2018 X3 20d xDrive

[CK4LIFE]

That sounds unfair and probably unheard of. Maybe consider another dealership unless you willing to wait for September

 

[MR_Y]

That sounds unfair and probably unheard of. Maybe consider another dealership unless you willing to wait for September

Since my wife uses the car the most and I am usually busy with work (and changing my other cars 😄), I like to get her car serviced early, so that we don't have to worry about her missing a service due date. Anyway, not a hardship.

When the extended plan expires, I will go to an aftermarket workshop for sure.

 

[MR_Y]

Mild rant....

Having bought the el cheapo Z4, I did a VIN check using vindocs.co.za (well worth the price to get a full check, including accident history on a car). As expected, the Z4 had a few claims over the years for body work.

I then plugged in the VIN of my X3....

There was work done on the front end to the value of R70k in 2019. When I bought the car last year, it had no comments on plan and no accident history, noting it was an "approved used BMW". This explains why the bonnet is slightly misaligned (I posted a picture earlier on in this thread).

I took the car to a mechanic and everything looks fine, besides the slight bonnet misalignment. However, when I sell the car, the fact that it had repairs done will impact my selling price.

I am a bit disappointed that the BMW dealership did not pick up this issue and disclose it to me when purchasing the car. I am also disappointed in myself for not performing this check before I bought the X3. I would have still continued with the sale, but would have pushed for a larger discount.

Anyway, lesson learnt.

Always do an accident damage and general VIN check on ANY used car purchase, even if BMW says that the car has no comments...

 

[SanM]

Sorry to hear about that - had the same experience with my last S3 which I bought from a Toyota Dealer (Motus Parktown). Most of the car was pasted with paintwork etc, yet the dealer sold it stating otherwise, that the car was extremely clean.
I will definitely look at obtaining these detailed vin checks going forward. I was aware of then but thought it wouldn’t have info based on our local insurance records.

 

[MR_Y]

Sorry to hear about that - had the same experience with my last S3 which I bought from a Toyota Dealer (Motus Parktown). Most of the car was pasted with paintwork etc, yet the dealer sold it stating otherwise, that the car was extremely clean.
I will definitely look at obtaining these detailed vin checks going forward. I was aware of then but thought it wouldn’t have info based on our local insurance records.

VinDocs.co.za has a local office in Cape Town. Most of the detail in the report is on generic specs and they sometimes refer to US or Europe specs. The real value is in the SA accident history. I understand that they pull accident data and repair history from numerous databases (incl SAPS, franchised panelbeaters and insurance companies).

The history on the Z4 was pretty much spot on. My independent mechanic confirmed that what he picked up links exactly to what is in the report (I showed him the report after his inspection report, so as not to bias the outcomes).

I am not too phased about the X3. Just that I feel that BMW dealers should be performing these checks too and that too much emphasis is placed on Plan Comments that most of the time do not pick up all accident history.

Anyway, buying a 16 year old used car has opened my eyes to also perform checks on younger used cars too.

 

[GravityLee]

The most dishonest industry, by far, in SA with zero accountability.

 

[MR_Y]

I plugged in my Macan VIN into vindocs.co.za

I did perform a minor bumper respray in May this year. This is showing up on the vindocs accident report and the cost is what I paid. So, I am happy that the accident history on that system is correct. However, I did not claim from insurance for the respray and neither did I report the damage to the police (it was minor and self inflicted), so it seems that vindocs has access to Porsche's body repair shop database.

 

[GravityLee]

Vindocs definitely sounds worth the money.

 

[SanM]

Thanks for this. With Coisman, we can get full ownership history (eg, if the car was a WBC special) and Natis codes/comment history. And with vindocs, we can get coverage on any accident reported which was recorded by SAPS or insurers.

