My new-to-me 330i and a CPO question

Just bought my first BMW (well, car - I've owned a K75s and my dad has a R65LS).
It's a 2006 330i. Bear with me as I add some color about the deal.

Went to a local dealer to help a buddy look for a CPO'd 335i, and I came across a nice looking Montego Blue 330i. Weird, I thought, a 2006 that's CPOd?
The car had 54k miles, and I verified on my iphone via carfax that it had been CPOd.
Opened the glovebox, and there was a CPO inspection checklist, with everything ticked off in the "qualifies for CPO" column.

Salesguy came over, told me the price ($21777) and doubted that it was CPO. I showed him the carfax and paperwork, and he made a phone call. Came back and said yes, it's CPO, and it might have maintenance as well. We drove it.

Came back and talked price. I offered 20k and explained that there was a scrape on the rear quarter that I really wanted to get repaired, so I wanted a price reduction. They explained this was a good deal, promo price, bla bla. Got them to $21500, deal.
From here it gets weird. The sales manager came back after I had been given a printout with the CPO and warranty status, showing the previous owner info, maintenance history.
Both warranties would expire in late 2011 (I was initially told 2012). Fine.
Then he says that the CPO will not be honored by BMW because "it's had paintwork on that quarter" but the maintenance would remain. I point out that it's already (re)qualified for CPO by going through their own shop, so why should it be disqualified? We argue a bit, but he won't budge. I (again) consider walking.

Finally, price drops to $21k, he offers a "discounted" $2495 3/36 aftermarket powertrain extension, which I decline.

I bought the car anyway, but here I am unable to sleep at 3AM feeling like I got bamboozled. I suspect that as part of letting it remain CPO, the dealer has to kick some money back to BMW, and the sales manager figured this would be a clever way of avoiding that cost, maximizing their profit.

My buddy is still looking for his car, so the answer to my question will help decide whether this dealer sees any more business from either of us.

Oh - is there a way of getting a reprint of the original window sticker? I asked early on if the car had all the books and keys, and they said yes. The binder I was handed had inside it a window sticker for a 2008 335i, and I suspect they just grabbed a random 3 series binder off the shelf.

Thanks for reading, I look forward to learning from and contributing to the forum.

Originally Posted by danix

Just bought my first BMW (well, car - I've owned a K75s and my dad has a R65LS).
It's a 2006 330i. Bear with me as I add some color about the deal.

Went to a local dealer to help a buddy look for a CPO'd 335i, and I came across a nice looking Montego Blue 330i. Weird, I thought, a 2006 that's CPOd?
The car had 54k miles, and I verified on my iphone via carfax that it had been CPOd.
Opened the glovebox, and there was a CPO inspection checklist, with everything ticked off in the "qualifies for CPO" column.

Salesguy came over, told me the price ($21777) and doubted that it was CPO. I showed him the carfax and paperwork, and he made a phone call. Came back and said yes, it's CPO, and it might have maintenance as well. We drove it.

Came back and talked price. I offered 20k and explained that there was a scrape on the rear quarter that I really wanted to get repaired, so I wanted a price reduction. They explained this was a good deal, promo price, bla bla. Got them to $21500, deal.
From here it gets weird. The sales manager came back after I had been given a printout with the CPO and warranty status, showing the previous owner info, maintenance history.
Both warranties would expire in late 2011 (I was initially told 2012). Fine.
Then he says that the CPO will not be honored by BMW because "it's had paintwork on that quarter" but the maintenance would remain. I point out that it's already (re)qualified for CPO by going through their own shop, so why should it be disqualified? We argue a bit, but he won't budge. I (again) consider walking.

As the CPO warranty is expiring within five months there's little reason to fret over it. Enjoy your new car, if you feel it's solid then the CPO warranty is going to expire long before you have any problems making this a moot concern.

With that said I see no reason why paintwork on a quater panel would invalidate the CPO warranty. It's my understanding once the vehicle has been certified it remains certified until it expires (either mileage or time) or possibly some extraordinary reason (such as the vehicle is considered totaled). I've never heard of a warranty being invalidated because of body damage.

In the end you've already purchased the car and there's little you can do now expect possibly purchase an aftermarket warranty.

Thanks for the reply. I realize it's a short period of time, but I drive over 100 miles/day to work, so those miles rack up quickly. It's part of the reason I chose an older, lower mile BMW over my first choice, a new 335d.

If I had bought the car directly from the former owner, my understanding is that it would remain CPO, until expiration. I don't quite understand why, having bought it from the BMW dealer, it could become un-CPOd unless it wasn't up to spec. The paperwork in the glovebox (which conveniently vanished once the car became mine) showed that it had passed every criteria.

Originally Posted by danix

Thanks for the reply. I realize it's a short period of time, but I drive over 100 miles/day to work, so those miles rack up quickly. It's part of the reason I chose an older, lower mile BMW over my first choice, a new 335d.

If I had bought the car directly from the former owner, my understanding is that it would remain CPO, until expiration. I don't quite understand why, having bought it from the BMW dealer, it could become un-CPOd unless it wasn't up to spec. The paperwork in the glovebox (which conveniently vanished once the car became mine) showed that it had passed every criteria.

It's my understanding once a vehicle has been certified it does not become un-certified. If the dealer had completed the certification process your car should be certified.

