YACT: Just agreed to buy a 330ci from a private seller.

[thrashev]

not to be a downer, but the mods asleep?

 

[eejimen]

 

[eejimen]

You also want to make sure the BMW has had ALL it service and oil changes from an authorized BMW shop. All BMWs have a maintenance book. If no maintenance book resell value drops about 2K.

Just so you don't think I'm pulling this out of thin air: My family owned several dealerships and I worked in the Service Dept. The book is the only legitimate record for maintenace.

 

[hans007]

my cousin bought a 330ci a few years back, i believe a 2002. and out the door new with expensive CA tax it was still $42000.

i'd say $30000 may be somewhat reasonable, if say he has the 19" rim special package or its a convertible.

 

[thefish]

 

[imported_Grimmy]

No title, no cash.

What I did once was I wrote two checks one to the titleholder for the balance due (after they faxed the owner a payoff statement which he gave me) and one check for the owner for the remainder of the agreed on price.

Unless you really trust this guy and for $25K potential cash loss, I trust no one.

Also are you paying for this in cash? Or are you getting a loan? If a loan it would seem to me your loan company would be handling the title transfers, if cash, then no title, no cash.

 

[thefish]

Someone who has $30k to spend should already know about such things.

The laws could vary from state to state. I would visit a local dealer like Carmax or Autonation and ask what they require to buy a car. Your seller needs to notify his lender he is selling the car and they might send him a title that he can assign and once the bank is paid they will release their lien. Perhaps you can get the cashiers check made out to the bank instead of the seller or maybe complete the transaction at the bank's office.

 

[thefish]

Someone who has $30k to spend should already know about such things.

The laws could vary from state to state. I would visit a local dealer like Carmax or Autonation and ask what they require to buy a car. Your seller needs to notify his lender he is selling the car and they might send him a title that he can assign and once the bank is paid they will release their lien. Perhaps you can get the cashiers check made out to the bank instead of the seller or maybe complete the transaction at the bank's office.

 

[thefish]

And I should know not to post blanks and the same thing twice. Doh!

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: thefish
And I should know not to post blanks and the same thing twice. Doh!

 

[mdcrab]

No title, no cash PERIOD.

You pay the $25K cash and get the car. He defaults on loan. The loan company repossesses the car. You have no title or tags, since you can't get tags w/o title............................ Not a nice story.

mdcrab

 

[gsethi]

I would say to hold on till he gets the title. Legally, the finance company/bank is the legal owner of the car and they can take the car anytime loan payments are not made.

What your seller needs to do is pay for the car in FULL, and then get the title (pink slip). Usually takes ~15 days from the day full payment is made. Once he gets the pink slip and becomes the legal owner, only then you should go ahead and make the deal.

In your case, i would recommend you to contact the seller's financing company/bank and you pay them whatever is left for the loan and get the car transferred over to you from them. The remaining leftover balance goes to your seller (if any is left).

PS: We recently sold our car which was financed, so i know all this. You first have to pay out the car in full to get legal ownership.

 

[aircasper]

tycoonx, i'd have to disagree with others around here. $25000 for a 2001 330ci with 25k miles and the sport/prem packages in mint condition with warranty sounds like a very good deal to me, esp for the bay area. btw, if you ever plan on getting a new bmw, i highly recommend going through their european delivery program. you get a great discount and get to drive the car on the autobahn. did it this summer and it was fantastic. if you're unsure about your deal, my advice is to head over to www.bimmerfest.com. there are lots of knowledgeable folks over there, and it's a great source for information about your (future) car. good luck!

 

[aircasper]

Originally posted by: herkulease

yeah I know that but I have no idea what this new Sequenstional manual gear box. bmw says its a 6speed yet it priced cheaper than the 5 speeed step tronic.

the SMG which is offered on 2004 330 models is basically a clutchless manual, inspired by the F1 cars (think paddle shifters). it's the first time BMW is offering it in a non-M car (aside from the Z4). but if you think you're getting the same transmission as the M3, you'd be wrong. the M3 is available with SMGII (a $2500 option or thereabouts), which has more shift settings, and is capable of fast, i mean very fast shifts (much faster than even Ferrari's sequential manual gearbox), and can also be used in an "automatic" mode. still, the SMG offered in the 2004 330 models is completely different from the automatic slushboxes with "manumatic" and i'd definitely go with the SMG over the automatic if you enjoy rowing your own gears, but don't want to deal with the clutch pedal. btw, the 330i zhp (i.e., performance package) gets the short-throw 6-speed similar to the z4 3.0 (although some say the throw is really the same as the 5-speed, with just a shorter shift knob).

