Recent MD Dealer Experiences?

[raffish48is]

bought at BMW of Towson plenty of loaners no scheduled appt necessary serviced at Tate which has been bought by Group 1 ....hence BMW of Annapolis. my experience so far is they are willing to go the extra mile. They have a plan to expand into a larger space. catch em now before they tack on the extra overhead. Kevin in sales was willing to transfer my lease even though it technically wasn't a unit (short on bimmer loaners but the enterprise guy takes requests)

[zzzzkev]

Originally Posted by Wagner

I'd agree, but he is asking where to BUY not service one

The sale is the easiest part of vehicle ownership. It is also the shortest part. Over the life of the vehicle I prefer having a trusting relationship with my service dept. I drive my cars for 200,000 miles. Too many experiences where what I was told did not sync up with the truth. One example, at less than 35K mis. I was told "the rotors are shot". I told them not to do anything. 60,000 later I changed them myself. They probably could have gone longer. But clearly there was nothing at all wrong with them when I was told to rreplace them. I didn't get stuck with the usual outsized BMW bill for "service". The point is, when you know how to do the work it's offensive when the SM tries to feed you their usual BS like they do most unsuspecting clients with more money than brains. mini-rant over.

[AzNMpower32]

Annoyingly, the service advisor at VOB has changed for us many times. I agree though, maintaining a good relationship and good terms with ONE SA is critical. For in-warranty issues, I still book Russell BMW whenever possible.

If that airbag recall letter ever gets sent, I might try out Charlottesville BMW for their service. After all, I work there lol ("DONT WASH MY CAR")

[Wagner]

Originally Posted by zzzzkev

The sale is the easiest part of vehicle ownership. It is also the shortest part. Over the life of the vehicle I prefer having a trusting relationship with my service dept. I drive my cars for 200,000 miles. Too many experiences where what I was told did not sync up with the truth. One example, at less than 35K mis. I was told "the rotors are shot". I told them not to do anything. 60,000 later I changed them myself. They probably could have gone longer. But clearly there was nothing at all wrong with them when I was told to rreplace them. I didn't get stuck with the usual outsized BMW bill for "service". The point is, when you know how to do the work it's offensive when the SM tries to feed you their usual BS like they do most unsuspecting clients with more money than brains. mini-rant over.

True.

But he asked for a purchase.

If you want service, go to Russell BMW.

[mrkbbd]

Passport loaners are for service, not warranty work. If you need an oil change, you get a loaner, if you need a speaker fixed you don't. My dealer in FLA, that I didn't buy from, gives me a loaner no matter what

[whyireef]

Recently bought an '09 X5 35d from VOB.

My walkaway price was great (~$7600 below MSRP on a ~$67k list, not including the extra $1800 gov tax incentive for diesel X5s).

Hope this helps,

R-

[v10rick]

Oh my a thread from the past.

My lease will end in Oct...some of this info may be helpful.

Would like to buy out my X5 4.4 but with a residual of 34K that would be a bad deal.

CPOs are on the market with the same mileage , Premium sound and NAV for a lot less.

[spacey]

Just wanted to share w/everyone how happy and perfect my buying experience was w/Passport in MD. I took the delivery of 2010 X5d last Saturday, 11/21/2009. My sales rep was Stephen Ludwig and I have to say that it was just impossible to find fault/anything bad w/the way that man has conducted himself, provided me with amazing level of service and help and did it all with a genuine smile and complete lack of car salesiness (a term I coined up meant to be the equivalent of sleaziness but in a car sales line of business - in short the used car salesman syndrome).

This was my 3rd BMW, previous two I bought from BMW of Fairfax. This time I have also started w/Fairfax because I tried to be loyal and they are half the distance from me compared to Passport. However, the open/non pushy always there, straight manner in which Stephen has interacted w/me was just knocking my socks off. He gave me a super deal, has been straight and clean as a whistle and has addressed all questions I've had relating to how the sales tax is calculated (before or after the $4.5k rebate - which he did after the rebate saving $). On top of that, I drove the car off their lot 1 month and 2 days after placing an order! Not sure how much this was their doing so much as BMW NA's scheduling etc, but I have to say that there are a lot of folks, based on reports on this board, who are waiting several months and their delaers are not even sure where the car is when they call and ask. Or the story changes etc, etc. Stephen was always up to date and every time I'd call it seemed like there was another surprise and the car would arrive sooner!

Another person I dealt with was Jeff Steel, the finance manager - this is the man who accepts large checks. An extremely professional and efficient guy who was not only not pushing any rust protection crap, but actually was able to find a better deal on financing than the generally unbeatable Pentagon Federal Credit Union rates (now days) on car loans! We were in and out of there in a very short time and treated like royalty at all times.

I have to say that there is absolutely no reason I can see I would buy another car from any other dealer. They definitely have me for a client if/when I am in the market for another BMW, and I sure as hell hope the folks I dealt with this time are going to be there then so I can do business w them again.

Way to go Passport! Absolutely amazing experience!

spacey

[travel4b]

Originally Posted by spacey

Just wanted to share w/everyone how happy and perfect my buying experience was w/Passport in MD. I took the delivery of 2010 X5d last Saturday, 11/21/2009. My sales rep was Stephen Ludwig and I have to say that it was just impossible to find fault/anything bad w/the way that man has conducted himself, provided me with amazing level of service and help and did it all with a genuine smile and complete lack of car salesiness (a term I coined up meant to be the equivalent of sleaziness but in a car sales line of business - in short the used car salesman syndrome).

This was my 3rd BMW, previous two I bought from BMW of Fairfax. This time I have also started w/Fairfax because I tried to be loyal and they are half the distance from me compared to Passport. However, the open/non pushy always there, straight manner in which Stephen has interacted w/me was just knocking my socks off. He gave me a super deal, has been straight and clean as a whistle and has addressed all questions I've had relating to how the sales tax is calculated (before or after the $4.5k rebate - which he did after the rebate saving $). On top of that, I drove the car off their lot 1 month and 2 days after placing an order! Not sure how much this was their doing so much as BMW NA's scheduling etc, but I have to say that there are a lot of folks, based on reports on this board, who are waiting several months and their delaers are not even sure where the car is when they call and ask. Or the story changes etc, etc. Stephen was always up to date and every time I'd call it seemed like there was another surprise and the car would arrive sooner!

Another person I dealt with was Jeff Steel, the finance manager - this is the man who accepts large checks. An extremely professional and efficient guy who was not only not pushing any rust protection crap, but actually was able to find a better deal on financing than the generally unbeatable Pentagon Federal Credit Union rates (now days) on car loans! We were in and out of there in a very short time and treated like royalty at all times.

I have to say that there is absolutely no reason I can see I would buy another car from any other dealer. They definitely have me for a client if/when I am in the market for another BMW, and I sure as hell hope the folks I dealt with this time are going to be there then so I can do business w them again.

Way to go Passport! Absolutely amazing experience!

spacey

I stumbled on to this posting. I'm new to xoutpost as I am getting my fourth BMW but my first SAV - a 2011 X5 diesel. I just wanted to second these comments regarding Stephen Ludwig. He has been outstanding in every way; the above comments sum up my experience exactly. While I usually give 5 stars on those pesky surveys even if I don't feel the CA quite earned it, in Stephen's case I would gladly give him 6 stars. He has been a great breath of fresh air in my car buying experience and I could not recommend him more highly.

[TriX5]

Passport White team! Generally have good experience with Keith for maintenance.