Looking to purchase a M3 convert. red with black interior. 2001 model with 27000miles. The car is manual, not SMG. He is asking for $34 before taxes. Certified, I think the car has at least 1 year left on the warranty. Yay or nay? Hot, warm or cold?

anyone? looking to make my decision tomorrow.

If it's certified, it has a 6yr/100k certified warranty (good for major mechanical items). The original bumper-to-bumper warranty is probably gone however. Does it have service records?

yup, all service records and its a CPO. I will be the third owner. Just wondering if this is a hot deal aka stupid to pass up or good deal or not. I was only planning to keep this car for a yr or until the warranty is almost up. So resale is very important, want to lose as little a possible when I decide to sell. Don't plan on adding more than 11k miles on it under my ownership. B/C of the age of the car, I may have only a yr left b4 the CPO warranty runs out.

My main questions are would you do it and is hot, warm or cold deal?

I don't think it's a steal... but if you are only going to drive it for a year and get rid of it, it probably is not so bad. My car is going past 67k miles now and no engine problems. During those 11k miles, you'll probably need one oil change unless it's time for an inspection and that can get pricey at $1200.

So... my thoughts, if you are going to only have it for a year... why not go for it. Resale will remain high because I don't think the new M3s will be out before you sell it.

What do mean inspection for $1200? Is that required to maintain CPO status? and would that matter b/c this car will be out of that period by the time I sell it? Also what would be considered a steal 33-32k?

Inspection is what BMW calls it's service that is due for the car every other oil change.

Oil changes and Inspection vary with the usage and mileage of the car. If you drive the way BMW recommends, you need an oil change every 15,000 miles and an Inspection every 30,000 miles.

If you drive like I do, you need an oil change every 7000 miles and an Inspection every 15,000 miles. The car will tell you what you need an when (when you first turn it on, it will display a number counting down to it's next service).

The oil changes are roughly $100. The inspections are roughly $1200. The car you are looking at is at 27,000 miles, so you may want to check to see if it had the inspection done already or not.

Inspection is defined as an oil change, valve adjustment mostly, but there are a laundry list of items they are supposed to go over during the inspection (if you do a search for inspection with my name is should pop up a list).

thanx Kevlar
My main questions are would you do it and is hot, warm or cold deal?
anyone?

Personally I would wait...

wow really? would 33k or maybe a little lower make it worth it?

Here is what i am considering:
A red w/black interior '01 M3 droptop with 26700 on the dial and maybe 1 year left on the extended warranty. The guy wants $34000 before taxes.

or

brand new 05 maybe 06 G35 coupe 6mt minus navi. I was able to nego. a price of 36750 drive out a few months back.



or wait for this guy (been waiting for three weeks now) for a 03 white/tan s2000 for $21000. Has 26k on the dial. This will be a keeper if I ever get it.


What do you think I should go for??

If you are only going to keep the car for a year, the 4 year old M3 will likely not lose as much of it's resale value versus buying the new car and selling it in a year. The biggest depreciation hit typically happens the 1st 18 to 24 months from when the car is new.

The price seems OK, but the CPO dates would be key.

One last point, as premium cars get older, I think it becomes more difficult to get someone (private party especially) to be willing to pay $30 plus for a car that is 5 or 6 years old (when you go to sell it) because they have a harder time getting financing (because of vehicle age, you have to put more down and interest rates are higher) and because people begin to worry about what is going to go wrong.

Good Luck!

Well now the car is at 33500 and it is fully loaded minus navi. I got a 5.5% rate for 60 months. I was going to put down $10k, but decided to put down $3k to cover taxes and finance the whole thing @ 689 a month since I am only keeping her for only a year. You are right about the difficulty of finding a buyer to pay over 30K for a 5yr old car and that worries me. But I got the M3 bug and I hope the next person I sell it to will also. Thanks guys picking her up in 2 hrs.