my terrible experience at Mckenna BMW in Norwalk, CA

[X5FX]

Shame on the dealer that expects you to dress or behave in a certain manner....honestly this is bs. This week I was looking at an Acura MDX for my wife and the sales woman drove the car to my house and demonstarted all the features to her then left it with her for the day, during my original contact with her I wore jeans and a tee shirt...shes going to get the sale. My local BMW dealer didnt because of his attitude.

[vinuneuro]

Lexus and Acura; Sales service just doesn't get better.

BMW-> doesn't get much worse. If you find a good dealer and/or sales-person / SA, hold on to them because they're a rarity.

[BGM]

I hate to say it but Acura doesn't have the snob appeal of BMW (I'm not saying it's right). Acura doesn't make an $80K M5. Same with Lexus. Acura and Lexus make great cars---people buy their cars for the quality and not for the nameplate brand like what a MB or BMW has.

[xsracer]

Originally Posted by vinuneuro

Lexus and Acura; Sales service just doesn't get better.

BMW-> doesn't get much worse. If you find a good dealer and/or sales-person / SA, hold on to them because they're a rarity.

I'd have to disagree. I've had terrible experience with one of the lexus dealers. I mean the guy put so much pressure on me it wasn't even funny. He wouldn't let me walk. When I was getting my next lexus, I wanted a specific color (blue), which was pretty rare. I found one and went to talk to them and to my dismay it was the same dealership. I've had a price quote on a blue one from another dealership and when I asked them to match it, they've suddently discovered that their car was sold, meanwhile they tried to call that other dealership and pull that car from them. One of the worst experiences ever, matched only by one of the infiniti dealerships.

In contast my x5 buying experience was extremely easy. Test drive no questions asked. No pressure. Here's our price. Think about. No funny business or hidden stuff. I only got 2k off but it was as painless as it gets.

So the point is - you can't say that some brands are better than others. It definitely depends on a particular place.

Although I have to say - 3 benz dealerships I went to where extremely nice.

[Wagner]

Originally Posted by BGM

Acura doesn't make an $80K M5.

Neither does BMW.

[Wagner]

Originally Posted by xsracer

I'd have to disagree. I've had terrible experience with one of the lexus dealers. I mean the guy put so much pressure on me it wasn't even funny. He wouldn't let me walk. When I was getting my next lexus, I wanted a specific color (blue), which was pretty rare. I found one and went to talk to them and to my dismay it was the same dealership. I've had a price quote on a blue one from another dealership and when I asked them to match it, they've suddently discovered that their car was sold, meanwhile they tried to call that other dealership and pull that car from them. One of the worst experiences ever, matched only by one of the infiniti dealerships.

In contast my x5 buying experience was extremely easy. Test drive no questions asked. No pressure. Here's our price. Think about. No funny business or hidden stuff. I only got 2k off but it was as painless as it gets.

So the point is - you can't say that some brands are better than others. It definitely depends on a particular place.

Although I have to say - 3 benz dealerships I went to where extremely nice.

I haven't had an Acura or Lexus (don't really love overpriced Hondas and Toyotas). But I have heard there service is pretty good, that said, I've only had one issue with a BMW dealer in MD and I've dealt with 4 or 5 dealerships. So, IMO, the service isn't bad.

[Boston X5 4.4]

Two weeks ago I was wearing board shorts/tank on my way to beach and stopped in to BMW peabody for a quick look around at the new 3'ers........sales associates were almost tripping over each other to help me.

...only difference was I was in my GF's dad's 911 turbo vert........I'm sure it would have been different if I showed up in his '90 Bronco trash-to-dump runner

[BGM]

If you pull up in front of a Bentley dealer in an '84 Sunbird--sales people aren't going to jump out of their shoes to talk to you. If you pull up in that same car at a Honda dealer they will talk to you. Honda sales people have to sell 3-4 cars to equal the commission of 1 BMW, MB, Porsche, etc. They need to do more volume on a lesser "commissionable" car so they can't afford to be as picky. It's basic economics.

[chiefneil]

Usually when I'm in for service and wandering around the showroom floor, the sales folks leave me alone. That's perfectly fine with me - I've personally never understood the "standing around waiting for someone to ask me if I need help" attitude. When I go in to shop or test drive, I either call ahead or go straight to the receptionist and ask for a sales rep.

I've always had great service while dressed very casually, too. Although one sales guy was funny. I bought an E53 X5 at MSRP from him when they first came out. It had to go in for service for a couple weeks soon after due to a tranny problem. He knew I was thinking about a 330i, so he put me in a 330i coupe loaner for two weeks. But then when I was ready to buy the 330i he wouldn't budge on price. He called me back a few weeks after that conversation to ask me if I was ready to buy yet, and I told him that I just bought one from the other dealer in town for 2k less than his "bottom-line" price.

[JBHorner]

I don't really have an issue if a salesperson doesn't approach me when I arrive at a dealership. I might be wrong, but they have been faulted for that in the past. ("Pouncing" on people.) I belive the softer approach is a better approach, but that's just me.

Also, I like to be left alone in respect of their time as well as mine. I might spend 30 to 40 minutes looking at cars before I decide on one I want to know more about. (i.e., it interests me) Although I may have an idea of the model, but the decision on features, etc. takes longer. Is it fair to them to ask them to wait around on me, when I'm not even certain about what I want? It's their income, so I would hope they can assist someone who is ready, rather than someone like me who is still looking at various pieces.

I bought my first X5 from McKenna. My overall experience was quite postive. I'd driven up in a GMC Envoy (about 2 years old at the time), and I was wearing blue jeans and a t-shirt. "Standard" logic would say that I wasn't a very likely buyer. (Late-model vehicle driven into the lot.) When I was ready to talk to someone, I went to the receptionist and asked to speak to a salesperson. I was greeted by one who observed me driving in. He was very professional, and didn't bat an eye. We took out the vehicle for a drive...a relatively long drive. At no point did he seem hurried. I drove away in my car that night...and had a friend come back to pick up the Envoy.

So, I don't know that it's fair to dis a whole dealership over one experience. I think many people have different views of what should happen when a dealership is visited. Where I prefer to be left alone until I'm ready to dig deeper, others may prefer to be approached. In many ways, the salesperson just can't win.

Now, this said, when I was much younger, I looked at a Jeep Grand Cherokee. (The second year they were out.) I walked up to the most expensive model they had on the lot. I asked for a salesperson. The very first thing out of his mouth was, "You do realize this is a $35,000 vehicle, don't you? Can you afford that?" I a sure I looked stunned. I looked at him, thanked him for his time, and bought the car at a different dealership. I drove it to the original dealership the next day, at which point I told the salesperson that he lost a sale because he made an outward assumption.

Joel