Do NOT buy with Military Sales or from Kolon Motors (Korea)

[jimf15e]

I'm currently stationed in Korea and in the horrendous process of trying to finish our purchase of a 2008 X5 through BMW's military sales program. Long story short, do NOT try to buy a BMW through this program and DEFINITELY not from Kolon Motors, the Korean dealership for BMW military sales unless you enjoy lies, half-truths, slimy salesmen and lots of lost time and money. Kolon has branches in Seoul (Yongsan) and Songtan (Osan AB) and were more than happy to hold on to our full payment of nearly $60k for no reason, significantly delaying delivery of our paid in full vehicle. If you're not familiar with the military sales program, it allows military members serving overseas to buy BMWs and Minis at a pretty decent discount. However, even that gets watered down by 0.9% financing and other deals. I won't get into pricing details here. Anyway, I ordered a 2008 X5 3.0si in May 2008, specifying a late July production so I could (hopefully) pick up the car when I returned to the states in September. Everything went fine - gave our 10% deposit, got informed a VIN was assigned and production was starting, etc.

That's when everything went down the crapper. The military sales program requires you to pay in full once a VIN is assigned (should have been my first sign of questionable business practices). I had 10 days to get all our financing in order and have checks Fed Ex'd from the US to Korea. I paid ON TIME! So what does Kolon do with our money? They SAT on it for nearly 5 weeks. They complained about the 'slow' Korean banking system. Never once did they tell me ahead of time that they'd hold on to our money for that long. I guarantee it sat in their stupid bank making interest for them. Every day I called asking where our money was. BMW NA was also asking where the funds were - they hadn't received it yet. Kolon, of course, knew nothing. I was freaking out thinking I had nearly $60k stolen from us.

Finally Kolon tells me the money was wired. Now BMW NA is telling me it's a 7-10 business day process to 'approve the wire transfer and release the vehicle.' WTF? Aren't wire transfers supposed to be instant?? Hence the name?? So our car has been sitting on a lot in South Carolina for 6 weeks now. And a hurricane is on the way - can't wait to see what that does. All because Kolon Motors STOLE our money for 5 weeks and now BMW NA can't figure out how to type a couple of commands into a keyboard. The funny part is the line from BMW NA's email regarding pick up procedures: "You must pick up your vehicle from the dealership within 6 weeks of production" Or what? What if it's not at the dealership because the Korean sales office is a bunch of thieves and BMW NA is a bunch of incompetent morons? Hopefully they'll sell the car so I can get our money back.

And to top it off our E90 330i is going in to the shop for the 5th time in 2 months. Steering wheel lock fixed via new progman update, visit #1. New progman from visit #1 broke TCU (bluetooth, BMW Assist, etc) and needed to be replaced, visit #2. Needed to replace windshield but shop broke new windshield before installing so nothing done, visit #3. (WIndshield replaced by Safelite - required 2 visits, let's call them #3a and #3b). Passenger window won't go up but no motor in stock and no loaner car available, visit #4. Driver's door not unlocking so taking car back to replace window motor as well as fix door lock, visit #5. I'm riding a friggin' Schwinn to work when I get home.

Korea - The Land of the Not Quite Right. BMW - A shadow of their former glory.

[golfer4life]

I feel your pain. Hope everything works out.

[awesomejun]

Kolon Motors is one of the BMW dealers, notorious for listing vehicle's price higher compare to other dealers. I guess they did not really take care of your deal since they're getting so much more profit from selling a vehicle by retail.

Hope everything goes well.

[nunofernandes]

i bought my 2008 X5 through pentagon auto sales in Italy, through the military program. They were great and i had absolutly no problems. They too asked for the money once the vin was assigned but that is how the program works, you have to do the financing on your own. I got the 3.0si fully loaded for 53k on the nose. It was the best purchase ever.

Sorry about your luck with that company

[jimf15e]

Originally Posted by nunofernandes

i bought my 2008 X5 through pentagon auto sales in Italy, through the military program. They were great and i had absolutly no problems. They too asked for the money once the vin was assigned but that is how the program works, you have to do the financing on your own. I got the 3.0si fully loaded for 53k on the nose. It was the best purchase ever.

