I'm thinking of buying this car ... opinions please

Gandalf23

I'm looking at this BMW tomorrow and thinking of buying.

What do you guys and gals think? I'll get it for about €1500.

I'm no expert on cars ... what questions should I ask and what should I look for? The seller tells me its been well looked after and never been crashed ... he sounds like a genuine enough guy.


BTW I was also looking at this and this for about the same price ... should I go for either in preference to the BMW above?

Silent Partner

I'd probably advise either of the second two you posted. I'd rather buy from a garage than a private sale. You may not get any warranty on a car of that age or mileage but a private seller can tell you anything and you have no come back. At least a garage should be honest and reputable.

I'd probably lean more toward the '92 green one. The red one has horrible white alloys on it (personal taste!!).

With any car you buy:
- Look at the service history
- Make sure it has a current NCT (if not, why not?)
- There are various websites where you can check the
history of a car
- Examine the car thoroughly. A bit of a wash and polish
can do a lot to hide things. Check the seams, the engine bay and the spare
tyre storage area. Possibly ask a mechanic you know and trust to view
the car with you as he will know what to look for
- Does the condition of the car reflect the age? If it looks to good to be true,
it very well may be

Obviously the above are no reflection on the cars or garages you specified. It is just general advice I would give to anyone.
For more information, the Irish Consumer Association has a leaflet (and a website I'm sure) with advice for people buying cars. It's a very worthwhile read.

bazz26

It has to be the 320i.

A BMW with a 1.6 litre engine is a contradiction in terms imo.

Gandalf23

Thanks for the replies guys.

The main thing I'm concerned about is reliability ... I need something fairly problem free for the next 12 months.

I'm afraid of buying a lemon (happened to my bro ... he bought a nice looking car that drove for about 2 months and then died ... the seller had hidden a problem with the engine and my bro didnt see it). I cant afford that happening to me either financially or because of the hassle.

I know there will be no warranties/guarantees with a car that old ... I do want to minimise my risks tho.

Silent Partner

Gandalf23 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies guys.

The main thing I'm concerned about is reliability ... I need something fairly problem free for the next 12 months.

I'm afraid of buying a lemon (happened to my bro ... he bought a nice looking car that drove for about 2 months and then died ... the seller had hidden a problem with the engine and my bro didnt see it). I cant afford that happening to me either financially or because of the hassle.

I know there will be no warranties/guarantees with a car that old ... I do want to minimise my risks tho.

Why are you looking at BMW?

I think that you could get something more reliable, newer, in better condition and with less mileage if you shopped a bit? My recommendation would be to look for a Japanese car purely for their longevity.
Go to carzone or whoever, mark your budget at a max. of €2,000 and see what happens.

Gandalf23

Silent Partner wrote: »

Why are you looking at BMW?

I think that you could get something more reliable, newer, in better condition and with less mileage if you shopped a bit? My recommendation would be to look for a Japanese car purely for their longevity.
Go to carzone or whoever, mark your budget at a max. of €2,000 and see what happens.

Thanks for the advice ... I've decided on BMW tho!!

Anyone else have any opinions on my chosen cars? Or suggest other BMW's within that price range?

Silent Partner

Gandalf23 wrote: »

Thanks for the advice ... I've decided on BMW tho!!

Anyone else have any opinions on m,y chosen cars? Or suggest other BMW's within that price range?

Well, if you are only planning to keep the car 12 months, why are you so specific?? I have done a quick check on carzone and you can get Civics, Accords, Fiestas, Escorts, Micras, Almeras, Seats, Skodas, Toyatas, Golfs, Passats & Polos for your budget. All are much younger and a lot have less mileage.
I don't understand your logic. If it's a car that you only plan on keeping for 12 months, why limit yourself when there are hundreds of viable alternatives?

Anan1

The first one looks good from the ad. I'm going to contradict Silent Partner and say that you'd be far better off buying a good car privately than getting involved with the kind of back-street cowboys who operate around that price bracket.

DO bear in mind, though, that a cheap BMW will probably not be as reliable as an equivalent Japanese car. The E36 is nice to drive though, even if crash safety is truly appalling.

RobAMerc

Silent Partner wrote: »

I'd probably advise either of the second two you posted. I'd rather buy from a garage than a private sale. You may not get any warranty on a car of that age or mileage but a private seller can tell you anything and you have no come back. At least a garage should be honest and reputable.

Sorry, I reckon this is utter nonsense.

The dealer is much more likely to know the tricks to hide the bad bits from you than the lad on the street.

The 6 month warranty will most likely be on engine and gearbox only, and you'll probably pay him 1k up front for something that might not happen.

I personally would rather take the chance that something will go wrong (based on my ability to figure out if its ok before I buy) and use the money I saved on buying it to fix it if it does(at least I know its done right), and after close on 25 cars now I haven't gone too wrong yet. Plus remember the warranty is gonna do you no favours for the small stuff that is likely to go wrong either.

