An old friend got in touch, saying she’d started a new job but her trusty Mitsubishi truck had given it’s notice. The request was simple – could I buy a car and deliver it for less than a grand… The catch? Harriet (and the new job) were 850 miles away in Geneva.
Like many men, I spend far too much time trawling internet auction sites hunting for treasure. This 2005 BMW E46 had been glinting at me, having been re-listed a number of times due to no-show buyers. There can’t be many people shopping for a 13 year old 3 Series showing a quarter of a million miles, but I know these cars pretty well – my daily driver is identical.
Spot the difference (spoiler – it’s heated seats)
We collected Harriet’s car on a fine Sunday evening, from a chap called Bob. Bob had spent 200,000 happy miles using this car to buy and sell musical instruments, driving between Perth and Penzance and everywhere in between. £650 was handed over and we drove away happy. Two weeks, one oil change and a tank of diesel later the car was in the queue for the 11.30pm Friday evening Channel Tunnel.
Much to the disappointment of everyone who knew about the trip, we arrived safely in Geneva around 1pm the following day. During the drive, with the cruise control engaged, the quality stereo playing and the automatic climate control maintaining the perfect cabin ambiance, I had plenty of time to ponder what a lot of car this is for the money. Lovely handling, smart looks, full leather seats and cheaper than two monthly payments on a Nissan Quashqai.
If Bob had been more ‘leased not loved’ instead of ‘loved not leased’, he’d have gone through 10 cars in the time he owned this one. Now which is better for the environment?
A real bargain, and quite an adventure.
Update:
3 months after the car was delivered to Switzerland the story got even better…
Due to an issue totally unrelated to the mechanics of the car, Harriet’s BMW ended up on a low loader. Hilariously (for those that were watching) it then fell off. Yup, the car rolled backwards, fell down the back of the lorry and hit the deck.
Harriet got a payout, the truck driver got sacked and the BMW was bought for parts. A sad but rather amusing end to the whole story.