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      02-05-2020, 10:22 AM   #7
Dheeth-G80
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Drives: 2021 G80 M3C
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Elk Grove, CA

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Quote:
Originally Posted by johnung View Post
Don't beat yourself up. Everyone makes mistakes. On these high end German cars it's all about finding the right car with low miles.

My wife is a stickler about only buying a used car with low mileage. These cars also depreciate ridiculously. So never buy new, and take advantage of that depreciation to get a really low mileage car at a comparatively reasonable price.

The last two cars that we bought were 2-3 years old with 11k and 12k miles on them. Both had 2-2.5 years of warranty remaining. We paid 42% to 49% less than the original sticker.

Now this may be surprising. Both cars we bought without seeing them. We had them shipped to us from 300 miles and 1,200 miles away, and saved a ton of money by doing so, over buying a similar car locally.

We didn't set out to do that in either case. But by researching carefully we were able to find cars that met everyone of our criteria including low mileage and relatively low price. When they turned out to be a distance away, then we dealt with the issues of having someone we trusted check out the cars on-site and having them shipped to us. Neither of which didn't turn out to be a big deal.

Below is my advice:

Do not go to your local dealer with the idea of buying a car there. Odds are that they will not have a car that meets all of your criteria. If you allow the conversation to be on cars in the dealer's current inventory you are spinning your wheels and wasting your time.

Focus! Go to several dealers to drive models that may be of interest. Take notes and write down a car's VIN number. After you drive a couple your head will start spinning and you won't remember details.

Your goals after driving a bunch of cars should be to know what year(s), model(s) that you want to pursue and know what options are available. Google the year and model. Read car reviews to understand if certain features of interest were only available in certain model years or with certain option combinations. Download the manufacturer's sales brochure for those years.

Run mdecoder or other websites using the VINs of the cars that you drove. Get to understand what the line items look like on the build list and how much the sticker price is on the car that you want with the options that you want.

This is especially important because online you need to recognize if a car price is a great deal on a car with lots of options installed, or just a low price on a car stripped down with few options. Knowing this level of detail is how you will ultimately recognize a great deal on a car that you are searching for and be able to jump on it to close the deal before someone else does.

So now you should have your priority list of the exact car you want:
Year(s)
Model(s)
Exterior color(s)
Interior color(s)
Maximum mileage that you would consider. My wife's number is always <20k miles.
List of must have options
List of would be nice to have, but not a deal breaker options
List of options you don't care about

Gotta run right now. Will try to add more later. There is a lot more detail to go go with my car purchase process!

Based on what you said so far, I think you should first consider a used low mileage 340/440. It will have the performance you have enjoyed with the newer B58 engine that should have less repair costs. Of course, you'll have to do the above to see what the overall cost may be and see if that is in the affordable range.

If not, then think about a 330/430 with the newer B48 engine for the same reasons above. You can tune it inexpensively without affecting reliability and approach the performance that you got with your previous N55 stock engine.

Hope this helps!
Best approach and advice

I wouldn't say I did exactly the things as John suggests here but I did quite close to what he did and it worked like wonders.

So I will share my story in as less words as I can.

I wanted a 335i and I knew 2013 were the cheaper ones, I didn't know the EWG/PWG but if I did then I would start my hunt for 2014 and after but anyways, took me about 6 months before I could find the one I wanted with the options I hoped for.

My search criteria always was below <=$30k with <30k miles. I was trying to keep my payment under $500/month so I knew I would have to account for extended Warranty, tax/title/fees etc into all that.

I am in Sacramento and the car I found was in LA, not that far but far enough that I won't just go there to test drive it. I hired PPI guy from a reputable shop there and got the results back and he said nothing scares him from buying that car along with of course extensive report that says what works what don't and if any issues.

Car was 2013 335i with only 15k miles for $26k. I got the warranty through PenFed CU and the warranty is Route66 for 100k or 5yrs so I got the car in March 2018 and warranty last me 2023 or 100k (Currently 71k miles).

Warranty has 0 deductible and I paid $2995 for it. So far repaired it twice and they covered about $2200 worth repairs so I am in good hands.

OFHG, right front door actuator, and steering boot (it would make noise when I turn the steering wheel).

Rt66 offers 100k warranty on cars below 75k miles and 35k warranty on cars above and between 75,001-125,000 miles.

If you had gotten your car with their warranty, your repairs would've been covered most likely but anyways, extended warranty is important if you are trying not to shell out money on repairs, especially with a high mileage car.

Alright back to my rant, out the door I paid 33k and did 72 months payments and it was well under $500/monthly.

So your take away from this is, search for a good bit of time in extended radius cuz mostly good deals are always out of your traveling distance. Once you found the car that you really want the, do PPI on it and then go from there for your finances and all. I definitely recommend Rt66 but only caveat is that they are only available through certain FCU so maybe apply for your loan thru a CU?

Good luck bud, hope this helps!
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2021 G80 M3C - Current
2017 G30-B58 - Sold
2013 F30-N55 - Sold
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