Silent Partner

I accept that some unscrupulous garages may abuse their knowledge of cars. This is where you need to know what to look for. If you go to some back street motor dealer, you can get caught out. A bit of common sense applies.

My point is more that if you buy a car from a dealer, you have a business there that you can go back to if something isn't right. They aren't going to move and disapear (at least they shouldn't!) and consumer laws will apply.

If you buy of Joe Bloggs on the street he can spin you any yarn and you may never see him again.

Garage or private seller aside, as I said above I would advise anyone to read over the National Consumer Agency literature:

http://www.consumerconnect.ie/eng/Learning_Zone/Guides_To_Consumer_Law/Buying_a_Car/

cashmni1

I would go with your original choice alright. The lower miles the better. At that stage in a cars life, thinks will go wrong. Be prepared. For €1500, you will be lucky to get 12 months problem free motoring. It is possible but unlikely.
known problems will apply to that engine. Not sure what the are (drinks oil, is one i think) but search on the web before you purchase and rattle them off to the seller, see if he/she gets nervous when doing the deal.

Andrewf20

Gandalf23 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies guys.

The main thing I'm concerned about is reliability ... I need something fairly problem free for the next 12 months.

Check if the cat was replaced. A new one will set you back 500 euros or a genuine BMW cat around 1000 euros. If the cat dies like my one in my E36 did, the cars feels down about 50% on power. My E36 if over 10 years old and other items to ask about are rear trailing arm bushings (300euro to fix), brake lines (corrode over time)(350 euro to fix), and timing belt/chain of course, & NCT.

cantdecide

No time to read all but for a start, they don't have timing belts. I would get a BMW mechanic to have a lok at it. A friend bought a '95 316i with 120k on the clock but it was very well minded and had FSH and it was a real dinger. He paid €3,400.

If your budget is definitely sub 2k and it HAS to be as reliable as possible, I'd be looking at mazda 626s or similar but if you are very careful, there's no reason to believe it's impossible to get a decent enough bimmer

Gandalf23

Thanks lads ... great replies.

I'm thinking of the 320 now ... had a look at the 318 and was not too impressed for a few reasons.

Another quick question ... because I'm such an idiot when it comes to cars and know virtually nothing, would it be an idea to get the AA to do a check on the car before I buy? They do a number of "checks" which are expensive but sound good ...

cashmni1

cashmni1 wrote: »

I would go with your original choice alright. The lower miles the better.

Not always. If you are buying a car for the weekends or to do low mileage a year its better to buy a well maintained high mileage car!

cantdecide

ronoc wrote: »

Not always. If you are buying a car for the weekends or to do low mileage a year its better to buy a well maintained high mileage car!

QFT

Cars like these respond well to being well maintained. Equally, you will just know if the odometer is lying or if it hasn't been minded so thorough checover by a mechanic is te order of the day with cheap BMWs. I had a '92 325i saloon until early this year and despite the lack of service history and generally being a bit neglected of late, it was one of the best cars I've had.

niceirishfella

Andrewf20 wrote: »

Check if the cat was replaced. A new one will set you back 500 euros or a genuine BMW cat around 1000 euros. If the cat dies like my one in my E36 did, the cars feels down about 50% on power. My E36 if over 10 years old and other items to ask about are rear trailing arm bushings (300euro to fix), brake lines (corrode over time)(350 euro to fix), and timing belt/chain of course, & NCT.

This is a very good post from Andrew and a good point of consideration. I used to work in the trade and if the CAT gives up the ghost, you could find yourself out a grand or more. Exercise caution - buyer beware.

Gandalf23

niceirishfella wrote: »

This is a very good post from Andrew and a good point of consideration. I used to work in the trade and if the CAT gives up the ghost, you could find yourself out a grand or more. Exercise caution - buyer beware.

Please excuse my stupidity but what exactly is the CAT? How can you check if its on the blink or needs replacing? What mileage would it normally be replaced after?

Would the AA check I mentioned above check for this?

cantdecide

niceirishfella wrote: »

This is a very good post from Andrew and a good point of consideration. I used to work in the trade and if the CAT gives up the ghost, you could find yourself out a grand or more. Exercise caution - buyer beware.

I know the E39 CATalytic converters cost an arm and a leg and although they're probably not cheap for a 316i, correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think they cost a grand. not much change out of €400- €500 is what I priced mine at.

Recent emmissions test like the NCT is the a good starting point and get an exhaust place to check for rot (as it's part of the exhaust system). If it's knackered, I don't think the car would run right either and probably heavier on juice..

cantdecide

I wouldn't bother with an AA inspection on such a cheap car- a BMW mechanic will know the problem areas and go straight for them rather than giving it a general once over.

Andrewf20

The cat is the catalytic converter (http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=CA72&mospid=47435&btnr=18_0227&hg=18&fg=10)
which is the part of the exhaust under the drivers seat which helps keep the emissions low. My BMW cat for my 323i set me back 1100euro from Keanes. I didnt get a spurious one as I heard that they can sometimes fail prematurely (3-4 years in, while the genuine ones are expected to last 10 years).

