[rjs]

<rant>

What is everyone's opinion on their dealer? So far I'm not blown away by the service levels i've encountered.

I've been looking at buying an e92 for a while now and am currently on my 3rd dealer.

Dealer 1 (Solihull) They started OK, I managed to arrange a short test drive with them & all seemed well. Decided to wait for the M-Sport package though which they told me would be coming out in March. So I advised them to contact me when they heard anything re: the M-Sport. March is almost here, so is the M-Sport. My phone call from the dealer isn't.

Dealer 2 (Wolverhampton) Oh dear. I went in to enquire & they said they would have to get a car in for test drive, fair enough. I asked for a brochure but they didn't have one so they took my name and address to send me one. Two months later... no brochure! No follow up. :mad:

Dealer 3 (Central B'ham) Promising so far. I went in last week, got test drive booked for this week so will see how it goes.

I don't like poor customer service full stop. Even more so when they expect me give them 40K for a car. If the service is this crap before i've even bought it, what's it going to be like afterwards?!

Is it just me? does everyone else get on fine?

I hope this third one is OK, i'm running out of ones nearby!

</rant>

[gjdavies]

You're not the only one Sytner Solihull will be contacting.

Sounds like the dealers are getting info late........

Don't be too hard on them.

[ChrisMWard]

We've been using our local dealer for years and cannot say enough good things about them. My boss, who runs an X5, is going to switch to them as he is not happy with his local dealer.

Regards

Chris

[booforty]

Chris,

Which dealer is that? I might check them out.

Cheers

[NFS]

Originally Posted by rjs

<rant>

What is everyone's opinion on their dealer? So far I'm not blown away by the service levels i've encountered.

I've been looking at buying an e92 for a while now and am currently on my 3rd dealer.

Dealer 1 (Solihull) They started OK, I managed to arrange a short test drive with them & all seemed well. Decided to wait for the M-Sport package though which they told me would be coming out in March. So I advised them to contact me when they heard anything re: the M-Sport. March is almost here, so is the M-Sport. My phone call from the dealer isn't.

Dealer 2 (Wolverhampton) Oh dear. I went in to enquire & they said they would have to get a car in for test drive, fair enough. I asked for a brochure but they didn't have one so they took my name and address to send me one. Two months later... no brochure! No follow up. :mad:

Dealer 3 (Central B'ham) Promising so far. I went in last week, got test drive booked for this week so will see how it goes.

I don't like poor customer service full stop. Even more so when they expect me give them 40K for a car. If the service is this crap before i've even bought it, what's it going to be like afterwards?!

Is it just me? does everyone else get on fine?

I hope this third one is OK, i'm running out of ones nearby!

</rant>

I bought my current car from Sytner Solihull and the one before that from Rydale Sutton.

Rydale were absolutely apalling.

Sytner were a pain on the deal making side. They sorted out the part ex price pretty quickly - above book value, but they arsed around unnecessarily on the finance.

I told them that I wanted to match the APR on my earlier deal (hire purchase) on my current one (lease purchase), but they did the usual 'it can't be done routine, tried to shift me into a 325i, all the usual tricks basically.

Then when I went in with another finance offer they said they would match it straight away. I got what I wanted and sort of enjoyed the 'game', but I don't think it was acceptable customer service to tell lies about the APR they can offer and waste several hours of a potential customers time.

They did fold on price very quickly though. I just told them the 'drive the deal' price and agreed to pay a couple of hundred more for the convenience of doing the deal with them. Funny part was that they went on line while I was sitting there to check the price.

It's worth saying that the reason I ended up at Rydale the time before was because Sytner again gave me rubbish finance proposals.

I hung up on the wolverhampton dealer when he refused to offer book value for my 530d and refused to drop anything of his asking price for a 6 month old 330i (which was actually more than I ended up paying for my current car).

Having said all this I have found Sytner to be excellent post sale.

I think you just need to put up with unreasonable amounts of bullshit if you want to get a decent deal.

