1 Year with a 1M - USA

[nachob]

Originally Posted by zepper

No. For all I know they didn't know. The CL seller may not have disclosed it to them. He sure wasn't disclosing it in his ad. I don't know how the original owner sold his car (or traded it in). I guess its possible the CL seller didn't know if he bought it from CarMax or something?

I spoke to the craigslist seller and he said he was a service writer at a dealership . He probably would've been able to pickup some notes on their system. When he told me the price he was asking that ended further review and I didn't look up the vin. The sad thing is that this will sit there for months or years like so many other 1Ms. Interest rates are so low these dealers can afford to keep a car on the floor for a couple of years. Hopefully they keep it indoors.

I don't believe the dealer knew but if they pull the maintenance history from BMW it will probably be there. The question is how good was the motor put into it? Probably ok but this dealer is asking above collector price for a three owner car where the Motor was replaced with a used unit from another car. For me, that just doesn't make sense. I feel bad some guy might plunk down crazy money on this and get a
Big shock when they get the history.

[champignon]

Originally Posted by nachob

Interest rates are so low these dealers can afford to keep a car on the floor for a couple of years. Hopefully they keep it indoors.

I doubt that this is the case. Don't equate the next-to-zero interest rates you get on your savings at the bank with what a business pays for a line of credit or a business loan. They are paying at least several percent interest per year on borrowed funds.

A car that is sitting on a dealer's floor long term is there for only one of several possible reasons:

(1) Car is actually on consignment from the real owner so the dealer is not paying any interest on the vehicle since he doesn't really own it;

(2) Dealer thinks car is a draw to the dealership and having it around is part of their marketing expenses;

(3) Dealership is a poorly run business.

If number 3 is the case, then they may not remain in business too long.

[1&done]

Here is a thread started by the individual that purchased the car from Dan, I inquired about the Motons back then and he confirmed it came from Dan's old M. I suspected they parted the car out and sold it. Maybe you can reach out to him for more info.

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showt...ighlight=moton

[bdaddylo]

The second owner was supposed to turn Dan's car in to a drift car. Looks like he decided to do an engine swap and make a good profit afterall it only had a blown motor and not a salvaged title. IIRC, Dan had trouble selling it, so he let it go very cheap.

[zepper]

Thanks for the info guys. Search continues. Was nice to see it in person. I had only seen two before 'in the wild.'

[champignon]

It's hard to believe that a Carfax wouldn't show anything about the engine on this car. Has anyone run a Carfax on it?

[champignon]

I googled the VIN # and on the dealer's sales page there is a link for a free Carfax report, which I viewed. There is no mention of any of these engine issues. Presumably the car was repaired in between the time that the OP sold it and it ended up with a new owner in GA in 2/2013. Subsequently it was offered for sale by a N. California BMW dealer, and now, is seeking what apparently would be the 4th owner.

I think it is unclear from what has been written whether or not the engine was reparable. If reparable, there is no reason why a reputable engine shop could not fix the engine just as a dealer could. Not every shop obviously reports to Carfax and related services.

The car may be fine even thought the asking price is obviously not. But then, there are a number of 1Ms out there with unappealing asking prices :-)

I think the cautionary note is that you mod cars under warranty at your own peril; I would personally avoid it.