A BMW dealer had offered good money for my E46 and had a fully loaded manual M3 in jerez black with fox red. I checked all the history out and the dealer confirmed that the car was in very good condition.
So after sorting out insurance, transferring saving money to current account and travelling 150 miles (300 round trip) to see it I was fairly deflated (to say the least)
too see such appalling paintwork, swirl marks galore, deeper scratches, chips, alloys chipped, driver's seat worn........the list goes on. The front bumper had been resprayed at some point and the finish was shit. The dealer had sprayed the bonnet and there were marks of wet sanding all over the place and to all the bits that had been removed and replaced for spraying.
I could have done a far better job at home in my own garage!
The dealer admitted that my car was in much better condition than his but this it what one should expect of a 2.5yr old car with 30k miles.
I'd put together a detailed checklist to give the car a once over and they had already agreed to put in on a ramp but after 2 mins I knew it was a no go.
I'm glad that my head ruled my heart as I'm itching to get into one but I feel I may have to buy privately from an enthusiast to get what I'm after.