how does this sound??

[Tone Capone]

I am about to buy a 02 laguna seca blue with 27000 miles from a guy in AZ. we spoke a couple times, he said that it was basically a weekend car hence the low miles. So i live in NY and i dont have the time to go out there so i set up a 100 point inspection at his local BMW. I got off of the phone with the BMW tech today and he said the car is a great car, nothing wrong with it just the 30,000 miile service is coming up and its gonna run me about 1800.
So what i need from you guys is some advice, like how do i go about the payment because he's not a dealer so im kind scared to send him a check with out being there to watch the car get loaded on the transport truck..also is there anything about the 02's that i need to know, like recalls and so on....Guys give me a hand here i am 24 and i have been waiting and saving a long time to get my hands on a M, and to get screwed for 20g would crush me.

THANKS GUYS

[12:03]

Im not up on my E46 M3 pricing, I would check the E46 M3 forum

[journeyman73]

seriously, if you are going to drop 20g you dont want to go out there yourself and make sure eveverything is on the up and up???

[Tone Capone]

Originally Posted by journeyman73

seriously, if you are going to drop 20g you dont want to go out there yourself and make sure eveverything is on the up and up???

I really dont have the time to go, believe me i really want to. Also Im not worried about the car, im worried about how im gonna go about payment with out getting jerked.

[journeyman73]

thats what im saying....the downside (risk) is 20k....i dont know about you but thats a lot to me. i wouldnt do the deal unless i could make the time to go out there (or have someone i trust go out there).

but maybe im old fashioned and maybe many on here have done remote deals on their cars

[white9duece]

Paypal is the safest way.. if not write him a check and tell the bank to put it on hold till you get the car.

[journeyman73]

would there be a percentage based fee using paypal?

[艾利克斯]

check m3forum.net there are lots of useful infos about e46s
m3post is more e9x.
I believe there is a rod bearing recall and dme recall need to be done.

[Montoya]

I was on the other side of a transaction like this. I received the cashier's check for my car by fed ex with a return fed ex envelope for me to send the pink slip and all but one key to the buyer. Then about a week or so latter the transporter picked it up.

Yes, he did it on faith, but if you have any doubts, I would go out to check it and get the title yourself.

I did this on my current M3 (went out to do the title transfer) since the car was only 3 months old and financed- so we did it with BMW financial paperwork at the dealership at his location. Cost me a cross country plane ticket but it was worth it in this case because there was no title in hand by the buyer and he owed me a little back on the transaction (seriously good deal for me!).

Last option is to hire someone to handle the transaction for you. They exist as well and are full service companies that handle transportation also. They take a fee of course, I don't remember how much, but it is more than then plane ticket as I recall. You will need to Google these on your own, I don't remember the company names.

Good luck.

[JCtx]

I recently bought an F-car in NY under your same circumstances, and asked dealer doing the PPI if they'd hold the car indoors after the inspection until transport company picked it up, and they agreed... free or charge . So after the car passed, wired the money to the owner, and he released the car to me. He FedEx'ed the title the next day. And of course I asked for a copy of the title before hand, which was clear. If car has a lien, you better pay the bank directly, and let them refund the difference to the seller; they usually don't mind doing that. Or just wire the exact payoff to them and the rest to the seller when he leaves the car at the dealership. Even if the dealership charges a fee for keeping the car and assisting with the shipping, it's money well spent if you want piece of mind. Good luck.

[Seattle S65B40]

Dude. If you're looking for an E46, 2002 is probably the last year you want to buy. As far as I know, certain builds from 2002 and late 2001 were susceptible to engine failure. Very serious problem. Do your research and find out when this car was built and whether it was after BMW fixed the problem (crankshaft I believe?)

[SchnellM3]

IMO you should do more research into the whole thing from the car to finding out the best option on how you will handle paying, transport, title etc... If your coming here with no idea about any of this I'd put it on hold. I don't mean to sound like I'm bashing you, but educate yourself more first. The forums are great places for this, but as another post mentioned this part of the forum is mainly E9x. Otherwise the car looks great but if its the first one that you've come across doesn't necessarily mean its the right one. I know how hard it is to pass on cars that you really really want and your whole day is consumed by the thought of having it and dreaming about it. Believe me though its best to wait and something even better will come along and maybe closer to you. You need to make sure that you get the best deal and exactly what you want, plus by taking your time that's more money that you can keep saving.

[GreasyGinzo]

If you have your heart set on this car the without a doubt fly out there to do the deal in person. I will say it one more time...fly out and do the deal in person. You would feel horrible if it turns out the car is a pig or worse the guy sticks you for your 20k. Spend a few hundred and fly out. Do it.

[Templar]

Flying out there is your only option to ensure everything is done right the way YOU want it done...

If you don't have time or money for a ticket or whatever, then you should probably wait to make this kind of a purchase when you do have time.

[jmflukeiii]

I'd love to fly and drive back; kind of wish I had just done that.

[Montoya]

Originally Posted by Seattle S65B40

Dude. If you're looking for an E46, 2002 is probably the last year you want to buy. As far as I know, certain builds from 2002 and late 2001 were susceptible to engine failure. Very serious problem. Do your research and find out when this car was built and whether it was after BMW fixed the problem (crankshaft I believe?)

Yes, this post is another reason why you should do more research. To complete the picture, from a former E46 owner, early models did have crank bearing failures, but all had a bearing recall and all affected received an extended engine warranty to compensate. I don't think there are any where the extended warranty is still valid, but the recall (in some cases depending on year- two bearing recalls) have taken care of the problem. Others can chime in, but you should at least confirm, which I assume the inspection did, that the recalls were done.

[Erhan]

I'd stay away from the first model year of any car.

[JCtx]

Originally Posted by erhanh

I'd stay away from the first model year of any car.

Based on previous posts, I'd stay away from ANY car included in that bearing recall. Even if it was performed, I wouldn't want a car that had major engine work done, even by a dealer. Not worth the possible aggravation IMO, but to each his own. Good luck.

[Erhan]

Originally Posted by elp_jc

Based on previous posts, I'd stay away from ANY car included in that bearing recall. Even if it was performed, I wouldn't want a car that had major engine work done, even by a dealer. Not worth the possible aggravation IMO, but to each his own. Good luck.

Agreed.

[Seattle S65B40]

Originally Posted by erhanh

I'd stay away from the first model year of any car.

08 M3s being the exception of course, right? I'd like to be able to sell mine someday and hope that everybody does not think this way...

[Erhan]

Originally Posted by Seattle S65B40

08 M3s being the exception of course, right? I'd like to be able to sell mine someday and hope that everybody does not think this way...

Well looks like the 08 M3s are holding pretty well. I don't remember seeing any major issues with them. In fact, I think BMW did a very good job with the E9x M3 in terms of reliability.

[DeepSeaLandry]

Originally Posted by Seattle S65B40

08 M3s being the exception of course, right? I'd like to be able to sell mine someday and hope that everybody does not think this way...

+1