Re: Certified Preowned BMW Woes

["Ron Buchalski" <rbuchals@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

David,

I'm sorry to hear about your unfortunate situation with BMW Certified 
Pre-Owned cars.  When I was shopping for an M3 last year, I went to several 
local BMW dealerships and checked out their certified pre-owned E36 M3s.  I 
was surprised to find them dirty, worn, beat, and generally in fair-good 
condition, considering that they were 2-3 years old.

So, I continued shopping, and found a '95 M3 with 6700 miles at a non-BMW 
used car dealership that specializes in selling high-line marques (BMW, 
Mercedes, Lexus, etc).  The car was completely spotless, totally clean.  The 
seats didn't even have a wrinkle, and it looked/smelled like a brand-new 
car.  It still had 10 months/43,000 miles left on the original factory 
warranty.

I asked this dealership about the BMW CP-O program.  Since the manager and 
several of the salepeople had worked together at a BMW dealership prior to 
working at this used car dealership, they knew about the program.  
Essentially, they said that it was a program to insure BMW dealerships 
continued to get service business.  After all, your 6 year, 100k mile 
warranty is only good at a BMW dealership, right?  And, for this 
'privilege', you probably paid a premium for the car.  The manager at this 
dealership convinced me that buying a car through BMW's program wasn't worth 
the price.

So, for ~$80 I took my car to a trusted independent shop (BMW Excluservice 
in Rockville, shameful plug), where they performed a pre-purchase inspection 
and gave me a list of things that they found with the car.  They even 
identified cosmetic items which weren't perfect.  I took the list back to 
the dealership and negotiated the price down four hundred dollars more as a 
result.

And, for a ~$1400 price, I could have purchased a 7 year, 100k mile extended 
warranty from Warranty Gold (http://www.warrantygold.com).  This warranty is 
usable at ANY car repair shop.  I chose to not buy the warranty, figuring 
that I'd rather gamble and put the money towards an investment, and use some 
of the future profits in case a major item fails with the car.  So far, so 
good.

So, I'm sorry to hear about your troubles, and I'm posting this note to the 
list in order to advise others to be cautious with BMW's program.

- -rb

>
>Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1999 08:50:40 -0800
>From: "Davis Feng" <dfeng@domain.elided>
>Subject: Certified Preowned BMW Woes
>
>Hi all,
>
>I am looking for opinions here.
>
>I recently purchased a used Certified Pre Owned 99 M Coupe with 9600 miles
>on it.  Apon test driving it and checking out the rims, I decided to make 
>an
>offer on the car.  I noticed the rims were curb rashed, and the salesman
>told me that that would be fixed.  I also noticed that the stereo was not a
>factory stereo, but was not worried.  after all it was a certified pre 
>owned
>bmw.  I purchased the car for $38500, and being a certified bmw, it came
>with a 6 year 100k warranty.  all the sales people were congratulating me,
>saying what a great buy the car was, and that it was in really good
>condition.
>
>k, after less than a week of owning it, I have found several problems with
>it.  first the cosmetics
>1) the front air dam has had serious contact with a curb.
>2) the rear wing has oxidation already.  its black, but starting to fade to
>that whitish look
>3) the front bumper turn signal lens is chipped away.  Like somone tried to
>pry it off.
>4) the rims have curb rash.
>
>these problems, my fault.  I should have noticed the condition of the car.
>I should have paid more attention.  oh well.
>
>now the interior of the car
>1) the nonfactory stereo.  well when I turn the fader to the rear speakers,
>all I get is really muddy sound.  like the tweaters or the crossover is
>screwed up.
>2) the oil temp and the clock are switched.  so on my dash, it goes oil
>temp, volt, clock. some warning signs.
>3) the seat heaters, the passenger switch heats up the drivers side, the
>drivers switch heats up nothing.
>4) the cargo netting is all torn up.
>
>Driving characteristics of the car
>1) the steering wheel is not centered when I am driving in a straight line.
>but the car does not pull either left or right.  alighnment problems?  one
>had is at 9:30 and the other hand is at 1:30
>2) when I accelerate hard, 1st to 2nd, the clutch slips when engaging 2nd,
>almost like the clutch pads are glazed.
>
>So I am curious, is buying any used car a buyer beware situation?  or do I
>have some claim that a certified bmw should not have these
>problems?  Cosmetics, yes, I understand, my fault for not looking carefully
>enough, but stereo, netting, clutch?  its hard to believe that this kind of
>car would pass "bmw certification"( that was a sarcastic tone ) after all
>the sales people would make you believe that the car was just like new.  as
>he said to me anyway.
>
>Well, I am irritated.  Stupid hypocrits in the world.  before they sell you
>the car, they tell you how wonderful the car is.  after they sell you the
>car, they tell you how it is a used car, and that not
>everything will be perfect.  I wish they would just be fair.
>
>I shall see tomorrow how they decided to treat me.
>
>I am extremely interested in opinions.  I really want to know if I am right
>or wrong.
>
>thanks for hearing me out.
>
>Davis Feng
>99 M Coupe
>
>ps Should I post tomorrow to tell you all how the dealership decides to
>treat me? or is it a Waste of bandwidth?
>
>------------------------------

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