Buying a Z4 you have not seen?
- Thread starter fjc191
- Start date
Yes ive done it a few times :roll: not ideal i agree but it can & does work . A friend of mine works for Bmw Bowker in used sales & he has over 50% of his monthly sales done to buyers who don't see the car until it arrives on their driveway .
Slightly different with private sales so from the off you need to establish some faith & trust with the seller , have all the info , videos , photos you require for satisfaction & above all know in your heart that any flaws or faults once the car arrives are yours from there so get on & deal with them :wink:
Slightly different with private sales so from the off you need to establish some faith & trust with the seller , have all the info , videos , photos you require for satisfaction & above all know in your heart that any flaws or faults once the car arrives are yours from there so get on & deal with them :wink:
There have been a few scams recently so be very careful. These people can seem very plausible. We recently saw a car advertised on eBay at an attractive price and which to all intents and purposes seemed genuine. The owner offered to deliver it to us and arranged for us to pay through PayPal. We very nearly went ahead but subsequently discovered it was a scam. Make sure you protect yourself.
North West Surrey
There is no way that I would buy a used car unseen.
You may find a Forum member who is near to where the car I should to go and have a look at it and to let you know what it's like. At least that would minimise the risk of a wasted trip. Either that or move house to somewhere where there's more Z4s! :lol:
I guess that you live outside the UK as I don't think anywhere is a 20 hour drive here.
You may find a Forum member who is near to where the car I should to go and have a look at it and to let you know what it's like. At least that would minimise the risk of a wasted trip. Either that or move house to somewhere where there's more Z4s! :lol:
I guess that you live outside the UK as I don't think anywhere is a 20 hour drive here.
I'm thinking of doing this as well. May import another Z4 from the UK, but with any luck it will be a forum member's P&J with some good history. Still early days yet, and I still haven't got my 224's in-country yet. Have to at least get them on the car before I sell it :lol:
It is a gamble which may / may not pay off.
20 hours drive? Do you live in Cornwall and the car is in Inverness?
Z4s are not exactly rare, so I'd be tempted to keep on looking and curtail the excitement of trying to get one quickly. There are plenty about and it will only be a short time before another suitable car comes up for sale closer to you.
20 hours drive? Do you live in Cornwall and the car is in Inverness?
Z4s are not exactly rare, so I'd be tempted to keep on looking and curtail the excitement of trying to get one quickly. There are plenty about and it will only be a short time before another suitable car comes up for sale closer to you.
TR4man said:
Think the OP is in the USA :wink:
Dearest and fondest sir,
I solicit your deepest help in an extraordinary financial adventure which I feel you may find most lucrative.
My late father, King Mcketsie, owner of Mabootoo tribal land passed away intestate.
This land is of high interest to New York property developers and it was valued at approximately $250000 US per acre. My father owns 100 Sq miles of such prime real estate
I am assuredly guaranteed by the Royal Bank of Taboodoo that my father's property sale is ready for conclusion to said developers.
My issues is that the train and air fair are to the capital city to execute this transfer is too high for me at the moment due to funding recent religious festivals for my people
If you could, in confidence, transfer me $10000 US then I will reward you with a 10% share of the proceeds.
I do trust you realise these sorts of opportunity are few and far between
Looking forward to dealing with you kindest sir
Prince Tombo Arook McKetsie
I solicit your deepest help in an extraordinary financial adventure which I feel you may find most lucrative.
My late father, King Mcketsie, owner of Mabootoo tribal land passed away intestate.
This land is of high interest to New York property developers and it was valued at approximately $250000 US per acre. My father owns 100 Sq miles of such prime real estate
I am assuredly guaranteed by the Royal Bank of Taboodoo that my father's property sale is ready for conclusion to said developers.
My issues is that the train and air fair are to the capital city to execute this transfer is too high for me at the moment due to funding recent religious festivals for my people
If you could, in confidence, transfer me $10000 US then I will reward you with a 10% share of the proceeds.
