Older / higher mileage Z4s?

S

sprainedmind

Member
Is it in any way reasonable to buy an old z4 (probably an 04 with about 60k miles on the clock) to keep for a year or two whilst putting 30k a year on it?

My wife's currently doing that sort of mileage (but is hoping things will change within the next 18 months or so) and the car will be a daily commuter for her, so will need to be reliable first & foremost. The Leon she's driving now is starting to get on her nerves (it was a hand me down from me) and we're looking at changing it.

We were looking at buying new with half an eye on possibly having kids within the next year or 18 months, but the mileage she's doing means that any sort of finance is very expensive (we were quoted £520 / month for a Ford Kuga) so were thinking instead of buying something fun for around £8k that physically can't lose that much value and that I could fund without recourse to finance.

Basically I have three questions:

1. Is it reasonable to expect a car of that age / mileage to be absolutely reliable? My wife's a specialist nurse, it's not acceptable for her to miss patients because her car's a bit flaky.

2. How will sticking 60k miles on such a car over 2 years affect its value? It looks like it'd lose about 50% max, which I can live with, and is way better than the £6k a year expected on the Kuga. Yes I know the running costs will be a bit more, but I can live with that.

3. Can anyone give me some pointers on what to look out for when buying a car of this age / mileage? Any known weak spots to examine?

Sorry this is a bit long-winded, thanks for looking. :thumbsup:

Oh, one more thing - is there much difference between the 6 cylinder and 4 cylinder engines? I am quite drawn to that 6 cylinder sound 8)
 
Welcome. Go for 6-cylinder Zed. Don't worry about major mechanical problems. Just prepare for wear-and-tear items (springs, dampers, clutch, etc). But the fuel bill will come to nearly £11k (say 30 mpg) in 2 years!!!
 
As long as you take the usual precautions such as FSH/checking bodywork etc etc it should be very reliable.

I ran a 3.0i SE (pre-facelift) model for nearly 5 years and took it from 7k to 91k miles. It was generally very reliable indeed. In fact I can't ever recall it not starting.

The typical things you tend to hear on here are:-

broken springs (happened to me)
window regulator failure (happened to me)
roof motor failure (didn't happen to me)

I was still on the original clutch with no real signs of needing to replace imminently.

Take your time, do your research and you should have reliable motoring.
 
original guvnor said:
As long as you take the usual precautions such as FSH/checking bodywork etc etc it should be very reliable.

I ran a 3.0i SE (pre-facelift) model for nearly 5 years and took it from 7k to 91k miles. It was generally very reliable indeed. In fact I can't ever recall it not starting.

The typical things you tend to hear on here are:-

broken springs (happened to me)
window regulator failure (happened to me)
roof motor failure (didn't happen to me)

I was still on the original clutch with no real signs of needing to replace imminently.

Take your time, do your research and you should have reliable motoring.
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This compares very well with similar aged sports cars - I ran a second hand original TT for five years from 30K to 90K miles and it had as much spent on repairs for it as it cost me to buy :headbang: (very bad luck for the warranty company!)
 
BMWZ4MC said:
original guvnor said:
As long as you take the usual precautions such as FSH/checking bodywork etc etc it should be very reliable.

I ran a 3.0i SE (pre-facelift) model for nearly 5 years and took it from 7k to 91k miles. It was generally very reliable indeed. In fact I can't ever recall it not starting.

The typical things you tend to hear on here are:-

broken springs (happened to me)
window regulator failure (happened to me)
roof motor failure (didn't happen to me)

I was still on the original clutch with no real signs of needing to replace imminently.

Take your time, do your research and you should have reliable motoring.
Click to expand...

This compares very well with similar aged sports cars - I ran a second hand original TT for five years from 30K to 90K miles and it had as much spent on repairs for it as it cost me to buy :headbang: (very bad luck for the warranty company!)
Click to expand...

That's a good point actually. Where did you get the warranty from and were they any good when you needed it? Will look into getting one if I get the Zed.


