Quote:
Originally Posted by NC325i
I did a pre-purchase inspection when I purchased it from a BMW dealership and they told me "Most" of what was wrong, including the valve cover gasket, but they neglected to tell me the prices. With this being my first BMW purchase, or first non-American car, I was under the impression that much of what needed to be replaced would be a lot cheaper than it ended up costing me on the 325i.
Brakes for the rear, both pads and rotors ran me almost $575 out the door. I upgraded my rear brakes to drilled and slotted rotors with EBC race pads for less than $250 on my last car and it took roughly 2 hours to install on my own. I was certainly not expecting brakes, tires, the valve cover gasket, front windshield trim, and a headlight to cost almost $3,000. Had I known that, I would have continued to look before purchasing. I got a deal on the car, but not $3,000 off the blue book value.
My personal belief is that a car with a warranty, even if the initial costs are more, will be worth it in the end because the regular maintenance is always taken care of. VW's for instance when purchased brand new have the first 3 years covered. Everything but tires and gas/diesel is taken care of for you down to the oil changes and the such. But in the end, there are many cars and manufacturers because everyone likes different things from their cars. Some are willing to deal with more maintenance for a slightly higher quality car.
The above paragraph is something that the OP should take note of. The BMW would be a nicer car but the other cars, since new, will have warranty. Its a trade off. And about my car, I made a mistake when purchasing it before researching repair costs enough and I am paying for it, quite literally.
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you had to be able to tell that the tires were close to shot?
And asking for them to measure or see how much brake is left is a quick check. The valve cover gasket, should of been seen as, if you fix it, ill buy this car.
I dont mean to rag on you man, but if you capable to doin a brake job on past cars, you can do one on a e90. and it would of been 5min to call 2-3 indy shops to see what the valve cover gasket would run ya