So my 335 arrives at the dealer with a dent after I ordered it three months ago. Knowing cars sometimes arrive with damage I asked the salesman when he called with news of the car's arrival if there was any and he said no, "your car is perfect." I made an appointment to pick up the car and was made to wait for an hour while my salesman was busy with another client. The sales manager thought he would do me a favor and have me sign the paperwork and I declined saying I wanted to look at the car first. I was beginning to think the car wasn't ready; I think they were washing it. When I finally got to see the car, I quickly noticed a small dent. The salesman acted surprised. We drove the car anyway to verify all the equipment was working. The sales manager said. "Its no big deal, we fix things like this all the time." I was not too happy. I sacrificed half a day just to find out my car was damaged when, if they were doing their jobs, they would have found the dent and already had the repair under way. Instead the same sales manager tried to usher me again to the finance dept to "do the paperwork." I again declined and said I would be back after the car is repaired. My gut told me they would be more motivated to get the work done if I didn't buy the car that day (they still have my deposit). My only concern now is I hope they can do the Dent Doctor routine without having to paint and go through more delay. After reviewing the tape, it is obvious someone wasn't looking out for the customer. It isn't so much the car was damaged as it is nobody caught it. Not at the processing center at the port and not at the dealership. Not too impressed with this dealer. I wonder if they really did anything at all besides wash my car. I will post again once there is resolution. Is there anything else I should be concerned about?
Not sure, but kind of makes me think the dealership dented the car. From all I have read, BMW is very thorough at the port of entry to make sure cars are not damaged and if they are repaired properly. Maybe your salesman had it out on a test drive with another customer while you waited for him. If it is a stick shift, I bet he was.
Another great reason to do the Performance Center pick-up, instead of picking up your car at the dealer...
Sorry to hear about the car. Make sure everything on the car is to your liking. If not, REFUSE delivery until it is. While I acknowledge it's frustrating to wait this long for the car to arrive, and THEN discover all is not well, this is your chance to make sure the car is absolutely perfect BEFORE you drive off into the sunset with it. Better to have to put off your driving joy just a little bit longer so they can correct the issue, than to make payments with regrets every time you write the check.
Yeah, they have a body shop and a PDR guy there so you'll never know if your new car had a dent! Out of sight, out of mind?
Could be... But, picking up your car at the Performance Center is a great experience, and it removes the "dealership" variable from the equation...
I agree it's a great way to take delivery. I scheduled five customers for PCD last year and they all had a great time. It's not a cake walk though and scheduling can be difficult or cause you to wait longer to get your car. As for taking the "dealership variable" out of the equation let me comment but preface my comments first with this: The folks at the Performance Center are great. Wonderful folks and some of them are even CCA members. They couldn't be more committed to the customer. But so are many dealerships and sales reps. That being said . . . A car is a mechanical device. Sh*t happens. Of my five scheduled PC deliveries, not one went off without a hitch. The first two were both X5 diesels. Should have been easy, right? Built right next door, what could go wrong? Well even though a PC delivery date assignment builds in enough slop (weeks) to ensure the car is ready, BMW didn't get EPA release on the X5d for 2011 until after production was begun. Two customers were told they could simply have their cars sent to our dealership but they could not pick them up at the Performance Center at their scheduled time and there was no way to reschedule. After some thought, the PC staff offered to host the customers and put them through the complete 101 course, pay for their room and meals, and ship the trucks to the dealership for final delivery. Both customers took them up on that offer and had a great time. The trucks arrived over a week later. Another couple was taking delivery of their GT at the PC and everything went well even though there were no GTs for the customer to take the course in, which is the promise made. When it was time for departure their GT had a fault code. No one had seen it before, no one knew what to do, and the customer was given a domestic rental to drive home. The GT was delivered later. If this had been a dealer delivery with such a problem and had gotten reported on this forum, y'all would have had a field-day lambasting the incompetent dealership that was unable to fix a new car. Well, this was BMW, and they couldn't fix it, either. Stuff happens. The next customer was a 550i 6-speed-manual customer on his tenth-or-better BMW since I sold him his first back in the late '70s. He's a CCA member. We scheduled plenty of time and he made time in his busy professional schedule to go and bought his plane tickets. The car arrived at the port with damage to the front bumper and it was not able to be repaired in time. The PC said there was nothing they could do but send the car when it was repaired. I pushed the point and they made the customer a similar offer to the other group in that he could attend the 101 course but not take delivery. I had to insist on behalf of the customer that they should at least pay for his return trip by rental car since he already had a ticket he was unable to change. They graciously offered to do that. And the customer had a great experience. The staff couldn't have been any nicer to him in trying to make him feel as much a part of the process as they could. A couple of weeks later a first-time BMW owner was taking his wife to pick up her new 328i at the PC. It was set up at my suggestion as a Christmas surprise. The event went as planned, the car was ready, but the PC delivery staff didn't make sure the BMW Assist was functional before delivery (I check that with all my customers' car, just to make sure) and asked the customer to make a call on his way home. Well, the system wasn't completely enabled during the QC-I vehicle prep so his call wasn't complete and BMW Assist wasn't able to complete the customer contact. So, they called the state police who tracked the new owner for hours and eventually pulled him over to make sure he and the car were alright. It took our dealership techs to re-initialize the Assist that the PC staff had sent out with the customer without making sure it was working properly. So enough of this crap about taking the dealership out of the equation. If your dealers are so bad, don't buy cars from them. Even at "below invoice". If you expect WalMart profit, then you'll get WalMart service. Give your business to the good dealers, they're out there. Otherwise you're nothing but a self-fulfilling prophecy running your mouths.