Sorry about your luck with that company

One of my (many) complaints was exactly that, the policy that Military Sales requires you to pay in full up front before it is even produced. What if they screw up the order? Even when purchasing special ordered cars stateside AND securing my own financing I've never had to do that. It's a Military Sales policy, it has nothing to do with securing financing on your own.

On a side note, how on earth were you able to get a fully loaded 3.0si for 53k? Do you mean no kidding fully loaded or just 'well equipped'? Based on the published price lists for military sales that seems pretty impossible. My options list in my sig shows what I got for just under $57k. If I was able to do that for 53 I'd turn around and sell it just for profit!

[piaabro210]

Yikes, so sorry you have had to go through all that ordeal. This I think is a classic thread. I loved your one liners like "...the Korean sales office is a bunch of thieves and BMW NA is a bunch of incompetent morons." LOL!! I hope things go much better for ya soon!

[Nutinup]

Wow...I ordered my X5 (Just installed Kit so pics wil be posted after my ankle surgery Friday) here at BMW Military sales here in Germany in May 07 and they ACTUALLY delivered in Jul 08...had only 12 miles worth of gas in teh dayum tank...but truck arrived nonetheless. Will order my 650 convert upon Air Force retirement date of Oct 09, hehehe. Sorry about those Korean salesmen though. Come to think of it, I ordered my Shriner's walking suit from Osan and have yet to recieve it...been over a year since order!

[erick_c]

I ordered my 3.0si from Kolon Motors (Seoul) and I have had nothing but the best experience. I still don't have my truck... damn shipping co...

It sounds like you bought your car from the dealership in Osan AFB. I've heard of other horror stories about buying from them.

I'm surprised the SA didn't inform you of the recent changes that occured with their Financial Institution. My SA in Kolon Motors (Seoul) notified me of the purchase procedures well before I even started looking at cars, i.e. full payment within one week of receiving the VIN, delivery estimates, etc. They even informed me of the changes that their financial institution was imposing on them (i.e. a new policy where the bank now waits for the issuing bank to SEND them the money [it's stupid but somehow this process can take up to 10 weeks, I believe it because my wife uses Korean banks... they f&#$&^& suck] before transferring the money to BMW AG and the banks now require higher 'processing' fees). Money transfers from Dealership to Bank to German to North America, I can see how that can take a few days. I don't understand the BMW NA "accept and release" time...

The Military and Diplomatic Sales program is run by BMW AG and can not offer 'specials' offered by BMW NA. So, no lease options, no financing, no Owner's Circle (at least until I get back to the US)...

I hope this clears up for you.

Originally Posted by awesomejun

Kolon Motors is one of the BMW dealers, notorious for listing vehicle's price higher compare to other dealers.

Yes, Kolon Motors (BMW Korea) is unnecessarily higher than others, i.e. Deutchse Motors. The Kolon Motors in question here does not belong to the BMW Korea group. They belong to BMW AG because the Military and Diplomatic Sales program is run by BMW AG. Military and Diplomatic Sales program prices are actually REALLY REALLY good.

Originally Posted by jimf15e

One of my (many) complaints was exactly that, the policy that Military Sales requires you to pay in full up front before it is even produced. What if they screw up the order?

On a side note, how on earth were you able to get a fully loaded 3.0si for 53k? Do you mean no kidding fully loaded or just 'well equipped'? Based on the published price lists for military sales that seems pretty impossible. My options list in my sig shows what I got for just under $57k. If I was able to do that for 53 I'd turn around and sell it just for profit!

If they screw up your order:
You refuse delivery and get your money back.
OR
You refuse delivery and they get you a truck proto...
OR
Accept the truck and Kolon Motors (BMW AG) will give you the money for what they screwed up (based on the price list, i.e. if they forgot to add Premium Package, they give you a check for however much the premium package cost when you ordered the truck or have them add the crap you wanted in the first place (at no additional cost to you)

-- Side note response. Military & Diplomatic Sales Program Managers (not the SAs) have alot of say on what you can get for free. I'm getting a lot of "accessories" simply because I asked.