[Z4 Beemer]

There are only 2 Glasgow dealers within a 25 mile radius of me, and I tend to use one for buying and the other for servicing/repairs. The reason I don't get the car repaired at the same dealer I buy from is that they once scuffed one of my alloys on the Z4 when fixing a rear coil barrel spring that snapped. Impressed with both, for different reasons!

[ChrisMWard]

Originally Posted by beauforty

Chris,

Which dealer is that? I might check them out.

Cheers

Paul

PM sent.

Regards

Chris

[vivekk]

If you live in the north-east, I've just got 2 things to say:

1 Preston Hall in Stockton-on-Tees are a bunch of f*cking dipsh*ts :mad:

2 Mill in Boldon (used to be in Sunderland) are a great dealership & are a real pleasure to deal with

I didn't buy my car from either of them, but I get the car serviced 30 miles away at Mill, rather than at Preston 'Ar*e' Hole, which is a lot closer.

Viv

(Please excuse my abusive terms- those b*stards really make me f*cking angry )

[Z4 Beemer]

I have just realised that you stay up north Viv... probably only around 200 or so miles away... we are practically neighbours.

[vivekk]

Originally Posted by Z4 Beemer

I have just realised that you stay up north Viv... probably only around 200 or so miles away... we are practically neighbours.

I don't think we've yet had any Celtic members attend the meets, Gordon.

So, I think we should sort out a northern meet sometime- somewhere between Glasgow & Teesside.
How about the Northumberland National Park ?

Whoops, going completely off topic again, so....

How about having the meet at LLoyd Carlisle- great dealership, probably?!

Viv

[Raggie]

Fully concurr with OP on dealers...

Went to our local.. having asked for a Drive of Manual .. to be told sorry no.. but we have an Auto... ok as I am a little torn between the two.. lets take it out...

Bring the PX in he says.. lets see what we can do.. (sounds ok.. yes.. well no.. )

So I turn up with the spec of the model I want, all options listed colour choices marked, only thing not tied down was auto or man. even told him what finance figure I was willing to accept... for an order there and then..

Having had a very nice long test drive in the Auto, came back simitten and ready to do a deal.. full marks for letting me have agood play..

So what have you got for me I ask..

err. nothing.. very crap PX.. (wasn't expecting anything else), no figures, no cars, no finance. Sale dude then tells me he is off until mid week and will phone me when he is back at work.. wtf..

well by the time he got round to it, deposit was already down at a second place, and delievry planned..

some people you just can't help..

[ChrisMWard]

When we were looking around for a car, the difference between the worst and best part ex was £3K. Our local dealer was in the middle but when we told him what had been offered elsewhere he matched it.

I think it all boils down to what sort of relationship you have with your dealer, ours is very good but has been built up over about the last eight years.

Regards

Chris

[Spacer]

I used Bavarian BMW in Belfast. I find them very easy to work with, and will avoid any usual bu**sh1t when doing the deal. I even got my current e90 from them, even though I'm in Cornwall! Tells you a lot about dealer loyalty! However, bought my previous e46 330 from Chiswick BMW in London (part of HR Owen).... less said about them the better. Having servicing done by Ocean in Falmouth at the mo, some slight problems but resolved quickly.

[Rochester BMW]

STEER WELL CLEAR OF LIND BMW IN MAIDSTONE!!!!

THE worst dealer EVER!!!

My first experience with them in 2001 was buying a new Mini (before launch date) the car ended up being a lemon (maybe not their fault) but after engine number 3 (yes it was that bad) was fitted a friend of mine who worked in the area saw them thrashing my car around the industrial estate (its was the 'works' version) with no air filter on the engine!

They made me wait a week before the car was ready to be picked up again because they didn't have a replacement airfilter and they said it cant be driven without it, yet they were caught red handed thrashing it around without one on! Apparently it sounded like a WW2 plane!


My last dealing with them was when buying my 335, i went into the showroom and said i was intrested in buying a 335, in a nut shell they would not take me out for a test drive until i put down a £1000 deposit saying i would buy the car! They also would not tell me how much their finance was until i commited to buying the car! I walked out and bourght my car elsewhere!

