Buying a 1M - How? (Logistics)

[DSCPLN]

Over the next 3 months, I am going to pull the trigger on acquiring a 1M.

With the scarcity of the 1M's as it is, it's 90% likely the car will be very far from where I am. I will have to get the car shipped to and registered in the state of NY before I take it up to Mass..

But a few questions for some of you car buying pros if I find a car a few thousand miles away -

How do I have the car checked? (for damage, unreported accidents, warranty voids)

How do we sign the necessary terms / exchange of ownership?

How would I have the car delivered to NY?

Am I missing anything else?

Thanks in advance!

[b33g33]

Not being flippant but I would use the same resources (Google, Yelp, Consumer reports)

It's not a 1912 Bugatti.

Good luck.

[superchargedman]

Send me $80k, and I'll take care of all of the logistics for ya.

[de85275]

How do I have the car checked?
->CarFax.com

How do we sign the necessary terms / exchange of ownership?
-> You give the seller cash, ~$70-$80k, The seller signs the back of their title and hands you the keys.

How would I have the car delivered to NY?
-> You get in and drive it home.

Am I missing anything else?
-> Probably but that's what we're here for.

Thanks in advance!
-> You're welcome. My VO is only a 2-3 hours drive south of you and you can have it for the low price of $72,000.

[jkoral]

Dealers and independents will do a Pre-Purchase Inspection for a nominal fee (200-300).

I got a few quotes last year when I was considering buying a West Coast 135i from a dealer sight unseen. The dealer I spoke said he has done a number of transactions over the phone and shipped cars. About the cheapest was $1K from West Coast to Boston, but I would upgrade to covered transport.

If I was in the market for a low mileage 1M, I would definitely have it shipped to my home.

BTW, in the May 2012 Roundel, I see someone listed a VO 1M with 500 miles for $58.5K. Located in MI. Pretty decent price, assume it sold quickly.

[1SerieStud]

I actually have mine listed for sale at a great price considering what they are going for. If you are interested, here is a link to my thread:

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=664260

[DSCPLN]

Your VO 1M's look fabulous and best of luck to you both! I'm particularly looking for a Fully-Loaded AW/BSM 1M though :P

de85275 - CarFax.com doesn't display unreported accidents. And I'm not going to drive a low-mileage 1M from California over to NY lol

I'll look into getting the dealership presale inspection and transportation services which specialize in remote sales. Now, in regards to the actual sale transaction process... how is the timing of everything initiated? How do you exchange payment & title simultaneously? I'm assuming another 3rd party will be needed for this?

[Pamlico]

I live in western NY and ended up selling my John Cooper Works Mini Cooper S to someone living in New Mexico, so while not exactly the same situation as yours, I can tell you how we (the remote purchaser and I) did things.

I initially advertised the car on Craigslist and within a couple of days received a call from someone who said he'd been searching for a Works Cooper for some time. After an hour's conversation he said he wanted to buy the car. I asked him if he didn't want to look at it in person before making the offer and that's when I found out he was about 1800 miles away.

While this person didn't request an inspection, once you find a potential car I'd imagine you could call the BMW dealer in the area the car is located and ask them if they could inspect the car for you. You could ask the seller to bring it to the dealer and you could pay by credit card.

In my experience we were able to do all the paperwork via fax and overnight delivery. Everything went exceedingly smoothly. The one leap of faith involved may have to do with payment. You have the $$, he has the title/car and you need to swap them. In our exchange, he wired the total payment to our bank (it's a common process and should be able to be accomplished in the same day). Once the money was in our account I faxed him a copy of the title and then immediately sent it off via FedEx and he had it the next day.

In terms of getting the car from NY to NM, the purchaser hired a transport company. A few days later the driver showed up and the car was loaded onto a car transport and it was at the purchaser's house in about a week. End of story.

I believe there are car transport companies listed on eBay. I have no way of knowing if this is accurate, but I was told by the truck driver that it's best to deal directly with the transport company because some of companies you see on eBay are brokers who act as a middleman between you and the trucking company and you end up paying about double what you'd pay if you eliminated the broker. The guy who I dealt with used a division of MGM (the entertainment company). It seems they have to move a lot of stuff around the country for movie making, etc and they used to deadhead back after making the delivery to the movie set, etc. Eventually they realized they could make some $$ if they contracted to move vehicles on the return. The downside is that you may need to wait a few days for the truck to get enough vehicles going your way after it's picked up from the seller. The driver who picked up the Mini told me he's transported a number of vehicles for some big show business names so I'd assume he'd get the stink eye if he messed up those cars. I don't know if MGM still has this division, but there are a good number of companies that transport high end vehicles so getting it to you in good shape shoudn't be much of a problem. Try to find a company that puts the car into a trailer for shipping.

Good luck.

[DSCPLN]

Wowow, very very helpful write up!

Would you be open to forwarding me a cleansed version of your purchase agreement documentation?

Thank you guys so much!

[Amnizu]

I have a fully loaded AW with 3500 miles on the clock, black kidneys and a BMW OE CF deck lid spoiler NIB.

Make me an offer I cannot refuse.

[Pamlico]

I'll be happy to send a copy of the documentation, but since this all took place about 4 years ago I may have deleted things, but I'll see if I can find anything.

If I recall correctly, it was pretty much a standard bill of sale specifying the make and serial number of the car, that it was sold as is with no warranty, etc. I believe I had to complete an odometer statement from New Mexico. All was done via email, fax, & FedEx. Easier than I expected.

[Papethova]

have your bank send the money to his bank and that bank will send the title to your bank

unless he already paid off his car

[DSCPLN]

Alright, so it looks like I found a seller who still has an outstanding 58 months on his lease with BMW Financials. We're going to give them a call tomorrow to figure out how/if they can simply transfer the lease and on how to transact this sale. Thanks for all the support guys!

[///BYU]

Good luck! Let us know how it works out. Congrats!

[doug_999]

I will tell you my story - take it for what it is worth.

1. Found the car on cars.com (car was in Boston of all places). emailed the owner. We had a conversation and discussed price. I can't explain, but knew the guy was legit. The next day we settled on a price.
2. My plan was to fly out there, check out the car, do the paperwork, have him hand over title, head home, and then wait for the trucking company to arrive. Alas, things went fast and Intercity (who is located in Boston) was out there before I could get there. So...
3. I transferred the money via my bank (cost $35 I think to wire transfer it), seller sent me a copy of title and over-nighted it.
4. Car was picked up on a Thursday and arrived on Monday (I think).

Now, working backwards
1. Most people selling 1Ms either have very low miles or are on this board. You can see what they have done and know pretty much all about the car. If it makes you feel better, you can either fly out there and see the car OR as noted, most BMW dealers will inspect the car for you for a fee. I'll bet you can skip this part. (note the guy I bought mine from said I was going to be the FIRST person to ever fly out and see one of his cars ahead of time - all others were sold sight unseen).
2. There is some trust with the exchange of ownership (as Pamlico points out). While you could use a service, normally you are going to pay them and they are going to hand you the title. Once again, if you were to head out there, this could be done in person. It gets more tricky if they owe money on the car and don't have the title.
3. I recommend Intercity, but I'm sure there are other places out there that have good reputations.

So in short - you need a bit of luck, a bit of trust and a bit of patience.

Good luck!