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Old 11-17-2010, 10:38 AM
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This is pure business logic, makes perfect sense. If the customer didn't buy it from them or another dealer, nor does service through them what motivation do they have to lose money if they are at or near capacity for service volume now? Especially given the dealer is in an economically un-friendly area towards imports, they might be just surviving and can't afford to give breaks.

They are much more likely to view their prime customers/prospects as ones that don't just drive the brand but that actually buy from them and service with them.

JCL, I think you got it right on the money.

Quote:
Originally Posted by JCL View Post
I understand what you are saying, but that just isn't how it works. I have been on the dealer side, and the distributor side (not with BMW products) and it usually worked more like this:
  • Dealer makes a case that a customer requires support. If the dealer isn't asking, and pushing the case, the distributor is unlikely to do anything. They depend on the dealer to filter out all the requests. They can't fix every broken car out there. This is related to why people rarely feel that calling BMW directly, and bypassing the dealer, helped them in the end.
  • Distributor and dealer evaluate the customer and what it is worth to keep that customer. It sounds very harsh, since the OP is (was) a loyal BMW fan, but it doesn't sound like he bought his vehicles new. So, he hasn't been directly supporting the dealer or distributor, (aside from the parts purchases, and this failure isn't related to the parts purchases). The customer history is important here. Has he bought four or five new vehicles from the dealer? Did he buy the used vehicle there? Did he buy extended warranty? Those transactions all had profit that a policy settlement could be offset against.
  • Distributor asks the dealer what he is contributing. It isn't all on the distributor, they will look for the dealer to contribute to demonstrate that the dealer feels strongly about it. If the dealer isn't willing to throw some money in, why would the distributor?
  • They will come up with some split of dealer/customer/distributor. If the customer accepts that, great. If he doesn't, they will pull it off the table, since there is no reason to pay anything if they aren't making the customer happy. Better to save their money. Any offer they make will be based on retail. Their internal split between the dealer and distributor, on the other hand, will be based on cost. The additional challenge in this particular case is that their cost is more than a third party overhaul. It makes no sense for the OP to take that kind of offer, if he can get it fixed cheaper elsewhere.
  • Any settlement offer made has a risk for the dealer, the risk that they customer won't actually buy any more from them, thus proving that their offer was a waste (to them). That is why they may make an offer more in the nature of a discount on a future new purchase, instead of one that is more of a hope and wish that the customer buys a new vehicle. This would play out as a new vehicle purchase, with the current broken vehicle being a trade. It doesn't sound like the OP would be happy with such an offer, but you never know.
As an aside, we need to remember that nothing is free. If BMW starts fixing all their out of warranty vehicles, vehicles that they have no obligation to fix and which they will not have put money aside for, the costs go one place: they are added to the price of new vehicles. We all pay in that case, if we are repeat purchasers. It sounds really harsh, and I don't want to be mean, but I hope that BMW does not fix all the second hand vehicles out there, because it will mean that it is harder for me to afford a new BMW. There is no magic pot of money.

The above may be helpful to people who find themselves in the position of looking to a dealer for out-of-warranty policy or support. It can help to understand the motivations, and the system.
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