chit chat thread
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I sold my white E90 daily driver last week and just drove 5 hours one way to check out this car yesterday. 2010 facelift 335xi with sport package, cold weather package, premium package, lighting package, heated steering wheel, navigation, bluetooth, etc. Worth at least $13k, but the guy thought it was a 328i. CarFax came back clean, two owner, good maintenance records, etc.
https://minneapolis.craigslist.org/ank/ctd/d/2010-bmw-3-series-awd-335i/6285821097.html
After talking to some middle Eastern guy on the phone 7 times, I put down a $200 deposit for him to hold the car for me. I explained that I wasn't local and would need to take a day off of work to look at the car. I asked questions like, "does the car smoke or leak anything, does it have any problems, any warning lights, any major blemishes, etc." He assured me that the car was perfect. Again, I reiterated that I'm very familiar with these cars and don't mind fixing things, but didn't want to make the long drive to find surprises. As long as he was up front with me and the car was in decent shape, I planned on buying it.
I'm sure you already have an idea of where this is going. I had a friend go with me yesterday and took his gas guzzling truck (our only option). Upon arrival, I immediately realized why the pictures were taken at dusk. The car didn't look nearly as good as the pictures, but I was willing to work with it. It had that stupid hazy vinyl protection on the hood, fenders, bumper, and door edges. Noticed gouged rotors and little-to-no life left on the pads right away. Conveniently left out of the pictures, but again, I was willing to work with it for the price. Got the keys and popped the hood. Oil cap was laying on the top of the engine and the floating coolant level indicator was missing. Still willing to buy the car.
Started it up and was greeted with a brake fluid warning light, headlamp and tail lamp bulb errors. Also heard a loud squealing from under the hood, appeared to be the serpentine belt and idler pulley. I was still okay with buying the car at this point, but was going to negotiate at his "I'm really firm at $8800" price. Took it for a test drive and after it had fully warmed up, it was billowing smoke out of the tail pipes. At this point I was pissed. I took a vacation day, put a deposit down, paid $150 in gas, and wasted 10 hours of driving. I went back in and told him what I found. He acted like it was all normal and that he would have it fixed or drop the price to $7500 if I bought it today. I politely declined. It's well worth that if someone had the shady intention of flipping it. I said we needed to get back on the road home and I mentioned the deposit, but knew it wasn't refundable. He apologized and went to refund my deposit, but ended up charging me for it again. I noticed on the receipt and he apologized again and refunded me the whole thing.
End of story, I wouldn't recommend buying this car.
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Was it in Illinois? I've always had bad luck looking at cars in Illinois. You didn't mention tolls, so I'm guessing not...
Judging by the Craigslist URL, it looks like Minneapolis. Surely there are more 335xi sedans listed in the cities, so you could have optimized your trip by finding more listings in the area on autotrader or something. Minneapolis is a great market for finding used BMWs.
- 2011 335xi Coupe Black Sapphire Metallic (e92/N55/ZPP/ZCW)
- 2011 335xi Coupe Deep Sea Blue Metallic(e92/N55/ZPP/ZCW)
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+1 for negative personal experiences with Illinois cars. (Ol' Smokey the smoke gray X3) The guy that bought my last van was from rural/Peoria-ish Illinois and said "I live in Illinois and I always come to Wisconsin to buy cars".
LOL - I've actually had good experiences buying Illinois BMWs - both my blue and my black 335xi coupes came from Schaumberg, and both run great.
The black one had 53k miles, and now 178k four years later. Might be because they're 2011MY with the N55 engine. The blue one I bought with 65k now has 67k two months later. I'm saving that one for when my daughter takes over the black one.
- 2011 335xi Coupe Black Sapphire Metallic (e92/N55/ZPP/ZCW)
- 2011 335xi Coupe Deep Sea Blue Metallic(e92/N55/ZPP/ZCW)
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Judging by the Craigslist URL, it looks like Minneapolis. Surely there are more 335xi sedans listed in the cities, so you could have optimized your trip by finding more listings in the area on autotrader or something. Minneapolis is a great market for finding used BMWs.
I could've, but we were strapped for time and I had a cashiers check printed in that dealership's name. I mostly wanted it for the price, but not with all the problems.
I've had good luck with Chicago area cars, this was my first time going west. Schaumberg, Illinois is a pretty nice area, I would imagine that most people take care of their cars there. Back to the drawing board for me...
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I could've, but we were strapped for time and I had a cashiers check printed in that dealership's name. I mostly wanted it for the price, but not with all the problems.
I've had good luck with Chicago area cars, this was my first time going west. Schaumberg, Illinois is a pretty nice area, I would imagine that most people take care of their cars there. Back to the drawing board for me...
What exactly are you looking for? Do you want to stick with N54 2010 MYs? Color? X-drive? Coupe or sedan? Max miles? Spend?
- 2011 335xi Coupe Black Sapphire Metallic (e92/N55/ZPP/ZCW)
- 2011 335xi Coupe Deep Sea Blue Metallic(e92/N55/ZPP/ZCW)
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What exactly are you looking for? Do you want to stick with N54 2010 MYs? Color? X-drive? Coupe or sedan? Max miles? Spend?
Funny, I just created this thread 20 minutes ago. Should answer all of your questions.
http://www.wibimmers.com/board/index.php?/topic/5010-wanted-a-bmw-for-under-8k/
Don't care if it's an N54 or not. Exterior color doesn't matter to me that much, but would like to stay away from red. Sedan or coupe is fine.
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Funny, I just created this thread 20 minutes ago. Should answer all of your questions.
http://www.wibimmers.com/board/index.php?/topic/5010-wanted-a-bmw-for-under-8k/
Don't care if it's an N54 or not. Exterior color doesn't matter to me that much, but would like to stay away from red. Sedan or coupe is fine.
Color doesn't matter? How about Mary Kay pink, or metallic purple? LOL
- 2011 335xi Coupe Black Sapphire Metallic (e92/N55/ZPP/ZCW)
- 2011 335xi Coupe Deep Sea Blue Metallic(e92/N55/ZPP/ZCW)
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Color doesn't matter? How about Mary Kay pink, or metallic purple? LOL
Lol - I'll take it for the right price
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LOL - I've actually had good experiences buying Illinois BMWs - both my blue and my black 335xi coupes came from Schaumberg, and both run great.
The black one had 53k miles, and now 178k four years later. Might be because they're 2011MY with the N55 engine. The blue one I bought with 65k now has 67k two months later. I'm saving that one for when my daughter takes over the black one.
I could've, but we were strapped for time and I had a cashiers check printed in that dealership's name. I mostly wanted it for the price, but not with all the problems.
I've had good luck with Chicago area cars, this was my first time going west. Schaumberg, Illinois is a pretty nice area, I would imagine that most people take care of their cars there. Back to the drawing board for me...
Similar for me in Illinois. I've had more good luck buying cars down there than in Wisconsin. The last cars I bought or looked at in Wisconsin had "hidden" issues where as my 335i that I bought in Illinois was really as described and was a great price.
Sorry to hear you had such a shitty experience. Have you been hitting cars.com and autotrader.com? I've had a lot of luck using those sites.
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Anybody talk to Zach recently? He's ignoring me and he owes me money from a decal order I made him. Everyone get on his ass! Okthanksbye
Sent from my SM-G930R4 using Tapatalk
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Not sure what modes of communication you're using, but I've always had luck reaching him on Facebook Messenger.
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