To buy or not to buy?

R

Rufless

Member
 Hampshire
Hello there forumers,

I've recently joined in the hopes of gaining knowledge about the E85 Z4. I've been a long admirer and after a lot of deliberation I've decided to go for it. My intention is to keep it for a long while as I make it my own.

Tbh I'm not very smart when it comes to finding a reliable car, red flags and green flags and was hoping if I could get a second opinion about a particular sales posted on Facebook marketplace?

This has been advertised for 2 months and I've communicated with the seller who said he will provide a 12 month MOT when sale is agreed. The MOT history doesn't appear to be great but 🤷🏾

I appreciate any feedback as I value input from forums.

E85 3.0si auto - black with red leather seats.

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/3832538866965581/

If I've broken any rules, I apologise.
 
looks alright to me. sports seats are bonus, and good low miles.

wondering if it had some silly headlight tints in the past or something... to be honest theres actually not much in the recent mot history that worries me much really.

i'd wanna know what was actually done at the recent service - was the brake fluid changed? and was the oil leak rectified, but other than that... looks alright to me.
 
i would look elsewhere.
Not exactly been looked after, and would be wise to find one that had at least some signs of being maintained.
Plenty come up on here, and generally enthusiast owned and looked after considerably better.
 
Looks good to me.
Very little wear on the drivers bolster.
Think I'm right in saying that chequered dash trim is quite rare as well.
Getting close to water pump replacement mileage. not a huge job but worth a bit of bartering if not done.

Price is low for that model. So either buy better, or budget to spend the difference on that one perhaps.
That then boils down to whether you can do work yourself or have to pay garage rates?
 
Four previous owners, no history of any accidents. The front spoiler is scratched and does not look as if she has been kept in a garage. Wear on the driver's seat, the alloys look a bit scuffed. MOT history is not brilliant, never seen dark brake fluid as a warning before. You need to see it and check through the service history, usually, the owner shows pictures of the book.
 
raymond.harper said:
Four previous owners, no history of any accidents. The front spoiler is scratched and does not look as if she has been kept in a garage. Wear on the driver's seat, the alloys look a bit scuffed. MOT history is not brilliant, never seen dark brake fluid as a warning before. You need to see it and check through the service history, usually, the owner shows pictures of the book.
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Wow, thanks for the quick replies. I really appreciate it. Okay, it makes sense to check the service book.

enuff_zed said:
Looks good to me.
Very little wear on the drivers bolster.
Think I'm right in saying that chequered dash trim is quite rare as well.
Getting close to water pump replacement mileage. not a huge job but worth a bit of bartering if not done.

Price is low for that model. So either buy better, or budget to spend the difference on that one perhaps.
That then boils down to whether you can do work yourself or have to pay garage rates?
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I shall a certainly ask about the water pump :)

Phoenixboy said:
i would look elsewhere.
Not exactly been looked after, and would be wise to find one that had at least some signs of being maintained.
Plenty come up on here, and generally enthusiast owned and looked after considerably better.
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I totally agree, my first point of search was on the forum sales, but it's quite difficult to find the specs I'm after. i.e. 3.0si auto in black.

brillomaster said:
looks alright to me. sports seats are bonus, and good low miles.

wondering if it had some silly headlight tints in the past or something... to be honest theres actually not much in the recent mot history that worries me much really.

i'd wanna know what was actually done at the recent service - was the brake fluid changed? and was the oil leak rectified, but other than that... looks alright to me.
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good idea. I'll go and ask about the brake fluids and oil leaks. I'll ask what has been done during the service.

Thanks gang!
 
Golly so many things. For a start there is lots of info on the web of the sorts of things to look for generally and more detailed info on this forum.
The starting point for me is the governments MOT checking website
https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/results?registration=dy06wjf&checkRecalls=true
Next stop for me would be somewhere like CarVertical to get a detailed report on checking things like outstanding finance, reported thefts etc.

Next I would see if I could get the VIN of the car which you can then use on a website like TonyZ4Cs excellent site
http://perso.numericable.fr/tonyz4c
to get details of all the options in the car.

Also ask if you can get copies of any service paperwork or receipts for other work done on the car. Look for regular service intervals and that the correct items were done at the correct periods for example if that car needed a service check after initial run-in or if it should have had the proper "Inspection 1" and "Inspection 2" and it hasnt. See if any of the paperwork mentions works like changing the bushes or changing fluids other than engine oil for example gearbox.

and at some stage you MUST visit and be really thorough with an inspection. Test every button, switch, light, heated seats all works. And after my recent experience visiting a car dont be afraid to get on the floor and try and look under the car with a torch. Look for any signs of leaks or corrosion. For areas hard to get to reach your phone back there and take photos so you can see later.