The cats tend to fail fairly suddenly and the symptoms are that the car feels really down on power, and gets worse over a period of a few weeks. Fumes from the exhaust are more sooty, and you may hear rattles from the cat if the baffles inside are loose. If you are planning to keep the car for a year or 2 then a spurious one should be fine.

Gandalf23

Latest update on this ... I've looked at each of the 3 cars I was originally considering. I was fairly disappointed by all of them tbh. There were both minor and major "issues" and I've decided none of them are for me.

A friend contacted me earlier this evening and suggested this from the same place in Kildare. Its more than doubling my original budget, but I'm not happy with what I'm seeing for €1500 (altho this is still in the running ... I'm going to see tomorrow evening).

What ye think?

cantdecide

If you're looking for a car like these and you have the money, you should definitely spend it on a good example. 190E were nice but getting it thoroughly checked by a specialist is worth repeating.

Try the UK also http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-uk/www/cars/BMW+3+SERIES/Ne-2-4-5-6-7-8-27-44-49-53-61-64-67-103-133-146,N-9-13-43-59-145-4294967201-4294967202/advert.action?R=200749107954002&distance=104&postcode=NE13+6PE&channel=CARS&make=BMW&model=3+SERIES&min_pr=1000&max_pr=2000&max_mileage=100000
Only a 318 but a nice example by the look of it

CarLover

Gandalf23 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies guys.

The main thing I'm concerned about is reliability ... I need something fairly problem free for the next 12 months.

I'm afraid of buying a lemon (happened to my bro ... he bought a nice looking car that drove for about 2 months and then died ... the seller had hidden a problem with the engine and my bro didnt see it). I cant afford that happening to me either financially or because of the hassle.

I know there will be no warranties/guarantees with a car that old ... I do want to minimise my risks tho.

Not even going to bother reading the 2 pages.

Stop looking at cars with 100k+ on the clock if you NEED a reliable motor.

bo-bo

CarLover wrote: »

Not even going to bother reading the 2 pages.

Stop looking at cars with 100k+ on the clock if you NEED a reliable motor.

you are joking, right? :rolleyes: maybe you would like to qualify that for the rest of us

Anan1

CarLover wrote: »

Not even going to bother reading the 2 pages.

Stop looking at cars with 100k+ on the clock if you NEED a reliable motor.

I am constantly amazed by the number of people who can find the time to type but not to read the thread first.

As has already been pointed out, your 'advice' is in any case unsound - I personally have owned more than one utterly reliable car with well over 100k miles.

CarLover

Be that as it may...naturally there are plenty of working examples of "reliable" cars with humungous mileage...but I'm sorry...having 'must be reliable' as a prerequisite and then looking at motors with 150k-170k on the clock just seems completely daft to me to be honest.

I stand by my comments...look at lower mileage instead of ancient BMW's with big mileage...unless you're after a project.

CarLover

Anan1 wrote: »

I am constantly amazed by the number of people who can find the time to type but not to read the thread first.

Really? That's fascinating...

Anan1

CarLover wrote: »

Really? That's fascinating...

When you converse with people face to face, do you listen to what they say and then respond, or do you just close your ears and say your piece?

CarLover wrote: »

Be that as it may...naturally there are plenty of working examples of "reliable" cars with humungous mileage...but I'm sorry...having 'must be reliable' as a prerequisite and then looking at motors with 150k-170k on the clock just seems completely daft to me to be honest.

Priceless, you don't even read your own posts! Have a look, you've managed to contradict yourself in one sentence.

Gandalf23

Thanks for all the excellent replies guys ... I'd be lost without ye!

I really dont want this thread to decend into the whold "high miles v reliability" thing ... thats been done to death here and people will have their own passionately held opinions. Lets just say we agree to disagree and all get along. Its not the time of the year for silly arguments and flame wars.

I've decided to spend a few more € to go up a few years. I'm looking at a 1996 BMW 318 with 150k miles on the clock for about €4000. The guy is giving me a 6 month warrenty and the car looks and drives really well.

Its more than I wanted or can really afford to spend, but I think it takes some of the gamble out of things. Opinions?

CarLover

Anan1 wrote: »

When you converse with people face to face, do you listen to what they say and then respond, or do you just close your ears and say your piece?

Priceless, you don't even read your own posts! Have a look, you've managed to contradict yourself in one sentence.

You're just trying to score points now...not really interested in some tit-for-tat battle with you.

Let me be clear so that you can understand this - whilst there are undoubtedly people out there who own reliable, high mileage cars...logic would dictate that if you're after a second hand car that needs to be reliable, you would not be looking at cars with exceedingly high mileage. Cars deteriorate over time...no matter how well looked after. It's fairly basic stuff really...if you want to disagree then so be it.