This place is a joke and after speaking to other dealers in kent its common knowledge that Lind are always loosing customers.

I ended up buying my car from Cooper Tunbridge Wells and they have been fantastic, i cannot fault them in the slightest, hence why i have now ordered a new M3 from them (aswell as my dad ordering a new M3 aswell, and my mum is very close to ordering a new X5)

Lind has lost out of nearly £200,000 worth of cars by not taking me seriously when asking about the 335 im quite sure that this is because i am not the typical BMW customer, being 24 and buying a £42k car obviously isnt that common, but it just shows that some dealerships assume you cant afford a car because of your age.... well im living proof that they shouldn't assume such things!

LIND redefine the meaning of useless!

Cooper T Wells.... Couldn't be happier.

[Ted]

Cooper Cobham I can't fault, been doing a good job for me and many others.

Cooper Thames Ditton, well I'm still waiting for that call back about the test drive they promised me 5 months ago.

[NFS]

Originally Posted by Rochester BMW

in a nut shell they would not take me out for a test drive until i put down a £1000 deposit saying i would buy the car! They also would not tell me how much their finance was until i commited to buying the car! I walked out and bourght my car elsewhere!

That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever read. They wanted you to put down a deposit before they told you how much it was going to cost !

I'd complain about them to BMW.

[ZiM]

Originally Posted by Rochester BMW

being 24 and buying a £42k car obviously isnt that common, but it just shows that some dealerships assume you cant afford a car because of your age.... well im living proof that they shouldn't assume such things!

i also was expecting not to recieve the warmest of welcomes when ordering my 335d (same age as you, 24) but i was pleasantly suprised with Knights BMW in Stafford... my only quibble is that once they've got the sale, they're not massively bothered returning your calls etc. anymore...

i thought i was doing alright for my age, but going for a new M!!!, kudos that man!

[Touringman]

Castle BMW in York are superb - so good in fact that on Sunday I just bought a new Z4 3.0 si sport from them

Avoid Sandals in Wakefield - the salesman called me a liar when I said that I had been offered 11% discount via broadspeed.com

Castle in York just matched it (and a bit more) - oh and they followed up with superb customer service.

Ask for Nigel - a salesman thats a real BMW enthusiast (was a technician first and in his spare time builds and races e30m3's) - he really knows his stuff!

[NFS]

Originally Posted by Touringman

Avoid Sandals in Wakefield - the salesman called me a liar when I said that I had been offered 11% discount via broadspeed.com

Outrageous ...

When I quoted drive the deal the salesman just went very quiet and went on the internet to check.

[Touringman]

Yeah - I was a bit taken a back! - he said there was only 8% profit in the Z4 and I therefore "could not possibly get any discount - I was wrong!" - anyway walked out of there and won't be going back
I forgot to say that Castle had let us have use of a demo Z4 over the weekend - As it was good weather it kinda sold us on the idea! - now thats selling!

Cheers

[booforty]

Not impressed with the dealers I've visited in London, the service was not great and none were willing to negotiate reasonable discounts.

Had an excellent buying experience at Lovetts in Bristol. My Dad knew the sales guy and he was brilliant. However, the after sales service has been appalling. When I had an oil change, no courtesy car was available and not even a lift to the shops. I was told it would only take 45 mins and ended up waiting 2 hours. I'm afraid they've lost my future business on this.

[Slaz]

Vines in Guildford have been great with me so far. Gemma is the salesperson I've had and she's been delightful in terms of responding to queries and sorting out loan cars to test drive for the whole day (wanted to test out whether I wanted Sports Suspension or not).

Most importantly they matched what Coast 2 Coast were offering against the 330d coupe almost without flinching, so got nearly 7% off the list price when I ordered (28th Dec).

I've cancelled my Tracker install from them, as I can get it done more cheaply independently, and made a few other changes all without any stress.

Mind you - haven't got the car yet, so we'll see what they're like after having taken my money!