Tanzanite/Cognac F32 - hard combo to sell?
Discussion
Went and had a look today...
Stunning looking car, pretty immaculate other than a few small light scratches as you'd expect to find on a four year old car. The contrast leather and piano black dashboard trim makes the car feel like it cost twice as much as one with default black leather and brushed aliminium trim. Paperwork was all in the glove compartment. Originally supplied by Sytner Nottingham and owned by someone in Watford. The two services were done by a place called VW Doctor - an independent VW specialist. The services detailed were the correct ones, though there's obviously no way of knowing what was actually done. Sales guy said the 24 month warranty that you can get from them is the same as the BMW warranty as they're part of the same group as Stratstone, but it costs less. Tad sceptical about that.
Only issues of note were when I opened the bonnet there was a layer of moisture on top of the driver's side "dome" where the suspension strut is. Also, when I pulled the rear arm rest down, the plastic flaps that open to reveal the cupholders also had some moisture on them, though there was no moisture in the recess that the arm rest slots into when you stow it. Also, there was quite a bit of green on the black rubber seals along the bottom of the front side windows. I don't know if the will clean off or will be a part of the rubber by now.
The sales guy confirmed that the car has been there a year and said only four people have shown an interest in it. It should probably be at a dealership that sells those kind of cars to get an appropriate audience, not a Vauxhall dealership!
Stunning looking car, pretty immaculate other than a few small light scratches as you'd expect to find on a four year old car. The contrast leather and piano black dashboard trim makes the car feel like it cost twice as much as one with default black leather and brushed aliminium trim. Paperwork was all in the glove compartment. Originally supplied by Sytner Nottingham and owned by someone in Watford. The two services were done by a place called VW Doctor - an independent VW specialist. The services detailed were the correct ones, though there's obviously no way of knowing what was actually done. Sales guy said the 24 month warranty that you can get from them is the same as the BMW warranty as they're part of the same group as Stratstone, but it costs less. Tad sceptical about that.
Only issues of note were when I opened the bonnet there was a layer of moisture on top of the driver's side "dome" where the suspension strut is. Also, when I pulled the rear arm rest down, the plastic flaps that open to reveal the cupholders also had some moisture on them, though there was no moisture in the recess that the arm rest slots into when you stow it. Also, there was quite a bit of green on the black rubber seals along the bottom of the front side windows. I don't know if the will clean off or will be a part of the rubber by now.
The sales guy confirmed that the car has been there a year and said only four people have shown an interest in it. It should probably be at a dealership that sells those kind of cars to get an appropriate audience, not a Vauxhall dealership!
Edited by MitchT on Sunday 25th February 16:17
stevemcs said:
Evan’s Halshaw warranty isn’t worth the paper it’s written on, the last one we had the misfortune of dealing with paid £35 per hour plus vat.
I said my intention was to put a BMW warranty on it, hence why I needed to confirm that the servicing has been done properly, and he assured me the product they offer for this car is the same as they're part of the same group as Stratstone BMW, but I'd do my homework before committing to it.stevemcs said:
So, did you put a deposit down.
No, I have another to look at and I still really want one in Snapper Rocks Blue with the front "surround view" cameras which this one doesn't have. That said, for the right price I'd be happy to go for it.Looking at the listing I realised it’s a Vauxhall dealer quite local to me, never bought a car there but my Father in law always goes there, he’s happy with the service.
That dealer does tend to get some nice premium cars on the forecourt, I’ve seen a Nissan GTR and an Audi R8 there before amongst other things. Horsforth as an area is an affluent part of Leeds so they do seem to get some nice cars in there amongst the Vauxhall stuff quite regularly.
That dealer does tend to get some nice premium cars on the forecourt, I’ve seen a Nissan GTR and an Audi R8 there before amongst other things. Horsforth as an area is an affluent part of Leeds so they do seem to get some nice cars in there amongst the Vauxhall stuff quite regularly.
MitchT said:
No services missing. The ones documented were an oil service and a brake fluid service.
I know it's a low mileage car but I'm pretty sure with that generation of BMW the service intervals are either mileage based or every two years, whichever comes sooner? That being the case at four years old that car's now due its second service and from memory that's the major one which includes things like a spark plug change - I doubt you'd see any change from £500 to get that done at a main dealer so it's perhaps something worth bearing in mind (and maybe using in negotiations) before proceeding!
MitchT said:
Went and had a look today...
Stunning looking car, pretty immaculate other than a few small light scratches as you'd expect to find on a four year old car. The contrast leather and piano black dashboard trim makes the car feel like it cost twice as much as one with default black leather and brushed aliminium trim. Paperwork was all in the glove compartment. Originally supplied by Sytner Nottingham and owned by someone in Watford. The two services were done by a place called VW Doctor - an independent VW specialist. The services detailed were the correct ones, though there's obviously no way of knowing what was actually done. Sales guy said the 24 month warranty that you can get from them is the same as the BMW warranty as they're part of the same group as Stratstone, but it costs less. Tad sceptical about that.
