[rf098723]

Hi all,

Im looking at a 3 series that only has a few thousand miles on it. It was a lease vehicle apparently barely driven for some reason. Carfax comes up clean - only records are a few oil changes.

The car is about 3-4 years old

Is there anything I should be wary of? I'm concerned some rubber parts could be dried out/degraded from not having been run regularly

Thanks!

[dangerus_car]

it's very hard now to roll back mileage, since you have to hack the DME, not saying it is not doable, but very difficult.

there is no reason for the previous owner to rollback. the only person who would roll over it would be if the selling party is NOT a BMW dealership. if that's the case, just bring it to any BMW dealership and ask for service record.

since the car already come with free service and such, most if not owner would do the service at the dealer, no reason to pay $ to do service at indy shop.

go for it if it's worth the price.

[LS1Convert]

I got my 2018 last summer with less than 10K miles on it. Sales rep said it was a lease turned in by an older gentleman who bought a new vehicle. Haven't had any problems in the first year of ownership. With lockdowns and remote work the last few years, low mile vehicles shouldn't be a surprise. Not a mechanic, but as long as it was driven at least once every couple weeks, there's likely nothing to worry about.

[eff32fl]

My previous 430i had 3800 miles when I bought it, it was a demo car. A 440i I almost got had 4800 or so miles on it, it was a corporate loaner car. So it's not unusual to find low mileage newish used cars.

[chowser51]

My ‘19 x2 m35i had 3800 miles on it when I bought it in 2021. Still had the remainder of the ultimate care 3 on it as well.
Checked the idrive and tracked it to an old lady one state over.

[Abzynthe]

One thing to consider is that the world was pretty much on lockdown for two years so that's going to drop the mileage of cars around that age.

[Billfitz]

I just hit 22k at 7 1/2 years. Rubber parts don't dry out from lack of use, just from age.

[AlmondJayRoM3]

Originally Posted by rf098723

Hi all,

Im looking at a 3 series that only has a few thousand miles on it. It was a lease vehicle apparently barely driven for some reason. Carfax comes up clean - only records are a few oil changes.

The car is about 3-4 years old

Is there anything I should be wary of? I'm concerned some rubber parts could be dried out/degraded from not having been run regularly

Thanks!

I have an uncle that has a 2015 535i with just under 20k miles. He only drives the car on the weekends and otherwise it stays in the garage. Car has become precious to him. He can’t fathom why a daily my F80 and not some beater car. I gave up in trying to explain to him that fun cars are only fun to me when being driven, even if it’s just to get groceries or go to work.

[im_an_alien]

Some cars like my f30 are not used year round, mine is stored from thanks giving to Easter! I average 4k miles per year.

[rf098723]

Thanks for your input everyone. Hoping this goes though and I secure my first bmw!

[johnung]

Originally Posted by rf098723

Hi all,

Im looking at a 3 series that only has a few thousand miles on it. It was a lease vehicle apparently barely driven for some reason. Carfax comes up clean - only records are a few oil changes.

The car is about 3-4 years old

Is there anything I should be wary of? I'm concerned some rubber parts could be dried out/degraded from not having been run regularly

Thanks!

Low mileage is great. Most important thing is that the oil has been changed regularly. Gather more information than carfax. People make the mistake of thinking that Carfax is complete. It is not! BMW can run the vehicle maintenance history from the VIN. Get that too.

There was a local used BMW up for sale that was in fantastic condition, low miles, low price, etc. A buddy who was a BMW sales rep told me to stay away from it. It was a lease vehicle that had been turned in but it never had even one oil change. The lessee never brought it in for an oil change despite it being included free of charge!

[eff32fl]

Originally Posted by johnung

Low mileage is great. Most important thing is that the oil has been changed regularly. Gather more information than carfax. People make the mistake of thinking that Carfax is complete. It is not! BMW can run the vehicle maintenance history from the VIN. Get that too.

There was a local used BMW up for sale that was in fantastic condition, low miles, low price, etc. A buddy who was a BMW sales rep told me to stay away from it. It was a lease vehicle that had been turned in but it never had even one oil change. The lessee never brought it in for an oil change despite it being included free of charge!

That's kind of messed up. I'm sure his line of thought was it wouldn't be his problem when he turned it in in 3 years and it would run "fine" until then.

[MoeTE87]

I wouldn't be worried. I bought my 2018 340i with exactly 10k miles on it back in Oct 2020 and I am currently sitting at 15.4k on the odo. I work from home 4/5 days per week and take my wife's 2022 Lincoln Aviator everywhere if we are doing family things.

[Shllshck]

Like others point out, given the times, there are more lower mileage, used vehicles. I went from 18k miles a year with a long commute now at only 3-4K annually because of telecommuting.