Craigslist Buyers Beware

[Pawlin]

No way, 30k for an E92 M3 with 10k miles because of minor cosmetic damage?

Craigslist posting:
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/4914186561.html




According to the seller:


He sent me a picture of only the front after the damage along with the original title. With that info, I did some digging and found the original posting:

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...k-miles-Feeler

Turns out the car was declared totaled from being hit on both ends. The picture of the damage in the front end was from the original posting. I called him back to call him out, he quickly tells me the rear damage was for some reason already repaired by the dealer after insurance declared the car totaled. He became defensive and quickly ended the conversation. Pretty smooth talker but full of bs. Be careful guys!

[MrPrena]

Thanks for the info.
Seller is full of...

[grantmax]

Rule #1 - Never shop M-cars on Craigslist.
Rule #2 - Refer to Rule #1.

[WickedE93]

Thanks for sharing, that's insane!

[GotE46M]

Thanks for the heads up! You should post it on C.L as well since many potential buyers aren't forum members.

[ZEEM3R]

Originally Posted by grantmax

Rule #1 - Never shop M-cars on Craigslist.
Rule #2 - Refer to Rule #1.

I just don't use Craigslist at all.. Period.

[anom3]

Great work.

I have two take aways from this:

#1 - Think twice before you post any thing on forums.
#2 - Think twice before buying a used vehicle that has this sort of damage on record.

Regardless... Good find!

[s85e90]

Good deals can be found on Craigslist so let's not dismiss it totally. Op is also searching for a cheap car.

[EJT86]

Originally Posted by grantmax

Rule #1 - Never shop M-cars on Craigslist.
Rule #2 - Refer to Rule #1.

Uh no rule number 1 is never leave a fellow crasher behind

[avantegardestyle]

Originally Posted by anom3

Great work.

I have two take aways from this:

#1 - Think twice before you post any thing on forums.
#2 - Think twice before buying a used vehicle that has this sort of damage on record.

Regardless... Good find!

Agreed, I would stay away from anyone who is found to not be telling the truth about a car in anyway.
buying a salvage Car can be done and done well
I bought my M that was in an accident (not as bad as this) and had it repaired and i have no problems with it.

the only issue i had was i had to do the paint Job twice because the idiot who dd it first didn't do it well.

If one is going t buy a salvage car, the best way to do it i to buy one that is NOT repaired, and so you get to see what is actually wrong and decide before pulling the trigger. Make sure you know proper mechanics and repair people who are able to work with you to bring it back to life

the greater problem are NOT salvage title cars, but cars with clean titles that had extensive damage but were repaired without being reported as being in an accident...........


For me the deciding factor was that i get to own my car outright without any payments as i bought the car cash and spend 5K in parts and labor to have it repaired

[M3Bimmer77]

I don't see the problem with this "minor" damage"!!!! A little bit of compound, some detailing and off it goes to be sold on Craigslist!!! Basic!!!! Maybe it will be my track car, just maybe. Good digging on those pics OP. Did you send them to the "owner".

[Honda]

Originally Posted by grantmax

Rule #1 - Never shop M-cars on Craigslist.
Rule #2 - Refer to Rule #1.

+1000

[Gbiz]

Originally Posted by Pawlin

No way, 30k for an E92 M3 with 10k miles because of minor cosmetic damage?

Craigslist posting:
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/cto/4914186561.html




According to the seller:


He sent me a picture of only the front after the damage along with the original title. With that info, I did some digging and found the original posting:

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...k-miles-Feeler

Turns out the car was declared totaled from being hit on both ends. The picture of the damage in the front end was from the original posting. I called him back to call him out, he quickly tells me the rear damage was for some reason already repaired by the dealer after insurance declared the car totaled. He became defensive and quickly ended the conversation. Pretty smooth talker but full of bs. Be careful guys!

What's the big deal? It will buff right out, right?

[1MOREMOD]

Originally Posted by ZEEM3R

I just don't use Craigslist at all.. Period.

Not even for dates?

