[sean00xj]

I love this car but...
2008 335i, convertible, sport package, logic 7, grey leather, sparkling graphite, 29k miles--$30k.

The selling dealer told me it was bought back for a low idle. A third party local dealer gave me the vehicle history and it states: Branded title reacquired vehicle not eligible for enrollment in CPO program. All other coverages apply per buyback package...(9/10/2010) replaced all fuel injectors, ignitions coils and spark plugs.....per document 8/10

Notes from the repair history, routine MX not shown:
delivered 12/19/07
23,978 miles 9/18/09 high pressure pump HDP fail
24,023 miles 10/03/09 fuel injector leaking
25,310 miles 11/05/09 high pressure pump HDP fail
25,346 miles 11/14/09 fuel injector permanent malf
29,525 miles 07/28/2010 campaign pending take no action

My local dealer says I'll pay for it on the resale but thinks it would be alright to move forward with. Carfax confirms no other issues


If I buy I plan on purchasing an extended warranty.Thanks for the advice!

[jakesteel1]

Id advise against unless youre getting an amazing deal. BMWs take quite a hit in value w/o any other issues.

[Javier]

i would stay away...

[sean00xj]

Is a buyback ever worth touching? To me the MX history doesn't look too bad and this car should retail for close to 39k with a clean history.

[dtc100]

Originally Posted by sean00xj

Is a buyback ever worth touching? To me the MX history doesn't look too bad and this car should retail for close to 39k with a clean history.

One member here just bought out his 2008 335i lease for around $27k at 25k miles. As clean a history as he knows it for himself.

[Chriztofor]

It appears it was bought back because of the HPFP and not because of "low idle". Once somone lies to me they just lost me as a customer.

[sean00xj]

The last action on 9/10/2010 was, "replaced all fuel injectors, ignitions coils and spark plugs," could this be related to a low idle, do 335's have an ignition system issue?

[ragingclue]

Originally Posted by sean00xj

The last action on 9/10/2010 was, "replaced all fuel injectors, ignitions coils and spark plugs," could this be related to a low idle, do 335's have an ignition system issue?

Low and varying idle at times was a symptom for a couple of my few HPFP failures.

If that's all it was bought back for, I'd say it's no big deal. If IL was anything like CA, I'd no longer be lawfully bound to my car either, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. The fueling system sucks, and probably will continue to suck, but one of these days BMW may actually come up with a solution (fingers crossed that it's the 446 and recent SW update).

[badassfajita]

Avoid avoid and avoid. No one knows the true logic behind why the HPFP fails so much, but *some* cars seems to fail over and over again in a short period of time while others seem to last 50K+ without any issues.

A car like this that has multiple failures is possessed by the angry bmw gods.

[pruettfan]

I totally disagree. If you are going to buy a 335i and you plan on keeping it long term so you don't have to worry about selling it anytime soon. Buybacks can be a very good deal. If you are going to buy a 335i anyway you will be accepting that the HPFP issue may or may not be resolved. It is my understanding that it has to a large extent been resolved, the warranty on the HPFP is extended like all 335i's. Now I don't know that this specific car is a great deal, I suspect the price is a little high. There is a dealer out of Costa Mesa, Ca that sells BMW buyback's pretty much exclusively. They can be found on Ebay. They do a great job of disclosing the entire history of the car and in every case I have seen in the past year of looking at their inventory the core issue has been multiple HPFP issues on California cars that triggered the resale. Now if I saw a buyback triggered by any issue but HPFP I would not even consider it, especially if electrical.

Given the history of the HPFP issue I don't see it as surprising at all that cars are getting bought back in a state with a fairly liberal lemon law. Now you could have a discussion as to if a 335i is the best car to buy given this issue.

Best of luck. BTW, all buybacks list the customer complaint as the reason for the buyback not the common component because lemon laws are based on the factory failing to resolve an issue. If it was based on component failures the lemon law would be worthless because in an electrical problem or a poorly diagnosed situation you could have the same complaint result in many visits and many components being replaced in an attempt to resolve the issue. Heck I had to take my car to the dealer three times for them to properly diagnose a wheel bearing issue.

[madeinhongkong]

I'd say neg and go for it as long as it's cpo. Just bc a car shows clean history doesn't mean the pump isn't gonna fail... It's been replaced and updated with new software plus it has warranty I don't get why everyone says stay away???

[hipnotic]

don't do it

[Ajs76]

Make sure you call aftermarket warranties and ask them if they will LET you warranty a branded title. You can't CPO cars like that for sure.

Then call your bank (if you're getting a loan) and insurance and make sure they are ok too.

I'd be less worried about the buyback itself and more about all the surrounding hassles and paperwork. If all that checks out, then I guess go for it. I would bid them down HARD on that though. I generally see buybacks trading at 2-3k below market value, which is usually what you could get from a motivated private party.

[nbkkvv5]

If you want someone else's problems, by all means buy the car. When your car has mechnical issues down the road, or you have a hard time selling it in the future, just remind yourself that you purchased a "buy-back".

