I’m thinking about buying a used 2015 328i with less than 30k miles and I would like to hear opinions from car experts/hackers! The lease for my Acura is ending in a few months. At first I was thinking about leasing a 330i loaner for my next car, but now that I drive only 3k miles a year (got a new job close to home 2 years ago), I don’t feel justified in spending $300-$400 on a car lease every month. However, I’m a bit concerned about the reliability of BMW. I was told by my mechanic that major problems for BMW usually occur after 70k miles, and the repairs would be expensive. I was thinking to drive it until 70k miles and sell it, that way it would cost less than leasing. Do you guys recommend buying the 328i from a private party or CPO from the dealer? If I buy it from a private party, I would probably bring my mechanic to check the car out. I’m also interested in a used 2014/2015 IS350, but they seem to be out of my budget ($23k). What do you guys think? Thanks in advance!
I wouldn’t be surprised if the used 328 still depreciated more than $300/month, so a great loaner deal might be better. Plus, it comes with free maintenance.
Yeah the 328i would probably depreciate more than 300 per month, as once a car becomes un-certifiable or the certification on the car expires the thing tanks in value.
Don’t be afraid to buy a car with more miles since (A) you don’t drive much and (B) don’t take your mechanic’s 70k warning as some sort of gospel
If you are looking to buy used, I wouldn’t suggest BMW, maybe looking at some Japanese competitors. They will be a lot more reliable
Agreed. Since you’re not driving much anyways, you might as well get like a comparable Lexus IS or GS. It’ll be more reliable and you can probably sell it for more later down the road. Lexus also has an extremely good cpo program right now.
Don’t buy a BMW out of warranty. Buy an older Lexus and have it pre inspected, even if certified.
Except, if you look at the data, Japanese competitors such as the Infiniti Q50 and Acura are not necessarily more reliable.
Really, Acura, had no idea. All my family members had never had a problem with Acura, probably pretty model centric.
Infiniti is a different story. They can be awful cars, probably due to the french influence.
Supposedly Audi has improved leaps and bounds in reliability the last decade and is now number 3 right behind Lexus and Toyota. If you want German it might be something to consider if you plan on keeping it for awhile. Good condition 2 or 3 year old Audis still seem kind of pricey though.
I think you should take a trip to Florida with your family first. Then you can ask your wife her opinion about your next car.
Thanks for the feedback everyone. Based on the feedback, seems like it’s not a good idea to buy a used BMW since the repair would cost a lot of money after the car is out of warranty . I’m going to extend my lease until the end of the year. Hopefully I’ll be able to get a good deal on a 330i loaner then.
Honestly happy to see someone actually consider the feedback they’re given and not just be looking for valdiation and get grumpy when they don’t get it here.
Yeah like the others have said if you plan on keeping the car only a couple of years I wouldn’t buy used. You’ll probably lose more money on depreciation of a used sedan than the lease payment on a new one.