So, I decided to give up on the white/red car. Too many red flags, and like many members have warned me about, why take the risk? In addition, I found out that the owner of the dealer is actually using the car as his DD... I bet he babies the car...
Anyway, I found another car that I am interested in, but trying to stay cautious. Opinions on this would be greatly appreciated.
So this car is being sold by a BMW dealer (closer than the coral red one, but not exactly local so I can't go to check it out). It is a 2012 with 18 miles... and the Carfax doesn't tell much.
I pulled up the VIN and the car was manufactured 3/12... so what was it doing in the past year? I asked the dealer and was told this was a car a military personnel ordered. Due to circumstance changes, he couldn't keep the car, so the dealer auctioned off the car and the current dealer offering the car bought it. A few questions come up...
1) I don't know the rules and regulations, I assume a dealer has to purchase the car themselves in order to auction it off? (hence, Carfax says Vehicle purchased on 1/17/2013 and then auctioned on 1/21/2013)
2) If the above is true, how come the vehicle was titled
after the auction on 1/25/2013? I looked up the Title# and it seems to check out... but peculiar to me that it was titled and owner reported after it was auctioned (and the current dealership is not in Florida, so it isn't the dealer who bought the car at auction)
4) How long does a dealer generally hold a special ordered car where a deposit was left? The military personnel story is sketchy because why would the dealer buy the car and then sell it at auction (in which case they definitely lost money). Why didn't they just sell it as a previous year left-over NEW car themselves? They would definitely make more money than auction.
5) And lastly, maybe I am being overly anal and nitpicking, but I am afraid of possible mileage rollback? The car has 16 miles, which means it was essentially un-driven. Is it just me or do the seats look rather worn for a "new" car? (specifically the driver leg bolsters)
At least obnoxious yellow warning tags are still there?
I feel like I'm being a bit paranoid, but trying to not make a $60,000 mistake, and would like other's opinion on the legitimacy of this car. It's price right at Edmund's TMV (54k), so doesn't look like a "too-good-to-be-true deal." However, the creasing of the seats really doesn't look "16 miles" new to me, even if people sat on in it to "see how the seats felt." I've looked at other older and higher mileage Z4s (10-20k) that the dealer is selling, and the leather (same, Dakota Black) seem to have less bolster wear than this one. The passenger seat doesn't appear to have any wear.