Used Car Buying Advice

B

bluestreak56

Veteran
 Maidenhead
Going to see this X4
http://www.gcscarsalesltd.co.uk/used-cars/bmw-x4-2-0-xdrive20d-m-sport-4x4-5dr-london-201508035732601
on Saturday and need some advice..

As a 1 year old car with under 4k miles on the clock, why would a little private dealer (based under a block of flats) have a car of this calibre? Why isnt it for sale via a BMW dealer or private seller?

The company have told me they "bought it at auction from BCA car auctions up at Blackbushe who mainly sell to the trade. When asked they added it has not been involved in any accidents or had any repair. this is an all most brand new car which explains the mileage. The car is full HPI clear why the car was sold with such low mileage I really don't know but it does happen majority of the cars are x company cars I would recommend you come and see the car."

Anything I should look out for?

Can anyone recommend me a good independent HPI service?

I havnt bought many high value cars through this sort of dealer before..

Thanks :thumbsup:
 
Car could have been out as a hire car ?
Id pay particular attention to paint & panels as a virtually new car changing hands so soon may well have been touched up to appear brand new & if the case most probably not at BMW authorised bodyshop
Buyer beware as ever
 
Have you looked at the rest if this dealers stock? He's got an M6 up for £50k+ so it doesn't smack of a back street dodgy dealer to me.

A lot of his stock is high end BMW and Mercs so, if it's real, I wouldn't be worried about him.
 
it'll have been an ex hire car.

If you go on BCA website (my dad's a trader so has an account i go on reguarly)


they have loads of BMW stock coming through sub 1 year old, many dealers have over stocked at this time of year with the new reg so it is not uncommon they end up on 'backstreet garage' forecourts if you will.
 
Thanks guys if it is a hire car, I should be able to see that from the V5 right? Just reading online about the fact dealers must not hide the history of hire car vehicles, etc...

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/consumer-news/87084/ex-rental-cars-for-sale-with-histories-hidden-by-dealers
 
bluestreak56 said:
Thanks guys if it is a hire car, I should be able to see that from the V5 right? Just reading online about the fact dealers must not hide the history of hire car vehicles, etc...

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/consumer-news/87084/ex-rental-cars-for-sale-with-histories-hidden-by-dealers
Click to expand...

Can they not be registered as main dealer cars then put out to lease companies ?
I know a pal of mine bought 1 yr old AUC 5 series last year thinking the 6500 miles had been through BMW but it turned out it had been a hire car that had a good bit of paint prep badly done before going AUC
Luckily he managed to reject the car after about 5 weeks with a full refund but all they did was put the car back on the AUC website :thumbsdown:
 
A lot of hire car companies use spurious names like ERAC PLC= enterprise rent a car
And Alias's as it puts a lot people off

I Got conned by Bmw when I bought my 6 month old 1 series - it was marketed as 'Bmw staff' but was also an ex hire car. Most of the hire cars are registered at the Yorkshire head office so have Y*65*** plates
 
Interesting, my car is YD07*** and I was told it was owned by BMW HQ for 3 months (as thats as long as they are allowed to keep it) before being sold on as AUC. I will carefully inspect the V5 to find out who the previous owner was..

Even if I'm satisfied with all that and the condition, im still going to lowball them as I would need to spend £1k getting a reversing camera and tinted windows added to meet my requirements so no guarantee I will buy the car..
 
Brief update on this in case anyone is interested.

The car itself was not in as good condition as advertised. Definitely not in brand new condition. It had
very fine scratches all over (as to be expected from a 1 year old car),
2 relatively deep but thin paint chips on the band bumper corner - not bad and probably repairable but still
drivers seat leather was stained on the rear
Boot carpet had a deep sticky stain in it that didnt seem like it would clean easily
There was a distinct rattle coming from the rear over uneven surfaces I wouldnt expect from a car with 4k on it
The car was privately registered for 9 months and is now registered to Blackhorse LTD who I was told are a lease company who sold it at auction
The dealer did seem sincere and had decent customer service skills, he did have the other cars listed on his website but my opinion was he bought the cheapest versions of high end cars at auction and didnt fix any defects, wacked the price up and tried to sell them at base BMW AUC prices. He mentioned changing prices of cars several times a day in cases.

Overall I didnt come away enthused with the condition or history of the car and so I didnt even make him an offer.

This experience has helped me decide I want a Sophisto Grey X4 with Ivory / Oyster interior with Anthracite / Burr Wood trim but that to find a used one in the spec I want will take 4-6 months (as my z4 search did).

Meanwhile I still have the Evoque option with 15% off the list price of a Dynamic but the waiting time for builds is Feb and I really prefer the X4 (as does the wife)..

So hunting shall continue for now! Hopefully prices will drop in the next 6 months while I aim to sell my car..

Thanks for everyones input :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
 
bluestreak56 said:
There was a distinct rattle coming from the rear over uneven surfaces I wouldnt expect from a car with 4k on it
Click to expand...
That may not be suspicious, our X3 does the same if the roller cover for the boot space isn't seated correctly when removed and then replaced - I don't know if the X4 has the same arrangement but, if it does, that could be the cause
 
The x4 has the new style non-roller covers in parts as found in the 3 series GT. I did pull over and try to find where the rattle was coming from but there was nothing obvious in the boot or from the rear suspension. I'm sure that this issue would have been rectified under the manufacturers warranty (if not a wear and tear item). The dealer wanted me to take the risk by buying the car and getting this fixed which put me off but also the fact that this issue was present after under 4k miles and a year also didnt quite sit right with me....

Pic of the boot blinds can be found on their new listing here:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201508035732601
 
I had the same (common) rattle in the X5. It was the rear seat bracket where it clipped in. Drove me mad for ages.
 
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