Of course there's still a chance you may not have any issues. So you gota ask yourself this one simple question: "Do you feel lucky?"

[ragingclue]

Originally Posted by nbkkvv5

If you want someone else's problems, by all means buy the car. When your car has mechnical issues down the road, or you have a hard time selling it in the future, just remind yourself that you purchased a "buy-back".

Of course there's still a chance you may not have any issues. So you gota ask yourself this one simple question: "Do you feel lucky?"

A car being a "buy-back" can have more to do with its location than whether or not it's a bad car.

Just sayin'

[nbkkvv5]

Originally Posted by ragingclue

A car being a "buy-back" can have more to do with its location than whether or not it's a bad car.

Just sayin'

Does not matter, a buy-back is a buy-back.

[ragingclue]

Originally Posted by nbkkvv5

Does not matter, a buy-back is a buy-back.

In terms of what? Expected reliability or in terms of resale?

I'll agree that it doesn't matter in terms of resale, but if you're a potential buyer mulling over whether or not to buy the car, it's better to look at the actual conditions that caused it to become a buy-back, as the car would probably not have that "title" in many other states due to their more conservative laws....

In terms of "will this car give me issues if I buy it", no not all buy-backs are considered equal. In fact, a buy-back in CA could be tons more reliable than a non-buyback in IL. California is ridiculous like that, and there are dealers around here who make a killing buying those CA cars and turning them around.... I've seen some of the carfaxes and I can't believe how little it takes to threaten or complete a Lemon Law or buyback there. In fact, I'm downright jealous.

[bsamoul]

no no no

[nbkkvv5]

Originally Posted by ragingclue

In terms of what? Expected reliability or in terms of resale?

I'll agree that it doesn't matter in terms of resale, but if you're a potential buyer mulling over whether or not to buy the car, it's better to look at the actual conditions that caused it to become a buy-back, as the car would probably not have that "title" in many other states due to their more conservative laws....

In terms of "will this car give me issues if I buy it", no not all buy-backs are considered equal. In fact, a buy-back in CA could be tons more reliable than a non-buyback in IL. California is ridiculous like that, and there are dealers around here who make a killing buying those CA cars and turning them around.... I've seen some of the carfaxes and I can't believe how little it takes to threaten or complete a Lemon Law or buyback there. In fact, I'm downright jealous.

1. Resale value is reduced and future expected reliability is unknown.
2. If OP buys that car and for some unknown reason, must sell the car soon after, he/she will take a bigger hit on resale value. The gap in resale value vs a non buy back car will decrease over a period of years provided the car proves to be trouble free. However, if further mechanical issues continue to pop up, then potential buyers will see it as a POS and its resale value will tank even further.
3. You can spin it any way you want but the fact remains that the car had enough issues to force BMW to buy it back and not make it eligible for enrollment in CPO program. So a potential buyer needs to understand they are taking an upfront risk knowing BMW will not CPO that vehicle. If OP is a mechanic, then perhaps not an issue. However, if OP is not a mechanic, then he/she should move on and look elsewhere. There are plenty of BMW's for sale that are not buy-backs.

[LorenzoTij]

Not worth it! Be patient and buy one without issues.

[ragingclue]

Originally Posted by nbkkvv5

3. You can spin it any way you want but the fact remains that the car had enough issues to force BMW to buy it back and not make it eligible for enrollment in CPO program. So a potential buyer needs to understand they are taking an upfront risk knowing BMW will not CPO that vehicle. If OP is a mechanic, then perhaps not an issue. However, if OP is not a mechanic, then he/she should move on and look elsewhere. There are plenty of BMW's for sale that are not buy-backs.

Umm yeah plenty of these cars have had this magnitude of trouble, but are in states that are less aggressive with their Lemon Laws, and so BMW can afford to skirt the issue on those cars. All I was saying is that just because it's a buy-back, that doesn't ensure it's a POS compared to all non-buybacks. Of course, you should be able to talk the price down drastically due to the label, but simply saying it's unreliable only due to the label is a bit drastic. There are plenty of people who haven't taken advantage of the opportunity (to force a buy-back on BMW, which is a bitch in IL; I know first hand) or reside in a state where the leverage is poor.

You can easily get a non-buyback with more severe and alarming problems than the car in the OP. That's all I was saying.

[coh4777]

Obviously you need to be more diligent with buybacks, but they can represent a good value. I purchased a CA buyback and have had it for about a year and a half and close to 25K miles with absolutely no issues. When selling a buyback, the manufacturer is required by law to fix the problem completely and they issue a separate warranty for the affected parts for 1 year, which provides a pretty good level of comfort. Also, if I understand it correctly, cars are sometimes lemoned not because the problem cannot be fixed, but because it was not fixed with an appropriate amount of time, which I think is 30 days. And the original warranty and maintenance plans are still in effect.

I would suggest doing some research into the problem and maybe having a BMW service department examine the car before purchasing. They will do this for around $100. You could end up with a great value, since lemoned cars sell for thousands less than comparables. Of course, the lemon designation stays with the registration for the life of the car, so if and when you ever sell down the raod, you will probably lose value on the sale.