3 yr old New Jersey 330 in Atlanta - rust inevitable?

> Thanks for all the input. You think it'd be easy to find the right car
> -- everyone down here drives bimmers -- but I am having a hell of a
> time finding what I want for a reasonable price.

Sad but Bimmers are not reasonably priced. They are always 20% too high
as far as I am concerned. But if you want one, you have to pay the
premium.


If i buy a certified
> model from the dealer, I might as well get a new one for what they are
> asking.

I agree. Since 2006 brings a new body style, you would think that new
2005's would be attractively discounted. But no.
>
> Target price is $20K - $24K. What I have been looking at are 2002 325s
> and 2001 330s. Mileage ranges from 40 - 60K. Have driven a few cars in
> this price range. Most feel pretty good and look good --

These cars are probably coming off lease; thus 40,000 miles or a little
less is what you could expect for three to four year old cars.

> In this price range, I am finding cars at smaller dealers and see they
> were bought from auctions up north (i.e as i can interpret from the
> carfax)...hence my question above.
>
> I have put some calls in to people selling their cars locally (would be
> my preference to buy a well maintained car directly from the original
> owner...thus alleviating my concerns about price, reliability and road
> salts)....but am not getting calls back....not sure if cars sell
> quickly or people are just lax...

At your target price, cars in excellent condition would be snapped up
quickly.

BTW, I think that 27,000 would be a realistic price for a 330xi
automatic with a few packages and in excellent condition bought from a
broker or private party.

You probably know that there was a model change in 2001, and that there
have been only minor changes since then.



>
> My main concern with this is that these cars are so close to the ground
> -- and are so complex that i want to make sure I dont have to worry
> about residual road salt (for lack of a better term) somehow causing
> problems in the long term.......even if the undercarriage looks ok on
> the surface....

How long were you planning to keep the car anyway?

Although I live in the north (Chicago and Boston) rusting, absent
collision damage, has not been a problem for me since about 1984 with
any of my cars.

Plan B might be to look at a Mercedes C320. Cheaper by 4k, give or take.

Other things: make sure your car has a little manufacturers warranty
left, just in case.

Since you are going into this for the long haul, maybe you might want to
buy an extended warranty? Generally, you can only do that while the
original BMW warranty is in force.

Be patient. Look at a lot of cars.

Hope this helps.


Rick Rikoski

In article .com>,
Brandon > wrote:
> Good point, though, about the cars being made in Germany. I suppose
> what I wanted to get a better if rust does do long term damage to these
> cars up north.....as I plan to keep this car for the long haul.....

How long is long? Visiting a breaker's yard which specialises in BMW
looking for parts for my brother's E28 - which has rusted - I was
surprised just how well E34s had survived. Most there were, of course,
accident damaged, but all looked pretty good, rust wise. And the oldest
are fast approaching their 20th birthday. I'd be surprised if later cars
are less well protected.

--
*Taxation WITH representation ain't much fun, either.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article >,
R. Rikoski > wrote:
> > Thanks for all the input. You think it'd be easy to find the right car
> > -- everyone down here drives bimmers -- but I am having a hell of a
> > time finding what I want for a reasonable price.

> Sad but Bimmers are not reasonably priced. They are always 20% too high
> as far as I am concerned. But if you want one, you have to pay the
> premium.

When you consider the purchase price you also have to consider the resale
value. And the smaller BMWs, in the UK at least, depreciate far less than
many 'similar' cars that appear, at first, better value.

--
*See no evil, Hear no evil, Date no evil.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article >,
>
> When you consider the purchase price you also have to consider the resale
> value. And the smaller BMWs, in the UK at least, depreciate far less than
> many 'similar' cars that appear, at first, better value.

This is true in the States as well. When I bought my 2001 330Xi last
fall, it became obvious that the Bimmer's first year depreciation would
be about the same as that of a Hyundai Accent (which is actually a swell
city car in its own right).

Of course the Bimmer costs three times as much up front and the
difference has to be borrowed and interest paid or if in hand, could be
invested; thus interest lost.

Separate questions: Do you pay an annual excise tax on cars in the UK?
Based on price? Displacement? How much for the Bimmer?

Rick R.

