I’m shopping for a 530i lease and I’ve come across a service loaner with ~1600 miles that has “Damage reported” listed on the CarFax.
The car has the options I want but I’m not married to the idea of getting this specific unit. I was wondering if there were any specific concerns I should have about the situation? Anything special in this case with regard to GAP insurance? I would think not but I’m not sure. Has anyone done a deal like this before? Just how low do you expect I could go on the car?
Rightly or wrongly, a bad CarFax is a death knell for a car’s value. CarFax doesn’t specify what the accident was or whether it was major or minor. At least on the consumer side, trade-in/market value plummets. Perhaps things are different on the dealer-side? Why would it be? I would tend to doubt it.
I appreciate any insights the community might have.
Depends what the damage was. If they’re still trying to sell it as “new” (aka leaseable), I’d imagine it was probably all cosmetic. Biggest thing would be to inspect the car very well and make sure any damage is fixed up front or very clearly noted, as you don’t want to get dinged when you turn it in.
I believe the car would still be entirely under the factory warranty, so the risk is pretty low. I’d use this to your advantage and push for like 20% off or more. This could be a cheap AF 24 month lease, since it still would qualify for incentives.
