[Rollo`]

Just 3 months ago I bought a red over tan 2009 328i e90 CPO with sport and premium. I really wanted a manual but just couldn't find one in my price range with the options I wanted.

Yesterday I found a 2009 Titanium Silver e92 328i CPO with sport, and all of the parts of the premium package except the mirrors (power seats, bluetooth, etc) and manual transmisson so today I bought it...it is about 160 miles away so I am going to pick it up next Saturday.

So now I need to sell my sedan before I go broke. Am I crazy?

[jordan313]

nah, im the same way lol. It's called not being patient

[thenewrick]

You just need to be a little more savvy when car shopping I think. You can find almost any car as long as you're willing to have it shipped to you or go get it yourself. You're certainly going to lose some money buying the wrong car 1st. If nothing else it's probably at least a grand in sales tax down the drain.

[e90335iftw]

I'd say so, yes.

[pits200]

Not crazy but financially stupid... yes.

Sorry

[cris4]

No, you might as well have what you want.

[JS82]

Stupid for not being patient and losing money because of this.
I totally undrstand your desire for a manual transmission, though.
You will enjoy it!

[AndyR83]

Buying a car far away is no big deal... I drove almost 7 hours each way because the closest montego blue/saddle brown E92 I could find was in Cleveland... but buying a new car before you have found a buyer for your current one may cause you some headaches. I did that years ago and I can vouch for how much it sucks making double payments for a few months!

[Liang]

For you guys who buy cars that are far away, do you to and see the car in person before buying? Just curious.

[JohnSprm69]

not crazy as long as you can afford to take the financial hit..... like mentioned before, why not get what you want? enjoy it.

[thenewrick]

I just had a 3rd party shop do what's called a pre-purchase inspection. It's good to talk to the actual person that checks it out and mention things that are notorious for breaking on the car and certain pet peeves, like noises or smells, you might not be happy with.

[Rollo`]

I shop the whole country...

Last August I put my G35 up for sale and found 4 possible manual cars on autotrader but all 4 manual cars sold the same weekend I sold my G. I looked for 3 weeks and decided I could live with a manual shift auto. That was my mistake.

I expect I will be able to sell my current car for enough to cover the additional sales tax hit. Also the BMW CPO financing paid my first 3 payments so that is like a 900 dollar rebate.

You just don't realize how few manual cars are out there if you have a limited budget. I could have gotten one easy for mid 30's but I put 25k miles a year on cars so I can't afford to pay that much.

I'm over my panic attack phase now so maybe I am crazy but I think the joy of driving a bmw with a manual transmission will make the financial hit worthwhile...

[QUiKSR20]

Originally Posted by Liang

For you guys who buy cars that are far away, do you to and see the car in person before buying? Just curious.

I couldnt find the right car at the right price when I was looking, It took me a year to find.

I wanted a 328i 6 speed RWD with sport package and HID's Nav didnt matter
exterior color wasnt a big concern either but no tan and had to be priced right.
Local dealers want way to much.

When I found the car I wanted I posted on here to see if anyone lived local that
could do a visual inspection for me which someone did. I offered a few bucks but
the enthusiast said its local no prob at all ill give you a full report in and out.

Once I got that, I asked the dealer that had the car ( non bmw ) if they would bring
to the local dealer which I provided the name and number of the local dealer. I pre-paid over the phone for the PPI ( pre purchase inspection )

At that point BMW certified everything mechanical was good, and the forum member on here verified things like dings and dents etc.

And then I negotiated and bought the car sight unseen.

I got a great car and couldnt be happier for the right price which was a few
thousand less in cost what I found locally.

[SCSRe92]

yea you're crazy...bmw CRAZYYY!!

[AndyR83]

Originally Posted by Liang

For you guys who buy cars that are far away, do you to and see the car in person before buying? Just curious.

I did all the negotiating over the phone with the understanding that I would get to inspect the car in person before having to do any paperwork. I bought it from a BMW dealership as a CPO so I was fairly confident that it was a good buy. When I got there I took it out for a spin, found it to be as described, and the deal went through.

In a sense, they were taking an equal risk on me. The negotiations included a trade-in value for my previous vehicle that they had never laid eyes on either. I guess you could say we had a mutual understanding that their car was as described and my trade was too. Once we both verified that we were getting what we expected, we did the paperwork.