Worst Dealer in BAY AREA...

[nubmw]

the story goes like this...

i have submitted an inquiry through edmunds.com for a quote on a BMW car. this dealer replied to me then we exchange some emails. we exchanged a few emails for a week so i can get a good deal. we finally agreed on a deal for the car and i was told to come in and drive the car home.

the day has come and i went to the dealership. i test drove the car and went back to his office for the payment. now, he ask me what was the price agreed upon. so i told him then he did some calculation and told me that he can not do it. and i said that how is that possible when you have agreed on the email to sell the car to me. he told me that if he will sell the car to me at that price that they will loose money.

i asked him what is that email supposed to mean then. he told me that he was too tired to read the email and just told me to come in because we had a deal.

i have the history of the email and in black and white he agreed on the price.

bottom line is that i did not get the car, wasted my time and would like to know if i can do anything about this.

 

[MrElussive]

I don't think you can do much about it...dealerships always try to pull that sort of stuff on you. That was smart of you to negotiate via e-mail to get the best price, but stupid of the salesman not to honor it. Did you bring him a printout of the e-mail stating the agreed price?

 

[Custom 3]

nubmw,

I deal constantly with the guys over at Weatherford BMW in Berkeley...I have nothing but good things to say about them. I've always found them helpful and willing to answer questions.

While I have not purchased a car from them, I have friends/co-workers who have...again, good things...very happy.

 

[nubmw]

Sorry for this late response regarding the dealer's name. it is EASTBAYBMW. the contact person is not actually a regular salesperson. he is the Director of internet sales which i think knows what he is quoting me. his name is MICHAEL SMITH. i complained the situation to one of their Operations manager the same day and 5 days later still no reply. so, in short all of them are just giving the customer's some BULLSH** so they can come in. i have check the BBB.org and there are a few complains already about this dealership.

actually, i think the email negotiation is enough to settle on the price. i have bought other cars from email and got the exact price of the car we have talked about. this is the ONLY dealership that will not stand about their PRICE QUOTE.

i have verified with MICHAEL SMITH about the price of the car a few times and he told me to come in because it is a DEAL.

thanks for all the response so far.......

below is the email he sent meisn't this enough to believe him?)


EastBay wrote:

Sorry for the delay. Was buried under deliveries yesterday.



We have a deal – we just need to pick out the car. Please come early Saturday or better call James Bingham 925 251 7038 and select the car so we have it ready for you when you get here.



Sincerely,

Michael Smith
Director of Internet Sales
www.eastbaybmw.com
michael.smith@hendrickauto.com

 

[SFCA-325i]

We bought ours thru SF BMW - see Marc Gusto.

Weatherford, Sonnen and Allison never provided an internet quote - guess they were too busy.

Claridges quoted $1500 off MSRP

SF BMW was within $100 of Claridges and, since it was close to my home, we purchased from them.

Marc did an excellent job. Gave me a quote on Saturday, test drove on Sunday, revised quote on Monday based on color / option choices and we drove the car home on Tuesday. Got me 100% financing. I showed up, signed all the paperwork, walked thru the car and everything was done. His email address is sales@mail.bmwsf.com

Only complaint - call to set up a service appt and earliest is 1 week away. They need to expand their service capacity.

 

[jimdan]

I bought my car from Michael Smith and would buy another one from him. I drove 100 miles to get the deal that he gave me and no other dealer would match. He got me in and out in a reasonable time and did a great job for me. East Bay BMW also offers free loaners when service work is being performed.

 

[codex57]

www.dealerrater.com

 

[achen]

Same thing happened on me with SHELLY BMW in Orange County, howrever it's not a car on the floor, it's about placing an order.

When I was shopping around and could not even find a M3 with the color I like, I called several dealer asking about placing an order. Every one asked for MSRP + $2000 ~ $3000, Shelly was the first one which agreed to let me place an order for MSRP with no markup. The saleman asked me to go over to sign the paperwork, I was excited that I fianlly find a good deal and I went over.

After almost everything was settled down, he asked for MSRP + $2000 and I was mad because that was not what he agreed with me earlier.

He explained that was because this car is highly demanded, $2000 is a reasonable markup for it, since I already researched with many other dealers, I was kind of convinced by that. Then he said he can sell this car to me for MSRP, but I have to agree to pay $9.99 APR in my financing plan, I did some calculation and figured out that it will cost me more in total, so I paid the deposit to order the car at the price MSRP+$2000, with a normal APR..

About 1 week later I found other three dealers which are willing to let me place order for MSRP, I was afraid the same game happened however I still visited one, everything turned out as agreed on the phone and I paid another deposit and ordered exactly the same car again, called Shelly and canceled the order, it took them 7 weeks to return the deposit to me .

 

[MrElussive]

Dealerhship markups in general are just bullshit. Getting your hands on a E46 M3 when they first came out was HORRIBLE. Some dealerships expected people to wait 8 - 11 months for it....give me a break...NO car is worth such a wait.

 

[sfbae]

sounds like u got low balled....been there many times....ughh

try using an auto broker...u would be surprised how low their price can be without the headache on your part