[spiderspider]

I'm not sure what the controversy is. The price? It clearly says it's a rebuilt title. I personally would not consider rebuilt/salvaged titled vehicles. Has nothing to do with craigslist. I sell and buy my cars on craigslist. So do many dealers.

[s85e90]

Originally Posted by spiderspider

I'm not sure what the controversy is. The price? It clearly says it's a rebuilt title. I personally would not consider rebuilt/salvaged titled vehicles. Has nothing to do with craigslist. I sell and buy my cars on craigslist. So do many dealers.

Exactly.

[Z K]

Rebuilt title says it all. The car has to be declared totaled by the insurance company before it can be rebuilt.

The amount of damage to total a car means the repair cost exceeds the value of the car - that is a lot of damage! It is not as bad on older used cars because if the value of the car is $5k, it doesn't take much to total the car. But on a newer BMW like this M3, that is a lot of damage.

[Flying Ace]

Rebuilt title will end the conversation right there.

How were you able to track down the original thread?

[1MOREMOD]

Originally Posted by Z K

Rebuilt title says it all. The car has to be declared totaled by the insurance company before it can be rebuilt.

The amount of damage to total a car means the repair cost exceeds the value of the car - that is a lot of damage! It is not as bad on older used cars because if the value of the car is $5k, it doesn't take much to total the car. But on a newer BMW like this M3, that is a lot of damage.

Not quite. The value of damage has to be such that to repair would cost the insurance more than they could sell the wreck for as is plus the repair. They will do whatever is in their best interest financially. For a high dollar car a wreck can still be sold for a decent amount.

[avantegardestyle]

Originally Posted by Z K

Rebuilt title says it all. The car has to be declared totaled by the insurance company before it can be rebuilt.

The amount of damage to total a car means the repair cost exceeds the value of the car - that is a lot of damage! It is not as bad on older used cars because if the value of the car is $5k, it doesn't take much to total the car. But on a newer BMW like this M3, that is a lot of damage.

In principle this is true

but in practice it isn't so simple
insurance TOTAL cars for MANY different reasons. I have seen cars totaled not because its difficult to fix but because the owner simply DOES NOT WANT THE CAR ANYMORE.

I have seen cars that should be totaled that are not because used car dealers were willing to buy and repair these cars without the insurance company having to total it. So there are cars with CLEAN TITLES that are in worse condition that ones with a salvage title and unsuspecting buyers buy without knowing
There are WHOLESALE auctions for dealers who buy cars and repair to be resold and a lot of these cars do not have salvage titles. Matter of fact in some states in America there is no such branding of the Title and all cars are clean regardless of the accident they had. Sometimes unless carfax has something, which even carfax isnt always accurate
Insurance companies will always do what is in their best financial interest regardless of what actually is.

As i said, I bought my car reasonably cheap and ended up spending 5K to repair it and it WAS a car that was declared totaled. the repair estimate was 25K. For me it didn't matter that the car had a salvage title because i am not concerned about resale or trade in value.

And this is something IMPORTANT to think about because if you buy a salvage car, the warrant is voided on the car and the resale value is at times lower than a car with a clean title, so if you are the kind of person who is not going to keep the car for a long time DONT BUY

[Patrón]

I've sold three Ms on craigslist (plus two more for my brother) and bought one and have had had nothing but good transactions. you do have to mess with a lot of spam, but for free it's worth the trade off. all five cars were listed on forums and autotrader and the transactions were due to craigslist ads.

it all depends on the due diligence before the transaction (carfax, PPI etc....)

[Flying Ace]

the seller is a thinly disguised 3rd party dealer who specializes in rebuilt and salvage titled car.

His wording implies he doesn't own the car. He doesn't really seem to know what the original condition of the car was like. And it implied the car at least changed hands through another used-car dealer. He also could "help with retitling the car in CA", which implies he's in the industry.

All-in-all, it's a dirty part of the industry that's rebuilding and peddling salvaged cars. Tons of people involved and incentivized to sell a rebuilt car.

Sad part is someone will buy it without knowing that for $6k more, you can get a used 2008 E92 M3 albeit with more miles.