Only issues of note were when I opened the bonnet there was a layer of moisture on top of the driver's side "dome" where the suspension strut is. Also, when I pulled the rear arm rest down, the plastic flaps that open to reveal the cupholders also had some moisture on them, though there was no moisture in the recess that the arm rest slots into when you stow it. Also, there was quite a bit of green on the black rubber seals along the bottom of the front side windows. I don't know if the will clean off or will be a part of the rubber by now.
The sales guy confirmed that the car has been there a year and said only four people have shown an interest in it. It should probably be at a dealership that sells those kind of cars to get an appropriate audience, not a Vauxhall dealership!
I bet the salesman changes his tune when someone says i will buy it if you put 12 months BMW extended warranty on it as part of the deal !Stunning looking car, pretty immaculate other than a few small light scratches as you'd expect to find on a four year old car. The contrast leather and piano black dashboard trim makes the car feel like it cost twice as much as one with default black leather and brushed aliminium trim. Paperwork was all in the glove compartment. Originally supplied by Sytner Nottingham and owned by someone in Watford. The two services were done by a place called VW Doctor - an independent VW specialist. The services detailed were the correct ones, though there's obviously no way of knowing what was actually done. Sales guy said the 24 month warranty that you can get from them is the same as the BMW warranty as they're part of the same group as Stratstone, but it costs less. Tad sceptical about that.
Only issues of note were when I opened the bonnet there was a layer of moisture on top of the driver's side "dome" where the suspension strut is. Also, when I pulled the rear arm rest down, the plastic flaps that open to reveal the cupholders also had some moisture on them, though there was no moisture in the recess that the arm rest slots into when you stow it. Also, there was quite a bit of green on the black rubber seals along the bottom of the front side windows. I don't know if the will clean off or will be a part of the rubber by now.
The sales guy confirmed that the car has been there a year and said only four people have shown an interest in it. It should probably be at a dealership that sells those kind of cars to get an appropriate audience, not a Vauxhall dealership!
Edited by MitchT on Sunday 25th February 16:17
MitchT said:
Two years or 18,000 miles I believe so, yes, probable biggie due this year!
Based on the date of registration the biggie is already overdue so I'd be saying to the dealer either you get it done at your expense prior to sale or you'll have to knock the cost off the price of the car! A quick check on Stratstone's website shows the relevant service at BMW Leeds would be just under £600....ETA: And actually, if the PDI was done in January 2019 - and the car then sat around for a year before it was eventually registered and sold - that arguably makes the major service a full year overdue. But cutting them some slack and basing it on date of registration it's still overdue now - whichever way you look at it it's missing a service and it's the expensive one!
Edited by JNW1 on Monday 26th February 08:22
Could be awesome, or a random money pit.
If it were me I’d have a very good look over it, then test drive etc. Make sure it’s good.
Then buy it as cheap as possible and keep going with the cheap/diy servicing etc… you won’t lose anything then.
But if you want to keep the bmw warranty then that’s a no go.
Quite frankly I think bmw warranty might not want to cover it given the history.
Would you trust them to pay up and not find a random issue if the engine goes pop?
Even when my bmw garage put the mot in the iDrive wrong making it look 6mo late (which it wasn’t as it’s documented with vosa), bmw warranty were gnawing their teeth for 30mins on the phone over the history and a service being late…
So buy cheap and roll with the cheapness. Or don’t.
Mixing and matching is likely to be a more costly long term outcome vs just buying a ‘right’ car…
If it were me I’d have a very good look over it, then test drive etc. Make sure it’s good.
Then buy it as cheap as possible and keep going with the cheap/diy servicing etc… you won’t lose anything then.
But if you want to keep the bmw warranty then that’s a no go.
Quite frankly I think bmw warranty might not want to cover it given the history.
Would you trust them to pay up and not find a random issue if the engine goes pop?
Even when my bmw garage put the mot in the iDrive wrong making it look 6mo late (which it wasn’t as it’s documented with vosa), bmw warranty were gnawing their teeth for 30mins on the phone over the history and a service being late…
So buy cheap and roll with the cheapness. Or don’t.
Mixing and matching is likely to be a more costly long term outcome vs just buying a ‘right’ car…
Mr Whippy said:
Could be awesome, or a random money pit.
If it were me I’d have a very good look over it, then test drive etc. Make sure it’s good.
Then buy it as cheap as possible and keep going with the cheap/diy servicing etc… you won’t lose anything then.
But if you want to keep the bmw warranty then that’s a no go.
