Red flags when buying an AUC from BMW

[BlueSkies10]

Long time lurker, first time poster here.

I am currently in the process of buying a 6 month old BMW G20 330i with approx 4,000 miles on the clock from a synter branch.
The branch is over 200 miles away from me so have ended up paying the deposit over the phone (subject to the car delivering what they have advertised).

Having read a few horror stories on here about dealers not disclosing damage/repair work I am trying to ensure I protect myself as best as possible.
Over email exchange with a member of the sales team (before paying deposit) I enquired whether the car has been involved in any accidents or had any damage that has been repaired, however minor the repair may have been.
His response:
only repair work listed on our side is an alloy wheel refurb but nothing serious.
When I tried to clarify he stated:
No prior damages noted in the Sytner group.

That response doesn't sit right with me. Why is he specifying that no damages are listed in sytner group/ on their side. What other side is there??
I was under the impression these cars went through rigorous inspections by their mechanics.
Why did he not say, the car has NEVER been in an accident or repaired. Is he implying that paperwork outside of the sytner group might show damage/repairs???

Judging by the pictures I have seen the car looks immaculate, but I am no mechanic.
Does anyone have any advice on other questions I need to ask the dealer?
Or anything else I need to get in writing before pulling the trigger?
Additionally, when I go down and see the car in person, is there anything I should be paying particular attention to when inspecting?

Really appreciate any help on this.
Cheers

[Knoxville2410]

It sounds like they are just covering themselves? I guess there's only so much they can check, if they miss that it has been repaired they don't want it coming back to them.

Is the car suspiciously cheap or normal market value?

[Fast Bug]

You can't say a car has never had paintwork in it's life. Even if they had it as a demo from new, it may have been damaged and repaired before it left the factory, and repaired without their knowledge.

[BlueSkies10]

Knoxville2410 said:

It sounds like they are just covering themselves? I guess there's only so much they can check, if they miss that it has been repaired they don't want it coming back to them.

Is the car suspiciously cheap or normal market value?

Thank you for the reply.
Perhaps I am being overly cautious, but with it being my first 'luxury' car I am just trying to protect myself after spending a serious lump of cash.

Its normal market value, managed to knock £400 off their asking price.
There aren't many cars for me to compare against, as there only seem to be a handful of new-ish 330i m sport pro editions with the added spec and tech that I wanted.

[iphonedyou]

He's saying there has been no damage noted within their network.

Which is all he can say, not being omnipresent.

[thebullettrain]

Congrats mate, it’s a great car! You’re spending circa 30k and apprehensive, which is fine.

Assuming the car isn’t their own demo then it’s highly unlikely they know it’s full history. You will have to rely on their checks on the car.

I’ve bought a 3, 5 and 7 AUC from BMW and all have been sound.

£400 off at Sytner is good, it’s usually like pulling teeth with them.

[MarkJS]

As already said by many above - they can never know for certain what has happened to a car befor it ends up with them. I think he’s actually being pretty straight by saying that a wheel has been refurbished.

I’ve bought a couple of BMW AUC cars in the past with no real issues - but do your own checks too and ensure the car is exactly how you want it before driving away on collection day. My latest AUC car was actually through Sytner (dealership over 200 miles from me) - similar to you I paid a deposit over the phone and agreed to buy & take delivery on the condition that the car was everything it should be on collection day. I travelled down by train on a one way ticket and they arranged to collect me from the station. However, when the car was unveiled, I found a crease on a body panel - it looked like another car door had been opened against it. The salesman looked genuinely mortified (and I was obviously extremely disappointed) and could only offer the excuse that it happened in their own compound over the last few hours. There was lots of apologising and they gave me a written guarantee that it could & would be repaired by them at one of their dealerships closer to where I live at the time of my choosing. The repair was carried out perfectly while I waited with a coffee (I cannot see where the crease was now). This was in January and the car has been faultless. In fact, Sytner have been one of the better BMW dealers I have used - they are NOT all the same.

Go for it and good luck. Also, keep us updated along with pictures of your new car!

[JohnBRG]

You never really know, I'm afraid.

If it helps, i bought an AUC X5 from Sytner, sight unseen, and it had a badly scratched driver door capping (it was black-on-black on 20s, think the marks were caused by the PO's Glock!). Sytner arranged for a local Sytner franchise to replace it, no questions asked.

[Gareth1974]

Ask if it’s ever been a hire car. A lot of BMW’s AUC cars have been. The usual line is that the cars was a “BMW managers car”.

[Fast Bug]

Gareth1974 said:

Ask if it’s ever been a hire car. A lot of BMW’s AUC cars have been. The usual line is that the cars was a “BMW managers car”.

Most 6-12 month old used cars are ex-rental.

[undred orse]

Or rejects. My 900 mile x4m which Is now coming up to a year old has just been sold as an AUC 9 months after I rejected it as they admitted they didn’t know what was wrong with it and couldn’t fix it. They then added insult to injury by refusing to sell me another unless I was prepared to pay £5k more!

[Fast Bug]

The number of rejected cars will be tiny compared to the number of ex rental going through the network

[undred orse]

I agree they’ll be small numbers but still something to watch for especially with low mileage cars. Not surprising that no manufacturers indicate what happens to rejects.

[quinny100]

BlueSkies10 said:

I was under the impression these cars went through rigorous inspections by their mechanics.

You are under the wrong impression. At best it will have had a once over inspection similar to what would happen at a routine service. At worst, it'll have been washed and had an AUC sticker stuck on it.

I have bought a couple of cars unseen and had no issue. On both occasions I asked the salesman to walk around the car whilst I was on the phone and point out any damage or blemishes, however slight. I'd made it clear I wanted a car in excellent condition and if the car was not as described when I arrived to inspect it I expected my deposit to be refunded. Neither had an issue with this - there's really no point them not describing the car accurately as it'll just cause them hassle having the thing prepped and ready to drive away then you pull out because they've not been honest with you.

I'd also ask who the previous keeper was and where they sourced the vehicle from - they won't give you the keepers personal details due to GDPR - but they can say for example "it was a owned by a private customer who bought it from us and traded it in for a new one".