Is it a steal or have others been overpriced?

[m3f_mazur_fc5757570e]

I have been looking for a '96+ black/black M3/2 for a little while now for less than $15,000. Well I found a '97 w/ only 54,000 for $15,000 flat. (Maybe can be talked down even more?) I'm getting more pics from him, but it seems perfect! So will this be a steal or just an average asking price?



Guy even said I could test drive it for the weekend. :bugeye: (too bad he lives like 2,200 miles away)

[m3f_resisTm3]

pictures :?

[m3f_Sirius_880bd69485]

I got my 97 for 12,500 with 101,000 on it, however, it has a brand new engine block, at the time, maybe only like 2k miles on it and I work at a bmw dealer heh. Run a nada or edmounds on the car, see what the current value for it is...

[m3f_mazur_fc5757570e]

pictures :?



he's sending me the pics...will post when he does.

[m3f_mazur_fc5757570e]

I got my 97 for 12,500 with 101,000 on it, however, it has a brand new engine block, at the time, maybe only like 2k miles on it and I work at a bmw dealer heh. Run a nada or edmounds on the car, see what the current value for it is...



Just check out NADA and it came out to be about $21,000. That surprised me a little.

[m3f_bmw4life13_0098c1d2b1]

did you run a carfax or take it to a mechanic yet? sounds too good to be true....almost like he's giving the car for trade in value.

[m3f_mazur_fc5757570e]

did you run a carfax or take it to a mechanic yet? sounds too good to be true....almost like he's giving the car for trade in value.



No, I havn't...yet. If I like what I see I will probably make the owner take it to a BMW dealer and do a whole checkup on it and have BMW send me the results of the checkup (e-mail) and an estimate if there happens to be any problems.

(If I lived closer I would take it myself...but maybe a BMW dealer is trustworthy enough for my presence being absent?)

[m3f_KUpolo]

No, I havn't...yet. If I like what I see I will probably make the owner take it to a BMW dealer and do a whole checkup on it and have BMW send me the results of the checkup (e-mail) and an estimate if there happens to be any problems.

(If I lived closer I would take it myself...but maybe a BMW dealer is trustworthy enough for my presence being absent?)



That's how I handled my long distance purchase. It ended up costing around $300, but it was well worth the money. I would never buy a car that a qualified BMW specialist hand not gone over with a fine toothed comb.



$15,000 sounds like it is a bit under what you should be paying. I have found that since this car is somewhat of a specialized vehicle, Kelly Blue Book, NADA and other "appraisal" lists are often not accurate. If the car checks out, go for it.



Regarding the carfax suggestion, it maybe worth the check, but carfax's info is shakey at best. Check out this link regarding carfax:



http://216.118.109.8/m3forum/showthread.php?t=7769

[m3f_mazur_fc5757570e]

That's how I handled my long distance purchase. It ended up costing around $300, but it was well worth the money. I would never buy a car that a qualified BMW specialist hand not gone over with a fine toothed comb.



$15,000 sounds like it is a bit under what you should be paying. I have found that since this car is somewhat of a specialized vehicle, Kelly Blue Book, NADA and other "appraisal" lists are often not accurate. If the car checks out, go for it.



Regarding the carfax suggestion, it maybe worth the check, but carfax's info is shakey at best. Check out this link regarding carfax:



http://216.118.109.8/m3forum/showthread.php?t=7769



This MIGHT sound like a dumb question, but did you have to pay for the check-up prior to purchasing your vehicle?

[m3f_Sirius_880bd69485]

Carfax reports are a bit sketcy imo. Working in a body shop, I have learned that not all repairs make it to a carfax report. They usualy work like this: Guy walks into shop, says repaint my entire car (We'll charge around 6 grand for that at our shop), he pay out of pocket. That all over paint job prob won't make it to a car fax. Same thing: Guy gets in a bad accident, replaces both frame rails up from, cowl panal foward: Total cost of repairs, around $18,000 (this is common at my shop to sadly), pays cash, prob wont' make it to car fax. Now, you run all thoes same repairs thru an insurance company, its a good bet it'll then show up on a car fax report. Best thing to do is take it to a BMW qualified body-shop, and have them look over the car, looking for factory seams, vin stickers, paint lines.. etc....

[m3f_nussie]

i picked up a 97/4 on ebay for 12,500. It does have 110,000 miles. The carfax let me determine that 60,000 were put on in two years. So far the car is doing great. I've had it since february. I haven't put many miles on due to the weather( i don't have snows), but when i take her out she's all there. Sometimes the right deal just comes along. Even if I do have troubles with this car, most I can fix myself. The others, well, I've got a lot of space to get to $20,000.

[m3f_KUpolo]

This MIGHT sound like a dumb question, but did you have to pay for the check-up prior to purchasing your vehicle?





I did have to pay for the inspection prior to buying the car. Since I was in Colorado and the car was in Florida, I looked up BMW dealers in the city that the guy was selling it online. When I found one, I called and made an appointment, I thne called the seller and had him drop the car off for an inspection. The dealership allowed me to pay by credit card over the phone.



I would not trust the dealer that is selling the car to also do an unbiased inspection. There is a bit of conflict of interest if you ask me.

[m3f_KUpolo]

Now, you run all thoes same repairs thru an insurance company, its a good bet it'll then show up on a car fax report. Best thing to do is take it to a BMW qualified body-shop, and have them look over the car, looking for factory seams, vin stickers, paint lines.. etc....



I did $11,000 worth of damage to my old Maxima, insurance paid. Never showed up on carfax.

[m3f_Sirius_880bd69485]

I did $11,000 worth of damage to my old Maxima, insurance paid. Never showed up on carfax.





Intresting... which insurance carrier? "Most", I say this lightly, report their claims to the carfax agency.



But, as you said, 11k worth of repair, and it still didn't show on carfax...

[m3f_m3-dude]

I got my 97 ///M3 sedan with 92,000 miles, no dings or scratches anywhere,and brand new tires. I found it at a dealer about 4 hours away the day after they got it in. They were susposed to have gave a "full inspection", since it was at a dealer, and fix the little broken stuff and everything. I don't know about how much of an inspection they gave, but I can't find anythign wrong with it. The finial price was 15,000 give or take a little. I thought it was a steal, even though KBB estamate was close to that.