Hi guys,
Thanks for the comments. The car is truly well cared for and deserves a new home and loving hands. I have relisted the car for a "buy it now" of $14.500, but I'm open to fair offers. Here is the fresh link:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/325841174449
Here is the story of how I got the car and what I intended to do with it:
The car is a survivor of Hurricane Ian, which hit Southwest Florida in Sept. 2022. The owner, a snowbird from New York, has kept this car and other cars in his solidly built garage, which survived the hurricane undamaged. The owner's house, on the other hand, suffered massive storm damage. He then asked a friend to take custody of the cars as he needed the free space to store furniture and personal belongings from the damaged house. He also asked his friend to sell some of his cars, including this 1987 BMW 528e. The car caught my eye because of its unrestored and very well preserved original condition, so I bought it. I was told that the owner bought the car new and only drove it in Florida. When asked about a documented history that confirms this, the owners friend told me, that the owner not only handled the car with care, but also carefully kept all the documents about the vehicle in a folder. He would like to ask about it but asked me to be patient as the owner would now have to take care of his house first. I waited a few weeks and contacted the owner's friend again. The answer was that he keeps all the papers in his garage but is unable to locate them at the moment. I should be patient. The owner would get in touch as soon as he found the folder. I was given the owner's phone number but my subsequent calls were always diverted to an answering machine. I then tried to find the owner on the internet, preferably on Facebook, hoping to be able to contact him directly. Unfortunately without success, so I wrote the owner an letter on May 30th. This was my last attempt to contact the owner. However, it came back as undeliverable and could not be forwarded. It could therefore be that the owner has moved or is living permanently in New York again. Unfortunately, I cannot predict whether the owner will actually send me the history of the vehicle at some point. He may even have lost it by now or even thrown it away. The vehicle is therefore being sold without a fully documented history. Therefore I cannot confirm that the owner bought the vehicle new and only drove it in Florida as the carfax does not clearly confirm this. Also, I cannot provide any evidence of service or repairs carried out. For me, all of the friend's statements were plausible and the condition of the vehicle confirmed this, so I bought it even without having the documented history. I then prepared the vehicle according to my standards and wanted to drive it as a family car for a summer in Germany, where we escape the hot and humid summertime in Florida for about 3 months every year. Then the car should be added to my small car collection that I have stored in Germany. That was the plan, but things turned out differently. Our little son was due to be born at the beginning of August and this year's summer vacation had to be drastically reduced. Since the shipping prices have now more than doubled and I could not be guaranteed that the vehicle would be delivered on time, we did not want to take the risk and agreed that we would use the car as a family car in Florida until then to be shipped to Germany in the coming year. In the meantime, my wife has convinced me that now that we have our new child, the vehicle would not be ideal with two small children and that a minivan would be the better solution. She is right. In order not to have to store the vehicle for a year, not knowing whether it will even be possible to ship it next year, we decided to sell it. I prepared the vehicle according to my personal standards, with the best of my knowledge and belief, so that it can find its well-deserved place in my small car collection. While I'm sorry I made the decision to sell, I still want the car to go into good hands and continue to receive the care it deserves. It's just a pity that I can't provide any history on the vehicle. Therefore, I offer the buyer a right of return if he picks up the vehicle in person and can inspect it thoroughly before the actual handover. If it does not meet the buyer's standards and the car does not appear plausible to him, he can withdraw from the purchase. I want to put the car in good hands and it's important to me that the new owner recognizes the car for what it is. An unrestored, above-average well cared for and serviced car in original condition that will give the new owner a lot of pleasure in the future.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
Long story, short: Yes, I have a negative feedback from a buyer who allegedly broke down with a transmission failure halfway from Naples, Florida to Texas. I tried to settle this at the buyer's discretion and even offered to take the vehicle back. Unfortunately, the buyer was not cooperative and could not provide photos or any evidence of his claim. The question about the shop where the car is supposedly located was also rejected. He demanded immediate payment of the repair costs in cash and threatened to give negative feedback. I'm a person you can talk to, but I can't accept unfounded threats. I treat people with the same respect that I receive and will continue to do so. I have another account on ebay (blueye444) with 485 positive reviews and have never received negative feedback.
Greetings from Florida to ya'll, Udo