[barwest2]

so, in order to locate the car i wanted with the features i desired, the car was located in new hampshire. when i bought the car, it already had 327 miles on it. i was pissed off that they didn't put it on a flat bed truck, but the sales manager said that very often they get cars this way when they have to locate them for customers. who know how well the car was driven for all those miles? am i justified to have been unhappy? they claim i got a really good deal on the car but did offer to cancel the deal if i wanted. i came this far, so i got the car.

[MarkDemma]

When I went to pick up my M240i they had a M2 on the lot and I asked if I could take her for a spin and they said no because they wanted it to have the least possible miles on it when they sold it. For something they are gonna charge $5K over MSRP on, I can see why they would want to keep it as "pristine" as possible. Mine was a special order and had less than 10 miles on it when I got it. But then it was being shipped right to the dealer on a carrier truck. Was yours at another dealer and they had to have it sent there? Would ask how good a deal you got on it and what model. For a base model that you negotiated a really good deal, they might be making very little on it and the cost of a flatbed transport may have blown that. Would also ask the circumstances, were the miles strictly to have it transported or was it ever a loaner / test car?

In the grand scheme of things, it's probably not going to make a lick of difference in the life of the car. Maybe you can get free floor mats out of it.

[barwest2]

Yes, mine was at another dealer. My dealer is in NY and the one who had the car is is NH. Not a special order. also not a base model, was loaded with most everything. they claim it was just transport miles and not a demo. they gave me free detailing when i go in for a service. also had 2 small scratches i noticed near the rear license plate and they said they would take care of it when i next bring it in.

[AndDown]

Do a goggle map from their dealership to your dealership and see what the mileage comes up. That will tell you whether it was used as a demo/loaner.

[vwcrusher]

Mine had about 500 miles on it. It was their car to take to shows and so forth; it is under warranty and the price I paid reflected the mileage. Think of a CPO car.....

[liebetrau88]

If I remember correctly, BMW can sell a car as a brand new car so long as it has under 5000 miles on it.

[stevenvillatoro]

In retrospect, the OP might've thought to question/request a dealer transfer method. And the dealer similarly might've been mindful enough to avoid unpleasant delivery surprises. Both sides fell short, but the dealer had the bigger duty, IMO, by virtue of his years of experience.

It'll be resolved, and shouldn't have a lingering effect on the OP's enthusiasm.

[overcoil]

Read this article very carefully.

https://www.autoblog.com/2018/08/02/...es-tow-trucks/

[SteveInfante]

Whilst working at multiple different car dealerships there was an army of elderly retired gentlemen and women who were drivers for anything shy of 500 miles in the network. Paying bored old dudes with squeaky clean driving records to safely drive cars between dealerships is cheaper than paying a flatbed truck transport service, who's favorite pastimes in between dealerships include makin it rain in support of single moms and college coeds while your precious vehicle sits unattended in the back lot and poopin minithins to stay awake. I think they chose wisely.

[morphomeman]

OP is getting little sympathy from this tough crowd.
The car was in NH and had to somehow get to wherever in NY. Though OP does not stipulate the point-to-point distance, 300 miles is not unlikely.
Either it had to be trucked that distance or it had to be driven that distance. Having had individual cars shipped on a flatbed, I know that this method is never cheap. There is an initial cost for simply loading it and then a charge per mile. It is always much more costly than having some old geezer like me drive the vehicle. Either way, the dealer had to pay for it, so if OP got a good price, at least one factor was the difference in transport cost.
Besides, it is never fun to drive a BMW for the first 1000 miles, so OP should think positively: the dealer did him a favor by reducing that number.

[zentanker]

So the car didn't even have a whole tank of gas ran through it?

Oh! The horror!

[Tony88]

I think the OP is right to be concerned. I know I would have been if I saw a few hundred miles on my brand new car when you have no idea how those miles were put on the car.

Did they hammer it down to red line and treat it like shit because its not theirs and they get to drive a new BMW for a couple hours? I would sure hope not and they most likely would not but you can't help but think about it.

I know when I test drove an M235 when I ordered mine, the dealer told me to punch it quite a few times when that car had less than 200 miles on it. I understand the OP says the car was not a test car but it's also worth noting that my dealer told me there was no break in period and not to worry about it which I promptly ignored and babied it and varied the throttle for at least the first 1,500.

If they babied it I wouldn't worry about it too much but, just the thought of the unknown would bug me for sure...

[USA-RET]

Originally Posted by liebetrau88

If I remember correctly, BMW can sell a car as a brand new car so long as it has under 5000 miles on it.

Not to me....

[Rosseau]

I had the same situation with a Z28 about 20 years ago. It really comes down to what you saved on the car and that you're happy with it. My feeling with BMW is they wouldn't have someone irresponsible driving your car down for delivery.

Oddly enough, after I bought the Z28, three days later, the dealer called to tell me the financing was not available for any LS1 engine car. So they expected me to come up with $26k cash, which I did. If I had refused, they would have had to sell it as a "used" car. I asked for and got another $3k off the price. They hated me for that, but it was their mistake, and a big one.

[USA-RET]

Originally Posted by barwest2

so, in order to locate the car i wanted with the features i desired, the car was located in new hampshire. when i bought the car, it already had 327 miles on it. i was pissed off that they didn't put it on a flat bed truck, but the sales manager said that very often they get cars this way when they have to locate them for customers. who know how well the car was driven for all those miles? am i justified to have been unhappy? they claim i got a really good deal on the car but did offer to cancel the deal if i wanted. i came this far, so i got the car.

Certainly the dealership failed to disclose that the car was going to be driven from the other dealership. I suppose you could have asked how the car was being delivered...but in your defense, it's not unreasonable to assume (key word assume), that since the car was new, that it would be delivered w/ only a few miles on it (and dealerships would have transportation arrangements for this type of dealership swap, that would not include driving it to other locations).

The fact that the dealership allowed you the opportunity to nix the deal tells me that there was nothing underhanded afoot ( ).

Since you got a good deal on the car, I'd let it go and just pretend you put the miles on the car rather than the shuttle service. No smell of cigarette smoke, spilled coffee in the console or doughnut crumbs between the seats, you should be okay.