I do trust you realise these sorts of opportunity are few and far between
Looking forward to dealing with you kindest sir
Prince Tombo Arook McKetsie
^^^^^ Still thinking buying unseen? Unless its' from a BMW dealer I would not touch it.
A
Anonymous
Guest
I bought a car from 400 miles away without going to see it. Turned out to be an absolute belter.
That said, what I did was send the RAC to inspect it first. £200 for peace of mind
That said, what I did was send the RAC to inspect it first. £200 for peace of mind
A
Anonymous
Guest
I paid £500 for a 2.8 Z3 earlier this year - turned out I be a good car (after I tidied it up, put new plugs in to cure a lumpy idle and a new battery) I got very lucky a few months later and sold it with a good profit albeit that wasn't my intention.
Now here's the thing, after extensive discussions with the owner he stated the car was in great condition, was very recently in use, ran beautifully and didn't need much in the way of tlc. The lumpy idle could have easily been the head gasket, piston rings or a myriad of other things so I get very lucky and at £500 it was worth a punt as I'd get my cash back if I had to break it.
I'm assuming the Z4 you are looking at is considerably more than £500 and if the electronic steering is on its way out that could be an instant big bill especially if you aren't mechanically able yourself. There are lots of treatments that can hide engine, gearbox and diff issues just long enough for you to get the car and drive it a short while. There's also the fact that you will have to accept certain issues as it won't be cost effective to ship the car back - the seller will always argue that the car was "perfect" when it left them.
Unless buying from a garage, I'd never buy a car unseen not even from another forum member now matter how highly respected they are on here! No before I get pounced on I'll reason that most forum members selling a car to another member would want to meet face to face to go over and discuss what they believe to be issues with the car so the new owner is more than happy.
20 hrs is a long way away and the cost and pain of shipping the car back could mean you are stuck with it, a nightmare if it turns out that you really don't want it.......I'll leave that with you.
Now here's the thing, after extensive discussions with the owner he stated the car was in great condition, was very recently in use, ran beautifully and didn't need much in the way of tlc. The lumpy idle could have easily been the head gasket, piston rings or a myriad of other things so I get very lucky and at £500 it was worth a punt as I'd get my cash back if I had to break it.
I'm assuming the Z4 you are looking at is considerably more than £500 and if the electronic steering is on its way out that could be an instant big bill especially if you aren't mechanically able yourself. There are lots of treatments that can hide engine, gearbox and diff issues just long enough for you to get the car and drive it a short while. There's also the fact that you will have to accept certain issues as it won't be cost effective to ship the car back - the seller will always argue that the car was "perfect" when it left them.
Unless buying from a garage, I'd never buy a car unseen not even from another forum member now matter how highly respected they are on here! No before I get pounced on I'll reason that most forum members selling a car to another member would want to meet face to face to go over and discuss what they believe to be issues with the car so the new owner is more than happy.
20 hrs is a long way away and the cost and pain of shipping the car back could mean you are stuck with it, a nightmare if it turns out that you really don't want it.......I'll leave that with you.
It's a bit of a lottery really. I bought a Mitsubishi Shogun unseen and paid to have it delivered on a trailer.
It was described by the dealer as immaculate and quite frankly it wasn't.
The main thing was that the four wheel drive box was non functional even though I had specifically asked if it was working ok.
Caused me a load of hassle and would be reluctant to do it again. :thumbsdown:
It was described by the dealer as immaculate and quite frankly it wasn't.
The main thing was that the four wheel drive box was non functional even though I had specifically asked if it was working ok.
Caused me a load of hassle and would be reluctant to do it again. :thumbsdown:
Yup, I would, done it a few times now and so far I guess I've been lucky. My current Z4 which I bought as a project car (£1500) I drove 3 hours to collect and had only seen pictures on facebook of it. I have since discovered a few minor issues that were not mentioned to me however in this instance I'm not too bothered as I've managed to fix most and required parts were cheap off eBay from seller "classiccarspares2015" (Recommended by a few on this forum). The only check I did in advance was I use an app on my iPhone called "Vehicle Smart" - https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/vehicle-smart/id1126552896?mt=8 and paid the £2.99 in-app for a vehicle report.