Advice on purchasing COE cars (Z4)

[kobayashiGT]

6 minutes ago, Mkl22 said:

an old boring Toyota. 🤣

woah. the deep gloss. so nice.

[Mockngbrd]

1 hour ago, Mkl22 said:

an old boring Toyota. 🤣

ya lo. lan jiao chia

[Mkl22]

14 minutes ago, Mockngbrd said:

ya lo. lan jiao chia

Got leaks or not? That’s the most important. 

Edited March 3, 2022 by Mkl22

[Mockngbrd]

3 hours ago, Mkl22 said:

Got leaks or not? That’s the most important. 

I never look 

[Comage]

10 hours ago, al_888 said:

@NeverLucky88 Similarly i was also looking to get a coe cabriolet. Should have taken the jump last year after i sold my sedan. Prices have soared to way more than i think I am willing to pay now. A 12k depre early last year is now asking 15k+! Beside Z4, you may want to look at SLK or CLK. i think depre very close. A few area that i look out for are the number of owner (some as much as 6 or more!), mileage (sometime hard to tell if they are tampered if no service record) and also any mod to the car.

And yes, do check your insurance since it's your first car. Rd tax increases 10% every year. Lastly, find a workshop that will access your car before buying. Most dealer/owner will take in a deposite and allow you to have their car checks. Wear and tear will not be covered but major problem found will allow you to take back deposite and halt the deal.

all the best in finding your ride!

 

On the contrary, I would advise to walk away from dealers who insist on a deposit when you ask for an assessment at your own preferred workshop. 

Once you pay up the deposit, you can be sure you will not get it back even if "major" issues are found. 

Dealers will play down the issues and strong-arm you into purchasing the vehicle, claiming that your deposit can be used to offset the purchase price but not be refunded to you. 

Many "major" issues require a tear-down of the parts in order to identify the fault, something which your workshop is not going to identify with the vehicle jacked up and a small torchlight. 

And many potential major faults require driving the vehicle for an extended period of time before it trips off an OBD error code (think: a few days at least to a week), something which dealers will make sure to erase the OBD code errors before passing the keys over to your workshop. 

Gears shift weirdly? Boss, change ATF can already! 

Vehicle doesn't steer straight? Boss, change tyres and do a wheel alignment can already! 

Strange clunking sounds from the engine when it's idling? Boss, change engine oil and the fan belts can already! 

The bottom-line is: if they ask for a deposit, walk away. Unless you're already dead-set on purchasing the vehicle come hell or high water... Which in that case you might as well just buy the vehicle without any prior inspection. 

 

Edited March 3, 2022 by Comage

[Mkl22]

1 hour ago, Comage said:

On the contrary, I would advise to walk away from dealers who insist on a deposit when you ask for an assessment at your own preferred workshop. 

Once you pay up the deposit, you can be sure you will not get it back even if "major" issues are found. 

Dealers will play down the issues and strong-arm you into purchasing the vehicle, claiming that your deposit can be used to offset the purchase price but not be refunded to you. 

Many "major" issues require a tear-down of the parts in order to identify the fault, something which your workshop is not going to identify with the vehicle jacked up and a small torchlight. 

And many potential major faults require driving the vehicle for an extended period of time before it trips off an OBD error code (think: a few days at least to a week), something which dealers will make sure to erase the OBD code errors before passing the keys over to your workshop. 

Gears shift weirdly? Boss, change ATF can already! 

Vehicle doesn't steer straight? Boss, change tyres and do a wheel alignment can already! 

Strange clunking sounds from the engine when it's idling? Boss, change engine oil and the fan belts can already! 

The bottom-line is: if they ask for a deposit, walk away. Unless you're already dead-set on purchasing the vehicle come hell or high water... Which in that case you might as well just buy the vehicle without any prior inspection. 

 

Nicely said. 
alas many still get taken in by a shiny car. Aka a pig with makeup! 

