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is this a good idea?

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evident

evident

Lifer
I was tossing around the following idea this weekend. my fiance's mom is looking to buy a new car and trading the old one in. she currently has a 2001 325i with about 60k miles that is in mint condition. I have a 07 accord with about 90K miles in good condition, with some paint chips on the hood from highway driving.

currently my car is pegged around $13k on kbb. the bmw's trade in value is 7K, but not even sure if she would get that. would it be a good idea if i picked up her car for around her "trade in value" sell my car private , and pocket the difference? Of course i think maintenance costs would be higher on the bmw, but it would be about $7k in my pocket, as well as have a 4 door car instead of my current coupe. It would potentially make me feel less bad if i looked to get a newer car in the future.

good or bad idea?
 
It's something I would consider if I were in your shoes, but I have no issues researching problems on the internet and fixing small electrical problems on my own.

If you aren't able to do that, at least find a GOOD independent (non-dealer) shop beforehand.


Assuming neither of those are issues I would do it and use the 325 as a beater-type car.
 
BTW... you will probably spend $5k on repair bills over 4-5 years of having that bmw compared to $1k-$2k on the accord. Money-wise it may not make sense, but the 325 will be a more interesting ride, imo.
 
I don't buy from or sell to family members. I don't have an opinion if you want to trade in your newer accord for an older bimmer, but I wouldn't get family members involved. It's too easy to hurt someone's feelings or for someone to feel like they got cheated, often it's not even the individuals involved in the trade who get upset.
 
If your confident its been taken care of then go for it. Sure maintenance is more but it seems like your already set to get something a little more fun.

The real question is the risk/reward worth it to you>? If you can afford the maintenance then do it.

Those BMWs are crazy easy to work on yourself as well.

So many good online shops for BMW parts these days as well.

Show us some picts!!
 
kornphlake said:
I don't buy from or sell to family members. I don't have an opinion if you want to trade in your newer accord for an older bimmer, but I wouldn't get family members involved. It's too easy to hurt someone's feelings or for someone to feel like they got cheated, often it's not even the individuals involved in the trade who get upset.
Click to expand...

I don't agree with this, especially when doing the buying and not the selling. If you go in as the buyer, you have to understand that issues could arise immediately after purchasing the car. It isn't the seller's fault unless they withheld information and intended to deceive you.

I bought my prior car, the M3, from my uncle. He upgraded and gave me a great deal on it. I knew that he looked after the car. If anything, I felt more comfortable buying from him than I would from a dealer or an unrelated private party.

When I bought the M3 from my uncle, I sold my WRX to my sister. She had zero problems with it and later sold it to purchase the Lexus IS350 that was totalled a couple of weeks ago.
 
It seems like more of a horizontal than a vertical. The expenses are higher and its probably an upgrade but not a huge upgrade.

I would save your money and get something that is a true vertical, in the mean time keep the Accord.
 
I'm pretty happy with my car right now... but my rationale is having an additional $7k+ in my pocket would be really nice, especially since i'm getting married this year. not to mention that the bmw is probably more fun to drive.
 
Get rid of POS, boring accord! 😀 That BMW should be not in pain to work with, as the location of stuff beneath the hood is very easily reachable.
 
having worked on a E46 3 series they are nice comfortable cars. main issues seems to be with the coolant systems end tanks and what not. if you have the abilty to work on the car yourself i say go for it. if something does go amiss parts are cheap. if you cant work on it yourself stick with the accord. 03-07 i feel is the best accord out there and they run forever mother in law has an 03 she bought new and it has 160k on it and its been a great car. it really comes down if you can do work having work done on an E46 gets expensive quick and can easily eat up that 7k if it really goes wrong. but if it was well taken care of i would sell your car buy hers and pocket some cash!
 
The-Noid said:
It seems like more of a horizontal than a vertical. The expenses are higher and its probably an upgrade but not a huge upgrade.

I would save your money and get something that is a true vertical, in the mean time keep the Accord.
Click to expand...

This. BMW badge isn't anything special. Small savings is not worth downgrading and the potential hassle.
 
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