For Sale (SOLD): 2005 BMW 330i ZHP, White, 57k, Manual transmission - $18,500

[Marcus-SanDiego]

No worries, Craig. I see a lot of comments about "free" when it comes to California's Lemon law. Figured that I could at least make sure that our forum members know how it actually works (at least in California).

Glad it all worked out for you and your friend, Craig.

[johnrando]

Glad to hear that you found a buyer -- even with the branded title.

Just want to clarify one thing, though. You wrote: "CA is very strict, and the first owner took advantage of that to basically get himself a new car for free."

The first owner would not have received anything for free. Doesn't work that way. Instead, the first owner would have got all of the money that he paid toward the vehicle (down payment, monthly payments, most recent registration payment), minus a rental fee, for the lemon vehicle. So, if the guy paid a total of $20,000 (comprising down payment, monthly payments, etc.), he'd get $20,000 minus the rental (use) fee.

The rental (use) fee is computed using a formula that consists of a numerator (mileage used prior to the first incident that led to lemon status), denominator (120,000), and the purchase price of the vehicle when new.

An easy example will help. Purchase price of $50,000. 12,000 miles used before first incident that led to lemon status. Denominator of 120,000. Math looks like this: 12,000/120,000 = 10%. 10% of purchase price is $5,000. If the buyer paid more than $5,000 to the lender during the relevant period, he or she would receive an amount in excess of the rental (use) fee. A person paying $20,000, then, would be entitled to $15,000 in reimbursement. That's $5,000 for the rental cost and $15,000 back to the purchaser. If the person owned the vehicle for two years, it would work out to a rental of $208.33 a month. Certainly not free.

Anyhow, that's how it works.

Thanks for that info. Unfortunately, you know how that works first hand. I never knew there was a rental fee as part of that.

[mimalmo]

I've seen the car in person and have met the owner a few times. Definitely a nice car that I wouldn't mind owning.

[clovold]

I just want to make sure that everyone knows that there was no intent to deceive on anyones part here (except maybe the dealer that sold the car to Scott in '07). We needed to sell the car quickly and neither Scott nor I knew that history. Sorry about that.

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Craig, I didn't think you were trying to deceive.

Did you guys end up getting close to your asking price?


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[clovold]

Craig, I didn't think you were trying to deceive.

I know, I just feel bad about not knowing about the history.

Final sale price was $17,500

[deuce08s]

Wow! Thanks for the heads-up.

Wonder if Craig was aware of this; I don't think so given his positive endorsements in the first page.

btw, did you see and drive the car?

I did see and drive the car. The car drove very well. And aside from the repainted trunk lid and a front bumper that had zero road rash (repainted? new?) (though on the left side the black trim in the bumper wasn't secured) and the rear bumper may have also been removed as where the end of the bumper meets the trim it wasn't properly installed, the car looked good. Craig also informed me that the car had hail repair done to it, and it was a very good job!

Had my buddy not inform me of all of the 'new' developments on it from AutoCheck then I probably would have been the owner of that car.

And I'm not trying to accuse Craig of anything either, though I've dealt with my fair share of shady car selling incidents (and I'm not saying Craig was shady) but it is just a sore spot for me when buying a car. It's all in our experiences that decide how we approach certain situations going forward in life, right? I've been screwed by dealers selling CPO's and making false claims on vehicles, even if CarFax shows it is fine. CPO inspections are supposed to check for things as well, not ignore them when you find them. Any way, I digress! LOL

I'm glad he got a buyer and close to what he was looking for. Hopefully, the new owner doesn't have any issues with the car and has fun with it!

I'll get my ZHP sooner or later!

[danewilson77]

Thanks for the clarification., I guess I didn't really understand how that works.

I'm a clovold fan. Thanks for getting back to us.

[webster]

wow, seller got way more than he should have. with lemon buy back, and accident damage, car should not have sold for more than $13-14k. sounds like the buyer wanted to pounce...but he overpaid doing so.