[Mooose]

9 hours ago, Mkl22 said:

Nicely said. 
alas many still get taken in by a shiny car. Aka a pig with makeup! 

sadly there are also some "inexperienced" people who can also be muscled into buying something that is less than shiny ..

oh that is just a small scratch, sure can polish out before i hand over to you .. 

or aiyo small dent less than $50 can repair la, dont worry i will arrange it done before you take over ..

but somehow at hand over time, heart already set on taking the car, excuses like paint shop busy la, dont worry like that better, no need delay taking the car, appointment next week can go to fix the scratch ..

and of course it never gets fixed ..

[Ct3833]

1 hour ago, Mooose said:

sadly there are also some "inexperienced" people who can also be muscled into buying something that is less than shiny ..

oh that is just a small scratch, sure can polish out before i hand over to you .. 

or aiyo small dent less than $50 can repair la, dont worry i will arrange it done before you take over ..

but somehow at hand over time, heart already set on taking the car, excuses like paint shop busy la, dont worry like that better, no need delay taking the car, appointment next week can go to fix the scratch ..

and of course it never gets fixed ..

Compare with the dealers, most of the car buyers like us if not all, are inexperience, because we only buy a car once in many many years, not many would change car so often,  compare with dealers who sell cars every days for decades, there is no way the once- in-a-while car buyers like us could beat them. Next is to deal with the complexity of car, we are not mechanics, we have no ability to check every corner of a car especially so many things are hidden and cannot be seen, unless we could get a trustworthy mechanic to  help, it is difficlt for  a buyer to conduct a thougrough check of a car. It is why so easy for car buyers to fall prey to the dealers especially to those who have intention to prey on the inexperience buyers.

Edited March 4, 2022 by Ct3833

[Raubern]

Those 523 and 528 worth to buy and renew 10 years?

[ER-3682]

12 minutes ago, Raubern said:

Those 523 and 528 worth to buy and renew 10 years?

If you got an ''Abuse'' unit,Fake Mileage,good luck to you...stand by $2-3K[or more] a Year for Repairs.

 

[Comage]

20 minutes ago, Raubern said:

Those 523 and 528 worth to buy and renew 10 years?

2 words - money pit. 

Not $2k a year... Try higher! Double! 

[Mkl22]

On 3/4/2022 at 9:11 AM, Ct3833 said:

Compare with the dealers, most of the car buyers like us if not all, are inexperience, because we only buy a car once in many many years, not many would change car so often,  compare with dealers who sell cars every days for decades, there is no way the once- in-a-while car buyers like us could beat them. Next is to deal with the complexity of car, we are not mechanics, we have no ability to check every corner of a car especially so many things are hidden and cannot be seen, unless we could get a trustworthy mechanic to  help, it is difficlt for  a buyer to conduct a thougrough check of a car. It is why so easy for car buyers to fall prey to the dealers especially to those who have intention to prey on the inexperience buyers.

Ya man. They can easily size you up and know if you are a good lamb for slaughter. I always act blur and then slowly rebutt them. 
so much so that they sort of chase me out afterward. 
have only bought 3 cars via dealer. The rest were new or via direct seller. 

[Mkl22]

1 hour ago, Raubern said:

Those 523 and 528 worth to buy and renew 10 years?

523 is less of a money pit than the 520 or 528 turbo engine. 

Edited March 5, 2022 by Mkl22

[t0y0ta]

38 minutes ago, Mkl22 said:

523 is less of a money pit than the 520 or 528 turbo engine. 

N20 engines were sortof their Gen1 turbo 4s. Confirm problematic

B48 seems to be pretty good rep

[yakman]

8 hours ago, ER-3682 said:

If you got an ''Abuse'' unit,Fake Mileage,good luck to you...stand by $2-3K[or more] a Year for Repairs.

 

 

$2-3K is if you got good unit, not abused one..

[Sdf4786k]

7 hours ago, Mkl22 said:

523 is less of a money pit than the 520 or 528 turbo engine. 

@Mkl22 oh why leh. I thot it was pretty reliable

[Mockngbrd]

On 3/5/2022 at 10:20 AM, Raubern said:

Those 523 and 528 worth to buy and renew 10 years?

523 no, 528 yes. 

[ER-3682]

31 minutes ago, Mockngbrd said:

523 no, 528 yes. 

If 523 is a in line 6 Engine..i think it is better than 528 Turbo in line 4 Engine.