Local Dealer Response to Factory Delivery

RhoXS · 03-04-2012, 07:55 PM

Ever since our many enjoyable trips to Spartanburg for the yearly Z3 Home Coming events, we have looked forward to taking delivery at the Performance Center some day. I am going to purchase a new X3 sometime in the near future and I fully intend to take delivery in Spartanburg.

A few times in the past, when in dealerships window shopping our next BMW, the response from the salesman du jour has always been less than enthusiastic when we mentioned a Performance Center delivery. There has always been something muttered about making a better deal if buying already existing inventory. When I hear this I invariably get annoyed and that ends any chance that sales man will ever have of selling me a car. Since the dealership has nothing but paperwork to process on this kind of deal, I really do not want to hear that crap.

Nevertheless, for those that did buy an X3 and pick it up at the performance center, what real world experience did you have with your local dealer when buying the car. In your opinion did it effect the negotiated price or the warranty service you received later?

Kahunawahoo · 03-04-2012, 08:58 PM

My wife and I just returned from PCD on her X3 35 yesterday!

We had shopped at several dealerships in Florida before finally agreeing to a deal with our local store. We began our shopping in October and between then and New Year's Eve when we signed, we found 3 vehicles that met our requirements. Due to the low supply of X3's in dealer inventory, the 35's at least, we were unable to consummate a deal an any of these cars. The dealers were unwilling to meet our price in each of these cases, including an in stock vehicle at our local store from whom we eventually bought. We were disappointed because we wanted the car immediately, and began to think the X3 was not in our future. We decided to make a last attempt at our local store and the sales manager agreed to our price for an ordered vehicle. Although we had to wait until this past week to pick up the car, we loved the PCD program and would go that route again if we purchase a future BMW. Our salesman was relatively new, in fact we were his first PCD customers. We primarily dealt with the sales manager and he encouraged the PCD program.

02420X3 · 03-04-2012, 09:41 PM

I considered PCD, which my CA was aware of, but had never arranged. Work constraints eventually made it impossible for me to do a PCD.

RhoXS · 03-04-2012, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kahunawahoo

My wife and I just returned from PCD on her X3 35 yesterday!

Congratulations! That must have been a very enjoyable trip. I wish you a lot of good luck and enjoyment with it.

I live in Stuart. I am curious what part of Florida you are from and the specific dealership that encouraged the PCD.

Brahman is one of the two dealerships, at least with respect to convenient geography, I would go to. However, the Brahman service department has been so incredibly offensive to me in the past when I attempted to get my Z3 serviced there, I would never consider purchasing a car from them. Coggins in Stuart is another alternative and I will check them out. Coggins has treated me reasonably for service visits so I am willing to talk to their sales department.

When we made the trips to Spartansburg for the Z3 homecoming events people consistently spoke very highly about the local dealership there. They appear to be especially accomodating and respectful of BMW owners. I am thinking about simply calling them and seeing if we cannot cut a deal on the phone.

Again, enjoy your new toy.

m3bs · 03-05-2012, 03:51 AM

I got the same reaction from my dealer when I ordered a car in 2001, and gave in. When I bought a 135 in 2008 I insisted, and it was a great experience. This time, I bought through an out-of-town dealer and it was no problem. I'm picking up my X this Friday at the PC.

I would think that PCD would be strongly encouraged. I think it really helps to build brand loyalty. Maybe it doesn't get counted towards the monthly quotas the same way.

n55x3 · 03-05-2012, 07:07 AM

Dealers have a vested interest in moving inventory that is sitting on their lot, simply a fundamental aspect of inventory management. With that being said some dealers may or may not try to persuade you to something they already have in possesion. And in some cases this is good for the customer as they can, in theory, drive home with a new car/SUV and often times a dealer is more willing to negotiate prices of a vehicle already in their possesion.

We did PCD of my wife's X3 last April and there was no pressure from the dealer in any way to not do a PCD. We simply told them we wanted to do that and they took it from there.

Something to keep in mind about PCD is that it opens the door to purchasing from other far away dealers. If you know exactly what you want you can shop your requirements around, even sign the final paperwork remotely. You never even have to meet the sales staff in person. This will have no impact when it comes time for service. The warranty is honored at all BMW dealerships regardless of purchase location.