I think you misunderstand my intent. To begin with, I feel like I have a GREAT dealer, and I have nothing but good things to say about the dealership and my sales rep. I have always been treated fairly and with complete respect there. Its clear, however, that many feel otherwise about their particular dealer. No doubt, in some cases their feelings are warranted. And, I don't think you will find "car dealer" or "car salesman" at the top of any "most trusted" list, but that doesn't translate into "ALL DEALERS/SALES REPS" are untrustworthy. On the other hand, there are (and will always) be those buyers who will stop at nothing in the sales process in order to buy at bottom dollar, yet whine when they aren't treated as royalty when something goes wrong. Like a coin, there are always 2 sides. "Boo-boos" can happen at any point during the delivery of a new vehicle. And at the Performance Center as well, not just at a dealership. For those who distrust their dealership, taking the delivery at the Perfornance Center is a viable option, but I admit I personally would view that action as simply short-sighted. So, it was never my intent to "trash" anyone or any dealership in my comments . There's no need to take it personally. And, I agree with you. Wal-mart pricing comes with Wal-mart service.
I didn't. I know from my customers' comments that they don't find their dealings with me a "variable" they wish to avoid. I began working at a BMW dealership in 1976-back when 2002 was a new-car model, not a production year. I know there are bad dealers and I've leveraged that fact over several decades in convincing BMW owners that dealing with me is a good way to avoid those bad ones. Not for me, but for all the other good dealers out there struggling to shake off that mantle of stereotyping while dealing with some of the most complex mechanical objects ever entrusted to the common man I ask to see the occasional story of a good dealer transaction. And for those who don't even use a dealership to lower the rhetoric and keep to what they know instead of repeating old canards to the point of hyperbole. I'd rather be called a BMW salesman than a lawyer or banker. (Yeah, CR, you know what I mean!)
Well, you can put me down for 3... Two BMW's and a MINI. My wife and I are relative newcomers to the world of BMW. Our first was my wife's 2005 MINI convertible, which had a shakey beginning but a good ending. The sales-rep talked a good talk, but decided not to walk the walk. In short, he felt his job was done once the sale was completed. The car was a special order (as I do on all of my cars), and was due dealer-installed options when it arrived (shifter knob, o/s mirror covers, etc.). When the car arrived, he somehow felt it wasn't in his job description to ensure these options were installed, and was far more interested in getting his next customer. What changed a potential bad situation around was the dealership manager, who, after I spoke with him about the "issues", not only corrected the problems but, as an added (and unasked for) plus threw in the rear-seat-mounted wind deflector for free (a $$$ item). For some strange reason, that sales rep is long-gone... My second purchase was an 07 Z4 Coupe, which I had planned to pick up at the Performance Center. Unfortunately for me (in an entire number of ways), kidney stones and a surgical procedure changed those plans a week before the scheduled time. My sales rep was able to have the car re-routed and delivered to the dealership for me to pick up there, and as a bonus, was able to arrange for me to also go through a day at the Performance Center as if I was taking delivery there. The best part... no additional charges! My last BMW purchase was a 2010 328i Convertible. This time, I successfully collected the car at the Performance Center and things could not have gone smoother. Its a great experience and, quite frankly, one that I simply don't understand why other automakers don't do as well here in the US. BTW, I still have all three autos.
For me, picking up a new BMW at a dealer or the Performance Delivery Center is truly a high light experience. Why woulod you want to tarnish that experience and rant for a minor accidental sheetmetal ding. Obviously mil.flyer has some other issues going on besides the dings.
