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      07-19-2012, 09:39 AM   #1
rmeir
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salesman screwups

when i bought my x3 i was in the market, I mean I really didnt scrimp or plan on it. However, now I find two options that I would have loved to have had tht the salesman didnt mention. One is the comfort access and the other is the eco mode. I doubt there is a recourse, but if I wrote the dealership or bmw for the purpose of correcting this for future buyers, I mean the salesman needs to explain all the options, and my good I thought was good, but sadly didnt.
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      07-19-2012, 09:43 AM   #2
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Eco mode I believe is not an option, but just a new feature available from the recent MY2013 (just released between march and april this year if I'm not wrong)
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      07-19-2012, 09:45 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Alligator69 View Post
Eco mode I believe is not an option, but just a new feature available from the recent MY2013 (just released between march and april this year if I'm not wrong)
Correct, and be thankful you don't have it. It's completely useless.
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      07-19-2012, 09:50 AM   #4
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My assumption - you didn't order your car, you just got one off the lot. Salesman just probably gave you what he had.

I spent about 3 month planning what I would order, then when I was all set I posted my config here and got some good feedback from members on adding convenience package instead of just comfort access since xenon headlights are very good looking. So i changed my config.

Just different approaches, I used to buy car off the lot before and it was the first time I ordered config as I wanted.
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      07-19-2012, 11:31 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bmwsucks
It's called researching. You should give it a try, especially on big purchases.
That's not fair. This only has to do with a salesman not doing his job properly. Yes, I know we should expect dealers to be sneaky and slimy, but don't be so quick to judge the OP. He may have done his research but it might have been before the 2013 press release went out. Or this may be the first car he's ever bought. Maybe he didn't grow up lusting after car ownership like we did. This was a decision he made based on information that he thought was the best he'd be able to find.

And what? Does it bother you that he may not have done research like you did? You don't owe him anything and he certainly doesn't owe you any explanation as to why he didn't. So it's probably far more useful to your health and to his dilemma to keep those kinds of posts to yourself. There's no use in kicking people when they're down. He isn't complaining. He is just asking if there's something he can do to make the most out of the situation he's in today.
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      07-19-2012, 11:33 AM   #6
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Researching is right.
It's been a loooong while since I bought a car straight off the lot. With good research, just about every time I walk into a dealership I know more than the salesman. Occasionally, they may know more than I do. My BMW salesman actually knew more about the X3 than I...which was a pleasant surprise.
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      07-19-2012, 11:35 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bmwsucks View Post
It's called researching. You should give it a try, especially on big purchases.
Sarcasm.... I like it :-)

I tend to find showroom salesmen in general know less then the person buying. The salesmen is expected to know all the details on every model on sale- the person buying has probably researched just one model. I researched 'to death' before I entered the showroom to buy. Therefore I knew the price I wanted to buy at + the finance rate + the service package. I should have tested the salesmen a bit more by asking some questions on options- but I didn't bother.
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      07-19-2012, 11:49 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gareth3685 View Post
Correct, and be thankful you don't have it. It's completely useless.
Actually, I have it on the 2013 model and it has saved me about a gallon per fill up.
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      07-19-2012, 12:02 PM   #9
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ok i ordered it, I researched as best as i could, but with amount of options on cars today my assumption is that is why you go to a dealer and get a pros advice. otherwise, if I knew it all or thought I did I would buy it off the net. I have bought a lot of cars in my life and know cars very well, but the recent developments in tech etc, particularly in the high end aisle make it impossible to know it all. I dont really mind the sacrcasm it goes with the internet and the salesman actually was very good. Maybe he thought I didnt want that stuff, maybe it was part of a package i didnt want, and it wasnt fully explained. That is the sales guys job imo to fully explain what is possible etc, and not just talk about money. In fact I never mentioned money once, I went in and said, what can i get, and we went from there. One case in point is that I didnt know eco mode wasnt available until 2013 untll someone pointed it out.
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      07-19-2012, 12:12 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by rmeir View Post
ok i ordered it, I researched as best as i could, but with amount of options on cars today my assumption is that is why you go to a dealer and get a pros advice. otherwise, if I knew it all or thought I did I would buy it off the net. I have bought a lot of cars in my life and know cars very well, but the recent developments in tech etc, particularly in the high end aisle make it impossible to know it all. I dont really mind the sacrcasm it goes with the internet and the salesman actually was very good. Maybe he thought I didnt want that stuff, maybe it was part of a package i didnt want, and it wasnt fully explained. That is the sales guys job imo to fully explain what is possible etc, and not just talk about money. In fact I never mentioned money once, I went in and said, what can i get, and we went from there. One case in point is that I didnt know eco mode wasnt available until 2013 untll someone pointed it out.
You definitely need to do your research. The salesguy I worked with didn't know much of the new technologies and even how to operate some of the functions in the car when we test drove.

Their number goal is to sell you the car. Of course they want you to be happy with it too...but you're one of many other potential buyers.
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      07-19-2012, 12:32 PM   #11
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There will probably always be cool features in the next model or facelift which we all should wish we had chosen or waited for. My approach to the challenge was to try to figure out 1) What features are regarded as a "must have" in order to make a premium car as this as easy to sell as possible in the future (in my geography that turned out to be metallic paint, xenons, steptronic, navi and leather interior) and 2) what additional features do I think to be cool within my budget. I found this to be helpful because if the number one options were out of budget range I shouldn't go for the X3 and the number two options were on the nice to have list.

Maybe trying to figure out something similar is the way to go about it since most of us are not able to check all the boxes in the decision process. My source for information was btw the leasing companies, what do they see as necessary in order to set the trade-in price as high as possible. There are always features that will affect this and others which are just cool.
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      07-19-2012, 12:45 PM   #12
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i dont rely on any salesman info i do my own research before buying anything, even more on 40k vehicle
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      07-19-2012, 02:03 PM   #13
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It comes down to the buyer to know what options he/she wants in their car. All those options are nice to have but at a cost. So it will be a learning experience.
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      07-19-2012, 03:43 PM   #14
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I can't agree with you more.

I'm a current owner of M3, which I bought off my own configuration from scratch. I just bought a X3 for wifey off the lot.

The dealer told me two things during the whole process (1) there's no comfort access on the car (I was like really? Wtf?!?!) (2) except for the comfort access it's fully loaded with almost everything.

Having a tiring day that day, I didn't pay much attention and agreed to purchase the car after the offering price was acceptable. Guess what, when I drove home that night I realized there wasn't Xenon HID... And BMW has created this stupid bundle to put Comfort Access and Xenon together in this Convenient Package.

Well, my dealer wasn't entirely wrong. Now thinking about that, none of "their" 28 engine came with Comfort Access, so he was right on "X3 doesn't come with Comfort Access" in their lot....

Lesson learned - Dont ever rush a car purchase process. Don't buy a car when you feel distracted. Do a lot of research. And don't ever ever take dealers words for it. Just walk away of you feel that they are lying, and more than 50% chance their story will change

And, go to a richer neighborhood to buy a car if you want to buy something off the lot. The better TW neighborhood the better those cars are equipped...
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      07-20-2012, 07:46 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by juddholland View Post
That's not fair. This only has to do with a salesman not doing his job properly.

I think not. What I am about to say is fact and expecting different is as realistic as believing in the tooth fairy.

If you want to be sure you are buying exactly the car you want with exactly the options you want at an acceptable price, you have to research the hell out of the vehicle before you step foot in a dealership. No matter what anyone thinks about what a car salesman should do, the fact is you will not end up with what you really want unless you research it first. Accept this as reality and get over blaming a salesman for something no realistic person would expect to happen. Besides, without doing a lot of so called due dilligence up front, how would anyone know if the salesman is being accurate and telling all?

In my opinion there is only one way about going about buying a new car and it has absolutely nothing to do with depending on a salesman for anything but either accepting or rejecting the deal you offer.

First use Edmunds and the manufacturer's web site to determine exactly the option packages you must have and the ones you might be willing to compromise on. Print out what you learn because you will not remember the details when you get to the dealer ship and you are looking at the window stickers.

Second, determine the MSRP for the exact configuration you want, the invoice for that configuration, and determine what incentives the manufacturer is giving to the dealer. The incentives are critically important to how close, or even below, invoice the dealer is willing to go. Edmunds is a good place to get this information. It is also good, for obvious reasons, to check out how much inventory of the vehicle you want is on the dealers lot. If there are only a very few, expect to pay a lot more than for a vehicle that fills their back lot.

Third, determine how much you are willing to pay with respect to invoice, not with respect to MSRP. This is frequently difficult to determine but forums like this are a good place to start. I generally start thinking in terms of only a few hundred above invoice. Avoid being seduced by the salesman making a statement like "I am taking $2,000 off of MSRP" and then not looking to see how much above invoice you still are. The dealer is entitled to a good profit too so it is indeed very difficult to determine what is an ideal price but is it easy to determine what is not an acceptable price.

