Opinions on possible car purchase

[Hundreth 10+ year member]

Okay, so I'm in the market to buy a car for around 4 grand (crappy I know). So I was looking at older Japanese cars and stuff that I felt would be a safe purchase. However, I came accross an old BMW that I've always loved for sale.

The car is a 1993 325i 4dr with 87K miles on it. The reason it caught my eye was the mileage and I absolutely love the aesthetics of the car (as well as the features). The body style is nicer than 90% of cars I see on the road today. To give you an idea, the car looks pretty much like this:

The guy wants 4 Gs for it... it was well maintained and feels pretty solid. However, I'm on a tight budget and don't need the pain of paying to repair a BMW.

So my questions are, do you think these cars are reliable? How much would you pay for one? Do you know of any alternatives that can be had for around my budget which are good?

And most importantly, should I buy this freaking car?

TY... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Click to read more...

 

[bigbangtheory 5,000+ posts]

I heard they can go for quite awhile with out too many big problems. So a 1993 with only 87,000 is pretty **** good. I would check into it for sure if you are into those type of cars. Not my style, but still sounds like a good deal. Check and see if it has a carfax on it. Good luck!

 

[cd6551 10+ year member]

nice car...but ive heard that if something does go wrong they are very expensive to fix. very good deal though id get it looked over by a mechanic

 

[MikeofTulsa Moderator]

yep, pay the few hundred it might take for a mechanic to come out and look it over first, then if he thinks it looks good, i say go for it.

 

[Satan]

ebay

 

[Eldorado 5,000+ posts]

Ask ///M5.

He is the resident BMW expert.

 

[duckfart 10+ year member]

Get the Vin# and look it up @ carfax.

 

[Ignatowski 5,000+ posts]

4g's seems cheap,I would grab it if your handy with tools

But if your going to have to rely on a mechanic for every thing that breaks

I would pass up on it

 

[VOA_NIGHTMARE 10+ year member]

Nice car, I was looking at a few last year and that is a good price. The one problem I found when looking was they will go for about 200k if taken care of but the repair costs are crazy on things. I have even heard the oil changes are like $50+ and have to be done at dealer's because of special parts that turned me off right there.

 

[Hundreth 10+ year member]

The carfax is clean. I am gonna get it checked by a mechanic before I do anything, its just that 16 yr old cars in NY tend to have problems and I'm afraid of the repair costs. Other than that, I'd get it. Thanks for the advice guys.

 

[Good*Bad*Ugly 10+ year member]

I thought most people that live in New York dont have cars? Or do you live outside the big city?

 

[Hundreth 10+ year member]

I thought most people that live in New York dont have cars? Or do you live outside the big city?

I live in Queens, its part of the 5 boroughs but I still need a car to get around where I need to. If I lived in Manhattan, that would be another story.

 

[HiAmplidude 10+ year member]

I had a buddy who bought a similar 1991 325 when it was around 6 years old or so. He didn't have many problems, but man, when he did, it was crazy expensive.

I'd look at Toyotas or Hondas in that price range, if reliability is a big factor. Even though the repairs will be cheaper, if it was maintained even fairly well, you may have zero down-time.

Just my $0.02

But, man, you are so right about how nice the later bimmer 3 series looks! One of the best looking car designs of all time, in my eyes.

 

[marleyskater420 5,000+ posts]

I agree with excelerator.

If you can change the oil, change sparks plugs and wires, I imagine you'll have no issues.

 

[theCybe 5,000+ posts]

Tie-rod, control arm for 2001 Honda civic; $55.

Tie-rod, control arm for 1996 Audi a4; $390

If you're not mechanically inclined, make sure you can afford to maintain the car.

I'll be honest though, those 3 series are some of the only cars that still catch my eye on the road. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif