BMWAUC - Buying Unseen?

NeilMick

NeilMick

NeilMick

Associate
Joined
30 May 2003
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Location
UK
Hi,

So the car meeting my exact specification requirements has come up on the BMWAUC system, however it is approxmiately 4 and a half hours away which means I won't be able to look at until the weekend. As it's exactly the spec I want I am deliberating whether to put a deposit down with the car unseen.

In an ideal world I would see the car in the flesh before purchase however I don't want to miss out on it, obviously there are still risks involved by not doing this however surely being a BMW approved car most of these risks would be minimized to to a) being a trade seller and b) having the 12 months warranty on the car.

Thoughts?

Neil
 
Have you driven another example of the car already so you know exactly what you're buying?

Personally if I wanted the car that badly I'd stick a deposit down for them to hold it.
 
I did this with my current Alfa, the one i liked was down in Nottingham. I spoke to the dealer and got him to go round the car pointing out any issues and i did the same with mine i was planning on PXing. He gave me a price based on my description and we agreed on a final price.

I paid a deposit which he agreed to refund if i was unhappy with anything he'd mentioned. Turned up a week later, had a nice little chat and drove off happy :)
 
Have driven 3 other examples none of which really met the spec I was looking for. I would happily place a deposit on the premise that I would buy it as long as it was refundable, I guess as long as I have it in writing that it would be then it's ok.

Have read some horror stories of people not getting their money back! :eek:
 
A friend of mine was buying a 6 series from a distant BMW dealer. They offered and provided a video tour and pitch of the car.
 
I have done this three times now with BMW main dealers (Once years ago for my mother, once for me and once last month for the GF). It generally works but for the last two I did there were undescribed areas on the car which they didn't mention despite being specifically asked and assuring me of the condition of the cars.

They knew very well I wouldn't walk over a minor scratch or something which had I been local I'd have been able to negotiate into the deal - so they get left and both times I've taken the cars anyway, a little dissapointed at the way it went.

Most recent one was particularly annoying - car had just 3k miles on it and was described to me as being 'absolutely pristine, if this was inside the showroom as a new car nobody would know it wasn't'. It turned out to have a scratch on the rear wing and a little chip out of the wingmirror. Once you are standing there pointing this out it's a 'take it or leave it' response because they know you are not doing to trek 200 miles back home again for the sake of a minor scratch or something.

So just be aware and factor into your deal a contingency fund to sort these things out.

There wont be any mechanical issues and any you may find are covered - so its purely a condition thing. It seems many dealers genuinelly do think the fact a car is 'used' means scratches, marks etc are acceptable.

Tesla said:
They offered and provided a video tour and pitch of the car.
Click to expand...

I got this too - very useful and very professional but not sufficiently detailed to pick up marks etc.
 
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I've done it two times now. 1st one was a bit of a hassle (E46 330ci), 2nd time was fine (E46 M3).

All you really need to worry about, from my experience, is the state of the paintwork and wheels. Always expect more stone chips.

Anything else, mechanical or otherwise I got sorted with BMW without too much bother.
 
Why could you not just walk away? Not BMW but when I got my Accord they agreed to do some work to it, when I went to pick it up as I'd come from some distance away they thought I'd just drive off, I asked for my deposit back with the intention of walking away, they quickly apologised, agreed to chuck in some extra road tax and agreed to get the work done, did mean that I had to go home and come back a week later but there was no way I was going to take the car on the basis of subtle blackmail.
 
Because it's not worth getting the deposit refunded, insurance cancelled and wasting a 400 mile round trip over a few minor marks.
 
I drove an exact replica of the car I wanted, local to me (dealer), then bought unseen from down near Foxes way as much cheaper (Ocean Torbay). :)
 
Mine was 150 miles from home, bought it unseen, laid out the terms on which I would reject the car and got them to accept them in writing and then did the deal. My car was mint so I was happy.
 
I drove 300 miles to Bristol to get the car I wanted. However I got another member off the STOC forum who was local to have a look at it before I put a deposit down.

There may be someone on here willing to have a look at the car and give you an honest description of the condition etc.
 
I got Cooper Reading to get my Z4 from Cooper Norwich by way of a £1000 refundable deposit. The car was as described and was surprisingly clean so I went ahead and did the deal. I wouldn't have asked for the car to be sent from Norwich if the deposit was non refundable. It worked out well in the end but I was very dubious as to what the condition would be like. Turned out great. No scratches, dents, curbed wheels etc.
 
I did similar to panthro with my 530i and they delivered it after giving a refundable deposit at Sytner High Wycombe. If anything had been amiss then he'd have been driving all the way back to Nottingham. I had test driven similar models but none had the colour/spec I wanted as petrols are so hard to find these days.

I was more worried he'd notice the awful tapping from the Z4 I was trading in, but it went for a while when I topped it up with oil (level was fine) so I did that before he arrived. :D
 
Em3bbs said:
If anything had been amiss then he'd have been driving all the way back to Nottingham
Click to expand...

Would he though? Sure if there was a huge dent in it or something but lets imagine a minor mark like a curb mark on a wheel or a scratch on a door. Not big stuff - perhaps £100 tops to fix - but something that they didnt bother to tell you about when you asked and something which if you were stood at the dealer negotiating you'd insist was sorted.

Would you send them away for that? Would you get back in your car and drive 200 miles home for that?

Thats the problem - you probabaly wouldn't. I'm talking about stuff that wouldnt stop you buying the car but if you had leverage you'd want sorted.
 
To be fair I spoke to Sytner High Wycombe (local) before and they said if I wasn't happy with anything I could take it there, and it was in mint condition. So basically we could have driven 10 minutes away if there was any dispute and resolved it on a local premises. But the trouble with that is that a lot of dealers don't have the network that Sytner do.
 
Well I doubt i'll be going for it now, the first service in the book is an Inspection 1 at 32k miles, who buys a £35k car and then doesn't take it for an oil change?! :eek: Shame as it looked nice in the video I received!
 
An Inspection 1 is never the first service. Sounds like there is an oil service at about 15k thats not been stamped. You should be able to trace it. What is it?
 
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