Lastly, think about how many times you hear a someone say "they gave me a great deal". A good salesman's core job is to only make you think you are getting a good deal, it is certainly not to give you what you want. That is reality and it is again incredibly naive to argue that a good salesperson should not take this approach. A salesman with an alturistic approach simply will not survive so they do not exist (unless, of course, he is your brother-in-law).

Just had to offer my opinion because it surprised and bothered me to see so many people have expectations for salespeople that just do not happen.

Last edited by RhoXS; 07-20-2012 at 07:56 AM..
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      07-20-2012, 10:42 AM   #16
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Absolutely I completely agree he should have done his research, but the point I was trying to make was that there is no point in solely remarking that he didn't. I was saying that it's hardly helpful to his current dilemma to remind him that he may have made a bad choice in not doing his research because he probably knows that now.
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      07-20-2012, 02:16 PM   #17
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Salespeople care so little for the customer and their knowledge is really limited since so many vehicles offer varying options.

I agree for a large purchase a little research could have saved years of regret, especially with ease to information could have been done on your phone, tablet or even a computer! You could have sat on the toilet to do your research. There is little excuse for the mistake.

So there is no need for further abuse here for his mistake. Learn from the purchase and just enjoy the vehicle as is...this is still a wonderful car overall. You still have the majority of the options that will still provide years of enjoyment.
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      07-22-2012, 06:32 PM   #18
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I bought off the lot for the first time in my life with NO research! My salesman was great, showed me all the features which were 2x better than the Q5 and Toureag. Only 1 hour of negotiating.

The only regret I have is the comfort access and I don't have the upgraded stereo (which I would not have paid for anyway) Car had everything else and a good OTD price incl tax, etc., priced lower than Toureag and Q5 which I did research and test drove several times.

Overall, it comes down to your salesguy. I have no regrets.

Last edited by ptopto9898; 07-22-2012 at 06:33 PM.. Reason: spelling errors
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      07-22-2012, 07:00 PM   #19
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I'm sorry if this appears to be "rubbing salt into the wound" but I agree with most the posters here - research is the key. Not just with my most recent purchase, but with all the cars I've bought over the years, I research the cars I'm interested in long before I set foot in a dealership to talk with a salesperson. And for heavens sake - this just doesn't apply to buying cars - it should apply to any major purchase. In today's age of both on and off-line information there is simply no excuse not knowing about "comfort access" or any other feature for that matter. To rely on the salesperson for all the information is not just lazy - its dangerous.

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      07-22-2012, 07:43 PM   #20
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For old models and their features, sales persons can definitely help and tons of information is available on Internet. For new models, very limited information is available on Internet and even sales persons cant be totally relied upon. Unfortunately even BMW's technical brochures are also full of colored pictures and information is spread across. When I bought my X3, I was under the impression I will get head light washers as most of the pictures displayed had them and I overlooked the fine prints. I couldn't blame my sales person as he too was not sure as the model was new in 2011. I think this is part of life, if we have to blame any one for it, I would put it on BMW for not making detailed easy to decifer information. I noticed even now many of new buyers miss things like xenon lamps, BMW Apps and they can't be retrofitted easily, who is responsible for making such a design? All these issues will disappear if we can add most of the options later almost at the same original price.
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      07-23-2012, 12:10 AM   #21
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Its easy to say research research research.. but some things can only be learned by experience.

With BMW you have to find a really dedicated person who knows what all the options are, what they do and how the work together, I thought I was quite savy when it came to ordering BMW's as I've had enough practise.. while for the larger options they can be obvious, and you can find out, but when you get to the smaller items, even the BMW UK website is poor when explaining what it is, what its for, why you might need it, or how it compares to similar options.. just take a look at the mobile / bluetooth options available, they are totally confusing, and even the dealer told me that I didn't need to order some of them because they were included in the premium audio package.. which they were not when it was delivered.

While BMW like to have a car you can customised to an inch within your life, they are still VERY poor at explaining what the options in the car do. They only focus on the big items.. and if you contact BMW (UK) to ask for anything, they will
only ever point you at a dealer, and then its down to ensuring you have a salesman who actually knows his product.

On many occasions I've known more about options / configurations of cars than the dealer.
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      07-23-2012, 10:19 AM   #22
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Speaking just for myself, I missed the option of adding a Trunk Net Divider separating the rear passengers. Would have been handy for dogs or stacked bags.

There is regret for missing this minor feature, but still very happy with the car.
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