looking to buy a '09 528xi but the carfax says it was not serviced until 17,000 miles ? if I assume that's true, could there be any significant damage due to lack of oil change etc. etc. ? Thanks, also, shouldn't they all say "imported from Germany" at the first entry. thank you

Carfax only shows what has been reported to it, voluntarily, by dealers and some service garages. I wouldn't rely on carfax alone to determine whether a car has had proper oil changes. (in fact accidents and major damage can go unreported to carfax, so use them with a grain of salt.) From your point of view, this car can't demonstrate proper maintenance so use that as a bargaining chip in price negotiation - or walk away if that is a major issue for you.

thanks but that does not ans. my question. I fully understand Carfax is not always correct, it seem unlikely an owner with Free maintenance would pay for unreported service elsewhere or do it himself. If the proper maintenance was not done in the first 17,000 miles what are the most likely engine damages, if any.

If you know for certain it didn't have any oil changes in the first 17,000 of its life, then yeah, it'll show signs of premature wear especially when it has higher mileage on it. Cam lobes, rod/main/piston bearings, cylinder walls worn by piston rings, etc. Keep looking. Even if you do buy it because the seller convinced you it had the proper maintenance, the lack of records will hurt you if you go to sell it in the future. You'll then be in the position of trying to sell it without any maintenance records for those miles.

Thank you very much, that helps. seems like they sold it away from me right after I gave them a deposit, I have had nothing but bad experiences dealing with used car dealers. they all seems to jerk me around, lie and are generally dirt bags, trying to steel my deposit and nothing they say seems to be true. Wait, this guy Jon at Greenwich mtr. seemed great.

I wouldn't rely completely on the car fax, anyway. The more important things to have are maintenance records. That's the best way to know how well the car has been maintained.