Used BMWs - what am I missing here?

[Anonymous]

Was shopping for a Lexus sedan and the BMW 3 series was 'suggested' to me. Anyone have any insight on these cars? For a low mileage, luxury car - these are cheap and plentiful! Feel like I must be missing something.

https://www.carfax.com/vehicle/WBAPK5C56BA994466

[Anonymous]

2011, so 9 years old. Two owners, 100K in miles, one open recall that was issued 2 years ago and not completed. Sold a few months ago at an auction so really 3 owners.

[Anonymous]

In 2017, I bought a used 2016 328xi that had sat on the dealer lot and had been used as a loaner car ... with about 6k miles on it ... It's been a good and reliable car ... but I paid 33k for it.

[Anonymous]

The stories of cars lasting to 150k miles are really reserved for toyota camry and simpler asian cars (although that reliability has gotten worse over the years). European cars have really never been as reliable and BMW is no exception. You might get the luck of the draw, but I've had a friend with a BMW 5 series that absolutely started falling apart after 5 years and 50k miles. Another friend had a BMW M3 (the fast version of the 3 series) that was constantly in the shop in the first two years of ownership.

Personally, although I would never buy a car with 98k miles on it no matter what it was, I would definitely never buy a European car with 98k miles on it. 38k, maybe, possibly. You're going to have a lot of repair costs on that thing

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The stories of cars lasting to 150k miles are really reserved for toyota camry and simpler asian cars (although that reliability has gotten worse over the years). European cars have really never been as reliable and BMW is no exception. You might get the luck of the draw, but I've had a friend with a BMW 5 series that absolutely started falling apart after 5 years and 50k miles. Another friend had a BMW M3 (the fast version of the 3 series) that was constantly in the shop in the first two years of ownership.

Personally, although I would never buy a car with 98k miles on it no matter what it was, I would definitely never buy a European car with 98k miles on it. 38k, maybe, possibly. You're going to have a lot of repair costs on that thing

PP again, and I say this as a regular Audi owner. I always trade in my Audis after their 4 year warranty is up. Very few problems, if any, in the first 50k, but in my opinion keeping them longer is a gamble

[Anonymous]

No way, OP.

[Anonymous]

We have an older BMW and do not underestimate the maintenance costs.

[Anonymous]

You're not missing anything. They're cheap and plentiful bc they're a not great and expensive to repair status symbol, and no more. You can do much better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The stories of cars lasting to 150k miles are really reserved for toyota camry and simpler asian cars (although that reliability has gotten worse over the years). European cars have really never been as reliable and BMW is no exception. You might get the luck of the draw, but I've had a friend with a BMW 5 series that absolutely started falling apart after 5 years and 50k miles. Another friend had a BMW M3 (the fast version of the 3 series) that was constantly in the shop in the first two years of ownership.

Personally, although I would never buy a car with 98k miles on it no matter what it was, I would definitely never buy a European car with 98k miles on it. 38k, maybe, possibly. You're going to have a lot of repair costs on that thing

+1
This person gets it. BMW is known as one of the least reliable makes out there. The cars are always in the shop and the imported parts cost a fortune. To make matters worse, the car was probably leased twice which means the entire 100k mileage the car was driven HARD and it’s likely to have serious problems sooner than later.

Since someone mentioned Toyota Camry, look how much this vehicle is worth. Basically the same thing with almost as many miles even though it‘s the barebones base model and new was 20k while the BMW was 40k. That’s because the Toyota will make it to 200k miles or even 250 or 300. That BMW will be lucky to make it to 150.

[Anonymous]

https://www.cars.com/vehicledetail/detail/789353162/overview/

[Anonymous]

I had a 2009 3 series. Drove like a dream...and was a money pit. I even had a BMW tech that did work on the side, the car started to disintegrate around 70k. I literally had things go wrong on that car that didn’t even break on my 1998 Chevy Cavalier and that thing was a death trap.

Avoid any BMW out of warranty.

[Anonymous]

Buy an American Pick up truck if you want to go 400k miles. The BMW is for actually enjoying driving

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Buy an American Pick up truck if you want to go 400k miles. The BMW is for actually enjoying driving

This person gets it. I drive BMWs because I like how they drive. It’s a tight drive, which is not for everyone. DH complains it’s too much work to drive. If you don’t care about the drive get something more reliable. They are good for about the first 4 years.

[Anonymous]

I think a Lexus AWD lime the GS350 is a bit of a compromise. Sporty and very reliable, plus my mechanic says that they often use Toyota parts when appropriate for repairs, so it’s not crazy expensive to maintain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Buy an American Pick up truck if you want to go 400k miles. The BMW is for actually enjoying driving

This person gets it. I drive BMWs because I like how they drive. It’s a tight drive, which is not for everyone. DH complains it’s too much work to drive. If you don’t care about the drive get something more reliable. They are good for about the first 4 years.

That person gets it about bmw but not the truck