I suppose the only incidents that won’t be covered in these checks are those which were paid for in cash by the previous owner. These would mostly be limited to claims falling below the excess (generally R10k at most on average?), so it’s not expected to be major damage. Then again, if the previous owner was not insured, they would have no choice but to repair at their own cost and hence that is the only noteworthy risk here. Though having an independent mech or dealer check the vehicle should reveal whether there was work done on the car).

 

[MR_Y]

I suppose the only incidents that won’t be covered in these checks are those which were paid for in cash by the previous owner.

I paid cash for bumper work on my Macan in May. Work was performed by Porsche. No insurance involved. No police report (minor damage). But, the repair and cost thereof did pull through in the vindocs report on my Macan.

Granted, if repair was performed by a workshop not on any database, that info may not have pulled through.

 

[MR_Y]

Mild rant....

Having bought the el cheapo Z4, I did a VIN check using vindocs.co.za (well worth the price to get a full check, including accident history on a car). As expected, the Z4 had a few claims over the years for body work.

I then plugged in the VIN of my X3....

There was work done on the front end to the value of R70k in 2019. When I bought the car last year, it had no comments on plan and no accident history, noting it was an "approved used BMW". This explains why the bonnet is slightly misaligned (I posted a picture earlier on in this thread).

I took the car to a mechanic and everything looks fine, besides the slight bonnet misalignment. However, when I sell the car, the fact that it had repairs done will impact my selling price.

I am a bit disappointed that the BMW dealership did not pick up this issue and disclose it to me when purchasing the car. I am also disappointed in myself for not performing this check before I bought the X3. I would have still continued with the sale, but would have pushed for a larger discount.

Anyway, lesson learnt.

Always do an accident damage and general VIN check on ANY used car purchase, even if BMW says that the car has no comments...

I need some advice or maybe different view points.

The used car manager agreed to see me next week to discuss the undisclosed accident damage.

I am drafting a formal email with the vindocs results and the pictures of the bonnet misalignment.

My issue is that when I bought the car, they did not disclose the accident damage when I asked them.

It's only when I performed the VIN check recently, did I see the accident history. It is also visible in the slight bonnet misalignment (which I initially thought was just poor build quality from the SA factory).

Anyway, I paid a fair retail price for a used car that I assumed had no accidents. When I sell the car in future, I will be knocked down on price because of the accident repair.

So, I can see these options:

1. Easy option: They properly fix/align the bonnet.
2. Difficult option: They need to think to what would be a fair price for an accident damaged 2018 X3 at the time of the sale (Oct 2022) and see what is that discount to the same model that is not accident damaged. They then pay me that difference.
3. Other option: a motor plan extension for 1 more year?

Anyway, just spit balling here.

The manager is only back in the office next week, so I have time to properly draft an argument.

(The car is not financed, so no benefit of getting my Bank to fight this)

 

[Scotty88]

You could probally use the CPA in this case. Not sure if you would require legal representation.

Sent from my SM-G998B using Tapatalk

 

[NBN]

Just to play devils advocate here..... if parts were purchased using a different vin and a non ARC affiliated panelbeater was used, its often difficult for that to go onto the comments section of your motorplan, so thats the story they could tell you.

The other thing to look at is, you have owned the car and prior to finding out this information, you had no issues and raised no issues with the place you bought the car from, again playing devils advocate here but the dealer could be nasty and say that you didnt do any due diligence at the point of sale/purchase

 

[MR_Y]

Just to play devils advocate here..... if parts were purchased using a different vin and a non ARC affiliated panelbeater was used, its often difficult for that to go onto the comments section of your motorplan, so thats the story they could tell you.

The other thing to look at is, you have owned the car and prior to finding out this information, you had no issues and raised no issues with the place you bought the car from, again playing devils advocate here but the dealer could be nasty and say that you didnt do any due diligence at the point of sale/purchase

Good points.

I appreciate the counter views, since it will prepare me better for the encounter with the dealership.