Below are just my initial personal opinions :
Thats a lot of items listed in the history. I would want to start by making sure everything mentioned is now fixed rather than the car just taken to a less fussy garage for a different opinion.

Personally I start to get twitchy when I see items occur in successive years. For example an oil leak first spotted in the 2017 MOT but still occurring in the 2018 MOT. If I was told there was any sort of oil leak in my car I would be getting it fixed immediately rather than leaving it for a year. Raises the question of how fastidious the owner was.

Also, when you visit be sure to check the lights carefully for any problems or condensation as headlight problems seem to be a recurring theme with that cars MOTs.
 
Can't comment about the car but it does seem quite cheap. I would be extremely wary of the seller, judging by what else he is selling on FB.
From the "I will MOT the car upon a sale" comments I would be suspicious of a dodgy MOT being obtained aswell. It does still happen quite a lot.

Personally I would walk away. There are too many suspicious things about the whole thing; seller, price, MOT vagueness, FB marketplace, etc.
But I ain't looking to buy it. Just be very careful is my advice.
 
Pondy beat me to the Facebook marketplace concerns

Apart from that it looks good- too good maybe?
 
I regularly call out fake Market Place sellers. But I don’t think this is one of them. He’s just some bloke making a few quid buying and selling cars.
 
It’s cheap for a 3.0Si on 75k. Could be a good deal, or could be a money trap.

Black is an unforgiving colour, you will need to see it for real to understand its true condition.

It doesn’t look like an enthusiast owned and cared for car. This may be a good thing (if you are looking to add value to it), or a bad thing (if you want it to arrive on your drive perfect).

Definitely approach with caution,but don’t discount it.

Any reason you want a Si in particular? There is a very nice 3.0i here :oops:
https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2079482#p2079482
 
Looks good to me and the seller seems genuine enough.

I hate the red leather interiors but accept that's just personal preference and on the upside it has the storage option, heated seats, multi function steering wheel and upgraded HiFi system - in fact the only key option it's lacking is the Xenon lights.

All that said the one thing it does have is the Cirrus dash - I love that and have never owned one with that option. There were only 245 roadsters sold in the UK with that option.

So I'd say the only rule you've broken is the full disclosure rule and your challenge now might be getting to view the car and agreeing a deal before another forum member beats you to it :wink:
 
It's pretty cheap for a 3 litre facelift with that sort of mileage so I'd definitely want to view it. Then you can also get an idea of the sort of owner the seller is!

As Gwest says it's good most of the options too, apart from the Xenons. Heated, electric M-Sport seats like those sell for £700/800 a pair too and the rare Cirrus dash is so much better looking than the standard brushed aluminium (I had it in my previous Coupe).

Good luck. :thumbsup:
 
Rockhopper said:
I regularly call out fake Market Place sellers. But I don’t think this is one of them. He’s just some bloke making a few quid buying and selling cars.
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It appears like that to me.

Zedebee said:
Any reason you want a Si in particular? There is a very nice 3.0i here :oops:
https://z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2079482#p2079482
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I've always try getting the max bhp for the none M cars. Biggest engine I can haha 😅 just don't wanna feel like "if only..."

Gwest44 said:
So I'd say the only rule you've broken is the full disclosure rule and your challenge now might be getting to view the car and agreeing a deal before another forum member beats you to it :wink:
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Haha thanks, watch this space.

I love how friendly this forum is. Some very valid points here and it's given me a good insight on how to approach a car purchase.
 
Rufless said:
I've always try getting the max bhp for the none M cars. Biggest engine I can haha just don't wanna feel like "if only..."
Click to expand...

That approach has always worked for me too! Until I slipped up in 2018 and bought a 325i - within a year it was replaced with a 330i. :D

Bear in mind the UK only got 963 3.0Si Roadsters, and only 268 of them were Autos so they aren't many about.
 
Mr Tidy said:
Rufless said:
I've always try getting the max bhp for the none M cars. Biggest engine I can haha just don't wanna feel like "if only..."
Click to expand...

That approach has always worked for me too! Until I slipped up in 2018 and bought a 325i - within a year it was replaced with a 330i. :D

Bear in mind the UK only got 963 3.0Si Roadsters, and only 268 of them were Autos so they aren't many about.
Click to expand...

Haha exactly that! We're on the same page 😅

Oh wow! I better get on it! 😰 Thanks for the heads up
 
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