Here is the short of the long for those not interested in the long explanation:…read moreWe drove 4 hours from Virginia, with the intention of bringing home the gray 2015 BMW X3 (VIN 5UXWX9C57F0D56604).
We took the car (against head manager Ali Nezam's advice), to the BMW of Alexandria dealership for a PPI (pre-purchase inspection); this cost to us was $349 plus tax. Ali tried to tell us how expensive it would be and tried to deter us from doing this. Ali tried to send us to BMW of Fairfax, where he bragged he had a "foreman that could see the car off the books". I passed obviously.
The service advisor at BMW of Alexandria, John Mannion, who knew Ali from servicing his own M3 there, checked us in. Later, John finally called us and explained they had finished and we could come get the car. He told us there were numerous, serious issues with the vehicle and he COULD NOT RECOMMEND BUYING IT. He went on to itemize all the issues individually.
John told us the car was "MECHANICALLY TOTALED". The cost to repair everything wrong was near or over $20,000!!!
Here's the long:
This included replacing the entire engine! John explained, "there were chunks of metal in the oil pan when we drained it". How could any 1/2 competent mechanic miss this? Ali's excuse was "they had just changed the oil and there were no indications of metal". After the BMW inspection and report, Ali doubled down to say "they inspected the oil pan and still found no metal". Hogwash. He's a charlatan and a liar. Tony, the sales rep, excused this because they "use a third party to do the inspection and oil changes so they must have missed it". Again, always a rebuttal or excuse for everything.
There was "obvious water damage inside the cabin and around the battery" per John's report. The display screen had been changed out already and the WRONG screen installed, causing the pixel issues. Ali even tried to get a used screen from a junk yard to swap it for us. This was likely already done with the wrong model. John suspects the water damage is what ruined the original screen and "heads-up display" feature, which we noticed was not functioning during our test drive. There were oil splatters on the serpentine belt and tensioner. This was an indication of the engine blowing gaskets and it had been repaired with temporary fixes. They failed to replace the belt and tensioner so it was obvious to a qualified, competent mechanic what had happened. Multiple panels were missing from the undercarriage of the vehicle. There were suspension issues and the report stated "INCREASED CHANCE OF ROLL-OVER ACCIDENT". Ali was selling us this car for our 16 year old daughter. John said he did not feel the car would have even made the drive back to Virginia!!
Ali sent an email with rebuttals to everything the Certified BMW dealership of Alexandria (who has no skin in the game and is UNBIASED) found in their pre-purchase inspection. He has an excuse for everything. Please feel free to call JOHN MANNION at the BWM of Alexandria dealership and discuss this with him if there's any question to my intentions. I am a physician and base my life and practice on transparency and honesty. All the negative reviews seem right in line with my own experience. Multiple people reporting they had to replace entire engines within weeks of buying from Ali.
Upon arrival, Tony the sales rep met us and pulled the vehicle from a storage rack. He started it up and we noticed a ticking with the engine. He immediately Googled 2015 BMW X3 and showed us how this is common with the fuel injectors. I searched this quickly and found this to be true, UNLESS, it's something more serious! When I tried to address this with him, he dismissed the idea and was emphatic "it is normal and just the fuel injectors". Ok, so we sat in the car and I noticed some water in the back seat. I couldn't see where it had leaked in from but this was also a red flag. When I started navigating though the dash menu screen and noticed the pixels didn't line up. I brought this to Tony's attention and he stated "it must just need a software update". Again, minimizing every issue as "no big deal". When he couldn't resolve the issue he got the manager, Ali Nezam, involved.
Now it really gets interesting. The slick tongued manager proceeded to also tell us how it "just needed a software update" and he "would take care of it". After waiting for an hour, disconnecting the battery, having his "mechanic" pull it into the garage and remove the display unit, he conceded it needed a new screen. I inquired, how do we know it's not the entire head unit causing the issue ($3000 repair from BMW) and he was adamant that it wasn't. He had a fast and slick rebuttal to every concern we had. I was polite with Ali and since he would never return my phone calls, I communicated through email and text. I requested he respectfully pay the $360 total we paid for the pre-purchase inspection, he declined. BUYER BEWARE!!!
