I need one of the car salesmen to tell me what the annual mileage allowance is for a used car. I have always thought the number was 12,000 for the USA, except California where the allowance jumps to 15,000.
I am trying to value a car I wrecked, and they are using a number less than
11,000 miles per year for my car, and as a reault they are screwing me to the tune of about $1500 on my car.
The 2 books I used to see most often at dealerships was Kelley Blue Book and NADA. I'd try KBB.com or NADA site to see if you can put a value on the car based on 11k per year and with 12k per year. I've seen those books at book stores and at the library so you can look at them there as well.
When you replace the Beamer, get an IS or GS. You won't regret it!
My dad was in car business, and my memory is from the Kelly Blue Book. I seem to recall that they gave a mileage allowance for 49 states, and another allowance for Calif. I distinctly remember that there was a different allowance for California cars than for everybody else, but I don't recall what the difference is/was. I don't know if the difference still exists. My fuzzy recollection was that 49 states get an allowance of 12,000, and California got an allowance of either 15,000 or 18,000.
The insurance carier is using a figure of 130,000 for a 1994, this works out less than 11,000 per year, which is an impossibly low number. Even leases allow for more miles than that.
I like the style of the front of the current crop of BMW sedans but I think the late 70's Seville style bustle back rear deck is ugly.
Maybe they have a lower mileage allowance for BMW to account for the yuppies who don't know how to drive in the snow and garage them in bad weather, or to account for down time in the shop
The "they" I was referring to was the insurance company. Although I was just kidding, you have to figure that their goal is to find a reason to pay out as little as possible, and they probably figure the yuppies are easy targets.
I'll admit I've never owned a BMW although I've driven quite a few.
One of my co-workers left Toyota and ended up at BMW, and another left Toyota, went to BMW, came back to Toyota. Both said that the BMW's (Bimmers, Beamers, however you spell and pronounce it) were more fun to drive but not as reliable.
I have noticed that when Jeff gives responses to queries about this problem or that, he mentions that in his BMW, the problem was caused by this or that. If he has that much experience fixing that many different things, maybe something more reliable would be more enjoyable.
I could have bought a new IS for what I paid for a year-old 3-series. I chose the 3. The IS is a "good" car, but it doesn't have that magic BMW ride/handling.
I'm looking foward to the new IS. I may be in the market again in a couple years, and I'd be very happy about it if the new IS can match the new 3 and cost $5,000-$10,000 less. It will almost certainly come down to these two and the Infiniti G35.
Mine's been pretty good. It's no Toyota (I haven't had so much as a light-bulb fail on my Supra), but it's been a good car.
Most BMW owners are aware of the fact that they can buy a car that's more reliable, and is cheaper to own, if they go Japanese. But, to the true enthusiast, it's all worth it to have the car that really "turns them on".
Unfortunately, BMW has become the car of choice for Frappachino guzzling yuppie auto enthusiast wanna be's who appreciate and comprehend a BMW's driving experience as much as I appreciate and comprehend a night at the opera, which sadly, is nil. For example, the M5 is probably one of the finest sports sedans on the road, and the yuppies buy them with automatics! To me, that's like putting catsup on a steak.
BTW, most of my ex's problems are with the tranny. They wanted to charge her $1700 to swap the tranny. I used to do IT maintenance for the guy who is now the GM at the local BMW dealer. I called him up and said, What Gives? Wasn't this a 'Certified' Pre-Owned BMW?
He said the factory was doing what they could, etc etc, and then said "You know she's dating the Sales Manager" Yeah, I knew, but I'm calling you to see if there's anythng else.
"Well, that's what you get when you put *GM* trtansmissions in these cars." (!!??!!)
GM TRANNIES???? WTF?
End of story; they charged her $870. When she had another problem ,she called and asked me what I thought it might be..."...but DON'T Call George!!!"
About a year ago I posted my 'observations' on BMW drivers who can't seem to unass their heads when they are driving. I used one of BMW's own ads from the late 80's/early 90's:
In the first part, some guy is driving in a city on a dark, rainy night. He's looking for something, looking up at the buildings, looking at his paper, and almost runs the head off a worker coming out of a manhole cover. He stops JUST in time.
In the next one, a woman is getting on an on ramp. There are two 18 wheelers bearing down on her, and she doesn't really have enough time to make it onto the highway. So, she floors it and darts ahead of the trucks, narrowly being missed by one of them.
In the third scene, a BMW is following a truck obviously with a load headed for the junkyard. An old truck axle falls off, and the BMW driver darts around it, into the oncoming lane where ther is a family loaded into the Winnebago for a little trip. The BMW driver darts back in, narrowly missing the Winnie.
THe ad was pulled shortly after a letter appeared in Car and Driver explaining that this type of driving behaviour is typical of most BMW drivers...
Yeah, mine also has a GM tranny. GM is quite good at making automatics, IMO. The 5-speed auto in my car was, I believe, built to BMW specs, and was not even used in a GM car until the Cadillac CTS. It's a nice tranny - smooth-shifting, intelligent about gear selection, and satisfyingly quick to downshift.
That said, I would not be shocked if it were the first big thing to go wrong... 8/
I think they've dropped GM in favor of ZF, in the last few years...
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