[egtlover74]

I had a couple of dealers competing for my business but BMW of fairfax told me to come in and they would beat other dealer's price. However, once in the dealership, they said no way they could even match the price. At that time, the sales man I dealt was not there, so I left the dealership very disappointed but decided to leave a message for the salesperson. Not surprisingly, he never called or emailed back. Bad business practice at BMW of Fairfax. Oh, I was dealing with the internet sales manager or director and his name is James. I will just leave the last name out. If anyone gets the same promise, don't waste your time and go somewhere else. By the way, my 335is being built and it should be done today.

[jun]

hm. purchased my 335 from bmw of fairfax. dealt with mike choung. pretty good guy and i'm definitely satisfied with my purchase.

[egtlover74]

I ended up purchasing from Passport BMW. No funny business.

[BMW James]

Kisoo,

I appreciate the way you feel and I apologize for missing you that Friday. As you may remember, I was at the track that day and we spoke about me attempting to make it there (back to the showroom) before the day was over. Unfortunately I did not. I told you to ask for Petr or Ryan and they would take care of you. I believe that Mr. Rey Wolmers served you and that we did honor what we had an agreed to which was a certain amount over cost or we beat another dealer’s offer by $350 or so. The issue I believe was that you did not have a bona-fide offer on hand and the deal was so slim that it did not make good business sense to conduct the transaction at that time. I think that it would have been possible if we would have met at the original scheduled time/day a few days earlier. I received your voice mail and I left you one the very next day to attempt to figure things out to ensure another very satisfied client. I work very hard at being the best possible servant to every single client I am in contact with and I do not appreciate you posting information that is not 100% accurate on posts or websites. You and I have never met to discuss this transaction. Please do accept my invitation to meet and try to make sense of what actually happened. I would really like the opportunity to finally meet you as well. We had a great relationship over phone and email and I intend on keeping that way

Thanks,

James

Originally Posted by egtlover74

I had a couple of dealers competing for my business but BMW of fairfax told me to come in and they would beat other dealer's price. However, once in the dealership, they said no way they could even match the price. At that time, the sales man I dealt was not there, so I left the dealership very disappointed but decided to leave a message for the salesperson. Not surprisingly, he never called or emailed back. Bad business practice at BMW of Fairfax. Oh, I was dealing with the internet sales manager or director and his name is James. I will just leave the last name out. If anyone gets the same promise, don't waste your time and go somewhere else. By the way, my 335is being built and it should be done today.

[serg1282]

Thanks for the info, egtlover74.

[rt909]

My experience is quite the opposite. I purchased two cars from James. Very positive experience. He always returned my calls & emails very promptly. I do shop around for the best price and James always end up matching or beating the price. Of all the CA's I dealt with at various dealerships (Passport, Tischer, Sterling, Annapolis), he is the only one who really knows about BMW's and easy to deal with. I don't event want to name the CA who mentioned "this 335i has a 3L V6".

[Zero.7]

In the end, Fairfax BMW lost out as OP purchased his car elsewhere. And, b/c of his "bad" experience, Fairfax BMW may have lost potential future clients as well.

IMO, based on James response and another member's response, James seems like a standup guy, and maybe we are not hearing the whole story. But, my point is, dealerships in general HAVE TO WORK HARDER to earn our business. They have to go out of their way IMO. These are not inexpensive purchases now. I walked away from a very well known dealership in my area, and drove all the way to Santa Barbara to purchase my car. Why? B/c the SB dealership honored its word and really showed that it wanted my business. After I made the purchase, I got numerous calls back from my local dealership to try and amend "things"....but guest what, it was too late. They not only lost my business on the car, but also future service/maintenance work as well.

[shifterboy45]

Originally Posted by Cni2i

In the end, Fairfax BMW lost out as OP purchased his car elsewhere. And, b/c of his "bad" experience, Fairfax BMW may have lost potential future clients as well.

IMO, based on James response and another member's response, James seems like a standup guy, and maybe we are not hearing the whole story. But, my point is, dealerships in general HAVE TO WORK HARDER to earn our business. They have to go out of their way IMO. These are not inexpensive purchases now. I walked away from a very well known dealership in my area, and drove all the way to Santa Barbara to purchase my car. Why? B/c the SB dealership honored its word and really showed that it wanted my business. After I made the purchase, I got numerous calls back from my local dealership to try and amend "things"....but guest what, it was too late. They not only lost my business on the car, but also future service/maintenance work as well.