[AVATT]

Sorry to hear. I ordered a 2006 M5 thru the MSP. The dealership was www.superiormotorsmsp.com The dealership is in Bahrain, I was in Kuwait. I never met the saleswoman Angela. We handled everything thru the internet, phone and bank wire. Was an extremely smooth transaction and they did everything they said they would. Was very pleased. I even overpayed by $12.00 and they sent a check for that small amount unsolicited. I also just bought a new X5 and contacted her again. She was very helpful but at the end she recommended I purchase thru a stateside dealer who actually offered a better price than the MSP and .9% financing (better price because of the package discounts and other deep dealer discounts).

Point is, I dont think the program is flawed, sounds like a combo of that particular dealer and Korean banking. Dont get down on the msp, it is a wonderful opportunity that BMW does not have to offer. You do not have to purchase from the local dealer. If it doesnt work out, contact Angela.

Good luck.

[BMWNA]

Originally Posted by jimf15e

I'm currently stationed in Korea and in the horrendous process of trying to finish our purchase of a 2008 X5 through BMW's military sales program. Long story short, do NOT try to buy a BMW through this program and DEFINITELY not from Kolon Motors, the Korean dealership for BMW military sales unless you enjoy lies, half-truths, slimy salesmen and lots of lost time and money. Kolon has branches in Seoul (Yongsan) and Songtan (Osan AB) and were more than happy to hold on to our full payment of nearly $60k for no reason, significantly delaying delivery of our paid in full vehicle. If you're not familiar with the military sales program, it allows military members serving overseas to buy BMWs and Minis at a pretty decent discount. However, even that gets watered down by 0.9% financing and other deals. I won't get into pricing details here. Anyway, I ordered a 2008 X5 3.0si in May 2008, specifying a late July production so I could (hopefully) pick up the car when I returned to the states in September. Everything went fine - gave our 10% deposit, got informed a VIN was assigned and production was starting, etc.

That's when everything went down the crapper. The military sales program requires you to pay in full once a VIN is assigned (should have been my first sign of questionable business practices). I had 10 days to get all our financing in order and have checks Fed Ex'd from the US to Korea. I paid ON TIME! So what does Kolon do with our money? They SAT on it for nearly 5 weeks. They complained about the 'slow' Korean banking system. Never once did they tell me ahead of time that they'd hold on to our money for that long. I guarantee it sat in their stupid bank making interest for them. Every day I called asking where our money was. BMW NA was also asking where the funds were - they hadn't received it yet. Kolon, of course, knew nothing. I was freaking out thinking I had nearly $60k stolen from us.

Finally Kolon tells me the money was wired. Now BMW NA is telling me it's a 7-10 business day process to 'approve the wire transfer and release the vehicle.' WTF? Aren't wire transfers supposed to be instant?? Hence the name?? So our car has been sitting on a lot in South Carolina for 6 weeks now. And a hurricane is on the way - can't wait to see what that does. All because Kolon Motors STOLE our money for 5 weeks and now BMW NA can't figure out how to type a couple of commands into a keyboard. The funny part is the line from BMW NA's email regarding pick up procedures: "You must pick up your vehicle from the dealership within 6 weeks of production" Or what? What if it's not at the dealership because the Korean sales office is a bunch of thieves and BMW NA is a bunch of incompetent morons? Hopefully they'll sell the car so I can get our money back.

And to top it off our E90 330i is going in to the shop for the 5th time in 2 months. Steering wheel lock fixed via new progman update, visit #1. New progman from visit #1 broke TCU (bluetooth, BMW Assist, etc) and needed to be replaced, visit #2. Needed to replace windshield but shop broke new windshield before installing so nothing done, visit #3. (WIndshield replaced by Safelite - required 2 visits, let's call them #3a and #3b). Passenger window won't go up but no motor in stock and no loaner car available, visit #4. Driver's door not unlocking so taking car back to replace window motor as well as fix door lock, visit #5. I'm riding a friggin' Schwinn to work when I get home.

Korea - The Land of the Not Quite Right. BMW - A shadow of their former glory.

I'm with BMW of North America, LLC. I've passed this message on to a BMW NA Customer Relations Representative who will be in touch with you soon.