[misterjim]

I'm way up here in cold upstate New York but have been looking for a CPO rwd manual tranny 335 for quite a while. Pretty slim pickins' in the northeast. There is one that is the color combo I want with the options I am looking for minus the heated seats (not sure I can live without those, however!) at BMW of Sarasota at a decent price. I think I can negotiate even better. It was originally bought and serviced there. I'm toying with the idea of having a mechanic check it out for me (remotely) and having the car shipped (if it checks out).

Anyone deal with them before? I'm thinking, at least, a Florida car won't have the exposure to salt that the cars up here have though there are those pesky hurricanes!

[sspade]

For what its worth... my father did the exact same thing with a Cadillac XTS from Dimmitt Cadillac of Clearwater. Shipped it home via U-Ship to Rochester, NY (believe it or not) for about $600. Super clean car and no issues with shipping. I would say that you can pull this off safely, as long as you are doing your homework and buying from a reputable dealer. Good luck with the purchase.

[misterjim]

Originally Posted by sspade

For what its worth... my father did the exact same thing with a Cadillac XTS from Dimmitt Cadillac of Clearwater. Shipped it home via U-Ship to Rochester, NY (believe it or not) for about $600. Super clean car and no issues with shipping. I would say that you can pull this off safely, as long as you are doing your homework and buying from a reputable dealer. Good luck with the purchase.

I just got a shipping quote for $570. Not too bad...

[sspade]

Wow. I guess the rates havent changed much in the past 10 months or so. I remember thinking that it was extremely reasonable considering it was about 1,300 miles and also fully insured. Sounds like getting this car home will be a non issue if you decide to purchase. Other than that I would recommend reviewing CarFax (obviously) and using a VIN Decoder to make sure you know exactly what features it does and does not have. I believe the fact that a BMW dealer is selling it as preowned is an excellent sign of the vehicle being clean/mechanically sound... with the amount of cars coming back off lease, etc dealers usually only keep the cream of the crop and let the rest go to auction. Dont want to sway you either way, just my honest opinion.

[misterjim]

Originally Posted by sspade

Wow. I guess the rates havent changed much in the past 10 months or so. I remember thinking that it was extremely reasonable considering it was about 1,300 miles and also fully insured. Sounds like getting this car home will be a non issue if you decide to purchase. Other than that I would recommend reviewing CarFax (obviously) and using a VIN Decoder to make sure you know exactly what features it does and does not have. I believe the fact that a BMW dealer is selling it as preowned is an excellent sign of the vehicle being clean/mechanically sound... with the amount of cars coming back off lease, etc dealers usually only keep the cream of the crop and let the rest go to auction. Dont want to sway you either way, just my honest opinion.

Carfax is clean. Just as important, if not more so, is that I'm getting the complete service history. VIN devoder shows the same options as what is listed by the dealer. The only thing that is giving me pause is the lack of heated seats!

[sspade]

How are you able to get complete service history? My service writer held it hostage on my first and only visit so far to Niello BMW of Elk Grove. Said it was not my property since I am not the original owner and has original owner information on it... sounded like BS but I didnt press the issue, just smiled and chuckled.

Is there another way to access service info or is BMW of Sarasota providing you with it?

[misterjim]

Originally Posted by sspade

How are you able to get complete service history? My service writer held it hostage on my first and only visit so far to Niello BMW of Elk Grove. Said it was not my property since I am not the original owner and has original owner information on it... sounded like BS but I didnt press the issue, just smiled and chuckled.

Is there another way to access service info or is BMW of Sarasota providing you with it?

I think it's up to the discretion of the dealership. There are no laws on providing this info (at least in my state). They should be able to provide it with the original owners' info removed. As an example, my local BMW dealer has actually provided a printed copy of the service history on a car I was interested in with no hassle. On the other hand, the BMW dealer 60 miles away said they would not provide this info under any circumstance even when I said that I would never buy a used car without it!

[Tjcf14]

Great dealership. I've been a customer for past 4 years and have purchased 2 new vehicles from them, both at great prices. I also have followed Mike Millers service recommendations on my 14 F30. Terrific service department. I highly recommend.

[misterjim]

Originally Posted by Tjcf14

Great dealership. I've been a customer for past 4 years and have purchased 2 new vehicles from them, both at great prices. I also have followed Mike Millers service recommendations on my 14 F30. Terrific service department. I highly recommend.

The only thing I didn't like is the way they list their prices. They seem really good, but if you read further down there is a $999 "dealer fee" add on. Still though, if they are willing to negotiate...