Quite frankly I think bmw warranty might not want to cover it given the history.
Would you trust them to pay up and not find a random issue if the engine goes pop?
Even when my bmw garage put the mot in the iDrive wrong making it look 6mo late (which it wasn’t as it’s documented with vosa), bmw warranty were gnawing their teeth for 30mins on the phone over the history and a service being late…
So buy cheap and roll with the cheapness. Or don’t.
Mixing and matching is likely to be a more costly long term outcome vs just buying a ‘right’ car…
I agree a reasonable test drive is a must but even if everything seems ok on that I'd still insist on the overdue service being carried out by BMW Leeds plus I'd want sight of the associated vehicle health check report to see what advisories had been highlighted (if any). Given the amount of time the car's spent stood outside I'd be nervous about things like corrosion on the brake discs and pads as replacement of those wouldn't be cheap if needed; however, a vehicle health check should identify items like that.If it were me I’d have a very good look over it, then test drive etc. Make sure it’s good.
Then buy it as cheap as possible and keep going with the cheap/diy servicing etc… you won’t lose anything then.
But if you want to keep the bmw warranty then that’s a no go.
Quite frankly I think bmw warranty might not want to cover it given the history.
Would you trust them to pay up and not find a random issue if the engine goes pop?
Even when my bmw garage put the mot in the iDrive wrong making it look 6mo late (which it wasn’t as it’s documented with vosa), bmw warranty were gnawing their teeth for 30mins on the phone over the history and a service being late…
So buy cheap and roll with the cheapness. Or don’t.
Mixing and matching is likely to be a more costly long term outcome vs just buying a ‘right’ car…
I'm not sure what the qualification requirements are for the BMW extended warranty but if the overdue service is carried out promptly I'd say the service history would be complete with everything done pretty much to time - ok, the major service would be a few weeks late but probably not so late as to preclude the car being eligible for the BMW extended warranty. But if for some reason BMW wouldn't be prepared to warranty the car even having just carried out the major service I'd be looking to Evans Halshaw to put their warranty on it instead (at least 12 months and at their expense).
But it’s so much faff.
None of that is going to happen as they’d be better just running it through the auctions.
Unless it’s £5k cheaper than similar models or something it needs avoiding imo.
That’s exactly why no one else is interested… more hassle than it’s worth unless YOU are the one willing to do all the work and then keep it years, so by the time you move it on all those issues will be largely irrelevant and you’ll have saved enough to make it worthwhile.
All imo. It’s the way it is because it’s the way it is.
None of that is going to happen as they’d be better just running it through the auctions.
Unless it’s £5k cheaper than similar models or something it needs avoiding imo.
That’s exactly why no one else is interested… more hassle than it’s worth unless YOU are the one willing to do all the work and then keep it years, so by the time you move it on all those issues will be largely irrelevant and you’ll have saved enough to make it worthwhile.
All imo. It’s the way it is because it’s the way it is.
Nothing came up on the iDrive when the car was started, so I don't think it's flagging an overdue service yet. The brake disks did have plenty of corrosion on them though.
I think the price is pretty much approved used BMW money - Stratstone in Derby had a well specced one for £26,230 with 18k miles last year - same sort of age at the time. I'd be wanting a grand off because it isn't an AUC, then another grand for the big service and any miscellaneous niggles. I'd give them £24k but happy to walk otherwise as I'm not emotionally attached to it. Strange that the original owner took it to a VW indy for servicing. I would have thought if you could afford a car like that you could afford to take it to a main dealer for servicing.
I think the price is pretty much approved used BMW money - Stratstone in Derby had a well specced one for £26,230 with 18k miles last year - same sort of age at the time. I'd be wanting a grand off because it isn't an AUC, then another grand for the big service and any miscellaneous niggles. I'd give them £24k but happy to walk otherwise as I'm not emotionally attached to it. Strange that the original owner took it to a VW indy for servicing. I would have thought if you could afford a car like that you could afford to take it to a main dealer for servicing.
If the brakes have got really bad they’re not cheap either.
Plus damp inside needs investigating a bit I’d say,
Lots of work to do and negotiating to get hold of this at the right price, and then hope all is good etc.
Why put in so much work unless there is something worthwhile in it for you?
Ie, perfect spec and colour, and them being rare so such opportunity will never come again.
Plus damp inside needs investigating a bit I’d say,
Lots of work to do and negotiating to get hold of this at the right price, and then hope all is good etc.
Why put in so much work unless there is something worthwhile in it for you?
Ie, perfect spec and colour, and them being rare so such opportunity will never come again.
The damp was definitely an odd one.
