Sooo, garage might try a fast one

agnes

agnes

agnes

Soldato
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So, I bought a 2001 330i SE estate, now don't get me wrong, for a car that old and with almost 100k miles on the clock. It was a fair price at £3k. Engine pulls like a train still and is silky smooth.

Now, the issues... The garage mentioned the coolant had a slight leak somewhere, they couldn't find it and they topped it up. I found it a few days later after spotting a little pool of liquid. Told them, they will fix it no issues.

However, I had a problem with the steering, turning left from centre to full lock was smooth as butter, right to full lock from centre however... Had several 'spots' of resitance through the turning of the wheel. This was most noticable on roundabouts were I'd suddenly have to apply 3 times the amount of force to pass this sticky spot so to speak.

I got a good friend of mine to have a quick test drive and he too noticed it. He reckons it's either a duff steering rack or just has some crap in it and needs a regrease.

Anyway, the garage instantly said "Well, we can have a look at it, but if it's a replacement, we might be very hesitant to do so as you only paid £3k for the car and a replacement will be £1k alone. And a second hand could be just as bad as the current"...

Now, I see their point in terms of money, but surely I'm in the right, the car was advertised as in great condition with no mechanical faults etc. The test drive was short up and down the road to listen out for any knocks etc and test the engine. Nothing strenuous.

Where do I stand? I'm hoping to hear back today/tomorrow. If they say "steering rack has failed, you need to get it replaced", should I put my foot down and demand they replace it? Or am I stuffed?
 
So not 'like new' then. 3k was massively over priced for a 14 year old 3 Series anyway, take a refund and move on. Very hard to find a car of this age and model that isn't hiding a myriad of issues.
 
[TW]Fox;27788565 said:
So not 'like new' then. 3k was massively over priced for a 14 year old 3 Series anyway, take a refund and move on. Very hard to find a car of this age and model that isn't hiding a myriad of issues.
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No, but in much better condition than the others on the market at the time.

And not a myriad of issues either, a split coolant pipe which will be sorted no questions asked, and some odd lumpy steering column which they are at least investigating for me.

For 14 years old, that's bloody good going in my eyes.

Please, find me another 330i estate for £3k less than 100k miles. As you'll likely find, £3k is not 'massively over priced'.
 
I think the point is that for £3k a 330i is not the car to buy unless you are happy to put up with constant issues like these.
 
Peerzy said:
I think the point is that for £3k a 330i is not the car to buy unless you are happy to put up with constant issues like these.
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Again, no evidence these are 'constant' issues lol.

Anyway, I guess I won't receive any actual advice rather than a lashing for buying an old beemer.

Thanks though guys.
 
agnes said:
Again, no evidence these are 'constant' issues lol.
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I wasn't specifically saying your car, it was a statement about e46's. Unless you pay silly money for them you must expect constant issues. A 14 year old car cannot be expected to be fault free. In fact I would actually expect issues similar to yours to occur almost on a monthly basis.

With regard to your actually issue you might need to check out the SoGA. They can't force you to return it and refund you. I think within the first 6 months they must fix any issues, on a car like this that could easily end up costing them more than the value of the car which is why they probably want it returned.
 
I think the point people are making here is that the car sounds like it's not been maintained with prevention in mind (re-actively maintained rather than proactively). It's likely to need more work than the immediate problems let on (RTABs are likely, prop donut, other perishable bushings, etc). Unless you are fully aware that this is an old, relatively expensive car (it still has the running costs associated with a premium car, regardless of purchase price) that will be at an age that it will throw up unexpected (and possibly quite pricey) bills, then this isn't the right car.

If you are aware and you are willing to deal with the eventualities, then crack on :)
 
agnes said:
Please, find me another 330i estate for £3k less than 100k miles. As you'll likely find, £3k is not 'massively over priced'.
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Not a 330, granted, but I paid £1550 for a 2000 325i Touring around 18 months ago, it was on 92k at the time and tbh I thought it pricey compared to some others I'd seen advertised elsewhere.


As for your car, the garage has to fix it or refund you, you pay a premium to buy from a trader as you have come back, which he seems reluctant to face upto.

It's his problem what it will cost, not yours.

Anyway, even if it costs him £1k, he'll still be making on it as I'm sure he didn't buy it for anywhere near what he sold it for.

This isn't sn old BMW buying bashing by the way, I replaced the 325i with an e39 530i Sport which cost £1500.
 
I think I will bite the bullet and see how it goes, other than the obvious issues so far, I've no reason to suspect any other major or minor issues...

I understand what you guys are saying, but not all cars are black and white. It is possible to find a gem at a decent price.

As for high running costs, I knew that was a given the moment I decided to go down the beemer route. I just wanted an opinion as to what the garage might be thinking at this stage other than "what a mug".
 
agnes said:
Please, find me another 330i estate for £3k less than 100k miles. As you'll likely find, £3k is not 'massively over priced'.
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As I said before, I would sell mine. A 2002 facelift with 95k on it, FSH for £2k. A bit far from you mind. So 50% overpriced at £3k.
 
agnes said:
I think I will bite the bullet and see how it goes, other than the obvious issues so far, I've no reason to suspect any other major or minor issues...

I understand what you guys are saying, but not all cars are black and white. It is possible to find a gem at a decent price.

As for high running costs, I knew that was a given the moment I decided to go down the beemer route. I just wanted an opinion as to what the garage might be thinking at this stage other than "what a mug".
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What do you mean by bite the bullet though?
Do you mean let the garage fob you off? - he'd be right to think "what a mug" we're you to do this!

You paid top dollar for it, I'd expect it to be put right, properly, at his expense.

Personally though I'd just get your money back if you can and buy another, for less and keep the difference in the bank for when - not if - it's needed.
 
For me, if the rest of the car seems to be good, the spec is what you want, and the car fits your needs, I'd either try to get the garage to sort it, offer to contribute if that fails, or just take the hit.

For what it's worth, I'm no stranger to "old" E46 ownership. I had a 166,000 mile 330d, and currently the fiance has an e46 compact, which has a small snag list I'll be chewing through once the weather warms up.
 
For me, selling points were as follows:

1 owner from new
100% stamped service history
4 new tyres
4 new disks
4 new sets of pads
All 4 wheels fully refurbished
New MOT
Last service stamp done fairly recently
No diminishing leather/cracked/faded etc
Interior IMMACULATE, previous owner clearly not smoker
Body is in great condition

All these added up in my mind when viewing/buying the car, the test drive gave me good feedback enough to want it.

So yes, bite the bullet knowing that sure, I was to encounter an issue or 2, but knowing that it's worth every penny.
 
He shouldn't have to contribute at all.

Within the first 6 months the SoGA is clear, the dealer should pay 100% to fix any fault providing they can't prove that it is new (which is impossible).
 
agnes said:
Ok, thank you.
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It's all on the Government website somewhere, I had to look it up a while back.

After 6 months you basically have the prove there was a fault when they sold it to you (which is equally hard).

Basically - first 6 months they pay, anything after you pay.

They can't force you to return the car, if the repair is going to cost them £10k then it's tough.
 
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Peerzy said:
I wasn't specifically saying your car, it was a statement about e46's. Unless you pay silly money for them you must expect constant issues. A 14 year old car cannot be expected to be fault free. In fact I would actually expect issues similar to yours to occur almost on a monthly basis.
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Even paying silly money for them doesn't shield them from potential problems unfortunately.

However, issues on a monthly basis? Perhaps for some, but not all of them are having such regular issues. By contrast, in a full year I've had one major issue that was a £300 fix.

The other two minor issues were standard changing of belts and drop links which weren't urgent.
 
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