[sspade]

Originally Posted by misterjim

I think it's up to the discretion of the dealership. There are no laws on providing this info (at least in my state). They should be able to provide it with the original owners' info removed. As an example, my local BMW dealer has actually provided a printed copy of the service history on a car I was interested in with no hassle. On the other hand, the BMW dealer 60 miles away said they would not provide this info under any circumstance even when I said that I would never buy a used car without it!

I agree that it should be available upon request without previous owner info if that is truly a concern of BMW. Interesting how some dealers will just hand it over and others are protecting it from current owners. Strange.

[IK6SPEED]

Originally Posted by misterjim

Carfax is clean. Just as important, if not more so, is that I'm getting the complete service history. VIN devoder shows the same options as what is listed by the dealer. The only thing that is giving me pause is the lack of heated seats!

You will not find many Florida vehicles with the optional heated seats, that start at $800+ just for the front and add $0 to resale or residual in Florida.

That means most Floridians chose to save $30+ a month for something they may never use.

Originally Posted by misterjim

I'm thinking, at least, a Florida car won't have the exposure to salt that the cars up here have though there are those pesky hurricanes!

Florida, and particularly Sarasota, has plenty of salt water.

[Tjcf14]

Dealer fees in Florida can't be negotiated as state law makes them apply equally to all customers of that dealer. Though recognize that is built in dealer profit and factor that into price you offer for car.

[IK6SPEED]

Originally Posted by Tjcf14

Dealer fees in Florida can't be negotiated as state law makes them apply equally to all customers of that dealer. Though recognize that is built in dealer profit and factor that into price you offer for car.

Though one would think this is obvious, apparently not all know how to negotiate a car deal. The way to counter the dealer fee, is to tell the salesman to reduce the overall price by the amount of the dealer fee and leave the dealer fee alone.

According to this article Florida State Law requires Dealer to tell you if profit is built into a fee IF ASKED.

In a car dealership EVERYTHING is negotiable, especially at end of the year.

But you should get it done in next 36 hours.

[enjoythemusic]

BMW of Sarasota is my local and they've been great to work / deal with for years. Clean shop and they do good work. That's where the CPO 2014 435i came from and it was a fair deal. Car was honestly presented, etc and i shopped them for an M4 and sales guy truly let me DRIVE the car during the test (read into that as you so choose ). BMW Sarasota is also a Dinan dealer and so.... (see my sig file). They're the type of place that the service techs are happy and don't mind installing ER / DV+ bits when we did the Stage 4 build.

Car has everything but, yup, heated steering wheel and seats. This is FL afterall. Got down to a VERY chilly 54F last night here. Brrr-rrr-rrrr.


BMW of Nashua NH, on the other hand, are total aholes. jmho ymmv

[misterjim]

Originally Posted by enjoythemusic

BMW of Sarasota is my local and they've been great to work / deal with for years. Clean shop and they do good work. That's where the CPO 2014 435i came from and it was a fair deal. Car was honestly presented, etc and i shopped them for an M4 and sales guy truly let me DRIVE the car during the test (read into that as you so choose ). BMW Sarasota is also a Dinan dealer and so.... (see my sig file). They're the type of place that the service techs are happy and don't mind installing ER / DV+ bits when we did the Stage 4 build.

Car has everything but, yup, heated steering wheel and seats. This is FL afterall. Got down to a VERY chilly 54F last night here. Brrr-rrr-rrrr.


BMW of Nashua NH, on the other hand, are total aholes. jmho ymmv

Looks like I'm too late. The sales rep said the car was sold last nite. Oh well, on with the search!

[IK6SPEED]

Originally Posted by misterjim

Looks like I'm too late. The sales rep said the car was sold last nite. Oh well, on with the search!

As I said in post 13, your best negotiation position ended at close of business last night. Someone else clearly took that position.

[misterjim]

Originally Posted by IK6SPEED

As I said in post 13, your best negotiation position ended at close of business last night. Someone else clearly took that position.

Yes you did! I may give up on finding a rwd car (but 6mt is still mandatory). Nearly all of the cars in the NE are awd. I guess I can live with awd. I will still keep my rwd 335 e93 and mr2 turbo (summer only cars) to keep me happy!

[kpgray]

Originally Posted by misterjim

Yes you did! I may give up on finding a rwd car (but 6mt is still mandatory). Nearly all of the cars in the NE are awd. I guess I can live with awd. I will still keep my rwd 335 e93 and mr2 turbo (summer only cars) to keep me happy!

Do not give up! I went back to RWD from AWD and have zero regrets... even with the Michigan snow!