This isn't the actual car - just a pic I pulled from Google but, to illustrate what I mean, the black plastic flaps in the rear centre armrest had what looked like condensation on them! The corresponding area in the recess where the arm rest stows felt dry, so it might just be an odd phenomenon affecting all cars like this when the temperature in the boot is different to the temperature in the cabin. It was more like tiny bobbles of water clinging to the surface of the plastic than any kind of water than had run there, so I do believe it was condensation and not water ingress. Strange though. NB. The armrest was stowed until I climbed in the back and pulled it down.
This isn't the actual car - just a pic I pulled from Google but, to illustrate what I mean, the black plastic flaps in the rear centre armrest had what looked like condensation on them! The corresponding area in the recess where the arm rest stows felt dry, so it might just be an odd phenomenon affecting all cars like this when the temperature in the boot is different to the temperature in the cabin. It was more like tiny bobbles of water clinging to the surface of the plastic than any kind of water than had run there, so I do believe it was condensation and not water ingress. Strange though. NB. The armrest was stowed until I climbed in the back and pulled it down.
MitchT said:
Nothing came up on the iDrive when the car was started, so I don't think it's flagging an overdue service yet. The brake disks did have plenty of corrosion on them though.
I think the price is pretty much approved used BMW money - Stratstone in Derby had a well specced one for £26,230 with 18k miles last year - same sort of age at the time. I'd be wanting a grand off because it isn't an AUC, then another grand for the big service and any miscellaneous niggles. I'd give them £24k but happy to walk otherwise as I'm not emotionally attached to it. Strange that the original owner took it to a VW indy for servicing. I would have thought if you could afford a car like that you could afford to take it to a main dealer for servicing.
If the iDrive isn't flagging a service being due there's something amiss! If you assume the clock starts counting from the date of registration (early February 2020) it should have had a first service no later than early February 2022, a brake fluid change no later than early February 2023 and a second service (the major one) no later than early February 2024. The first two look to have been done (and on time) but the last one hasn't; that could be because the dealer thinks it's hardly covered any miles since the last service - and therefore doesn't need another - but they'd be wrong given how the service intervals work with that model of BMW. As a thought, perhaps the brake fluid change was entered incorrectly as a full service in the iDrive by the VW independent and, because the car then thinks another service isn't due for two years from that date, that's why nothing's showing as outstanding? I think the price is pretty much approved used BMW money - Stratstone in Derby had a well specced one for £26,230 with 18k miles last year - same sort of age at the time. I'd be wanting a grand off because it isn't an AUC, then another grand for the big service and any miscellaneous niggles. I'd give them £24k but happy to walk otherwise as I'm not emotionally attached to it. Strange that the original owner took it to a VW indy for servicing. I would have thought if you could afford a car like that you could afford to take it to a main dealer for servicing.
In the circumstances I think there are enough question marks to be saying to Evan Halshaw they either need to sort the overdue service and a BMW warranty before you buy or, if they don't want the hassle of that, they need to knock a chunk off the price to enable you to get it sorted yourself. They can't reasonably expect AUC money for the car when they're not offering everything an AUC would come with and to be honest they're not going to get what they're asking unless a complete mug walks onto their forecourt (and if that hasn't happened in over a year what makes them think it's going to happen now?). As it is the car's just sitting there deteriorating (and depreciating) and even if someone made them an offer at 10% below the advertised price to take it as it is that would still probably be more than they'd get for it at an auction - got to be worth a try if you're interested!
Mr Whippy said:
But it’s so much faff.
None of that is going to happen as they’d be better just running it through the auctions.
Unless it’s £5k cheaper than similar models or something it needs avoiding imo.
That’s exactly why no one else is interested… more hassle than it’s worth unless YOU are the one willing to do all the work and then keep it years, so by the time you move it on all those issues will be largely irrelevant and you’ll have saved enough to make it worthwhile.
All imo. It’s the way it is because it’s the way it is.
I see what you're saying but why does it need to be so much faff? The OP isn't especially desperate to buy the car - because it isn't his ideal colour and spec - so to my mind he can just make what he considers to be a fair offer and see what reaction he gets; if the dealer says no the OP simply walks away without shedding any tears but if the dealer is prepared to be realistic maybe the OP gets a very nice car at a decent price.None of that is going to happen as they’d be better just running it through the auctions.
Unless it’s £5k cheaper than similar models or something it needs avoiding imo.
That’s exactly why no one else is interested… more hassle than it’s worth unless YOU are the one willing to do all the work and then keep it years, so by the time you move it on all those issues will be largely irrelevant and you’ll have saved enough to make it worthwhile.
All imo. It’s the way it is because it’s the way it is.
So if he's genuinely interested to me the OP has nothing to lose by making an offer - just move on to something else if Evans Halshaw stick to their guns and think they're somehow going to get BMW AUC money for a car that doesn't come with BMW AUC benefits.
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