Buying From A Used Car Dealer : Buyer Beware

[anxious]

A friend of mine related this incident to me which I wish to share with all of you. Recently a friend of mine came across and advert for a E46 330i. He contacted the advertiser (a used car dealer) , who brought over the car for his viewing. The car was advertised as a single owner low mileage car with original paint/ accident free etc. Upon viewing the car my friend discovered that the car was freshly painted in the original color ( not original paint as advertised). It was a single owner car with 107k km on the odometer. The car also had new leather. He drove the car to AB for an inspection but the particular SC wasnt taking in any more cars on that day. He did managed to check the cars mileage with the key. (BMW keys for E46 onwards have the cars mileage details recorded in the key.) The mileage was recorded as about 207k km or so in the key. This reveals that the odometer was clocked. Of course the dealer denied any knowlege about this and even suggested that the previous owner may have done it to get a better price from him!. As they were driving back, the asking price for the car dropped by RM5k. Obviously my friend walked away from the car. Based on what my friend had related to me, I would avoid getting cars from dealers unless they were known to me or the car has full service history to support the mileage stated on the odometer. You would notice that a lot of cars are advertised as low mileage vehicles despite their age. They always seem to be around or under 100k km. In such instances keep an eye out for possible odometer tampering. Personally there is nothing wrong with a 200k km BMW if it had been maintained properly. In the above case AB's records only revealed service for the 1st two years ie up to 44000km. Thereafter it must have been serviced outside. My freind said although the car drove pretty well, he just didnt have the confidence to buy the car. Buying a second hand car is always a gamble but unless the car has some form of service history, you should avoid exposing yourself to unnessary risk. Remember to "BEWARE" when buying from used car dealers as there are many unscrupulous dealers out there who will do anything for a sale including clocking odometers

 

[vish]

totally agree, my advice to anyone in the used car market would be to resort to used car dealers only when they cannot find what they're looking for from private sellers...

 

[kgb]

I think by now, we should ALL know, that one can not trust what second hand card dealer (SHCD) is claiming, regardless of what it might be. SHCD's job is to sell bullshit and screw you whenever you come back looking for help selling your car. If you choose SHCD, prepare to buy their bullshit as well. Otherwise, avoid at all cost.

 

[ray123]

it is a very common thing for used car dealers to clock the odometer of the car...in fact there are 'Specialists' in the market tat clock odo for the used cars dealers too.... so trust nobody when buying a second hand car....

 

[ray123]

it is very common for used car dealers to re-'clock' the odo for better sales appeal these days....so trust no one...

 

[astroboy]

A car with full service history can fetch better price or at least easier to sell, but funny enough, none of the use car dealer keep these service record. Why so? go figure..

 

[jazzler]

this was one of the reason I bought a new one instead of a 2nd hand car. But I guess if you are very prudent and with fair car knowledge, the chances of you being "cheated" is lower.

 

[chili e30]

haha...next time wanna buy car buy from me sure you will happy.

 

[infinityKL]

its a 3 minute job wt a laptop on proffesional hands.. what about those re-cond/grey imports? even worst when it comes to clocking the odo...

 

[elixir]

it's not 'common' to tamper the mileage on the odometer but it is already a standard practice in the industry.

they will even tamper those with very low mileage.

luckily, most of us here know that we can get the readout from the key but i pity those who fell for it.

btw, tampering the odometer is small issue. what would you do if you bought a car which was submerged in flood water before?? that's exactly what happened to my friend's e46.

just need to be extra carefull. ignore whatever the car dealer says, concentrate and inspect every posibble detail you can. bring along friends, mechanic or sifu to help.

 

[initialM]

But if a direct owner sincerely selling his car above market price but complete with all the records & receipt spent more than market price, people will say wei yr car expensive leyy. For me its yr choice. :smokin:

 

[initialM]

haha...next time wanna buy car buy from me sure you will happy.

Of course happy lar coz u give free spa if buy car from u rite:smokin:

 

[nottyghost]

it's not 'common' to tamper the mileage on the odometer but it is already a standard practice in the industry.

they will even tamper those with very low mileage.

luckily, most of us here know that we can get the readout from the key but i pity those who fell for it.

btw, tampering the odometer is small issue. what would you do if you bought a car which was submerged in flood water before?? that's exactly what happened to my friend's e46.

just need to be extra carefull. ignore whatever the car dealer says, concentrate and inspect every posibble detail you can. bring along friends, mechanic or sifu to help.

Bro, How to get the readout from the key?.. Care to explain...thanks

 

[elixir]

just bring your key to any bmw authorised dealer. they have this key reader which can extract the data/mileage stored in your key.

alternatively, run a test using the gt1. if you see fault for instrument cluster, most likely your mileage has been tampered. the gt1 will also show you the original mileage.

 

[initialM]

just bring your key to any bmw authorised dealer. they have this key reader which can extract the data/mileage stored in your key.

alternatively, run a test using the gt1. if you see fault for instrument cluster, most likely your mileage has been tampered. the gt1 will also show you the original mileage.

Thats the beauty of BMW. :rock:

 

[nottyghost]

its a 3 minute job wt a laptop on proffesional hands.. what about those re-cond/grey imports? even worst when it comes to clocking the odo...

Any professional contact numbers?.. Tq

 

[afah]

it's not 'common' to tamper the mileage on the odometer but it is already a standard practice in the industry.
they will even tamper those with very low mileage.

When i bought my ride, the odo was 39k but service book showed last service 2 months back at 42k...

what would you do if you bought a car which was submerged in flood water before?? that's exactly what happened to my friend's e46.

Sorry to hear that...
you are right...a mechanic to see the car is a must.
I brought my mechanic to view my previous ride purchased from a used car dealer...
he opened up the boot and removed those interior covers to look for broken glasses, marks & water stains...
crawled under the car & inspect...etc...
have confident with purchase plus it came with service records.

 

[yen187]

anyone know how much it costs to get AB to check a car?

 

[Alex5522]

anyone know how much it costs to get AB to check a car?

I suggest u call them directly and ask for it.

 

[karinakimbra]

# The same goes if the details are incorrect.
# Phone the previous owner and ask them about their old car - its mileage and history.
# Check the chassis number on the car matches the one on the registration document.
# Ask for proof that the car has been serviced.
# Make sure you're insured before taking a test drive.limo miami