Hi!
I am considering buying a 2005 330Ci convertible. The owner wanted $12500 but agreed to my offer of $11500. He had a CARFAX offer for $10000 of which they will turn around and sell at $14000. It appears to be well taken care of and in excellent physical condition and drives beautifully. When putting the VIN in AutoCheck the vehicle got a score of 92 and had not reported issues. However, the milage is 110,000 and a friend of mine who sells cars said that after 75,000 they call BMWs Christmas trees because the dash starts lighting up. I have never owned a BMW and am a single mom. It is beautiful and most everything I do is for my kids but I really want this one thing for me. The back seat is adequate size for my 5 and 7 year old but I drive 70 miles round trip to work 3-4 days a week and while I might just enjoy the drive for a change I will be putting a good amount of milage on it. I do need reliable though so I'm scared with the milage and know nothing about cars. I do take care of the one I own which has truly been low maintence and I've never had a problem and I'm well over 112000 now. I've been given a lot of advice...mostly don't get it...but a few have said to go for it.
Opinions? What would you say upkeep and maintenence would cost? I'm pretty sure I could (with the help of a friend who knows cars) do some of it myself. I just don't want to get it and then start having problems.
I am considering buying a 2005 330Ci convertible. The owner wanted $12500 but agreed to my offer of $11500. He had a CARFAX offer for $10000 of which they will turn around and sell at $14000. It appears to be well taken care of and in excellent physical condition and drives beautifully. When putting the VIN in AutoCheck the vehicle got a score of 92 and had not reported issues. However, the milage is 110,000 and a friend of mine who sells cars said that after 75,000 they call BMWs Christmas trees because the dash starts lighting up. I have never owned a BMW and am a single mom. It is beautiful and most everything I do is for my kids but I really want this one thing for me. The back seat is adequate size for my 5 and 7 year old but I drive 70 miles round trip to work 3-4 days a week and while I might just enjoy the drive for a change I will be putting a good amount of milage on it. I do need reliable though so I'm scared with the milage and know nothing about cars. I do take care of the one I own which has truly been low maintence and I've never had a problem and I'm well over 112000 now. I've been given a lot of advice...mostly don't get it...but a few have said to go for it.
Opinions? What would you say upkeep and maintenence would cost? I'm pretty sure I could (with the help of a friend who knows cars) do some of it myself. I just don't want to get it and then start having problems.