VWguyBruce wrote: The way he's making it sound is that NY does things differently than the rest of the country with respect to titles. He says he only needs to do a "change of ownership," mentions non-title holding state, "you don't have to title your car," etc. He's not going to get me a title in his name and he can't produce a registration with his name on it, either of which my bank would accept with a bill of sale. The car is still titled to someone in Maryland that hasn't owned the car in over 2 years. My bank really tried working with him on this and in the end they said it was all too fishy. I didn't much care if he paid taxes or not, if I can't get him the money then it won't work. As for his honestly regarding the car, he was spot on. The mechanic said the car was as clean as he claimed and well worth what I was going to pay for it. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a car from him but next time I'll be asking to see the title before I even look at it. I don't know if I'd even call him dishonest so much as he just left certain "details" out of the discussion. It all came out in the end that he was avoiding the taxes as a "perk" of working at the dealership when he acquired the car and mentioned to the bank that he can still sell cars through the dealership, which makes him a dealer when he said he wasn't. He's making a living selling cars. But for goodness sake, if you're a dealer, say you're a dealer.

So, if he titled it in his name, which he should be able to do, then your bank would finance, right? Is he unwilling to title it in his name?

Yes, unwilling to title it because he'll get stuck with $1k in tax and I'll be waiting 6-8 weeks for a title. Bank won't send the check without the title.

I'll find something soon. I'm trying to be patient for the right car and this one just didn't work out. I may have found the uber ride in Scranton but we'll see.

Ok, you're stuck on a BMW, but may I suggest a G35? I had one for 6 months. Sport package, 6 speed, 298hp 3.5 V6. Beautiful car. decent fuel economy, very easy to live with day to day. Sold it for reasons having nothing to do with the car itself. I miss it terribly. I'm no Nissan fan boi either. It's the only one I've ever owned.

Another Vote for a GTO.

I traded my E36 M3 (nickel and dime mobile) for one about two years ago.

The GTO had power, good road manners, nice interior, and power

If driven properly, you can get upwards of 20 in the city and 28 on the hwy (trip from Atlanta, GA to Columbia, SC was 28.4mpg ).

I lost her two days before XMAS in an accident . Some say get the 05/06 with the LS2. I stuck with the 04 5.7 and it was a great car (less 50 ponies and bigger front brakes).

I'll get another one soon

Another Vote for a GTO. I traded my E36 M3 (nickel and dime mobile) for one about two years ago. The GTO had power, good road manners, nice interior, and power If driven properly, you can get upwards of 20 in the city and 28 on the hwy (trip from Atlanta, GA to Columbia, SC was 28.4mpg ).

You and I are just the opposite then. I had a 04 GTO and couldn't wait to get rid of it. I hated the milage (14 was the best I could do in bumper to bumper commute and usually lower than that) and hated the driving manners (good as long as you didn't turn or brake or need to get in or out of the car). I bought a E36 M3 to replace it.

My wife loves her 05 GTO. It does well for a heavy car....

One of the guys at work has owned his '04 GTO longer than any other car in his life. He loves it. I never did drive one. Maybe I should've. Several people mentioned the backseat would be uncomfortable for a 7 year old for any length of time and my boy is only getting bigger.

I'm going to drop the hammer on a deal tomorrow for a '97 540i/6 Sport with lots of ///M bits on it owned by a BMW technician. It's a flood recovery vehicle but it's priced accordingly and my bank/insurance is good with it I don't figure there's much risk as I'll be keeping this car for a long, long time. I'll have complete maintenance history, detailed history of the vehicle and everything he's done to it over the last three years. He's also throwing in factory maintenance software and any help I need to keep it running and healthy. Hope to have it home by next weekend. I'll let you guys know.

I don't remember if '97 is one of the affected years, but if applicable make sure the Nikasil has been dealt with.

RandyS wrote: ... need to get in or out of the car . . . .

Randy:

I can agree with that one . . . I have the knots to prove it. .

DILYSI Dave wrote: I don't remember if '97 is one of the affected years, but if applicable make sure the Nikasil has been dealt with.

This one is good to go for the piston issue. It's also non-Vanos car which eliminates one other potential issue. He already compensated for lack of low end torque by installing an M5 LSD and drive shaft. So, nothing lost.

I've had a half dozen salvage cars as DD's, and built 3 dozen or more to sell. Nothing scares me more than a flood car. How long ago?

It's been dry for over 6 years. A priest owned it for three years right after the original rebuild and the BMW tech I'm buying it from has had it for three years. He's been through the whole car with receipts and records. I was a little nervous at first but since it's been so long I jumped on it.

6 years matters more than anything else. Less than two years and I don't think it could be cheap enough.

That's what I figured too on a flood car. The fact the guy was an enthusiast and a tech added to me making the decision too.

belteshazzar -- What kind of cars have you rebuilt? Something I've considered as a side job once I retire. Care to share any wisdom on what to do/not to do when going after salvage cars?

I've done about everything once, some of which where a mistake. Buy as light a hit as you can manage. Some cars get "totaled" and you figure an adjuster just got lazy and wrote the car off to save time. I generally avoid flood cars completely. Theft recovery stuff tends to bring too much to be worth it. The sweet spot seems to be around $3k cars (when finished). At that price people are more interested in how it runs than whether or not somebody ran into it once. Simple is good. Lancer, Protege, Prizm, Focus, things like that.

I know I know, old thread, but I was cruising the archives for e34 info and came across this:

15 2007-12-27 08:20:28

VWguyBruce Reader From: Waldorf, MD Registered: 2006-03-14 Posts: 345 Website Re: thoughts on mid 90s 3 series and 5 series bmw's for daily driver?http://www.bmwe34.net/

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/fo … .php?f=201

Mine is ok as a daily driver but everyday I find myself wishing someone would total it. Mine is an automatic and needs more work than I'm willing to do on it so I find the bone stock car uninspiring. If you're looking for a stock daily driver to get in and get from point A to point B, then it might be for you. IF I were to buy another one, it would have a stick, two doors and possibly an M badge. My 2 cents.

Later, Bruce '03 Envoy XL - '94 525i DD - '86 GLi <--The New Challenger! Amsoil Authorized Dealer Offline

That's some serious voodoo there. Be careful what you wish for!!

-Thor