I have been looking for an e30 M3 as close to stock as possible, not in collector condition, because I will want to drive it occasionally. A friend sent me this ad, and after minimal effort I decided to pass. I'll spare others the cost of the carfax. Here is the ad:
https://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/c...774019708.html
I asked the seller why there had been a complete repaint, and he stated that his family owns a body shop, so they painted it. He stated that there had been no collision history that he is aware of and they did not make any body repairs. They have NO service documentation from prior owners. The mileage is listed at 129k.
I took the VIN from the picture of the door panel and shelled out $ for a carfax. There are no reported accidents or major repairs, car has a clean title.
The car was in California until 2008. It had regular odometer readings from 1991 through 2006 including a couple sales and emissions inspections every 2 years. The readings show consistent and consecutive rising readings, no reason to doubt accuracy. The last reported odometer reading was 146,198 in 2006. When the car was titled in Washington state in September 2008 and was exempted from odometer reporting. Registration was issued or renewed in August 2009, then NO reports until a new title was issued in December 2016, presumably to the current owner, the seller whose family owns a body shop and just happened to feel like painting the whole car one day.
When I questioned him about the mileage, he replied that even if the actual mileage is over 200k, this is the lowest price out there. He questioned the reported odometer readings and whether they were sequential. I texted him a screenshot of the Carfax report and never heard back from him after that.
Maybe the price is legit but cleaner cars with known history have sold on BaT recently in this price range, so I think this guy is overpriced. If I lived closer, I would go inspect, but for me its too far to make the trip when I am almost certain this guy put lipstick on a pig and is trying to turn a quick profit.
Last edited by ETAftw; 12-23-2018 at 11:38 AM.
I wouldn't depend solely on Carfax for my data. Thirty year old paint will look tired. I'm not saying either way about the car, but from the ad it looks nice for $39K.
04M3 TiAg 69k slick-top 3 pedal
99M3 Cosmos 61k S50B32 euro 6Spd
88M3 AW 43k miles Project FS
WTB: 3.5" Eurosport/Conforti CAI
I just posted one for sale. 1988
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