However it's not clear if they completed the process. From what you've described it sounds as if they were in the process, found a buyer before completing the process, and then discontinued the process as a result of your buying the car. Is that what happened? I would be OK with that as long as they didn't charge you a premium because it was CPO'd. In fact that would be preferred as paying a premium for five months of certification wouldn't be worth it, IMO. Can you clarify?

Sure. As I said, the CPO checklist was in the glovebox. The car was already CPOd years ago, according to the Carfax.
The white sticker on the window (is that called a Monroney?) shows a checkbox with warranty, and states "vehicle has balance of manufacturers certified pre-owned warranty".
They did not market the car as CPO, but I could see from the Carfax that it was a CPO car. The salesguy then called somewhere (BMW?) and confirmed that it was CPO and also had the maintenance plan.

It's not the end of the world, I just don't like funny business when buying a car.

Originally Posted by danix

I am unable to sleep at 3AM feeling like I got bamboozled.

Buyer's remorse?

My advice: It's just a few thousand $ - live & learn. Money you can make.

If you've been burned, spread the word and sleep well -- what's done is done.

If they're sneaky, the truth will do 'em in.
.

Not buyers remorse, I like the car. But if there's body damage they knew about and didn't disclose (beyond what I can see), I want to know that.
If I did get burned, I want to be sure, before falsely accusing them of wrongdoing.

Originally Posted by danix

Sure. As I said, the CPO checklist was in the glovebox. The car was already CPOd years ago, according to the Carfax.

You're the 3rd or 4th owner?

Originally Posted by CALWATERBOY

You're the 3rd or 4th owner?

Carfax shows two previous owners, so I'm the third owner.
Shows up CPOd on 12/30/08, before it was sold to the 2nd owner.

Originally Posted by danix

Sure. As I said, the CPO checklist was in the glovebox. The car was already CPOd years ago, according to the Carfax.
The white sticker on the window (is that called a Monroney?) shows a checkbox with warranty, and states "vehicle has balance of manufacturers certified pre-owned warranty".
They did not market the car as CPO, but I could see from the Carfax that it was a CPO car. The salesguy then called somewhere (BMW?) and confirmed that it was CPO and also had the maintenance plan.

It's not the end of the world, I just don't like funny business when buying a car.

If it was already certified than it remains certified until the end of the warranty period or mileage is reached. To my knowledge there is no un-certifying a vehicle once it's been certified. Given they didn't know it was certified they probably didn't mark it up for that fact and you got it "for free".

As for funny business I'm not thinking they're engaging in funny business. There just seems to be some confusion.

I'd like to get a dealer's opinion. Does the forum allow crossposting to the dealer forum?

I bought my 330 last year with active CPO and Maintenance plans and both did transfer with the car. Just contact BMWNA to update the ownership information associated with the car.

OK, I have some updates.
1) I called BMWNA and asked about my car. They confirmed it was CPO and had maintenance. After further digging, and my asking if a dealer taking a CPO car and reselling it would have recertify the car, they said yes, they have to, and that my CPO status shows "hyperactive" which means it's basically expired/invalid.

2) I stopped at a different BMW dealer near work. The body shop guy confirmed that the car has had significant repair to the left rear quarter, not done well, and estimates $2000-2500 in repairs.

I'm not sure what to do now. Besides the CPO issue (by the way - this car still shows up on BMW's site as a CPO car), I now have to decide if I:
a) go back to the dealer and complain
b) spend $2500 and get it repaired properly
c) just trade it in and get something else, eating $2000 in registration and taxes
d) do nothing and hope a UPS truck hits it while parked later on and I get it fixed for free

What do you think? a) makes the most sense, but I am pretty sure they will tell me to go scratch.

BTW:

Well, clearly everyone is bored of my saga. Just to close the chapter, I located the former owner, who told me there was no such damage when he traded it in. Also took the car to another body shop that the former owner said had done minor work before. That shop estimated $2700 to redo the fenders and bumpers correctly.
I took the car back to the dealership and they instantly offered to undo the deal. So, I am BMW-less again.

Now I've got to find another 2006 330i or maybe more to a 335i. I just didn't think the 328i had enough oomph compared to the 330.

Sounds like a good resolution to a problem that had you sleepless! Kudos for going back to the dealer and getting the resolution that you wanted. I would say kudos to the dealer for doing the right thing but they didn't do the right thing the first time so razzes to them. Unfortunately, they'll just foist that same car on someone else who isn't as diligent.

Good luck in finding the right BMW for you!

Originally Posted by danix

Well, clearly everyone is bored of my saga. Just to close the chapter, I located the former owner, who told me there was no such damage when he traded it in. Also took the car to another body shop that the former owner said had done minor work before. That shop estimated $2700 to redo the fenders and bumpers correctly.
I took the car back to the dealership and they instantly offered to undo the deal. So, I am BMW-less again.

Now I've got to find another 2006 330i or maybe more to a 335i. I just didn't think the 328i had enough oomph compared to the 330.

Good to hear they unwound the sale. Though they must have had good reason to do so. Are you still out the $2K in registration fees? Or were those included in the deal?

Originally Posted by danix

Not buyers remorse, I like the car. But if there's body damage they knew about and didn't disclose (beyond what I can see), I want to know that.
If I did get burned, I want to be sure, before falsely accusing them of wrongdoing.

Went to a local dealer to help a buddy look for a CPO'd 335i, and I came across a nice looking Montego Blue 330i.

It's a Monaco Blue - Montego Blue was not available with 2006 330.
Congrats on 330 - enjoy your Limited Edition car!