Jeff Mayner wrote:
> pltrgyst wrote:
> > On 26 Feb 2005 17:18:42 -0800, "Brandon" >
wrote:
> >
> >> .... I was not surprised to find that the
> >> car has spent its life in New Jersey...01 325 coupe I had seen
> >> earlier that day.
> >>
> >> Do I need to be concerned here? Will any car from New England
> >> inevitably rust out due to exposure to salts, even if it is
removed
> >> from that environment?
> >
> > My family lives in the Atlanta area, and every one of them knows
that
> > New Jersey isn't in New England. 8
> >
> > Very rare is the car -- any car -- that doesn't show rust on its
> > brake disks. And next on the "most likely" list -- anywhere -- are
> > the lug nuts.
> >
> > I would not be concerned. I once put 90,000+ miles on a Fiat 124
> > Spider in NJ with no maintenance problems at all...
>
> Maybe no maintenance "problems", but, I'll bet there was a lot of
> maintenance. ;-)
>
> Jeff
>
> >
> > -- Larry


Long haul as in until the engine dies (from the research I have done,
250K is realistic for the engine). I would be getting a pretty good
deal on this and Im in love with the car. Would intend to pay it off,
continue to maintain it, use it as a daily driver until about 150K then
keep it as a back up/fun car for later on. Right now the car has about
50K.

Anyway...suppose the bottom line is that I want to invest a lot in
taking proper care of this car...but would be horribly ironic if it
ended up rusting out

>From what most are saying here, it really seems to be a non issue.

"Brandon" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Anyway...suppose the bottom line is that I want to invest a lot in
> taking proper care of this car...but would be horribly ironic if it
> ended up rusting out
>
>>From what most are saying here, it really seems to be a non issue.
>

I agree. It is a non-issue for a couple of reasons:

1) The salt that has been on the car will be washed off ( you do plan
on washing the car, right?) and you, being from the south, will not be
seeing much salt from then on, other than what wafts through the air
when you go to the beach. ;-)

It is the continued exposure to the salty brine kicked up off the road
that causes the steel to corrode.

2) Even if the car continued to be driven in the New Jersey, Jersey
does not get very much snow on an annual basis. Compare that to
winters in northern New England (Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont) and
their winter weather is about a months shorter on each end. Even in
the depth of winter they don't get nearly the number of snowwy days as
further north.

Now look at the cars from New England (or Upstate NY) and yes, there
are some rusted cars, but those are generally the ones that the owners
sis not care to spend the time washing. Investing time in the care of
your car is exactly the right thing to do to ensure longevity,
regardless of it's prior history.

Relax. Get a good deal on the car (what the heck, use that as a
bargaining point. People from down south don't understand road salt,
right?) and then enjoy your car!!!

-Fred W

"R. Rikoski" > wrote in message >...
> In article >,

> Separate questions: Do you pay an annual excise tax on cars in the UK?
> Based on price? Displacement? How much for the Bimmer?

There's no one-off charge - we just pay 17.5% VAT which is included in
whatever you agree with the dealer. Manufacturer's recommended retail
prices always include all taxes, delivery and registration charges
(including the first year's road tax) - but no-one ever pays those .

Road tax is not to do with displacement or list price, but CO2
emissions. Some of the smaller BMWs produce very low quantities of
CO2 (< 160 g/km), so you pay around £120 a year; anything above a
320i, and you pay the full £165 a year. Company car tax bands (where
the car is offered as a benefit in kind, not a requirement of the job)
are structured similarly.

In article >,
(Andrew Thomas) wrote:

> "R. Rikoski" > wrote in message
> >...
> > In article >,
>
> > Separate questions: Do you pay an annual excise tax on cars in the UK?
> > Based on price? Displacement? How much for the Bimmer?
>
> There's no one-off charge - we just pay 17.5% VAT which is included in
> whatever you agree with the dealer. Manufacturer's recommended retail
> prices always include all taxes, delivery and registration charges
> (including the first year's road tax) - but no-one ever pays those .
>
> Road tax is not to do with displacement or list price, but CO2
> emissions. Some of the smaller BMWs produce very low quantities of
> CO2 (< 160 g/km), so you pay around £120 a year; anything above a
> 320i, and you pay the full £165 a year. Company car tax bands (where
> the car is offered as a benefit in kind, not a requirement of the job)
> are structured similarly.

Thank you.

In article >,
R. Rikoski > wrote:
> Separate questions: Do you pay an annual excise tax on cars in the UK?
> Based on price? Displacement? How much for the Bimmer?

Sort of depends on whether it's a private car or a company owned one.
There is an annual tax - called the vehicle excise duty - which is based
on engine capacity but has only two bands - a political move to help the
owners of the smallest cars. So 165 gbp per year for all 'our' cars, IIRC.
You get a disk which you put on the windscreen to show it is current. Only
the very smallest of cars - which I doubt you get in the US - get the
cheaper rate.

Company owned cars are taxed via income tax on the supposed benefit to the
driver. Based on their CO2 emissions - so vaguely engine size. That tax
can be quite high - several 1000s gbp, but not quite as much as the actual
costs of buying and running the car yourself. Those who have a company car
will cry rubbish. ;-)

--
*The longest recorded flightof a chicken is thirteen seconds *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.