aslan 0]

i would have walked away at this point.

It was my first time dealing with a dealer. I didn't buy the vehicle and didn't bend to the pressure not to get it done. So I think I did quite well actually.

[OP6 27]

I think you did well too.

Do not buy this car.

If your deposit was the cost of the AA inspection then I doubt if you will get a refund, but if your deposit was more than that, then you have every right to demand it back.

Good on you for checking with this forum and following everyones advice.

[E36 M 9]

Even if you don't get your money back, think about the positives. You have only lost a few hundered (if that) compared to 8 grand plus. Plus you have learnt something along the way!

[Aslan 0]

Hi everyone, thanks for your replies. They're going to refund my $200.00 deposit. As they should.

[kiwi535 538]

Hi everyone, thanks for your replies. They're going to refund my $200.00 deposit. As they should.

thats good ,you have learned a valuable lesson.The overall condition of a car is ussually a very good indication of its true condition.This is not always true for dealer prepped cars,they know how to make a car look good.Get some paperwork to back up the good looks.This is why a good service history is wanted with BMW,s

[Aslan 0]

Hi everyone!

Okay, so I found another vehicle that I'm interested in. This is from a much nicer and more polite dealer named Kevin at Precision Automobiles.

It is a Black 2000 BMW 330i SE with 198,000km on the clock. It is NZ New with 3 owners. It looked very tidy inside and was a pleasure to test drive. My father gave me a list of things to check on the vehicle. Including the coolant for the right colors, the oil for stickiness, the exhaust for blue smoke and revving to see if it has any problems.

All the checks that I did looked pretty good, it has the full service history until 2008 in the service book and since then it's got stickers on the windscreen.

It all looked very nice so I came to an agreement with the dealer. $9,000 including a grooming and a full tank of fuel and subject to a satisfactory pass at the BMWorkshop (which I might add he was happy to have it checked at, in fact his staff will even drive the vehicle there). So providing that there are no serious problems with the vehicle found at BMWorkshop I'll soon be the happy owner of a BMW 330i SE. I hope it all goes well!

Thanks,

Aslan

[Aslan 0]

Just thought I'd let you all know, I purchased this vehicle and took delivery of it today. I spoke to BMWorkshop who ran me through the issues. They said the car has been well maintained and many of the points raised were things that need to be fixed in the future. The others like the radiator discoloring was not referring to the metal but rather the plastic parts and they thought the vehicle was in good condition for its age.

I took a great drive up to Warkworth from Te Atatu and it was a real pleasure, powerful yet economical too at about 9lt/100kms the way there and back. It took a little getting used to as I haven't really driven a car since 2008 as I've been traveling but it's really intuitive. I love the seats too, they're like a dentist chair (minus the horrifying pain).

Thanks again everyone!

Aslan

[Palazzo 477]

Hope you enjoy it.

[M5V8 337]

gotta love a happy ending

[Gunner 0]

glad your enjoying it. keep us informed on how the repairs go. Hopefully its nothing too major.