[Multimodal]

I am shopping CPO 335s. I emailed a dealer in New Jersey with a list of questions about a 335 they had in stock and said I was a very serious, immediate buyer.

Their response?

Ben I would hate not to be able to meet your expectations..
sounds like to me you should look at a new 335..thanks lou

What the hell??? Do your job!

[Dmitriy@AUTOcouture]

Can you provide some more conversation between you two? Was he not able to find a car that you specifically wanted?

[Multimodal]

I am trying to buy a car that's sitting on their dealer lot. I am an advanced-stage buyer and this is not my first time at the rodeo. I sent him a somewhat long list of questions, such as "what's the ownership history" and "what's the in-service date" and so on. One of the major questions was "I see there's damage to the front and rear bumpers on this CPO vehicle; I assume this would be fixed prior to a sale." I guess my expectation that a $30,000 car sold and certified by a BMW dealer would not have accident damage was "unreasonable."

[Cookiemonster]

If the dealer is a little distance away and you can't justify a trip then use the telephone. What can take 30 minutes to type down in an email can be spoking in a 5 minute phone call.

[EDM92]

Hahaha! Sounds like he just wanted to get rid of you and sell the car to some clueless buyer.

[Multimodal]

I am working today, email lets me multi-task. It's fine, however, if a dealer wants to do the research and then discuss by phone. But when their response is "we just don't want to bother with it," that's unacceptable.

I have escalated to the Sales Manager.

[BMW-NC]

Bummer.

I had to read it like three times to understand.....

Well, you have PM ;-)

Ray

[The J-Man]

You should post the name of the dealership so that forum members know who to avoid.

[Multimodal]

I've been engaged with the sales manager all day. Could just be a bad salesman but not a bad dealership. Time will tell, I have a very fair offer on the table for the car.

[serg1282]

Yea sadly some salesmen aren't worth dealing with; glad the manager (expectedly) is making things right.

[Multimodal]

I told a BMW dealer in NJ that I was interested in a CPO '07 335i that they have in stock for $32,995 via the form on their website. salesman emailed me in the morning yesterday. I provided him with a list of questions, such as "will you fix the damage on this car before selling it?" The salesman told me in a very terse reply that I should probably just go buy a new car. I mean after all: how dare I expect a BMW dealer to sell a clean car!

Of course I escalated my request to the Sales Manager, who promptly answered all of my questions over the phone in about 5 minutes. So far so good, but about to get worse...

I made the Sales Manager an offer of $27,000 on the car by email (after asking him on the phone whether the car was negotiable); $27k was 18% off the asking price. I offered this amount because I have a line on the exact same car in North Carolina, with less miles but also no CPO coverage, for $28,000. The Manager took personal offense to my offer and refused to negotiate with me or take my calls. When I said, "can we talk about this on the phone?" he said "go buy the other car...Not interested". A little later, he literally told me by email that my offer had "insulted him". When I called, the receptionist told me that he was in, asked my name, and then after a few seconds told me that he suddenly had a client in his office! Sheesh, I've never had to work this hard to spend money!

By the end of the day, after I repeatedly ingratiated myself in a way that no luxury car buyer should have to do, he allowed me to sneak in an offer of $30,259 for the car, which he said he'd think about overnight. It took repeated emails today for him to give me an answer, in elegant rhetoric:

can't do it...Thank you

Yeah, thanks a bunch. Stay away from these guys; bunch of schemers that can't keep their cool.

[Multimodal]

What a shitty shopping experience.

After six years of owning a BMW, I am seriously considering just hopping over to the local VW dealer, who seemed grateful for my business, and buying a comfy Jetta TDI as a daily driver.

[mkaaes]

Years ago when I was a young lad (18 or 19) I went to look for an M3. I walked to the dealership because I lived around the corner, dressed in a t-shirt and jeans wearing a 3k watch. Looked around for a bit then I asked a sales guy if they had any 97' or 98' M3's. The guy literally handed me a piece of inventory paper and walked away. I was quite pissed, so the next day I had my friend drive me to another dealership, found what I wanted fairly quickly and bought it. I then returned to the dealership close to my house and explained to their sales manager what had happened, suffice to say he wasn't very happy

[Multimodal]

Isn't it interesting that I was dealing with the sales manager the whole time.

In my initial offer, I said, "I have heard your financing costs go up after 60 days on the lot. This car has been on the lot for over 45 days. Let me take it off your hands."

His reply, "I've worked in this business for 30 years. I know how it works!"

Well, excuse me for trying to buy a car from you!

[Outlaw 06]

Since when are car dealers required to accept every low-ball offer that comes along? If a dealer isn't willing to accept your offer then try finding another dealer who will (or simply increase your offer).

[Multimodal]

They don't have to accept the offer. But they shouldn't get all butt-hurt when a serious buyer is making offers. They should tell me what they would sell the car for. The problems in this case were that (a) the salesman refused to even entertain diligence questions, and (b) the sales manager took my offer personally and refused to negotiate or sell me the car.

[HPIA4v2]

Originally Posted by Mr. Maboomba

They don't have to accept the offer. But they shouldn't get all butt-hurt when a serious buyer is making offers. They should tell me what they would sell the car for. The problems in this case were that (a) the salesman refused to even entertain diligence questions, and (b) the sales manager took my offer personally and refused to negotiate or sell me the car.

Maboomba, you need to vent that's OK but at the end you need to let that car go. If you offer fair price there should be plenty of cars out there.

Yes there are snobby dealer out there, just vote with your wallet. It's business deal so don't feel like you are saving them headache by buying the slow moving car.

Good luck with your search

[Multimodal]

I have already let the car go and wouldn't buy a car from that dealer.

However, the dealer was incredibly unprofessional. The way their sales and management staff acted was more becoming of a roadside used car huckster than a BMW dealership.

[EDM92]

That was a really shitty deal for a beat up car anyway.

[bulldog_yyc]

Originally Posted by Mr. Maboomba

I have already let the car go and wouldn't buy a car from that dealer.

However, the dealer was incredibly unprofessional. The way their sales and management staff acted was more becoming of a roadside used car huckster than a BMW dealership.

you are too high maintenance for them. They have tons of emails to reply to and seeing a list of 17 questions makes them think "man, I have to spend an hour typing up a response to this guy to maybe make a sale". They can just as easily spend their time selling higer margin vehicles and not deal with a pain in the ass customer. I am sure your questions were reasonable and I agree with your general position but you really should have gone in there to negotiate this stuff in person rather than firing off emails if you were serious about purchasing the car.

[kurtural]

I agree with the Turk. The guy has to move 30-40 units a month to bring home the bacon. He doesn't want to deal with somebody who is going to bleed him dry for a $150 commission. Move on to a different car/dealer.

[Multimodal]

Have moved on to better cars and better dealers.

I feel kind of sorry for you guys if you allow yourselves to be beat up during the BMW sales process - for a new or used car the BMW-branded shop should treat you with respect even before you hold a title.