[JunkyardDogg]

I live in NJ but the closest 2011 E92's I want are 4 hours away. Would you drive that far to check out a car? Will the dealer have the upper hand thinking I really want this car since I drove that far to see it?

[tova86]

Yes. 4 hrs is not tht far esp if it's the car u want and has a good price.

[DaveNJ80]

I'm also from Jersey and I drove to Burlington, VT (4 1/2hrs) to buy my 2008 E92 from a bmw dealer up there. But I had a friend run a carfax and check the car's service records before making a deal and once everything come back fine with the car, I negotiated a price, had them send me the finance contract and gave them a $200 down payment over the phone. Once I drove up there I test drove the car, checked everything throughly and then finalized the financing and gave the rest of the down payment.

[snaimpally]

I saw my 2011 335i while searching online. It happened to be located in Lewisville, a suburb of Dallas, while I live in Austin. My search criteria was a radius of 500 miles, so that I could pull in Dallas and Houston dealers. This dealer had posted plenty of photos of the car so I called, negotiated a price, and put a CC deposit over the phone. (Worst case, I figured I would walk away and tell my CC that I never took delivery and get them to reverse the deposit.) I took the bus to Dallas, where the dealer had someone pick me up. I test drove the car, finalized the paperwork, and drove 3 hours to my home.

[E92-N54]

I drove 7hrs into the night with a rental to pickup my 335i and 7hrs back in my 335i all in one day.

[grzes]

distance is not an issue anymore, ask for the car fax and all the details in the e-mail, dealers will do that at no cost to you, I have made my deal over the e-mail with one condition, i do the test drive in person and i am happy after that. To be honest with you, 750 km did not make any difference in making the deal, dealer was happy to co operate and send me any pictures and info I have asked for. Condition of me driving it and testing it was good for them and they hold the car for me for two weeks. I have not make a single phone call prior to receiving a contract over the e-mail. basically all went nice an smooth and the car looked way better when I went there than the pictures showing it Once again, distance means nothing these days as long as you are willing to come back home with no car Don't let them think you are desperate getting one, after all cash is in your hands and they do want that cash from you

[JunkyardDogg]

I never really thought about negotiating over the phone. So basically the steps are:

1. carfax
2. negotiate the price
3. cc deposit
4. check it out in person

And if all of the above goes well, then close the deal. I plan to get a pre-approval from my bank first and see what type of financing they will offer. I doubt the dealer will have better rates than my bank since they usually mark up.

Thanks!

[snaimpally]

Originally Posted by JunkyardDogg

I never really thought about negotiating over the phone. So basically the steps are:

1. carfax
2. negotiate the price
3. cc deposit
4. check it out in person

And if all of the above goes well, then close the deal. I plan to get a pre-approval from my bank first and see what type of financing they will offer. I doubt the dealer will have better rates than my bank since they usually mark up.

Thanks!

You got it. Those are the steps I followed. With a CC deposit, you can always walk away and get it refunded if you don't take delivery of the car.

My experience has been that if you go in pre-approved, no matter how good a deal you have, the dealership will get you a better rate. I went in pre-approved from my credit union for 2.49% for 60 months. I thought there was no way the dealer could do better but the dealer got me 2.34% for 60 months! The dealer makes money off of the loan so they are aggressive with the loans.

[JunkyardDogg]

Too late. The car was sold

Had a feeling this would happen. These don't last very long, especially the stick trannys. I feel like giving up and just getting a 435i. But the pricetag is killin me. It's just tough finding a pre-owned car with all the options that you want at the perfect price. Hopefully something good comes along soon.

[E92-N54]

Just wait around. It took me a few month before the perfect one with all the package, options and under kbb showed up.

The wait and 14hrs round trip was worth it for me.

[jvulture]

Drove 6 both ways for mine. Bout as far as I would go

[XM_Rocks]

Originally Posted by grzes

distance is not an issue anymore, ask for the car fax and all the details in the e-mail, dealers will do that at no cost to you, I have made my deal over the e-mail with one condition, i do the test drive in person and i am happy after that.

There are also 3rd party services that will do a complete inspection of a car anywhere in the US for $90-$150.

They send you a report with 200 check points and about 50+ pictures.

Furthest I went is from Dallas, TX to Phoenix, AZ.... flew in and drove back.

I have also had folks buy from me in Dallas that were from CA and VA.

[westech8383]

Bought a used 2006 325xi over the phone from Enthusiast Auto Group in Cincinnati. Established price and trade over the phone. Used Carfax, conversation with owner, photos, customer reviews and reputation to make decision.
2300 mile round trip to do cash deal.
Result: An excellent car at an honest price. Would do it again in a heartbeat. Why? An honest dealer.

[Cgm9999]

Since I really wanted a RWD (i.e. non xi) 335i and I live in Colorado where everything is AWD, I had to cast a very large net to find what I wanted. Realistically, I was willing to buy no matter where in the country I found the car.

Why? Because a one-way airline ticket is usually only a couple hundred dollars. If I found a car in Portland, MA so be it; what's two or three days of your time to get the exact car want for the exact price you want to pay? To me, being willing to travel as far as possible is absolutely key when it comes to getting a great car at a great price. Plus, it makes for a fun, cheap mini-vacation. You get to fly out to a place you've never been, drive your dream car home, stopping to see some nice sites and eating at some great regional restaurants.

With that in mind, I found my car in Minneapolis from a former bimmerpost member. Once I was convinced that the car was a good buy, I purchased a cheap plane ticket and met the owner at the Minneapolis airport. Everything was great, so I handed over my check and drove the car 9 hours home. Couldn't be happier. Saved thousands of dollars by doing it this way and ended up with the exact car I wanted.

[xXSupa]

6 hours each way.

I want to be able to drive there, negotiate, then drive back with the car all in 1 day

[SMH]

i say go for it, just dont tell the dealer you drove 4 hrs. Just say i was in the area and i decided to window shop lol. Good luck

[B0ysiE90]

I got my car in Bridgeport , CT from north jersey not too bad of a drive. Cause no one in jersey returned the combo color I wanted on my e90

[Ph3n0m]

Agreed with the above. Wait it out or expand your radius. There's also multiple sites to search with and they do NOT all have the same inventory. Cars.com, Autotrader, BMW's site, all good and may have some overlap but you should be able to find SOMETHING. It'd be nice to have someone you trust in the area go check it out. I had to trade my car in so i was concerned about driving and getting screwed on trade but i ended up finding something local. It was traded in on a Wednesday and I put my $2k down Thursday night. They go fast be ready to act.

[SLOWER]

Went from Boston to Mt. Kisco, NY for mine. Would do it again. Ride home was AWESOME!

[AYEDEE]

Longest drive I've done was about 2 hours away

[Sara]

1,900 miles... and I did. Flew to see the car. Loved it. Bought. Spent two days driving 30 hrs to bring it home.

[Narcosis]

Originally Posted by westech8383

Result: An excellent car at an honest price. Would do it again in a heartbeat. Why? An honest dealer.

That's so refreshing to hear. Perhaps honest dealers really do exist out there?