1st time German w/2000 323i

[Zjax]

Hello fellows how’s everybody doing?? Happy Fourth of July & safe driving to all. Anyways, I’m about to go German for the first time. I’ve been an owner of several American & Japanese vehicles but never German. Below is the link of a 2000 323i that I have my eye on for a while now. I have carfaxed the lady & she’s clean with an average of 9,162 miles per year (45,810 total) which is kinda low here in Florida. I leave in Miami & I plan to make the trip to Tampa to take her home to daddy. I plan to bargain the price to at least 1k of the asking price. The dealer is asking $16,900 which is not the lowest I've seen but in the conditions that she's in I've seen the price up to $25k.

So here are my questions; is the price about right for a 323i in her conditions?? I read a lot about the faulty window regulators, plastic retainers that are installed on these vehicles. Is there any way to re-enforced the suckers to avoid the arms from breaking. What would be the first thing I should tackle as far as preventive maintenance once I have purchased her??

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.j...gine=&lang=en&fuel=&doors=&cardist=200#vdptop

 

[Big Daddy]

Welcome to the board. The 2000 323 is a nice car and the one you pointed out looks good and well cared for. The average price on these cars equipped as you state is between 15 -19k, so the asking price is right in the middle or there abouts. Is this a BMW dealer and is the car a CPO? Anytime I buy a car used I change all the fluids, however if they have service records and you can verify that the fluids have been maintained properly I would not concern myself with that just than.

 

[Zjax]

Thank you for your quick response sir, but no it is not a BMW dealer & I don’t think that the car is a CPO. This dealer sells mostly luxury vehicles like Mercedes & Bimmers. I have searched most of the BMW dealers in SF & tried to bargain the price but since there prices are so way out there; the final price is not reasonable. Miami is a pricy city & most people here lease luxury vehicles instead of buying them. This vehicle is one of many that were once leased or purchased by a company for executive car.

The only thing that worries me is that this car had 5 owners & was part of fleet of vehicles managed by a corporation. So it makes me wonder why it is in such good shape with low miles???

 

[Big Daddy]

I do not have the answer for you, except to say that most fleets regularly service their vehicles and take very good care of them. I would take it to a BMW shop, independent or otherwise and have it checked out before purchasing.

 

[newbold1]

Wow! The car looks to be in excellent shape. Often after 5+ years the leather on a driver's seat starts to look a little worn. From these pictures that interior looks like brand new.

I agree with Big D that usually fleet vehicles are well maintained. I would bet that this would be a good buy if you decide to do it.

 

[Section_8]

2k 323 in that condition, you should be set for a while. Fleet vehicles get extra attention like Big Daddy said - they don't belong to any one person, so theres no abusive pattern, low driving could mean it was the 'elite' vehicle in the fleet and didn't get much use.

Not much to look out for insofar as maintaince off the bat - check the suspension out (Ask to drive it hard, or ask them to drive it hard with you in it), see how the brakes are (do you need brakes right away, or will they go for a while?), check the undercarriage for leaks. Make sure no fault codes are flipped of course, and the #1 tip as anyone would say: "Take it to an independant BMW shop to check it out" before you buy it, if possible.

 

[spyroboy]

Dealers usually put 5K dollars on top of their purchase price when they sell used cars. I think you can easily chip about 2K dollars off the asking price. I would say the car is in great condition that they did only minor things before they sell it. Haggle bro.

 

[Zjax]

I have tried several times to bring the price down to 16k or below with no successes. As you can see the car is in better than average condition & as the sales person told me they are a whole seller of sorts. So I guess the price stands at $16,900 + the rest of the usual crap. I even tried to take the dealers fee, but he refused. I search several dealers within a 100 miles radius from where I live & by far this is the best I’ve come across. Now I’ve seen some with about 20k to 40k more miles for about the same price or $1k of difference in ok conditions but not as clean as this one.

So what do you guys think?? @ $16,900 I’m I getting retail or whole sale. This the first time I have not been able to haggle the price down even one penny of the asking price. Kinda makes me uncomfortable since every other car I have ever owned the price came down or the dealers fee was removed.

 

[Big Daddy]

That is still 2k below average retail and that looks to be an above average car. Try for some free service, or extended warranty stuff free! If you like the car I would say the price is acceptable.

 

[spyroboy]

If you can't wait anymore, go ahead and do it. I would say it's a good deal. I had an awesome deal but I waited for months and months. Go and make yourself happy. Enjoy your new ride bro!

 

[chris26969]

lol buy it before I do, i live in Tampa.

 

[Section_8]

So did you get the car??

 

[Zjax]

No Dice

Thanks for the encouragement guys but no I didn’t buy car. This dealer is playing games with me & they’re full of it. I travel 270k miles just before Hurricane Dennis hit the Keys. When I got there they said the owner of the dealership had taken the car & that his sick mother was getting a blood transfusion (LAME). So they didn’t know when he was coming back with the car but they wanted to sell me another one they had in the lot. I told them that I had travel all the way from Miami, so they told me to come back in 3 hours. Anyways they gave me the run-around so I left & visit several other dealers in Tampa but no dice.

They are still listing the vehicle in the autotrader but I didn’t see the car in their lot. It might be their hook to get you in the door. Oh well I’m still in the market for a 3-series I’ll get one eventually.

 

[///M SPEED]

The old bait and switch. That sucks! That tactic is illegal in some states....

Good luck with the hunt...