Kahunawahoo · 03-05-2012, 09:30 AM

We live in Sarasota. As part of my search I contacted Brahman in West Palm. They had a vehicle we were considering, but ultimately could not agree on terms. I had a good experience when purchasing a car from Fields in Lakeland in 2010. We dealt with the used car manager Lance there. He strongly encouraged PCD.
The new car sales manager here, Bruno, was the best part of our final sales experience here in Sarasota. We had a great time both at the driving school and the drive home. I am planning to write a full review of our experience with pictures in a separate post.

Fryguy29 · 03-05-2012, 03:11 PM

When I bought my X3 is was all set to do PCD. I am originally from SC and all of my family and a great deal of my friends still live there. It was a no brainer. The dealership was all set to set it up for me. In fact he was very enthusiastic about it, and put me in touch with someone who had done it. However, there was a car on the lot that fit my specs, and I was able to negotiate a MUCH better deal. Put that together with the fact that I could leave with a car that day and I decided to forgo the performance delivery.
While I thought PCD would be cool, that experience showed me exactly how much value I placed on it, in the terms of an exact dollar figure.
The point of this is, you shouldn't hold it against the dealer if they try to sell you on existing inventory. It's the nature of business:sell what you have in stock before you order something new. Of course they will be more willing to negotiate when they are looking at more interest payments on a car that is sitting on their lot.
In many cases, it will work out better for dealer and customer. It did for me,but I am certain that if I didn't want their stock they would have happily sold me a PCD car.
That being said. I am still a little sad I didn't get to do it...

RhoXS · 03-05-2012, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fryguy29

The point of this is, you shouldn't hold it against the dealer if they try to sell you on existing inventory. It's the nature of business:sell what you have in stock before you order something new.

Of course, you are correct. Unfortunately, I have put up with so much collective crap and disrespect from dealerships over the 42 years I have been buying new cars, I am now very quick on the trigger with respect to not dealing with salesmen that do not respect what I say or even hint at giving me a line of BS.

jk · 03-05-2012, 08:10 PM

i was clear before i walked in that i planned to order a car, there was no mention of buying anything from stock, i just sat down and listed what i wanted. we negotiated the whole deal before i even mentioned i wanted to do a pcd. the ca said he'd arranged them in the past, but not for a while, shouldn't be a problem. in fact, there was no problem and it had no impact on the financial transaction whatsoever.

Fryguy29 · 03-06-2012, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RhoXS

Of course, you are correct. Unfortunately, I have put up with so much collective crap and disrespect from dealerships over the 42 years I have been buying new cars, I am now very quick on the trigger with respect to not dealing with salesmen that do not respect what I say or even hint at giving me a line of BS.

I fully respect that line of thinking and if they were not respectful of what you wanted by all means drop them. I also have not been buying cars nearly as long as you have.
I also guess I meant to say, they didn't push it with their pitch or attitude, but with their prices. THe difference in price they offered my allowed me to get a 35i for the price of the 28i I would have ordered. We were both definitely happy with the transaction, which is how it should be.