I think this is where we all see the plus and minuses for the automotive sales scene. One dealer sometimes will work magic, and another only provide a little fluff. But all and all this is not representative of the each and every car deal, or service visit. Each dealer has their own issues to contend with and some based on the several variable are limited in the overall williness to take a loss in this sorry enconomy for one reason or another... and believe me its not always an attempt to screw the customer.

For example, the car that i now drive was built for me, on my time schedule -- and a few weeks before delivery there was a M3 four door sedan that was offered to me at a very reasonable d/p and monthly, so i told the guys to forget the 335 coupe, i would get into the M3 when my lease was up. paperwork was done, and all we need to do is close it -- during the close, they found out there was discount money in the deal that was only available to certain customers -- of which I was not .. the dollar amount was very low, but it went out of my budgetary limits (ones that i gave myself when I ordered my 335), so i had a decision, M3 or 335 -- lill more out of pocket -- or stay on target... i chose to stay on target -- got the payment i wanted, and well, missed out on a sweet ride.. did they work hard to get me into the M3, yes, but it was my decision that made the difference.

I believe the are ALWAYS two sides to a story, but most will except that the dealer must of made some type of mistake... sometimes people arent satisfied unless they think they are "sticking it to the dealer" --- this type of guy comes out saying he just committed robbery at the dealer while they were watching...

car purchases are purely negotiations -- if anyone is familiar with the principle, there is point of middle ground -- which is called "the win-win" situation.. when its win-loss someone is going to feel abused.

[egtlover74]

Ok, let me clarify since James decided to reply to my post. I did ask for Ryan but I am not sure if the person who took my deal was actually Ryan. However, I sat down with the CA and explained the situation and what James promised to me earlier. The CA's exact response was "why didn't you buy from that dealer?" so I explained AGAIN why I was there!!! Then the CA explained that he was not trying to be confrontational After about 20 minutes and the exact response I got was "There is no way we can even match that price." So I thanked him and walked out. Now I got the exact deal that I told you and the CA at the dealer. By the way, there was no missed call from you the next day. Yes, we had a very good deal going only to be ruined with really bad experience. You never gave me the written deal either. At least Passport BMW honored what they said. Besides, I told you over the phone that the deal I got was over the phone and there was NO WRITTEN OFFER since all dealser are hesitant to give out the deals over the email just like you never gave me one. And your exact words were " I will beat any offer by $ 500" I called to make sure and I even gave you the exact number and you said there is no problem. I was just not happy about the whole deal but now I am pissed off. Thaks to you.

[egtlover74]

My first purchase was from the Passport BMW and the deal was done in 20 munutes without any prior negotiations. Pleasant experience it was. So naturally I referred about a dozen people there and about half of them actually bought the cars. Not necessarily from the person I got my deal from. Guess I will have to keep referring my friends to Passport BMW.

[bavarianboar]

Originally Posted by egtlover74

Ok, let me clarify since James decided to reply to my post. I did ask for Ryan but I am not sure if the person who took my deal was actually Ryan. However, I sat down with the CA and explained the situation and what James promised to me earlier. The CA's exact response was "why didn't you buy from that dealer?" so I explained AGAIN why I was there!!! Then the CA explained that he was not trying to be confrontational After about 20 minutes and the exact response I got was "There is no way we can even match that price." So I thanked him and walked out. Now I got the exact deal that I told you and the CA at the dealer. By the way, there was no missed call from you the next day. Yes, we had a very good deal going only to be ruined with really bad experience.

Very interesting that he joined the forum to make his first post, in your thread.

[egtlover74]

Originally Posted by bavarianboar

Very interesting that he joined the forum to make his first post, in your thread.

Oh, I didn't even bother to check that How credible is that?

[rust99]

I had similar experiences with VA dealers (Sterling, Fairfax and Arlington). Even though they would do invoice + 500, the final price included "$399" dealer processing fees and other random fees. This is general observation about dealers in general -- so be leary when dealer will say they will do invoice + 500. Ask for the total price.

