[Darkshines629]

Hey everyone. I'm in the market for a used 335 and am not a diy guy and am not mechanically inclined.

Buying a CPO would be ideal but the difference in cost between a CPO and non-CPO, in the Boston area, ranges from about $4000 to $5000.

Have you guys ever brought a mechanic to the dealer/lot to inspect a used car? Is this normal? Do you bring a mechanic friend or do you hire a mechanic from a reputable German shop? What is the expected hourly cost for this service? In the northwest suburbs, it seems Bavarian Performance Group in Winchester and Auto Engineering in Lexington have good reputations? Any opinions on those two or other options? Thanks a lot!

[RWThorpe]

Generally I take the vehicle to the mechanic or dealership for inspection. Some have a flat rate others charge about one hour labor at their going rate. Also a carfax can provide some good information beforehand.

[Torgus]

bring it to them. That way they can put it up on a lift and give it a good once over.

Also it will cost alot more to bring your mech to the car vs. the car to your mech.

[SLOWER]

Originally Posted by Torgus

bring it to them. That way they can put it up on a lift and give it a good once over.

Absolutely.

[PSEE]

you could also ask the owner of a car to take it to a BMW dealer for a PPI -
pre-purchase inspection. The car gets evaluated and you still get to decide
whether or not to make the purchase.

[PSEE]

forgot - of course the cost of the PPI is borne by you...

[Darkshines629]

Thanks everyone.

I assume private parties are ok with this but are dealers/used car lots ok with you taking the test drive to a shop for inspection?

[Torgus]

Originally Posted by Darkshines629

are dealers/used car lots ok with you taking the test drive to a shop for inspection?

Anyone who doesn't let you take their car for an independent inspection is hiding something. Just walk away from the car.

I sold cars, we would let customers do this if we thought they were going to buy, granted it only came up once and it wasn't my customer.

[Hadley]

Originally Posted by Darkshines629

Thanks everyone.

I assume private parties are ok with this but are dealers/used car lots ok with you taking the test drive to a shop for inspection?

The dealer I dealt with was willing to drive the car to my mechanic themselves

As others have said, if they don't want you to bring it to an independent shop then I'd walk away

[SLOWER]

I took an Audi S4 from a dealer to an independant. They were happy to do it. Sales guy was not impressed when I walked away.

[Torgus]

Originally Posted by SLOWER

I took an Audi S4 from a dealer to an independant. They were happy to do it. Sales guy was not impressed when I walked away.

Why did you walk away?

[SLOWER]

The upper ball joints were torn and had play in them. Dealer wouldn't fix them to complete the sale, said they were fine, I said talk to you later.

I had the PPI done at Eurosport Performanace in Wakefield. Great guys.

[Darkshines629]

Does anyone have any opinions about bringing a potential car purchase to a mechanic at either Autobahn Performance or Louie's BMW Repair Specialists, both in Peabody? Both shops have good reviews on Yelp but with only 3-4 reviews each.

[Torgus]

What car you looking at?

I would go to the one that costs the least and is closest. A 15-20m look over shouldn't cost an arm and a leg.

[Darkshines629]

One of these days I was thinking of heading to Topsfield to check out this car. 2011 335i xdrive. 30k miles. $28k. Carfax looks clean and the original service date is Nov 2011, so there should be a good chunk of the factory warranty left. Much cheaper than the CPOs, which start at $32k.

http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail...teo&listType=1