03-04-2012, 07:55 PM	#1
RhoXS Second Lieutenant 15 Rep 233 Posts Drives: 2002 Z3 3.0i + 2016 X3 28i Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Florida iTrader: (0)	Local Dealer Response to Factory Delivery Ever since our many enjoyable trips to Spartanburg for the yearly Z3 Home Coming events, we have looked forward to taking delivery at the Performance Center some day. I am going to purchase a new X3 sometime in the near future and I fully intend to take delivery in Spartanburg. A few times in the past, when in dealerships window shopping our next BMW, the response from the salesman du jour has always been less than enthusiastic when we mentioned a Performance Center delivery. There has always been something muttered about making a better deal if buying already existing inventory. When I hear this I invariably get annoyed and that ends any chance that sales man will ever have of selling me a car. Since the dealership has nothing but paperwork to process on this kind of deal, I really do not want to hear that crap. Nevertheless, for those that did buy an X3 and pick it up at the performance center, what real world experience did you have with your local dealer when buying the car. In your opinion did it effect the negotiated price or the warranty service you received later?
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03-04-2012, 08:58 PM	#2
Kahunawahoo New Member 3 Rep 26 Posts Drives: 14 335i Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Florida iTrader: (0)	My wife and I just returned from PCD on her X3 35 yesterday! We had shopped at several dealerships in Florida before finally agreeing to a deal with our local store. We began our shopping in October and between then and New Year's Eve when we signed, we found 3 vehicles that met our requirements. Due to the low supply of X3's in dealer inventory, the 35's at least, we were unable to consummate a deal an any of these cars. The dealers were unwilling to meet our price in each of these cases, including an in stock vehicle at our local store from whom we eventually bought. We were disappointed because we wanted the car immediately, and began to think the X3 was not in our future. We decided to make a last attempt at our local store and the sales manager agreed to our price for an ordered vehicle. Although we had to wait until this past week to pick up the car, we loved the PCD program and would go that route again if we purchase a future BMW. Our salesman was relatively new, in fact we were his first PCD customers. We primarily dealt with the sales manager and he encouraged the PCD program.
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03-04-2012, 09:41 PM	#3
02420X3 Captain 63 Rep 983 Posts Drives: 2011 X3 35i Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Boston iTrader: (0)	I considered PCD, which my CA was aware of, but had never arranged. Work constraints eventually made it impossible for me to do a PCD.
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03-05-2012, 03:51 AM	#5
m3bs Captain 62 Rep 657 Posts Drives: 95 S54 M3, X5, GT4, GR Corolla Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: North Augusta, SC iTrader: (1)	I got the same reaction from my dealer when I ordered a car in 2001, and gave in. When I bought a 135 in 2008 I insisted, and it was a great experience. This time, I bought through an out-of-town dealer and it was no problem. I'm picking up my X this Friday at the PC. I would think that PCD would be strongly encouraged. I think it really helps to build brand loyalty. Maybe it doesn't get counted towards the monthly quotas the same way.
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03-05-2012, 07:07 AM	#6
n55x3 Captain 72 Rep 876 Posts Drives: n55 BMWs Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: us - ohio iTrader: (0)	Dealers have a vested interest in moving inventory that is sitting on their lot, simply a fundamental aspect of inventory management. With that being said some dealers may or may not try to persuade you to something they already have in possesion. And in some cases this is good for the customer as they can, in theory, drive home with a new car/SUV and often times a dealer is more willing to negotiate prices of a vehicle already in their possesion. We did PCD of my wife's X3 last April and there was no pressure from the dealer in any way to not do a PCD. We simply told them we wanted to do that and they took it from there. Something to keep in mind about PCD is that it opens the door to purchasing from other far away dealers. If you know exactly what you want you can shop your requirements around, even sign the final paperwork remotely. You never even have to meet the sales staff in person. This will have no impact when it comes time for service. The warranty is honored at all BMW dealerships regardless of purchase location.
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03-05-2012, 09:30 AM	#7
Kahunawahoo New Member 3 Rep 26 Posts Drives: 14 335i Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Florida iTrader: (0)	We live in Sarasota. As part of my search I contacted Brahman in West Palm. They had a vehicle we were considering, but ultimately could not agree on terms. I had a good experience when purchasing a car from Fields in Lakeland in 2010. We dealt with the used car manager Lance there. He strongly encouraged PCD. The new car sales manager here, Bruno, was the best part of our final sales experience here in Sarasota. We had a great time both at the driving school and the drive home. I am planning to write a full review of our experience with pictures in a separate post.
	Appreciate 0 Quote

03-05-2012, 03:11 PM	#8
Fryguy29 Private First Class 13 Rep 167 Posts Drives: 2011 BMW X3 35i Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Wisconsin iTrader: (0)	When I bought my X3 is was all set to do PCD. I am originally from SC and all of my family and a great deal of my friends still live there. It was a no brainer. The dealership was all set to set it up for me. In fact he was very enthusiastic about it, and put me in touch with someone who had done it. However, there was a car on the lot that fit my specs, and I was able to negotiate a MUCH better deal. Put that together with the fact that I could leave with a car that day and I decided to forgo the performance delivery. While I thought PCD would be cool, that experience showed me exactly how much value I placed on it, in the terms of an exact dollar figure. The point of this is, you shouldn't hold it against the dealer if they try to sell you on existing inventory. It's the nature of business:sell what you have in stock before you order something new. Of course they will be more willing to negotiate when they are looking at more interest payments on a car that is sitting on their lot. In many cases, it will work out better for dealer and customer. It did for me,but I am certain that if I didn't want their stock they would have happily sold me a PCD car. That being said. I am still a little sad I didn't get to do it...
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03-05-2012, 08:10 PM	#10
jk Private First Class 2 Rep 114 Posts Drives: '12 x3 35i Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: United States iTrader: (0)	i was clear before i walked in that i planned to order a car, there was no mention of buying anything from stock, i just sat down and listed what i wanted. we negotiated the whole deal before i even mentioned i wanted to do a pcd. the ca said he'd arranged them in the past, but not for a while, shouldn't be a problem. in fact, there was no problem and it had no impact on the financial transaction whatsoever.
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