Seeking advice on an odd situation with a pre-reg BMW car.
Discussion
ralphrj said:
Maybe - unregistered vehicles are on consignment so usually remain the property of the manufacturer until they are sold. However, there will be some upper limit to the time a vehicle can remain on consignment which varies by brand. I suspect that the OP's car was pre-registered at the point this limit was reached.
Didn't know that - not the same where I work: dealer pays for it when he gets it (I'm not in the UK though). Keeps them motivated 
Mind you, if it was on consignment wouldn't BMW have been at them to shift it so they could get their $$ for a depreciating asset that has been superseded twice? I can't think of any company that would be happy for something to sit for 16 months losing value all the time.
Still sounds more likely it had been sat someplace out of the network for some reason, and then got pushed out to some poor sod to get rid of. Fortunately for them they found a bargain hunter.
I have not read all the thread but seams very strange that a car like the M135i was hanging about so long without being sold.Early 14 there was a fairly long wait for a factory build and yours being Estoril Blue one of the better colours should have sold.There must be a reason for this and it is not because no one wanted to buy it,probably not available for sale so needs some investigation.
Edited by btcc123 on Wednesday 2nd September 11:49
I'm currently looking to change car and BMW is an option. There are several 1 and 3-Series (majority are the former) kicking around in their AUC system (all Y-reg prefixes so 'BMW direct' cars) that are registered Jan-Mar 2015 with less than 50 miles on them, it would be interesting to know the build date on these too. Most seem to be petrol-engined 1-ers (lots of 125is) that appear storming value compared to new. One wonders if these have proven to be comparatively difficult to shift and just how long they've been sitting around 
?
? darren f said:
I'm currently looking to change car and BMW is an option. There are several 1 and 3-Series (majority are the former) kicking around in their AUC system (all Y-reg prefixes so 'BMW direct' cars) that are registered Jan-Mar 2015 with less than 50 miles on them, it would be interesting to know the build date on these too. Most seem to be petrol-engined 1-ers (lots of 125is) that appear storming value compared to new. One wonders if these have proven to be comparatively difficult to shift and just how long they've been sitting around ?
A friend of a friend has just put his name to a F20 pre LCI 125i pre reg, picks it up at the weekend. Think he said his was a April '15 build. ? EskimoArapaho said:
GP335i said:
Bought/paid over the phone then delivered mate.
Blimey.Er, do you want to buy a bridge?
The threat of it may be good for leverage.
It's not a first world problem, it's just a fellow car enthusiast asking for advice on what is an odd situation. I don't know why I keep repeating it but I would never have expected a car registered a month ago to have been built almost 1.5 years before, never. I'm not alone in that either judging by a lot of replies to the thread and the friend I spoke to last night who is ex BMW/MINI.
Worst case I'll still be left with a cracking car (likely with software updates and iDrive reset) and I'll check a cars build date every time from now on, as will some others I'm sure. So it's not all negative, not in the slightest. Will I let the dealer off without voicing any dissatisfaction? Not a chance.
Edit: thanks for all the replies fellas, pretty much every post has given me food for thought be it positive or negative.
Worst case I'll still be left with a cracking car (likely with software updates and iDrive reset) and I'll check a cars build date every time from now on, as will some others I'm sure. So it's not all negative, not in the slightest. Will I let the dealer off without voicing any dissatisfaction? Not a chance.
Edit: thanks for all the replies fellas, pretty much every post has given me food for thought be it positive or negative.
Edited by GP335i on Wednesday 2nd September 21:52
it's what in sales of other products you would call "new old stock". But no, in car sales with their smoke and mirrors techniques they call it pre reg and hope the purchaser will be too excited to ask pertinent questions.
I think a few of you have been a bit harsh on the OP.
I think I too would be miffed but I may have asked or looked for date stamps as part of my pre purchase inspection.
Or so I like to think!
Good luck OP.
I think a few of you have been a bit harsh on the OP.
I think I too would be miffed but I may have asked or looked for date stamps as part of my pre purchase inspection.
Or so I like to think!
Good luck OP.
My bike was built in late 2007 and on sale in 2008. There are guys with 2011 bikes that were built in 2007. They only ever did 1 batch due to poor sales. Nobody complained as you can't get them anywhere new and there were no changes to the bike.
I can see a bit where you might be miffed as there were changes to an ongoing model but that's prereg for you. You got the discount so live with the minor changes.
I can see a bit where you might be miffed as there were changes to an ongoing model but that's prereg for you. You got the discount so live with the minor changes.
I think Jader may have a point, it is not uncommon for cars to have paintwork before sale.