My previous car was totaled. My friends told me that I should be excited about getting a new car. But I wasn't excited about the car shopping experience. A lot has changed since I purchased my car 4 years ago thanks to the "internets." As buyers, we have a lot more information available.

I talked to the different dealerships in the area. I was able to get them to compete with each other.

In the end, I went with Passport -- as others have stated in the above posts "no funny business."

My CA was incredible (David). He was very transparent about pricing (he sent me the invoice price and the MSRP based on the options I wanted). He even waived the $99 dealer processing fee and did not charge me MACO or any other fees. He also gave me the $1300 trans credit (this is not something that dealers are obligated to give you

Everyone is amazed about the price of the car. I have referred 2 friends to my CA.

[egtlover74]

David is the person I am buying my 335is

Originally Posted by rust99

I had similar experiences with VA dealers (Sterling, Fairfax and Arlington). Even though they would do invoice + 500, the final price included "$399" dealer processing fees and other random fees. This is general observation about dealers in general -- so be leary when dealer will say they will do invoice + 500. Ask for the total price.

My previous car was totaled. My friends told me that I should be excited about getting a new car. But I wasn't excited about the car shopping experience. A lot has changed since I purchased my car 4 years ago thanks to the "internets." As buyers, we have a lot more information available.

I talked to the different dealerships in the area. I was able to get them to compete with each other.

In the end, I went with Passport -- as others have stated in the above posts "no funny business."

My CA was incredible (David). He was very transparent about pricing (he sent me the invoice price and the MSRP based on the options I wanted). He even waived the $99 dealer processing fee and did not charge me MACO or any other fees. He also gave me the $1300 trans credit (this is not something that dealers are obligated to give you

Final price I paid for a 2011 = invoice (which includes the $200 training fee) + title/tags + VA sales tax

Everyone is amazed about the price of the car. I have referred 2 friends to my CA.

[FLA 335]

eh... at the end of the day you got the car for the deal you wanted!!

i traveled 1000 miles to deal with a internet sales CA who held up his end of the deal and beat every price i was getting by at least $1500... well worth it for me...

[egtlover74]

Originally Posted by FLA 335

eh... at the end of the day you got the car for the deal you wanted!!

i traveled 1000 miles to deal with a internet sales CA who held up his end of the deal and beat every price i was getting by at least $1500... well worth it for me...

That is the service we all should be getting After all we are paying for the car and the service

[rust99]

Originally Posted by egtlover74

David is the person I am buying my 335is

David rocks. On the day I picked up my baby, David was suppose to be off. But he came into the office to deliver both my car and someone else's...he had driven all the way down from NY for his M3 sedan. I can't imagine driving 4 hours one way for a car. But this speaks a lot about David and Passport.

Separately, I had placed my order to have the 19" wheel upgrade for the ZMP. Because of safety issues with the original 225M rims (something that BMW hasn't publicly acknowledged), they switched to the 230 style rims. My order was held up -- somehow "stuck" in the ordering system during the product switch. David worked to get my car released so it would finally get produced. Somehow during this process, I lost the Sat radio option that I wanted. David told me not to worry. When the car was delivered to the dealership, he had the Sat radio installed (he only charged me the invoice price, the same price as if I ordered it from the factory).

Also one CA from another dealership (cough cough Sterling cough cough) tried to talked me out of getting the 19" wheels.

I would highly recommend David from Passport for his stellar customer support.

[RBinDC]

I also bought my 335is from Joern Esser at Passport, primarily because Joern has a great reputation for ED orders.

I worked out my offer price by taking the USAA pre-negotiated price (which is about $700 over invoice) and subtracted from it the 7% discount on the base price of the vehicle. I sent the offer to Passport, Arlington and VOB. Arlington immediately got back to me accepting the offer. Joern at Passport wanted $100 more and VOB never responded.

I went with Joern because of his reputation - it was worth an additional $100 to me.

The final price of the vehicle included just the MD sales tax, titling and tags plus a $100 dealer processing fee. Not other add-ons.

If I were taking delivery in the US I would have pushed the dealers for a better price, aiming at $500 over invoice. But ED saved me over $3000 additional.

BTW, had I gone with BMW Arlington for the lowest price, I don't have any idea whether they would have tried to add on other dealer fees. Just thought of that now.