Re:BMW Certified cars/all you need to know..... everyone

[Cookies@xxxxxxx]

<< I wonder what accounts for the vast discrepancies between the
 conditions of some of the cars mentioned by responders to Davis Feng's
 original post and the cars I drove and inspected?
 
    Anyone care to comment???  Is it strictly a dealership thing?
 I.e., dealerships with a good reputation to protect will reject any but the
 best of the Certified Pre-Owned and those who are just out for a fast buck
 accept vehicles which don't really meet Certified Pre-Owned standards?
 
    Good luck,
    Bob G. >>

~~~~~~ I think there are a few very important points that are being missed 
here. Firstly, all a "certified" used car is, is a car that has gone through 
a mechanical and cosmetic reconditioning process. Other than meeting this 
criteria, you have NO IDEA if the previous owner beat the shit out of it, 
rammed into curbs, let it overheat, ran low on oil, or anything else.

What *IS* more important is looking at properly kept service records, as well 
as running a VIN check (www.CARFAX.com), and having the dealership service 
dept. run a WARRANTY HISTORY PRINTOUT so you can see what kind of "nice or 
sordid" warranty history the car has had. If you see things like "water 
pump", or "thermostat", well- you got the picture.

Also, Federal Law now requires dealers to post a big BUYER GUIDE sticker on 
used cars that says AS-IS or WARRANTY. Do *NOT* get sucked into thinking a 
certified pre-owned car may have not had previous collision damage, or other 
sordid things in it's past. LOOK CLOSELY at the wording on the BUYERS GUIDE. 
It will specifically tell you for YOU to have the car inspected by a mechanic 
if you wish, and for YOU to check for frame damage or previous collision 
damage. Though this *may* not relieve the dealership from potential legal 
liability, it does provide them with a strong "out".

DO YOUR HOMEWORK!. Take any potential used car (certified or not) to both a 
mechanic AND a body shop. Spend the $100 and have the unitbody measured on a 
electronic frame machine!

Also, buy a high-grade Service Contract. It may offer the potential of 
valuable legal leverage if the car turns out to be a mechanical lemon (yes, 
there are used car lemons, too). Always be weary of a "same model year" used 
car with under 10K miles. Salespeople will say things like "they wanted a 4 
door instead of 2 door". What the hell does HE know? :-). 

Betcha most people never even investigate WHAT STATE their potential "beauty" 
came from. Iv'e seen people in Nevada buying a car that came from the rust 
belt of Michigan. (no offense to the salt laden roadway states).

The keyword is "buyer beware". Do your homework. You will be rewarded with a 
better car. And that old wives tale "high mileage but freeway miles" is 
BULLSH-T. Miles are miles. The suspension and steering of a 145K mile car is 
in much different condition than a 45K mile car. For that matter the whole 
car is 100K miles more exhausted. Metal flexes, it weakens, it gets old. So 
do rubber seals, gaskets, radiators, heat stressed rubber hoses under the 
hood and so on.

Randy
cookies@domain.elided
.....no legal advice rendered or tendered. ...... just opinions and friendly 
advice to consider.

1999 323ia
1997 840ci

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