New Motor

larzyh wrote: My car is a UK import; 1 owner in UK, full service history. I find that UK cars are often better cared for and better spec'ed than native Irish cars.

I agree and I import virtually all my cars directly myself, but unfortunately, in many cases - especially with the unscrupulous private or trader, during the swim across the service histories and other records seem to get washed overboard.  For that reason, and because there is good information readily available with a small bit of work, the UK history should be verified.

A colleague recently looked at a 318Ci being sold privately.  There was a bit of a smell from the start because it was still on UK plates and being sold "privately".  I sent him in the direction of HPI and the last mileage they had recorded (2.5 years previously) was 20k higher than that showing when my colleague viewed it.  He wouldn't be the most experienced car buyer but is reasonably street smart and yet could easily have been badly burned.

Guys,

You missunderstood me. I aggree cars from the UK are better cared for and better equipped, but alot harder to prove service history and history in general.

Dont buy that car of that dealer just on your heart alone. I needs to check all the history boxes before you buy. Also you already have a concern about a gearbox noise. What has the dealer said about that??

Mick

635CSi wrote: Seriously, I think you should find out the UK reg it had and get a HPI check done. It's worth every penny in my opinion. I have heard very dodgy stories about this dealer but if your willing not to listen to me, that's perfectly fine, go get your fingers burnt!!

I dont often aggree with 635csi but this time he is right. The amount of bad clocked cars on sale and nothing done about it is a discrase.

Remember the Volvo s40 on here for sale in Lucan.... 140K down to 48K.

Look up carzone and the amount of 6 and 7 year old cars with 48K on the clock.....

Mick

Its an auto too. Better resale. and worth the extra 2 grand.

Much better bet in the long run. If we stop buying from dodgy dealers then they will stop trading. I am not directing this at any one dealer.

Mick

Slightly off topic - the advice in the UK is to buy BMW's with automatic transmission for better resale values.  The typical premium for an auto over a manual for most BMW's would be between £1k and £2k, depending on the model.  I'm wondering what people on this side of the pond think.  Will people pay a pemium for an auto in this country?  Or is it like most stuff, people want it but they won't pay any extra for it?  Or do buyers here tend to actually prefer manuals? 

I'm thinking here particularly of cars 4 years old and older.  Thoughts appeciated...!

My car is a manual, but I would have bought it even if it had been automatic; auto gearboxes have com such a long way to the point were the performance drop off is irrelevant in daily driving.

I quite like shifting gears and feeling "connected" to the operation of the vehicle but automatics really come into their own in the heavy stop/start traffic that's become such a curse.