Thanks to everyone for the replies so far - some good things to think about. :thumbsup:
 
Check list for pre owned purchases in my signature. Go for condition and history and you should be OK. :thumbsup:
 
Mines not had a single mechanical fault in 75k. The only thing that has gone wrong is a broken rear spring and an exhaust bracket came lose, hardly stuff to wright home about. You will be hard pushed to find many owners with a string of problems that aren't just niggles.
 
sprainedmind said:
That's a good point actually. Where did you get the warranty from and were they any good when you needed it? Will look into getting one if I get the Zed.
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Mine was an AA warranty. It was ok, but they were very specific about what they would / would not cover. There was a maximum payment per claim too. IIRC it was set at £1,000 which was marginal to say the least with some of the problems I had. The biggest con of a warranty is the amount that they will reimburse for labour. With rates charged being upwards of £50 per hour, and rates paid by my warranty set at £37 per hour, there was always a short fall. Also, most after market warranty companies expect the garage to telephone and confirm that the repair is authorised before work commences - difficult if the problem requires work for the problem to be identified.
Your best bet would be to try to purchase from a BMW dealer with AUC. If you get any warranty, always read the small print re excess, hourly rates, limits per claim, and exclusions. Never forget that the warranty company is in business to make a profit from you and people like you, so necessarily most people are out of pocket at the end of the warranty period!
 
BMWZ4MC said:
........so necessarily most people are out of pocket at the end of the warranty period!
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Not sure I understand what this means. I take out insurance, of whatever kind, to mitigate against risk certainly not to make a profit or be out of pocket - isn't that what insurance is about. Apply your reasoning to life insurance (a risk based policy) then the only way not to be out of pocket during the insurance period is to die...... :poke:
 
Any form of insurance is weighted to reflect risk. If the majority of people who take out insurance did not pay more than they claim, then insurance companies would be pretty poorly off. Only a minority of people will benefit financially from insurance (as I did from the warranty on my last car). Of course, a warranty will deliver some peace of mind, but most people would be better off investing the cost of the premium.

AlanJ said:
Apply your reasoning to life insurance (a risk based policy) then the only way not to be out of pocket during the insurance period is to die...... :poke:
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Do you know a means of avoiding this then? If so, please don't tell anyone or I might be looking for a new job! :D
 
Gentlemen, thank you, there's some excellent advice in here.

Sadly I think I'm looking at cars that are a bit old or high mileage for there to be much choice of AUC. However, I'm currently driving a 123d coupe, so I have a decent relationship with a couple of local dealers - I shall ask around to see if there's anything they've taken in part-ex that they're looking to move on.

Good advice on the warranty, I shall keep an eye out for the various loopholes. :roll:

AlanJ - I will almost certainly print your checklist out when the time comes to go and look at a car or two.

Keep it coming guys :)
 
Condition and history are all important.
I got mine from a BMW dealer and got their 12 months warranty which is good peace of mind. In fact, they stumped up for a brand new run flat within days of my picking up the car, as the offside front was worn on the inside.
No quibbling at all from the main dealer, just took it to my local BMW dealer and they footed the bill.
 
One thing to consider might be not so much the cars relaibility but for a 365 need for reliable transport for your wife as a specialist nurse, then the Zed 4 is not the best car to get to places in. Snow, rear wheel drive, lightweight and wide tyres could make it difficult.
 
ksher said:
cj10jeeper said:
Snow, rear wheel drive, lightweight and wide tyres could make it difficult.
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Fiat Panda 4x4?
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Very capable off road, but not ideal for 30,000 mile per annum.

Just being pragmatic that if the car had to do that mileage and ability to get to places without fail then the Zed would not be top of my list as great a drive as it is..
 
True, I had a few 'interesting' moments last winter in a 123d.

Winter tyres could be a sound investment and she'll probably be able to borrow a focus from my mum if it gets really bad.

I think it's doable for the other 51 weeks of the year though.
 
Im driving a 2004 60,000 3.0 as a daily driver, do around 1400 miles per month in it - very very reliable never had any issues over the usual wear items... but if you are doing your sort of milage I would go for a diesel 3 series? I get 260 miles between fill up's on 97 RON/50 litres works out about £60 a tank where as a diesel you could nearly double that in range I guess it depends who is paying for the fuel :D :D
 
Oh forgot to add I have had it since new! Always started every time and never been stranded anywhere in those 6 years.... In your case I would keep those RFT's on if your wife is a nurse.
 
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