I know a guy who used to work at the BMW distribution centre and in his day at least, serious damage was not unknown, I think these were allocated to management when repaired though.
If this was my car I would be checking very carefully for repaired damage, though I expect the real issue is the OP paid too much.
I know a guy who used to work at the BMW distribution centre and in his day at least, serious damage was not unknown, I think these were allocated to management when repaired though.
If this was my car I would be checking very carefully for repaired damage, though I expect the real issue is the OP paid too much.
Williams BMW up here in the north west often have some very odd pre reg BMWs in stock .. Often previous gen models all with the latest reg and delivery mileages
I've seen a number of very desirable models such as X3 and X5 etc all a couple of years old but being sold as pre reg
It turns out having spoken to them that these cars come direct from BMW UK and may have been display vehicles from BMW HQ or training vehicles for dealer/head office staff to learn sales or engineering on
Some are right hand drive cars direct from Germany where they have been used for the same purpose
Some I have seen are very desirable and very high spec cars .. Some are fairly basic but with one or two very high end options fitted
I've seen a number of very desirable models such as X3 and X5 etc all a couple of years old but being sold as pre reg
It turns out having spoken to them that these cars come direct from BMW UK and may have been display vehicles from BMW HQ or training vehicles for dealer/head office staff to learn sales or engineering on
Some are right hand drive cars direct from Germany where they have been used for the same purpose
Some I have seen are very desirable and very high spec cars .. Some are fairly basic but with one or two very high end options fitted
Unfortunately a lot of the time with b
hing on pistonheads it's not about having a different opinion (I've happily accepted all opinions, IF the point has been put across politely), it's about trying to bait the OP into an argument so the whole wolf pack circle jerk can jump in too... Something I'm not interested in.
Here's some of the things I'm concerned about:
All iDrive service dates are from February 2014 meaning the first oil service is due in 6 months time, rather than 2 years. I've paid for a 5 year service pack on top of the car price, am I expected to lose 1.5 years of it? If so, surely this should have been communicated?
Brake fluid change used to be due every 2 years, now 3 years. The way I see it is if you'd bought this car in 2014 and it had sat around doing minimal miles BMW would expect you to change it. Is this any different? In that case it needs done in 1.5 years, instead of 3. If they reset the dates on the idrive to be from registration date then should all fluids be change just now so it's a true 2 years for oil and 3 for brake fluid? As I keep saying 3 months wouldn't bother me but that's 3/4 of the oil service term used up and 1/2 of the brake fluid.
Warranty, need it confirmed there's no issues.
Date of sat nav maps.
Is car software the latest revision? Was it ever plugged in and updated?
Some sort of explanation as to where the F it's been for 1.5 years. Not just for my own sanity, I need some reason to explain it when I'm selling the car down the line. Despite what others think when it comes to selling I always make purchasers aware of ALL the facts and let them make their minds up.
hing on pistonheads it's not about having a different opinion (I've happily accepted all opinions, IF the point has been put across politely), it's about trying to bait the OP into an argument so the whole wolf pack circle jerk can jump in too... Something I'm not interested in.Here's some of the things I'm concerned about:
All iDrive service dates are from February 2014 meaning the first oil service is due in 6 months time, rather than 2 years. I've paid for a 5 year service pack on top of the car price, am I expected to lose 1.5 years of it? If so, surely this should have been communicated?
Brake fluid change used to be due every 2 years, now 3 years. The way I see it is if you'd bought this car in 2014 and it had sat around doing minimal miles BMW would expect you to change it. Is this any different? In that case it needs done in 1.5 years, instead of 3. If they reset the dates on the idrive to be from registration date then should all fluids be change just now so it's a true 2 years for oil and 3 for brake fluid? As I keep saying 3 months wouldn't bother me but that's 3/4 of the oil service term used up and 1/2 of the brake fluid.
Warranty, need it confirmed there's no issues.
Date of sat nav maps.
Is car software the latest revision? Was it ever plugged in and updated?
Some sort of explanation as to where the F it's been for 1.5 years. Not just for my own sanity, I need some reason to explain it when I'm selling the car down the line. Despite what others think when it comes to selling I always make purchasers aware of ALL the facts and let them make their minds up.
Edited by GP335i on Thursday 3rd September 08:44
You are totally right on this one, id be really interested to know what's gone on, make sure it won't affect me in any negative way regarding service plan and servicing, and get an explanation for this and find out why you weren't told about the car age.
Interested to see what they tell you.
Interested to see what they tell you.
Can't add much other than to say it happens all of the time.
