[marper331]

I'm looking to buy a CPO 2013 328 xdrive. I found 2 with basically the same options. One is a one owner car with 29000 miles. It's jet black with red interior. The other is a former loaner (1 year) with 15,000 miles. It's sapphire black with black leather and red stitching. I can get both for the same exact price. I plan on keeping it for 3 years and trading. I looked up the NADA value and the low miles car is worth about $1500 more.

[Mike_L]

And? Whats the question?

[marper331]

Does anyone have any opinions on buying a loaner?

[Mike_L]

I would have no problem buying a loaner. The dealer owns it, so they probably service it regularly. You know it gets washed every time somebody brings it back, so the paint should be decent. Only issue I'd have would be that I wouldn't know how it was broken in, and thats not really an issue because BMW pays for repairs and maintenance for 4 years anyway.

[tturedraider]

How did the one owner get its 29,000 miles? Why are they priced the same? Does the black/red have more equipment?

[puma1552]

I wouldn't buy either. 29000 is too many miles for the one, and I wouldn't touch a loaner with a 10 foot pole that's had everyone abusing it.

[Mobster1983]

Originally Posted by puma1552

I wouldn't buy either. 29000 is too many miles for the one, and I wouldn't touch a loaner with a 10 foot pole that's had everyone abusing it.

I'm with Puma.

[NO_RETURN]

Having just purchased a Dealer Owned car, I think there is a definite reward for the risk. Check everything on the car yourself and make sure you understand the CPO. The extended warranty offsets most of the risk for me. I saved $14,500 off MSRP and it only had 12,000 mile on it. If it starts having $$$$ issues as I approach the 70,000 mark I can trade it in on a new one or just pay $2,500 for a few more years of warranty. Either way I figure I saved $7,000 -$9,000 over a buying brand new car.

However - If you are positive that you will replace it in 3 years why not lease a brand new one? Only negatives to a lease are the Cap on Mileage and its not advisable to really customize it. Exception being aftermarket wheels and tires... Actually a lot of pros to that with a lease.

If you know that you are going to run the miles up. IMHO the best option is look for a CPO with 50,000 miles on it in the low $20's. Its will still be worth a decent amount 3 years from now. I did this with a jeep years ago and it worked out very well for me.

[puma1552]

Originally Posted by NO_RETURN

I saved $14,500 off MSRP and it only had 12,000 mile on it.

You bring up some valid points, but assuming your car stickered somewhere around $50k, $35.5k for a 12,000 mile car isn't a tremendous deal, it's about the same as any other used car with 12,000 miles on it, considering you can easily get $5k-$7k off sticker from a new car and then figure the car loses some value for instant new car depreciation plus another chunk of value gone for 12,000 miles of driving.

The question isn't so much did you save against buying a brand new car (of course you did), it's more a question of did you save against buying a 12,000 mile used CPO that was a one owner car and not a loaner. Loaner/fleet status shows up on carfax, so the value is (expectedly) lower than a non-loaner as it's not a desirable trait. Not that there's anything wrong with a loaner per se, but it definitely steers people away (such as myself), driving the value down a bit.

[Mike_L]

Originally Posted by NO_RETURN

However - If you are positive that you will replace it in 3 years why not lease a brand new one? Only negatives to a lease are the Cap on Mileage and its not advisable to really customize it. Exception being aftermarket wheels and tires... Actually a lot of pros to that with a lease.

Actually a BMW Select purchase is a better idea. I went through this with my F&I guy last Monday. My payments are lower than with leasing ($726 vs $753), and I'll have positive equity in the car in 2 years (so they say). Beats paying for 3 years and having nothing. Plus, you can trade it in whenever you want and if its traded in before the 5 year loan is up (it will be), you don't have to make the balloon payment at the end, which is a big money saver.

[marper331]

Originally Posted by tturedraider

How did the one owner get its 29,000 miles? Why are they priced the same? Does the black/red have more equipment?

29000 mostly highway so they say.

It also has xenon lights, driver assistance pkg, and paddle shifters.

[adhrp]

I got a loaner that was very well maintained with detailed service records from the dealership (check that thoroughly on the loaner you are considering) and I have been nothing but happy. It has turned out great and I have zero complaints after putting several thousand miles on it now. Single (private) owner is not necessarily better than loaner, or vice versa. Either one can be abused so any generalized arguments for/against either of those are BS. The only way to go is to check out the history of the actual car(s) you are looking to buy and make an educated decision based on your research.