Will BMW CPO a car bought from a third-party?

I missed out on a fairly good deal on a 330i after walking away (the dealer's admin fee doubled to $600 because I wasn't financing through them). Prior to that, I had BMW check it over themselves, and the car still had about nine months of factory warranty left on it. They found some minor quibbles, almost all of which would have been fixed under warranty.

Even though I walked away, I began wondering if it was possible to try to get BMW to CPO a car they didn't themselves sell me.

I know how exact BMW likes to be when CPO'ing a car, even down to the tire tread, so I'm sure there might be repairs and inspection and lots of money to do so, but would they even bother? If possible, how much would it cost? (I'm ignoring, for now, the obvious questions like "why did the original owner sell it to a 3rd party in the first place", "was it ever in an accident", etc).

I ask because there actually are a few dealerships around my area that have had customers trading in their BMWs... I'm guessing because of financial hardship or whatnot, so they trade down to a cheaper vehicle. I've seen a few good deals on what appear to be well-maintained 3s.

Reply to
hume.spamfilter
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Ask yourself: how much does an extended warranty to 6 years/100K cost on the open market? Around $2K or so? You're probably better off just buying a warranty from someone than trying to get a dealer to do it.

If you have a good dealer, they could look for a car at the auctions for you and cpo it.

FloydR

Reply to
Floyd Rogers

BMW CPOs are basically leased cars, turned back into a BMW dealer, that have gone thru a thorough checklist and any problems are supposedly fixed before re-sale. Will a dealer do the same inspection and repair on a 3rd-party BMW? I suppose, if you offer enough money, the answer is yes!

Interestingly, when I bought my 1990 535i, 5spd, 122K miles way back in 1995, the seller was located way up in Chico, CA. More than 3 hours away from me. I had him bring the car into Chico BMW who did a FREE 27- pt inspection. They found a couple of things wrong that were fairly minor and well, I still have the car today:) (Of course, I'm seriously considering trading it in on the Cash-for-Clunker program....:(

Maybe you can find a dealer like Chico BMW?

Alternatively, you could go to BMW's website, download the CPO checklist and then have a good BMW independent to do the same inspection. Here's a link to the checklist:

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To find a good BMW independent, anywhere on earth, start here:

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Good Luck!

Reply to
Brewster Fong

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