When I worked at a Ford garage I handed over cars as new (not even pre-reg, but new) that had been sat around for up to two years. As they became older and older stock the available discount would pile up until we could offer some really good deals and the car would sell. Particularly affected things like Mondeos, for which we didn't have many private cash buyers.
Anyway, with Ford at least it didn't impact your first service due date, brake fluid etc. All of that counted from date of registration. If you think about it this makes sense because to try and go from build date would mean that each new car we sell would have had varying times to the first service, some 11 months, some 10, some 3 months and 18 days etc. Would be a nightmare, and I honestly don't think t hat sitting still in a compound will cause any wear or degradation to clean engine oil/brake fluid anyway (otherwise parts stores would need to take the clean bottle off the shelf after a year and throw it in the bin due to age)
Apart from spec differences I think it's nothing to be concerned about.
When I worked at a Ford garage I handed over cars as new (not even pre-reg, but new) that had been sat around for up to two years. As they became older and older stock the available discount would pile up until we could offer some really good deals and the car would sell. Particularly affected things like Mondeos, for which we didn't have many private cash buyers.
Anyway, with Ford at least it didn't impact your first service due date, brake fluid etc. All of that counted from date of registration. If you think about it this makes sense because to try and go from build date would mean that each new car we sell would have had varying times to the first service, some 11 months, some 10, some 3 months and 18 days etc. Would be a nightmare, and I honestly don't think t hat sitting still in a compound will cause any wear or degradation to clean engine oil/brake fluid anyway (otherwise parts stores would need to take the clean bottle off the shelf after a year and throw it in the bin due to age)
Apart from spec differences I think it's nothing to be concerned about.
GP335i said:
Unfortunately a lot of the time with bhing on pistonheads it's not about having a different opinion (I've happily accepted all opinions, IF the point has been put across politely), it's about trying to bait the OP into an argument so the whole wolf pack circle jerk can jump in too... Something I'm not interested in.
Here's some of the things I'm concerned about:
All iDrive service dates are from February 2014 meaning the first oil service is due in 6 months time, rather than 2 years. I've paid for a 5 year service pack on top of the car price, am I expected to lose 1.5 years of it? If so, surely this should have been communicated?
Brake fluid change used to be due every 2 years, now 3 years. The way I see it is if you'd bought this car in 2014 and it had sat around doing minimal miles BMW would expect you to change it. Is this any different? In that case it needs done in 1.5 years, instead of 3. If they reset the dates on the idrive to be from registration date then should all fluids be change just now so it's a true 2 years for oil and 3 for brake fluid? As I keep saying 3 months wouldn't bother me but that's 3/4 of the oil service term used up and 1/2 of the brake fluid.
Warranty, need it confirmed there's no issues.
Date of sat nav maps.
Is car software the latest revision? Was it ever plugged in and updated?
Some sort of explanation as to where the F it's been for 1.5 years. Not just for my own sanity, I need some reason to explain it when I'm selling the car down the line. Despite what others think when it comes to selling I always make purchasers aware of ALL the facts and let them make their minds up.
Warranties etc. don't start until the day of registration. I'm sure as part of the PDI the technicians will effectively 'set up' the service counter etc.hing on pistonheads it's not about having a different opinion (I've happily accepted all opinions, IF the point has been put across politely), it's about trying to bait the OP into an argument so the whole wolf pack circle jerk can jump in too... Something I'm not interested in.Here's some of the things I'm concerned about:
All iDrive service dates are from February 2014 meaning the first oil service is due in 6 months time, rather than 2 years. I've paid for a 5 year service pack on top of the car price, am I expected to lose 1.5 years of it? If so, surely this should have been communicated?
Brake fluid change used to be due every 2 years, now 3 years. The way I see it is if you'd bought this car in 2014 and it had sat around doing minimal miles BMW would expect you to change it. Is this any different? In that case it needs done in 1.5 years, instead of 3. If they reset the dates on the idrive to be from registration date then should all fluids be change just now so it's a true 2 years for oil and 3 for brake fluid? As I keep saying 3 months wouldn't bother me but that's 3/4 of the oil service term used up and 1/2 of the brake fluid.
Warranty, need it confirmed there's no issues.
Date of sat nav maps.
Is car software the latest revision? Was it ever plugged in and updated?
Some sort of explanation as to where the F it's been for 1.5 years. Not just for my own sanity, I need some reason to explain it when I'm selling the car down the line. Despite what others think when it comes to selling I always make purchasers aware of ALL the facts and let them make their minds up.
Edited by GP335i on Thursday 3rd September 08:44
As to where your car has been, my guess is you'll never know. Sat in the docks or in a dealer compound somewhere.
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