Dealership approved used

[Matt11]

Been to look at a few second hand cars sort of got disillusioned with it. Every one had quiet big faults on it. Thinking of spending more to hopefully do away with any hassle and going the dealership approved used route. Any thought? Thanks for the help on the forum I have received so far.

[valiant]

Approved used stock may not be any different to what you’re seeing elsewhere despite what the marketing tells you. The only real difference for me is the warranty tends to be a lot better as its manufacturer backed (in most cases but not all).

You still have to go into it with your eyes open and check the history.

I tend to buy a year or two old cars from approved used and quality can still be variable even on nearly new cars.

[Trevor555]

Matt11 said:

Been to look at a few second hand cars sort of got disillusioned with it. Every one had quiet big faults on it. Thinking of spending more to hopefully do away with any hassle and going the dealership approved used route. Any thought? Thanks for the help on the forum I have received so far.

In theory it should get you a better car, and should get a longer, more decent, warranty than the usual dealer 3 month.

But they still need checking for previous accident repairs.

Make a copy of the advert which shows it as advertised a "used approved" as I've seen so many incidents where the car doesn't meet the standard, service history mostly.

And don't trust all their so called strict checks, I'm sure some do it properly, but many don't.

If I've bought a car with expensive alloys the first thing I do on day one of ownership is take it to my local tyre place, pay them to check for bent alloys and damaged tyres. On day one they can't easily use the excuse "it must have happened in the week you've owned it"

The good thing with used approved is it's mostly easier to sort issues post sale should they arise.

Good luck, but still be cautious, I've seen plenty of cars in my 37 years in the trade that shouldn't be sold by a reputable dealer, but are sold as "used approved"

[paul_c123]

Based on a lot of what I've read here, and what I've seen with my own eyes both at dealerships and knowing where they source the stock, they are very much trading on "perceived reputation" rather than a substantially better quality of stock. But, the more cars you look at the more chance of finding one that is decent. There are decent cars out there, they could be at a dealership of any size or even private.

[Chris_i8]

As above, don't be fooled by the marketing/advertising.

I bought an approved used 7-series in the spring, only because it was in a spec/colour/trim/options that I was looking for, not because it was AU.

Lack of prep / poor prep is probably the polite way to describe it.
- wheels refurbed by a blind man and not balanced correctly.
- corrosion on front doors and mirror arms - I specifically asked the question before leaving a deposit and was told it was fine.
- front passenger door soft close function inop.
- 1st breakdown - front driveshaft.
- 2nd breakdown - both front air struts.
- 3rd breakdown - gearbox related.
- supplying dealer fitted new front discs/pads but every Citnow video that came through from the technician after every breakdown suggested the rear pads were low and the inner face of the discs was shot so these should have been replaced at the same time as the fronts.

My advice is used car buying is a numbers game in regards to volume brand cars, go to see as many as possible from varying outlets, the good ones will stand out, not just cosmetically but how they drive and from a maintenance records / paperwork pov along with sensible pricing before/after negotiation.

Good luck!

Chris

[itcaptainslow]

Dealership service and stock quality is disappearing down the toilet rapidly, in my experience over the past few years.

[jamesb2]

Just to disagree I had years of buying AUC from BMW both for myself and parents. Generally the cars were fine, it became a bit more difficult when the rental fleets kept them a bit longer but overall I found the experience pretty positive

We normally brought ex daily rental 3s and 5s about a year old and sold them on just before the warranty ran out

In my experience BMW uk CS team were pretty good when rang if there was any tension and got things sorted