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Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Valencia Pa.
Posts: 8,860
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Customer buys a used BMW from the dealer, the clutch explodes on the way home.
One of my customers just bought an " as is no warranty " 2002 5 series from the local BMW Dealer. I did not look the car over for him, but he test drove it, and it did go through the service dept, and they made a list of things it needed. He was going to have to put maybe a grand into it to bring it up to snuff, but the car was nice, and he got a good deal, sot he grabbed it
He did not even get 10 miles from the dealer tonight after picking it up, and the clutch exploded. Smoke pouring out of the bellhousing area, pedal drops to the floor, and lots of grinding noise from the clutch area. A clutch was not listed on the list of items needing attention, it was mostly tires, brakes, a check engine light, and a few minor things He wanted to know if he could tow it up to the shop tonight, and I said sure, but that if I were him, I would be on the phone with the dealer first. I would be happy to put a clutch in it for him but jeez, it should have at least gone 50 miles before catastrophic failure. Does he have any recourse?.
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No left turn un stoned |
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11-19-2010, 03:41 PM
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Checked out
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: On a beach
Posts: 10,127
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That being said, the dealer may be willing to do some goodwill work for him, discount on the repair, etc. |
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11-19-2010, 03:47 PM
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Driver
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Does your state have a "cooling off" period for used vehicle purchases from a dealer?
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1987 Venetian Blue (looks like grey) 930 Coupe 1990 Black 964 C2 Targa |
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11-19-2010, 03:48 PM
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Registered
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Cambridge, MA
Posts: 44,478
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Tru6 Restoration & Design |
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11-19-2010, 03:56 PM
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Non Compos Mentis
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Off the grid- Almost
Posts: 10,609
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Was your customer "enjoying" his new BMW on the way home?
Any chance he abused the clutch while having a bit of fun? |
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11-19-2010, 04:06 PM
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"O"man(are we in trouble)
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: On the edge
Posts: 16,452
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Did he buy it with his American Express card?
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11-19-2010, 04:09 PM
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Registered
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: outta here
Posts: 53,759
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Bad luck... I'd suggest he start with the dealer and see what they say. JR |
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11-19-2010, 04:34 PM
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Hope he got a really good deal. Buy a modern BMW that isn't a CPO with warranty - have plenty of fixit money in reserve. Especially if the car is less than 5 years old - I figure there's a reason why it didn't get chosen for CPO? I realize this was a '02.
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11-19-2010, 05:06 PM
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MAGA
Join Date: May 2004
Posts: 10,789
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Wow... sounds like a fluke. My 325i clutch still had life left after 288k miles (half of which was my wife and teen daughters), but the throwout bearing siezed so I did a clutch job. Hard to imagine why your friends clutch went up in smoke.
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German autos: '79 911 SC, '87 951, '03 330i, '08 Cayenne, '13 Cayenne 0% Liberal Men do not quit playing because they get old.... They get old because they quit playing. |
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11-19-2010, 05:13 PM
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Registered
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Charlottesville Va
Posts: 5,839
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Pa's lemon law is new vehicles only. no "legal" remedy-no warranty means jus that, but I'll bet the dealership will meet him halfway as goodwill-ie maybe free labor?
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Greg Lepore 85 Targa 05 Ducati 749s (wrecked, stupidly) 2000 K1200rs (gone, due to above) 05 ST3s (unfinished business) |
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11-19-2010, 05:26 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 11,758
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Sounds fishy.
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11-19-2010, 06:18 PM
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Student of the obvious
Join Date: May 2000
Location: Phoenix
Posts: 7,714
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10 miles? I'd expect a BMW dealer to step up and offer some sort of assistance. Keep us updated on the outcome.
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Lee |
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11-19-2010, 06:23 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Long Beach CA, the sewer by the sea.
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11-19-2010, 06:29 PM
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Cars & Coffee Killer
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: State of Failure
Posts: 32,246
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Friend of mine just traded in his 535i. After four HPFPs and two new cylinder heads in three years (not to mention the dealerships secret installation of an oil cooler), he gave up.
Any guesses on what he replaced it with? This guy has two 951's, a 986S, a Lotus Elise, and a Tesla on order... A base model CTS. Says so far, it is a MUCH better car than the BMW...
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Some Porsches long ago...then a wankle... 5 liters of VVT fury now -Chris "There is freedom in risk, just as there is oppression in security." |
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11-19-2010, 06:37 PM
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Checked out
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11-19-2010, 06:40 PM
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Certified Pre-Owned
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Nanny State
Posts: 3,132
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Not fishy at all. "As is no warranty" was signed off on and means what it says.
How many miles on the car? 80,000 or 500,000? Bad luck tough chit.
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'84 Carrera Coupe |
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11-19-2010, 06:41 PM
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Make Bruins Great Again
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Is it fishy? Maybe. He could have been abusing the clutch even without racing it by putting too much load on it at the stop light or shifting at wrong RPMs.
Did the dealer know there was a problem? Maybe but they don't have a crystal ball either. It is possible that the car drove fine. Does the dealer owe his something? IMO, no. As was means as was. Should they offer something? If they want to build a relationship then it would be wise to give a discount. Should he accept a discount on the repair from the dealer? Probably not. Their discounted price will be more than what an indy repair place will charge at full price.
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-------------------------------------- Joe See Porsche run. Run, Porsche, Run: `87 911 Carrera |
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11-19-2010, 06:48 PM
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Seattle
Posts: 5,824
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IMO, the dealer needs to step up and make it at least partially "right" either by offering a reasonable discount to offset the cost of repairing the clutch, or having the clutch repaired in house, say, for a "parts only" cost or "labor only" whichever is cheaper.
When you sell something that immediately breaks, even though "no warranty" is given, you should do something to take care of the problem. A buyer has a reasonable expectation of at least some reliability for some amount of time - and 10 minutes or so is not reasonable. I'm sure the BMW dealer could access the computer and get some sort of data logs to see if he was being abusive or not...
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'85 911. White - 53,000 miles bought 3-16-07. "Casper" '88 924S. Blue - 120k miles bought with 105k miles. '94 968 Coupe - White - 108,000 miles bought 9-28-17 '09 Cayman - Grey - bought 9-8-20 Last edited by WolfeMacleod; 11-20-2010 at 12:16 PM.. |
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11-19-2010, 07:20 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 7,482
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11-19-2010, 07:43 PM
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I sold my ex wife's Pathfinder to a ~18 y.o. kid a few years back. The deal was done, money exchanged, bill of sale done, etc. The next day it dies on him. Won't budge. I look at it and tell him I think it may be a bad starter.
Anyway his mom gives me a big guilt trip about how he has no money left after buying the car, etc. I told her there was nothing I could do but give him some advice on what to do to fix it. I accurately represented the car for sale. Bad luck and tough chit. You don't like it, go spend $39K on a new one with a warranty and not a used one for $6K.
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1979 911 SC Silver 2002 996 race car 2005 Ford Excursion Last edited by TechnoViking; 11-19-2010 at 07:57 PM.. Reason: spelling |
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11-19-2010, 07:56 PM
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Ducati
1987 Porsche 930 3.3T
1989 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.2
Max
2015 
