The BaT thread for the cars we won't buy, but kinda wish we would

[equ]

Also that e61 has an inoperable liftgate. Six days of bidding left and people are at $20k+ for a car that has major components not working.

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by equ

F*** EAG. For all the pristine tales they tell, I test drove one of the e46 m3's they bought, before they bought it. The seller was was idiotic and paranoid. He had all sorts of test drive conditions that I met. I did the drive. I passed on the car when I found out that he did the break-in oil chg at 1.2k and then waited 8 or 9 years to 14k miles.... :rofl: And he kept telling me that's what the display/computer asked for. Yeah, EAG sold that "premium" car for around 40k back in 2013.

Originally Posted by equ

Also that e61 has an inoperable liftgate. Six days of bidding left and people are at $20k+ for a car that has major components not working.

Yeah, that listing seems to omit a lot of real info. Does not seem trustworthy. I remember the power lift gate failed on our E61 (now Zach’s dad’s car). We fixed it. End of story. Why wasn’t that done?

[JST]

Originally Posted by equ

Also that e61 has an inoperable liftgate. Six days of bidding left and people are at $20k+ for a car that has major components not working.

Eh, the seller is responsive on that, and I mean...that car is a black hole, maintenance wise. It doesn't really bug me.

I have two regrets:

1) this car is probably going to climb past where I could justify bidding on it fairly quickly, and

2) BaT did not exist when I sold my E61.

[zach]

Originally Posted by wdc330i

Yeah, that listing seems to omit a lot of real info. Does not seem trustworthy. I remember the power lift gate failed on our E61 (now Zach’s dad’s car). We fixed it. End of story. Why wasn’t that done?

WDC's old e61 also has an inoperable tailgate . My dad doesn't drive it enough to really care though.

[wdc330i]

Originally Posted by zach

WDC's old e61 also has an inoperable tailgate . My dad doesn't drive it enough to really care though.

Oy. Again?

[SARAFIL]

Interesting drama on this one.


https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2002-bmw-m3-155/

Guy pays a premium for “low mileage” E46 M3 and then tries to sell on BAT. Folks watching the auction quickly question history of the car - “dude, this car was listed for sale online years ago with over 200k miles and had a supercharger installed” plus looks like at some point interior was swapped out. One of the prior owners allegedly rolled back odometer from 200k to 50k. BAT recommends seller just lower his reserve and sell the car. Meanwhile, people keep bidding on a car with huge red flags. WTF?

[JST]

Originally Posted by SARAFIL

Interesting drama on this one.


https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2002-bmw-m3-155/

Guy pays a premium for “low mileage” E46 M3 and then tries to sell on BAT. Folks watching the auction quickly question history of the car - “dude, this car was listed for sale online years ago with over 200k miles and had a supercharger installed” plus looks like at some point interior was swapped out. One of the prior owners allegedly rolled back odometer from 200k to 50k. BAT recommends seller just lower his reserve and sell the car. Meanwhile, people keep bidding on a car with huge red flags. WTF?

Yeah, that sucks.

[wdc330i]

It’s a good cautionary tale.

[John V]

Originally Posted by SARAFIL

Interesting drama on this one.


https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2002-bmw-m3-155/

Guy pays a premium for “low mileage” E46 M3 and then tries to sell on BAT. Folks watching the auction quickly question history of the car - “dude, this car was listed for sale online years ago with over 200k miles and had a supercharger installed” plus looks like at some point interior was swapped out. One of the prior owners allegedly rolled back odometer from 200k to 50k. BAT recommends seller just lower his reserve and sell the car. Meanwhile, people keep bidding on a car with huge red flags. WTF?

Wow... and people have bid it up to $25k as of this morning.

I've seen a lot of sketchy cars on BaT presented as "low mileage survivors" but nothing quite like this. It just goes to show how much risk you take on buying a car at auction, online or otherwise.

[clyde]

Originally Posted by John V

Wow... and people have bid it up to $25k as of this morning.

I've seen a lot of sketchy cars on BaT presented as "low mileage survivors" but nothing quite like this. It just goes to show how much risk you take on buying a car at auction, online or otherwise.

Risk when buying a car. Same as it ever was, particularly with used cars. Online stuff just allows for the sellers to cast wider nets.

Agree that it there's a bigger leap of faith you need to take when you can't lay your own eyes and hands on it before the sale. I can't count how many times I've looked at cars where the pics, write ups and pre-viewing phone calls were all aces, but within 30 seconds of being within 30 feet of the car it was clear the car was something less than how it had been presented.

The thing I like about BaT compared to other places is the large community of people that get off on pointing out everything that might be wrong. They won't catch everything, but they catch a lot and go further towards reducing the risk than can reasonably be done elsewhere right now.

BaT. It's kinda like Waze for car buying.