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Wish fulfillment: Just bought a 2000 Z3 Roadster (long)
Yesterday, I took delivery of an Impala Brown 2000 Z3 roadster. Man, is
this car SWEET! This is my third BMW. The first two were an 1985 E30 325e sedan, and a beautiful 1983 633csi coupe. Both were beautiful cars (especially the coupe) and both were aggravatingly unreliable. The "big coupe" 633csi was particularly annoying. I finally got tired of constantly repairing it, sold it for a good price, bought a Honda Accord, and swore off BMW's. FWIW: I was the founder of the Big Coupe Groupe, which I started as a listserv back in 1996 to support the 6-series coupes. The list grew like wildfire, quickly adding enthusiastic members from every inhabited continent on Earth, sharing repair and restoration tips on their beloved - but troublesome - BMW Coupes. After a while, Norm Grills graciously offered to take over the list. He built the wonderful Big Coupe Groupe website, and turned our online club into the definitive resource for repair and restoration information on the 6-series E24 BMW's. I'm proud to have planted the seed that, thanks to Norm's hard work, grew into such a wonderful resource for Coupe enthusiasts. But that was 8 years ago. It seems that BMW's have come a long way since the mid 1980's. After test driving a '96 Z3 earlier this year, and being very impressed with it, I went shopping online. Local prices were higher than NADA blue book. But several weeks ago, I found this Impala Brown 2000 Z3 on Ebay. The bid was $13,400. Edmund's retail said $19,700. The photos and records showed a well-kept car, free of any noticeable defects, accidents, title weirdness, etc. "What's wrong with this car?" I thought. On the last day of the auction, I was walking home from the library with my lovely wife, enjoying the day, and just happened to remember the auction. I decided to check-in and see what it sold for. When we arrived at home, I fired up the laptop and checked: Still $13,400, with 1 bid and only 4 minutes to go. I said to my wife: "Do you want a Z3?" She said "Sure, why not lowball and see what happens." So, with 2 minutes to go, I placed a bid of $13,600; but nothing happened. Then I realized - the microwave was running! It was knocking out the wireless network! My wife rushed over and stopped the microwave. I re-submitted the bid with less than 30 seconds to go. Then refreshed the page. 20 seconds. 10 seconds. 5 seconds. Congratulations! You are the winner! Huh? Nobody outbid us? I still don't know how we pulled that off; but it does happen sometimes on Ebay. I never thought I would buy a car on Ebay. I used to scoff openly at the idea; but recently I had heard many success stories from people who had bought cars on Ebay, for thousands less than they would have cost locally. The more I looked into it, the better I felt about it, which is why I was even bothering to shop for a Z3 on Ebay in the first place. I went ahead and arranged financing through Ebay motors, which is actually Household Automotive. They had my financing set up in just a few minutes, and the following day a blank check arrived which I could use to pay for any car from any seller on Ebay. I won't reveal my credit ceiling; but let's just say that it offered me a very wide latitude for auto purchases. I was impressed with how smoothly the whole thing went, and kept expecting to find something amiss; but the contract looked good, no hidden gotchas that I could see, and no front-loading or other foolishness. Just a good loan rate, simple interest and hassle-free financing. The loan officer could have been a little more patient; but that's my only very minor beef so far. The Ebay dealer who sold me the Z3 - Lone Star Cars, Inc. in Plano, TX - had 449 postive feedback, with zero negative feedbacks. They only sell used cars Knowing how contentious, unrealistic and ultra-picky people can be about their cars, I was very impressed that any online dealer could have such a perfect track record. That was what made me place the bid that won the car - their exceptional feedback let me know I could probably trust these guys. That trust seems to have been well-founded. Norman and Brad at Lone Star made the buying process smooth and painless. They had a mechanic go over the car, and detailed it nicely. They shipped the Z3 from Texas to Illinois for $550 - by far the cheapest quote I found anywhere. They turned around the paperwork very quickly, and got the car shipped to me within 10 days of auction close. It arrived exactly as advertised, with no hidden problems that I could find, aside from a slight brake noise in the rear (probably just needs pads). No dents, no dings, no rips, no wear, runs and drives perfectly, shifts like a new car. The only defect that I've found is a little bit of driveway rash on the lower lip of the air dam. You can't even see it unless you get down real close and look. The truck driver who delivered the car had notated some minor scratches that I had to squint to even see. (He knows how picky people can be...) I love my Z3. It's the roadster I've always wanted, but even better than I expected. I'm back in the BMW club after almost a decade. Looking forward to sharing experiences with other Z3 owners out there. B. Sanders |
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"B. Sanders" > wrote in message news:KMbed.302434$3l3.51828@attbi_s03... > Yesterday, I took delivery of an Impala Brown 2000 Z3 roadster. Man, is > this car SWEET! Welcome back to the fold... > 8< 8< 8< 8< 8< 8< 8< 8< > But that was 8 years ago. It seems that BMW's have come a long way since > the mid 1980's. After test driving a '96 Z3 earlier this year, and being > very impressed with it, I went shopping online. Local prices were higher > than NADA blue book. But several weeks ago, I found this Impala Brown > 2000 Z3 on Ebay. The bid was $13,400. Edmund's retail said $19,700. The > photos and records showed a well-kept car, free of any noticeable defects, > accidents, title weirdness, etc. "What's wrong with this car?" I thought. My guess? It's because it's brown. It is an unusual color and not very popular. But if you like it, and it allowed you to get the car of your dreams for a dreamy price, good for you! -Fred W '97 Z3 2.8 (Helrot / Tan) |
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