Results 1 to 5 of 5

Thread: VIN Check, not Carfax, on potential BUY

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    United States
    Posts
    1
    My Cars
    2003 BMW M3 Coupe

    VIN Check, not Carfax, on potential BUY

    I am looking at buying an M3 it has 151k miles, which is a little bothersome but the car looks real clean. Its a 2004 Coupe 6MT. What is scariest is not knowing if all the Inspections are up to snuff. All the Carfax says is Maintenance Inspection Completed which I think is probably different than the BMW Inspection 1, Inspection 2, etc. Can a BMW dealership tell anymore. It says work was done at Valley Auto World which is Valley BMW according to my Google search. I suppose I could just call them. Looks like after it had 68k miles on it the last owner put 18k miles per year on it for 6 years. With no record of maintenance after 68k miles. Not saying it wasn't done but there is no record.

    Would you stay away? I'd say the condition of the car is 8.5 out of 10 overall. I have owned a lot of cars and it looks to me like it has been taken care of, which would leave me to believe it has probably been properly maintained engine wise.

    Thoughts? I am new to BMW's by the way. I am a Nissan guy. Oh by the way they are asking $11k. Price seems good, I am trying to knock it down to $10k. I was originally planning on getting something with around 100k miles for around $15k.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Arida Zona
    Posts
    30,107
    My Cars
    z3
    The dealership can not release this information for you and a VIN check wont tell you anything other than what options it had.

    I would look at the car and judge the condition of the car more than I would trust what some piece of paper says. If the car has been neglected a test drive and good look around should tell you. Get a PPI if you are really worried.

    Going into my TENTH YEAR of providing high quality reproduction BMW fabrics!

    PRICE CUT on ALL FABRICS
    Offering the best prices on the best quality reproduction fabrics!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    Kentucky
    Posts
    1,187
    My Cars
    '07 530i
    You can't judge the car soley by it's looks. Seals/bushings/filters/fluids/tires etc all have lives. Just 'coz the car has low or high miles doesn't mean much. I personally would like to see the car maintained. I am in a process of purchasing a relatively low miles ///M3/4/5 and you bet as soon as she gets home, she will have every thing gone over and gets all her fluids etc changed.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    Arlington, VA
    Posts
    9,931
    My Cars
    2018 BMW M240i
    Have the car checked by a reputable independent shop that specializes in bimmers. Then, keep your fingers crossed.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    NC
    Posts
    451
    My Cars
    08 335i
    I would try giving the dealer a call and asking about the maintenance history. Just tell them your looking to buy it.

    I have had 3 BMW dealers give me maintenance history info no problem on cars I was looking at. One other one wouldn't give me maintenance info, but was willing to tell me if the car was a cpo or not, so it's worth a try.

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •