BUYER BEWARE: 2001 330Ci VIN WBABN53431JU20463

[tb0ne]

Beware of a 2001 330Ci Steel Gray with VIN WBABN53431JU20463

See http://330ci.overrevved.googlepages.com for more info.

Please spread to other boards/forums.

[tomedkaz]

Wow.. that's some story...I cant believe I read the whole thing.
Didnt you hear the cylinder misfire when yo drove the car?

[Tachyon]

That's some messed up stuff. Thanks for the heads up.

[Elvis T]

I called them up and they said it's not for sale right now.....

[G. P. Burdell]

Wow. :eek:

Kudos to you for knowing and standing up for your rights under the state's emissions and lemon laws. :thumbup:

[DriftingE30]

dude......i hate places like that.

[mikese36]

Good info!You never know about car dealerships.

[e28forlife]

Yea I dunno about buying a BMW from a Chevorlet dealership, kinda shady off the bat.

[themadhatter]

it'll never be green lighted at the auction, they may have to fix and resell the car.

[T///Mac325is]

thats why i will never buying anything but a corvette from a chevrolet dealership

[edhchoe]

I'll never buy anything from a Chevrolet dealership or anything to do with Lowell.

[tb0ne]

And here it is still for sale in VA. Making it's way around the country:

http://www.autotrader.com/dealers/dda/detail.jsp?car_id=216930703&dealer_id=45127816&car_year=2001&dealership_view_name=perfectauto&result_car_id=217317004&sort_type=make_modelASC&cardist=0

[graywolf316]

wow good to see you got all your money back.

[FSUhorizon]

It's showing about 3k more miles so I'm guessing it's been fixed.

[tb0ne]

The car was driveable so you never know. But yeah, I'm guessing and hoping it's fixed by now.

[Vanos01]

Good job buddy of sticking to your guns.

you sound like me when I did anything "big" or "little" dealing with customer service and so forth, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS document, who you spoke with, when, details, etc. Looks pretty darn good on paper and 99.9% of the time makes them look bad when you do all the follow up.

And people wonder why car dealers get such a bad wrap. Hello, McFly!!:eyecrazy

[SilverBeam]

Wow, I did the quick carfax and it has 37 records! The car has been passed around quite a bit.

[Vanos01]

And here it is still for sale in VA. Making it's way around the country:

http://www.autotrader.com/dealers/dda/detail.jsp?car_id=216930703&dealer_id=45127816&car_year=2001&dealership_view_name=perfectauto&result_car_id=217317004&sort_type=make_modelASC&cardist=0

We should all send them an email inquiry if the engine has been fixed! they claim a 23 pt. inspections and "great customer buying experience"....:shifty

[Minotauro]

Holly sh** look at that carfax report, that thing is like 2 pages long.

[tb0ne]

Wow, I did the quick carfax and it has 37 records! The car has been passed around quite a bit.

I followed it through 2 dealers in MA, and another 2 in VA. I'm sure there's others I've missed in between. You can actually see the full Carfax in the Autotrader link - they have one of the free carfax listings.

[Andres]

Good story. Sorry to hear about your endeavors. I'm glad you finally got your refund. Persistence is the key.

Perhaps a lot porter or other Chev. employee decided to take it out for one last spin?

5/20/2006 - First attended Chevrolet of Lowell. Test drove vehicle. Took vehicle for a pre-purchase inspection at an independant garage. No problems, no service engine lights. Vehicle needed a left front ball joint. Vehicle was running smooth as any vehicle with 31k miles should.

5/24/2006 - Payed for vehicle in full. 31666 on odometer. Drove vehicle off lot at about 4:30PM - service engine soon light almost immediately comes on less than 300 yards from dealer. Car running rough and feels like it's misfiring. Also making fairly severe ticking sound from engine compartment. Turn right around and return to dealer. Sales agent takes car out for drive and says everything is fine. Agent also states there is nothing he can do for me since no warranty was purchased. Ask agent if the service department can pull the OBD-II codes. Agent and service manager state that since vehicle is a BMW they cannot pull the codes (OBD-II industry standard across vehicles - this is not true). Ask to speak with Agent's manager. Speak with sales manager. Am treated rudely and am repeatedly told that I "need to calm down" by Sales Manager. Sales Manager reaffirms that since I did not purchase the warranty they do not have to fix it. Leave dealership and go to independant shop where the pre-purchase inspection was performed. Employee explains to me that car will not pass inspection, and under law the dealer is required to fix the issue. Return back to Chevrolet of Lowell, explain the law to sales agent, and am told that yes if it does not pass inspection they have to fix any "SAFETY" related issues. Agent seems unsure as to what this includes. I state that I will get the car inspected in the morning and will return when it fails.

[RobertK]

The thing is... a mis shifted engine runs like crap all the time.. I'm surprise you didn't notice it at idle before you drove it off the lot.

[tb0ne]

The thing is... a mis shifted engine runs like crap all the time.. I'm surprise you didn't notice it at idle before you drove it off the lot.

