The Thrill of the Buy: A Cautionary Tale of Craigslist Car Shopping

As a seasoned listener to the podcast, I recently found myself in a predicament that left me feeling less than thrilled. I had bought a new BMW for my wife to learn how to drive stick, and my experience with the purchase was, shall we say, underwhelming. The car, a BMW 540i with the M package, was purchased from Craigslist after being advertised as having only 175,000 miles on it.

My initial excitement at finding such a great deal quickly dissipated as I realized that the seller had taken liberties to conceal some rather significant issues with the vehicle. While driving around Newark, everything seemed to be in order, and the car drove fine within the one-block test drive. However, upon arriving at the bank with the seller, I noticed that the odometer reading had ballooned to 275,000 miles - a staggering discrepancy that caught me off guard.

Despite my initial surprise, I remained pragmatic and focused on getting a good deal. The negotiation process was amicable, and we agreed on a price of $3,000 for the vehicle, which still represented a significant discount from its original asking price of $30,000. As long as the car drove well, I was willing to overlook some minor flaws.

The next morning, I turned the key in the ignition, and my worst fears were confirmed. The dashboard lit up with check engine lights, an airbag warning, and a host of other issues that seemed to plague the vehicle. It quickly became apparent that the seller had indeed taken steps to conceal these problems, which should have been immediately apparent during the test drive.

It was clear that the previous owner, a lady who claimed her mom owned the car for a while and knew a BMW mechanic, had deemed it unnecessary to repair the issues with the vehicle. Perhaps she simply wasn't interested in spending any more money on it. Whatever the reason, I should have been more diligent in my research and negotiation process.

Now that the reality of the situation had set in, I was faced with the daunting task of determining the value of a 540i with the M package, which now boasted an astonishing 275,000 miles on the odometer. I couldn't help but wonder how much it would cost to repair these issues and restore the vehicle to its original condition.

To get a better understanding of the car's worth, I decided to visit the local body shop and mechanic, The Bottle Body Shop. As I arrived at the shop, they greeted me warmly and began to assess the extent of the damage. After a thorough inspection, they provided me with an estimate for the repairs needed to bring the vehicle back up to par.

The estimated cost was substantial, far exceeding my initial $3,000 purchase price. It became clear that I had underestimated the magnitude of the issues with the car and had paid significantly less than its true value. As I left the shop, I couldn't help but feel a sense of disappointment and frustration at having been taken advantage of.

The experience served as a valuable lesson in the importance of conducting thorough research and due diligence when purchasing a vehicle from Craigslist or any other source. It's easy to get caught up in the excitement of finding a great deal, but it's crucial to prioritize prudence and caution. In this case, my enthusiasm for getting my wife behind the wheel had clouded my judgment, leading me down a path of regret.

As I continue on this journey with my new BMW, I am determined to be more vigilant and proactive in ensuring that I get a fair deal on my purchase. The experience may have been negative, but it has taught me a valuable lesson about the importance of being cautious when buying a used vehicle from an online marketplace.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enall right everybody so those of you who listen to the podcast realize that I just bought a new BMW for my wife to learn how to drive stick and I wasn't very thrilled with the experience I found this car it's a BMW 540i with the M package on Craigslist it was advertised as having 175,000 miles I drove to Newark checked out the car everything seemed to drive fine in the one block that drove exceed never played on the car then I went to the bank with him I noticed the car 275 thousand miles on it and that caught me a little off guard but the value didn't really go anywhere and negotiated them from thirty four to three thousand already in 175 to 75 who gives a damn as long as it drives right so next day I get home or next morning when I'm at home I turned the car on and all the lights came on all the check engine lights this that the airbag light and now I can't get the thing registered so obviously the guy just cleared the lights I should have known better because he was telling me that his mom owned the car for a while and she knew a BMW mechanic and then and then she just decided to get rid of it which probably means it wasn't worth fixing anymore so now here's the car I gotta find out just how much with two hundred and seventy five thousand miles on it a 540 I with the M package is worth twenty five hundred bucks in great condition how much it's going to cost me to make this worth twenty five hundred dollars again let me show you around the car real quick wheels are a little curb that didn't bother me the front bumper is a little chunked up this grille piece just fell off when we open the hood it just boom fell but I didn't notice the front bumper was damaged when I was there but that's not really a big deal interior wise not bad for for a three hundred thousand mile car it actually looks pretty good it actually drives okay I'm sure there's some misfires little dent here but otherwise the car is in fairly decent shape for a car with that many miles on it I can't speak as to why the m5 badges here it does allegedly have the M package on it so who knows alright I'm going to bring it by the bottle body shop the mechanic shop find out just how much it's going to cost me to fix this thing stay tuned Craigslist screwed job day one youall right everybody so those of you who listen to the podcast realize that I just bought a new BMW for my wife to learn how to drive stick and I wasn't very thrilled with the experience I found this car it's a BMW 540i with the M package on Craigslist it was advertised as having 175,000 miles I drove to Newark checked out the car everything seemed to drive fine in the one block that drove exceed never played on the car then I went to the bank with him I noticed the car 275 thousand miles on it and that caught me a little off guard but the value didn't really go anywhere and negotiated them from thirty four to three thousand already in 175 to 75 who gives a damn as long as it drives right so next day I get home or next morning when I'm at home I turned the car on and all the lights came on all the check engine lights this that the airbag light and now I can't get the thing registered so obviously the guy just cleared the lights I should have known better because he was telling me that his mom owned the car for a while and she knew a BMW mechanic and then and then she just decided to get rid of it which probably means it wasn't worth fixing anymore so now here's the car I gotta find out just how much with two hundred and seventy five thousand miles on it a 540 I with the M package is worth twenty five hundred bucks in great condition how much it's going to cost me to make this worth twenty five hundred dollars again let me show you around the car real quick wheels are a little curb that didn't bother me the front bumper is a little chunked up this grille piece just fell off when we open the hood it just boom fell but I didn't notice the front bumper was damaged when I was there but that's not really a big deal interior wise not bad for for a three hundred thousand mile car it actually looks pretty good it actually drives okay I'm sure there's some misfires little dent here but otherwise the car is in fairly decent shape for a car with that many miles on it I can't speak as to why the m5 badges here it does allegedly have the M package on it so who knows alright I'm going to bring it by the bottle body shop the mechanic shop find out just how much it's going to cost me to fix this thing stay tuned Craigslist screwed job day one you\n"