I have owned several different 3 series over a span of 14 years (e30, e36, 2x e46). I am in the market for a new car and want something <5 yrs old with under 30k miles. Naturally I would love to stay in a 3 series as I have had really good luck with the others I have owned.
I recently came across a 2014 335i Sportline with ~14K miles for what I feel is a good price. The catch? It was a Lemon/buyback vehicle. Carfax says the complaint was related to an engine light, but I have yet to be able to garner additional information. Per lemon laws, BMW must fix, test, and confirm the original issue has been rectified before it can sell it again. So in theory, it no longer has the issue. I have no intention of selling in the near term, so I am not overly concerned about resale value 2,3, even 5 years from now.
I plan to test drive it Friday and give it a proper shake down and extended test drive, in addition to pressing for me history information from the dealer (not sure how much they actually know, since they would have bought it at auction).
So, should I do it? Does anyone have experience good or bad with buyback vehicles? It will come with 12 mo, 12k mile warranty from BMW to cover parts/service associated with the original issue, should anything arise.
Currently my thoughts are that if the issue still exists, it should become apparent within the first 12 months, and would then be covered. But I just want someone to check me and make sure I'm buying with my head not my heart.
Thanks!
Hello - I would recommend taking the car to an indy BMW shop and getting a thorough PPI (pre-purchase inspection) done. This should give you all the info you'll need in deciding whether to pursue the car or not. Hope this helps and best of luck!
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No
kpd, the greater the risk that you assume, the cheaper the price of the vehicle should be. You said the price is "good," not "great," as it should be for a car with a troubled history. If it were me, I would need to be able to feel that I am saving so much on the price, it's worth having a car that likely will need work and will be difficult to sell if I change my mind in the future.
It has been my experience (as a lemon law attorney) that Lemon Law cars need a full replacement of some obscure part, generally mechanical, that is causing the computer to act up. I have had experience with bad castings for heads and transmission cases that caused issues with early detonation and fluid flow, triggering CPU faults, that the dealer could not locate. Ford rebuilt the transmission 3 times, never contemplating that it was the case of the transmission causing the problem. Jeep rebuilt the upper end of a motor three times, new cams, cam phasers, etc., when the problem was a poorly cast combustion chamber that was causing early detonation.
Mechanics aren't mechanics anymore. They're just code readers, that tackle what their repair manuals tell them to tackle. If you buy it, be prepared to have the same issue again, and be prepared for it to be something stupid, but maddening, like a broken wire harness, or bad casting.
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