There are no comments on the plan.
But panelbeater work was done and that info pulled through to the VIN (non BMW) database.
We can certainly argue that the dealership did not know of any non-BMW approved repairs. So, they did not wilfully hide info.

However, one can argue that if they did a proper inspection of the car then they would have seen that work was done (my mechanic took a few seconds to see that accident repair work was done).
To my untrained eye (as a lay person), I could not see that there was accident repairs done. (On a side note, my nearly new 320d had panel gaps straight from the factory, so I assumed it was normal).

I am leaning towards just presenting the facts to them, let them inspect the car and take it from there.

One big issue though is that Vindocs state that their report is not a legal document, so reliance will be placed on them performing a proper check of the car and also doing their own VIN history check (outside of BMW)

 

[Eust]

Honestly you getting a bonnet realignment isn't worth the potential of them actually then noting the comment that the car was indeed in an accident and repaired.

I'd leave it, since the bonnet is only an itching now because of the known accident. If it was that bad, you would have got it fixed prior to delivery initially?

 

[Eust]

Plus, the car was obviously not fixed at an ARC so that in itself means that MP should be voided, car taken through the process again of reinstatement possibly and you and BMW then getting into a legal battle, that you would win, but cause a ton of inconvenience.

 

[MR_Y]

Honestly you getting a bonnet realignment isn't worth the potential of them actually then noting the comment that the car was indeed in an accident and repaired.

I'd leave it, since the bonnet is only an itching now because of the known accident. If it was that bad, you would have got it fixed prior to delivery initially?

Good point on the Motorplan comment. It will be added to the comments going forward.

Fighting now for the discount (partial refund), that would have been put upfront,
if they knew of the accident, would likely be negated by having that comment on Plan.

This is a sticky problem.

Anyway, I am not the only one. See issue from Wendy Knowler below.

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[MR_Y]

Thanks for the comments guys.
Decided to let sleeping dogs lie.

If I sell the car, I will disclose the bonnet misalignment. And honestly there is nothing wrong with the car (my mechanic says that besides for the misaligned bonnet, nothing really sticks out as damage repairs).

If a fellow Fanatic buys this car, you know the full story and that is good for transparency.

Similarly, if a fellow Fanatic buys my Macan you know the full story of the rear bumper repair too

 

[///M Individual]

Thanks for the comments guys.
Decided to let sleeping dogs lie.

If I sell the car, I will disclose the bonnet misalignment. And honestly there is nothing wrong with the car (my mechanic says that besides for the misaligned bonnet, nothing really sticks out as damage repairs).

If a fellow Fanatic buys this car, you know the full story and that is good for transparency.

Similarly, if a fellow Fanatic buys my Macan you know the full story of the rear bumper repair too

I really admire your full disclosure and transparency bud not many will do the same.

Perhaps you can get the bonnet aligned at a panel shop. Don't think it will cost too much just a matter of adjusting via bolts.

 

[MR_Y]

Less than a year in and on brand new tyres, another tyre picked up a puncture. This is the 3rd tyre that has been punctured in the last 7 months.

I refuse to believe that it is just bad luck. My Macan has Hankooks that are from 2019, have half life left and have had zero issues. These Bridgestone Alenzas are still newish (fitted Oct 2022) and 2 of them already had issues - 1 had to be replaced after a shoulder puncture, 1 was plugged. The latest victim has a slow leak - I can't see what is causing it.

Off to TWT tomorrow and hopefully it can be plugged.

Bridgestone Alenzas are crap tyres. Besides their propensity to pick up punctures, they handle piss poorly in the wet.

If the tyre cannot be plugged, then I will rather buy a set of Hankooks Ventus instead.

Another one...

4th puncture in less than 1 year!

The car is driven mainly on tar and covers the same roads (actually less distances) as my Macan on older Hankooks that are still going strong.

Luckily, the puncture was repairable.

I cancelled the BMW Innovation tyre insurance recently and instead got the Tiger Wheel X sure tyre and rim insurance.