I don't think that's necessarily true. I honestly think it was an extremely minor overrev. I know the tech who worked on it at BMW, he pulled the head off, and there was no doubt the pistons hit the valves. Not MAJOR damage, but some.

[islanq]

We should just demand the give us the wheel, seats, brakes, and scrap the rest of the car.

[FSUhorizon]

We should just demand the give us the wheel, seats, brakes, and scrap the rest of the car.

Oh definitely. Because a minor over rev requiring a rebuild is reason enough to scrap a car. /sarcasm.

I looked at the carfax. It is a perfect reminder of how shady the car business is. How many dealers here knew of the problem and sent it to auction? After having read the carfax, my guess is that the problem has not been fixed. It hasn't been in private ownership since tbOne encounter the car.

[tb0ne]

Oh definitely. Because a minor over rev requiring a rebuild is reason enough to scrap a car. /sarcasm.

I looked at the carfax. It is a perfect reminder of how shady the car business is. How many dealers here knew of the problem and sent it to auction? After having read the carfax, my guess is that the problem has not been fixed. It hasn't been in private ownership since tbOne encounter the car.

When it ended up at another dealer in MA, I anonymously emailed them and asked them of the condition of the car, and pointed them to the website explaining what happened. They actually told me it had been fixed!!!!! They just assumed since it had been at BMW 2 weeks ago, that it had been fixed. Sure enough, a week later it was back at the auction.

[Chinny4290]

What a story.

What a fuss....it's a nice looking E46 too.

[typeS4]

Wow just wow.

I added a lil' something to it's carfax.

[RRdawho?]

Light Mech overrev doesn't mean that the car needs to be parted out...hell I blew a fist sized hole out of my block :rofl

[Chinny4290]

Light Mech overrev doesn't mean that the car needs to be parted out...hell I blew a fist sized hole out of my block :rofl

How?!

[moroza]

I thought there were things like timing chains and revlimiters to prevent this sort of thing from happening?

[Chinny4290]

I thought there were things like timing chains and revlimiters to prevent this sort of thing from happening?

In a manual car, say you're driving at 70 MPH on the highway in 6th gear, and you for some odd reason shift by accident into 2nd or 1st....physics alone won't prevent the engine from overrevving.

Timing Chains and rev limiters and fuel cutoff are only there for throttle purposes so when you floor the car it won't do any damage to internal components.

[moroza]

Oh, duh. I drive a manual, I should know that. I'd forgotten why I memorized maximum speeds for each gear. But I double-clutch anyway so I guess I'm safe.

I must say, that's an impressive transmission that has synchros powerful enough to shift from 6th to 2nd at 70.

[pegcity]

what do you mean over revving, like redlining?

That must have been some redlining.

[Chinny4290]

Overrevving = going over the assigned redline.

Redlining is hitting the engine's true maximum speed and is when the fuel cutoff kicks in (the RPM gauge and engine bouncing at the red area)

[parabellum]

From the website you linked to...


2. The vehicle was in fact fine when it was test driven and inspected. Chevrolet of Lowell caused a mechanical over-rev sometime between the time the vehicle was test driven, and the time the vehicle was picked up for delivery.

This is absolutely possible. Having worked at a few dealerships...I have seen some very very abusive behavior to cars. Even at a good dealership this can happen if they hire some jerk in detail or service and haven't figured it out yet.

[atl530i]

Yea I dunno about buying a BMW from a Chevorlet dealership, kinda shady off the bat.

+1

Glad someone said that. I would not buy a BMW from a Chevy dealership in a million years.

[stowe9man]

31666

There Is Your Problem Right There!

[slowolf]

Thanks for the excellent comprehensive report tb0ne. This kinda stuff is exactly why i come to this forum...well.. besides all the great people.

[peanutpower]

looks to me like it took till the car got to 33k before it was fixed!




08/16/2006 31,950 Auto Auction Sold at auction
in Eastern Region
Listed as
a dealer vehicle 10/05/2006 33,517 Auto Auction Sold at auction
in Pennsylvania
Listed as
a dealer vehicle 10/05/2006 Virginia
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Manassas, VA Vehicle purchase reported 10/21/2006 33,757 Virginia
Inspection Station
Manassas, VA
\
Passed emissions inspection


\



\
and was finally running right once it got to this place \

[tb0ne]

looks to me like it took till the car got to 33k before it was fixed!




08/16/2006 31,950 Auto Auction Sold at auction
in Eastern Region
Listed as
a dealer vehicle 10/05/2006 33,517 Auto Auction Sold at auction
in Pennsylvania
Listed as
a dealer vehicle 10/05/2006 Virginia
Motor Vehicle Dept.
Manassas, VA Vehicle purchase reported 10/21/2006 33,757 Virginia
Inspection Station
Manassas, VA
\
Passed emissions inspection


\



\
and was finally running right once it got to this place \

Anyone can pass it on emissions....

[CaptHerb]

How?!

+1

[roybotnik]

Judging by the fact that it's in Virginia I still wonder if it's been fixed :rolleyes. Can't remember the last time I've been to a car dealership in VA that was worth a can of piss.