 

[XxDaTxX]

today is There-are-no-mods-in-sight-for-miles day

 

[blazer1155]

Don't Pay him until you talk to the finance company. When you have talked to the finance company and get the whole deal settled, Have a "BANK" drawn cashier's check made out with his name and the Finance company's name (so he cant cash the check without their endorsement also . This way he has to sign it and give it to the finance company to cash. If he has any money left over for himself , the finance company will cut him a check after your deal is done.

 

[Zee]

if he wants cash because of tax reason's then tell him to lower the price and hand over the title

 

[sxr7171]

Originally posted by: aircasper

Originally posted by: herkulease yeah I know that but I have no idea what this new Sequenstional manual gear box. bmw says its a 6speed yet it priced cheaper than the 5 speeed step tronic.

the SMG which is offered on 2004 330 models is basically a clutchless manual, inspired by the F1 cars (think paddle shifters). it's the first time BMW is offering it in a non-M car (aside from the Z4). but if you think you're getting the same transmission as the M3, you'd be wrong. the M3 is available with SMGII (a $2500 option or thereabouts), which has more shift settings, and is capable of fast, i mean very fast shifts (much faster than even Ferrari's sequential manual gearbox), and can also be used in an "automatic" mode. still, the SMG offered in the 2004 330 models is completely different from the automatic slushboxes with "manumatic" and i'd definitely go with the SMG over the automatic if you enjoy rowing your own gears, but don't want to deal with the clutch pedal. btw, the 330i zhp (i.e., performance package) gets the short-throw 6-speed similar to the z4 3.0 (although some say the throw is really the same as the 5-speed, with just a shorter shift knob).

I hate slushboxes.
Very nice car you're getting, the 330ci is the car I would have bought if I didn't decide to go back to school. I think $25 is a great deal on a car like that.

BTW don't pay until you get the title. If you have prepaid legal or legal insurance, consult a lawyer.

 

[mikeford]

I hate BMWs, but speaking generically the guy was right, no title, no cash.

A true story, my friends wife was the clerk in the court it went through.
A guy goes to a small carlot and buys a MB for like $20k, a real good price for it, gets all the typical paperwork, but no dmv or title related stuff.
3 weeks later the car is gone, turns out a Bank held the title, dealer never paid the bank and has skipped town, so bank had it repoed.
Bank auctions the car and only gets $18k, so they are in court to get $7k out of the guy that paid $20k for it and lost the car because the lein was for $25k.
The judge said not in my court, but the poor guy was still out the full $20k.

 

[orion7144]

All you have to do is goto his lien holder with him (unless it is BMW). Another thing you can do is goto your bank and let them do all of the work. Tell them what is going on and give them the VIN and the lien holder info. They will contact them and pay them directly. If the payoff is less than the asking price you just give the guy the ballance.

 

[Greg03]

Just bought an 04 accord ex. Excellent, but slightly boring car for $20,900. Selling point? 8 airbags. Sportier handling than the lofty camry...oh wait... what was this thread?

 

[IgoByte]

I'd go for a brand new Maxima. Better car with lower cost of ownership and about the same price tag. Those 3-series BMWs are just too damned small.

 

[buddha79]

25K for that car mint sounds like a good deal to me. It's still got the original 4/50K warrenty on it so no worries there.

BTW, I've never heard of a short throw clutch. The clutch on E46 BMW's has a lot of movement, but if you don't like it get a clutch stop. A whopping $20 at most and now you've got a car with a "short throw clutch". There's a big difference between that and a short shifter. The E46 also has fairly long throw on the stock shifter. Aftermarket companies make short throw shifters that I've heard good things about. UUC Motorwerks (http://www.uucmotorwerks.com) and Rogue Engineering (http://www.rogueengineering.com) are two of the most popular. Check out E46 Fanatics (http://forum.e46fanatics.com) or bimmerfest for good message boards.

 

[ikSardarG]

Wow. Do what I did - Get an Infiniti G35. You can pick up a brand new one, or even a slightly used demo model for not much more. More car, more engine and way more bang for the buck. I have a fully loaded sedan, and it was almost 10k less than the 330 I was eyeing (navi, premium, sound etc).

 

[Chadder007]

Originally posted by: eejimen
You also want to make sure the BMW has had ALL it service and oil changes from an authorized BMW shop. All BMWs have a maintenance book. If no maintenance book resell value drops about 2K.

Just so you don't think I'm pulling this out of thin air: My family owned several dealerships and I worked in the Service Dept. The book is the only legitimate record for maintenace.

...or the dealership should have records too if he took it to be serviced there. Also the Harmon Kardon system does have an AMP.