BEWARE: SAN FRANCISO BMW

[z2g]

Originally Posted by ABMW

The message as of late is pretty clear to those of us who live in the Bay Area.

AVOID LOCAL BMW DEALERSHIPS LIKE THE PLAUGE.

There's one dealership where I've had a semi-positive experience and that was in Pleasanton.

The rest of them are for the birds. I took delivery of my 35d 8-days ago.

Worst buying experience of my life.

It appears the positive experiences that BMW owners have had, locally, are few and far between here.

There must be a regional manager for our local. If a few of you would like to join in, I'm up for writing a group letter with a summary of short snippets we've each experienced.

As I mentioned a few days ago, I've had better experiences purchasing a Hyundai at the age of 18, than working with these jokers.

They've become too "fat" off of all the business to care about individual customers. We obviously live in BMW Central. Drive through any semi-nice neighborhood in the region and you'll see 10 to 15% of the cars are made by BMW. Some places like Piedmont or Noe Valley probably have 30 to 40% BMWs.

What a shame. I'm sorry you had this experience. It's a great SUV, and there are MANY consumer laws that will assist you. If you need help, feel free to contact me and I'll point you in the right direction, legally.

I recently bought my X5 from the Fremont dealership and everything went pretty well. My SA was pretty cool, helpful, responded to my emails promptly, and gave me a great deal.

The only snag (albeit, minor) was with the finance dept which wouldn't take my business check as payment. So, I had to transfer funds from my business acct to my personal acct. With all the fraud going on these days, the banks make high-amount transfers a hassle. And, the BMW finance guy didn't know much and do much to accommodate the bank's delay. He basically just said that's not his problem despite my concerns originally that it would take longer for the transfer to process.

[Quicksilver]

This general statement is incorrect.
Not everyone has the same experience with dealers
and painting them all with the broad brush of ridicule
imo isn't fair.

Having said that SFBMW has had many complaints
on this board and for that reason I would most likely
go elsewhere to purchase and for service.

Originally Posted by ABMW

The message as of late is pretty clear to those of us who live in the Bay Area.

AVOID LOCAL BMW DEALERSHIPS LIKE THE PLAUGE.

There's one dealership where I've had a semi-positive experience and that was in Pleasanton.

The rest of them are for the birds. I took delivery of my 35d 8-days ago.

Worst buying experience of my life.

It appears the positive experiences that BMW owners have had, locally, are few and far between here.

There must be a regional manager for our local. If a few of you would like to join in, I'm up for writing a group letter with a summary of short snippets we've each experienced.

As I mentioned a few days ago, I've had better experiences purchasing a Hyundai at the age of 18, than working with these jokers.

They've become too "fat" off of all the business to care about individual customers. We obviously live in BMW Central. Drive through any semi-nice neighborhood in the region and you'll see 10 to 15% of the cars are made by BMW. Some places like Piedmont or Noe Valley probably have 30 to 40% BMWs.

What a shame. I'm sorry you had this experience. It's a great SUV, and there are MANY consumer laws that will assist you. If you need help, feel free to contact me and I'll point you in the right direction, legally.

[ABMW]

Originally Posted by Quicksilver

This general statement is incorrect.
Not everyone has the same experience with dealers
and painting them all with the broad brush of ridicule
imo isn't fair.

Having said that SFBMW has had many complaints
on this board and for that reason I would most likely
go elsewhere to purchase and for service.

Nowhere in my thread did I suggest that everyone has has had a bad experience. But I am suggesting that there has been a large enough population to suggest that buyers go elsewhere, when possible.

You're free to disagree, naturally, and I respect your opinion. I'm aware that a majority of buyers have had positive experiences.

But, there exists a large enough population of buyers who have had negative experiences AT ALL local BMW dealerships for a letter to be written.

Many of these negative experiences are material in nature and are above and beyond the normal gripes and jabs that are commonplace in the car buying process.

Having owned nearly every brand of car sold in the United States, save for a few exotic brands, I've rarely come across the frequency of incompetence displayed by local BMW dealers to SOME (not all) buyers.

In my opinion, if only SOME of us are experiencing horrendous experiences, that more than justifies a complaint. There need not be 20 or 30% of buyers who are having negative experiences for my post to be valid.

If you search this forum, you'll see that no local dealer is immune, and this is quite rare when compared to other large cities. This does not exist with New York, Los Angeles, or San Diego Dealers.

Are Bay Area owners more apt to complain, than those living in other large cities? I doubt it...

But, again, each is entitled to their own opinion.

[Quicksilver]

I respect your opinion as well but when you say............

"The message as of late is pretty clear to those of us who live in the Bay Area. AVOID LOCAL BMW DEALERSHIPS LIKE THE PLAUGE."

When you make that kind of statement then in my opinion you're painting all dealers with a
broad brush assuming that everyone has had the same experience and will receive the
same treatment and therefore local BMW dealerships need to be avoided.
That reaction and conclusion imo is incorrect.

None of us have the complete picture when we read complaints
from drivers and their issues.

Since I've been a member of this forum I have read how some BMW owners
express complaints that show they don't have a clue about how to deal with people in service dept's.
That said I believe the percentage of complaints about the product may have credibility
but complaints about how dealers resolve issues may not be all they are cracked up to be.

As far as letters are concerned dealers have more than enough of
them posted from customers who are satisfied.

Finally if you want to talk about frequency of incompetence
displayed by local BMW dealers to SOME (not all) buyers.
Then I guess I would have to say try finding an independent shop that has
the technology training or the experience for service. If one has found
such a shop then that's a good thing. Until then
AVOIDING LOCAL BMW DEALERSHIPS LIKE THE PLAUGE
imo would not be a reasonable answer.

Here's why!!! High-tech vehicles pose trouble for some mechanics - Yahoo! News

Originally Posted by ABMW

Nowhere in my thread did I suggest that everyone has has had a bad experience. But I am suggesting that there has been a large enough population to suggest that buyers go elsewhere, when possible.

You're free to disagree, naturally, and I respect your opinion. I'm aware that a majority of buyers have had positive experiences.

But, there exists a large enough population of buyers who have had negative experiences AT ALL local BMW dealerships for a letter to be written.

Many of these negative experiences are material in nature and are above and beyond the normal gripes and jabs that are commonplace in the car buying process.

Having owned nearly every brand of car sold in the United States, save for a few exotic brands, I've rarely come across the frequency of incompetence displayed by local BMW dealers to SOME (not all) buyers.

In my opinion, if only SOME of us are experiencing horrendous experiences, that more than justifies a complaint. There need not be 20 or 30% of buyers who are having negative experiences for my post to be valid.

If you search this forum, you'll see that no local dealer is immune, and this is quite rare when compared to other large cities. This does not exist with New York, Los Angeles, or San Diego Dealers.

Are Bay Area owners more apt to complain, than those living in other large cities? I doubt it...

But, again, each is entitled to their own opinion.

[twowinns]

Originally Posted by NotEntirelyJack

I had the trailer hitch installed at my dealer and no scratches. It looks stock and I am very happy with it. So it can be done without scratches!

+1