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      10-20-2012, 10:06 AM   #1
morrisryanc
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UPDATE: Photos added at bottom of post!

I've been debating whether or not I should special order an X3. My wife and I want the car to be delivered by January 1, and the last time we ordered a 1-Series, it took almost 4 months! Since we didn't want to cut it close (need a larger car for our growing family), I started trolling cars.com and auto trader for brand new 2013 X3s. I thought I wouldn't find the color/option combo we wanted (very particular) and had just about given up in my search. Do I roll the dice and special order?...hmmm...

And them, BLAM! I came across the exact car we wanted:

2013 BMW X3
Space Gray
Chestnut interior
Fineline Wavewood Trim
Silver Aluminum Roof Rails
M Sport
Premium Pkg
Cold Weather Pkg
Technology Pkg
Convenience Pkg
Premium Audio Pkg

MSRP $52,725.00

Only problem was, it was at a dealership 180 miles away...

We were very particular about what we wanted. I found cars that either had all the packages, but a different interior...or something that had a pkg missing, with everything else. This is pretty much a special order car with the interior/color combo, so I was really surprised to find it on a dealer lot.

My local dealer, who I got my wife's 1-Series through, had the same car, but in Carbon black with Black Nevada interior. I seriously thought about that one, but the Space Gray won out in the end because it will look cleaner longer and hide dirt better. Plus, the chestnut leather is something a little different. If I was single and had more time to devote towards detailing, I would have gotten the Carbon Black.

Negotiation & The USAA Car Buying Service

I gave the dealer a call and worked out a price on the phone. As configured, the USAA target price (using their handy online configuration tool) is $48,930 with the above specs. I told him that is what I would pay. He called back and quoted me $50,729.

I told him I would pay $48,930.

He called back again and said the lowest he could go was $49,609.

I then reminded him of my ownership of another BMW and the $750 loyalty incentive.

BLAM! That's how you negotiate.

So, let this be a lesson to my fellow USAA members: Just because we have the car buying service doesn't mean a dealer has to honor the price you see on your screen. It's just a "Target Price" according to the USAA site, and gives you an idea of what you should get close to paying.

The dealer I'm buying from is not a USAA certified dealer according to the USAA site, but I used their tools to know what a fair price would be. If you're not a USAA member, you can still take advantage of most of the features by visiting www.truecar.com. formerly know as Zag Car.

The Delivery

Right now, I 'm on the train and the dealer is sending a valet to pick me up at the station in Philly. My salesman said the driver is picking me up in a cashmere 7-Series

I'll edit this post and add more to the story once I take delivery. I'll also post the final price and dealer/salesman info if everything goes smoothly. Oh, and photos, lots of photos...

UPDATE!!

After arriving at the dealer (man, that 760iL is nice!) my CA was ready for me. I must have looked hungry because he offered me two big 'ol slices of pizza. Yum! Anyway, we sat down and reviewed the terms of the sale. I guess over the phone he thought I was going to finance through USAA (which had a lower rate than BMW Financial Services), but I thought I had made it clear I was undecided. Anyways, we were just about to sign the purchase order when the accounting guy came to us and said there was a discrepancy. He said the $750 loyalty credit I wanted was solely if you went with BMW financing. The BMW rate was slightly higher than what I was getting. If I went through USAA financing (or any other for that matter) I would forgo the $750. We ran the numbers again, and it turns out it actually made sense to go with BMW financing as I would still be saving $7 per month over the long run.

Quick Tip: After 120 days, you can ditch BMWFS and go with an even lower refinance rate elsewhere, saving yourself even more money in the log run, especially when you double up on priniciple payments.

Final Price
In the end, I didn't get the $48,930 target price I had seen on the USAA site. As I stated earlier, the dealer wasn't a part of the USAA Certified Dealer network, so they didn't have to honor the price. Yes, it was a BMW dealer, but for some reason they aren't listed...therefore I wasn't able to hold them to the price.

The final price I got for the loaded up X3 28i was 6.875% below MSRP, at $49,100 about $170 more than my target price. As an added bonus, I got a free, $45.00 BMW cargo box (does everyone get these or did the dealer leave that in for fun?).

In all, I'm very satisfied with the deal. I felt my CA, Cameron Miles, was very honest and a straight shooter. I'd definitely buy from him again at Devon Hill BMW.

Now comes the hard part explaining to my local CA why I didn't buy another Bimmer through him!






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Last edited by morrisryanc; 10-21-2012 at 08:29 AM.. Reason: New Photos and Updated Text
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      10-20-2012, 10:16 AM   #2
DasBavaria
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Hopefully everything goes smoothly! Good luck!

I should be getting mine (after some confusion) with in the next week.
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      10-20-2012, 03:09 PM   #3
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To use the USAA car buying service, you don't just configure on the screen, you complete the process and then they do honor the price (if they're part of the program; understand the dealer that had your car wasn't). Don't need to though, USAA offers it strictly as a benefit to members, they make no money on it. The folks they work with (Zag, I think) must. I prefer to use the system so they continue to want to work with USAA and USAA keeps the option available to us.

Congrats on getting the car you wanted at the price you wanted!
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      10-20-2012, 04:57 PM   #4
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Most X3 orders seem to be taking about 3 weeks at most anymore so even if you had to order one you would have been fine. Congrats!
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      10-21-2012, 08:34 AM   #5
morrisryanc
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Want the thrill View Post
Most X3 orders seem to be taking about 3 weeks at most anymore so even if you had to order one you would have been fine. Congrats!
That's not 100% true. It depends which dealer you order through because they all have different allocation/build dates. Many hold that info to their chest (like my three local dealers). Also, the timing of your build affects how long it will wait at the shipping port — miss the port window and your car could sit for days! If the dealer didn't have what I wanted, I would have just ordered through my local one, but I'm glad Devon Hill BMW had what we wanted!
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      10-21-2012, 08:57 AM   #6
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It sounds as if you got a great deal.
I used truecar.com for my X3 earlier this year. With the target price, I had the option of using a local dealer where I paid about $500 more or get the target price about an hour away. I figured the $500 was worth not driving the hour as I was trading in 2 cars and had to get the cars there to negotiate a trade in price.

However, I used truecar.com 2 years ago for a Porsche cayman s and got a price that was about $3000 less than local price (car was in Massachusetts). Everything was done over the phone. When it came to pick up the car, I had the car shipped for $600. Great deal. There's no rule that says you have to get a car locally.
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      10-21-2012, 01:25 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by morrisryanc View Post
That's not 100% true. It depends which dealer you order through because they all have different allocation/build dates. Many hold that info to their chest (like my three local dealers). Also, the timing of your build affects how long it will wait at the shipping port — miss the port window and your car could sit for days! If the dealer didn't have what I wanted, I would have just ordered through my local one, but I'm glad Devon Hill BMW had what we wanted!
While build dates can be an issue, there's no port involved, at least on the East Coast of the US.
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      10-21-2012, 01:25 PM   #8
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Pics look great!

As far as the local dealer, seems like an easy answer -- his price wasn't competitive. Next if it is, you'd likely buy there. I'd purchased a few from the closest dealer, they didn't play with the USAA thing, and would not (any longer) negotiate on this car so I bought elsewhere. They're still happy to make money servicing it. Haven't had a problem. Hope you find the same.
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      10-21-2012, 03:54 PM   #9
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I used USAA to purchase my X3 last fall and I chose the dealer on the USAA site with the best price and they contacted me within a couple hours and gave me the exact price on the USAA site without any hassle at all. It was actually a great experience. I did order my X3 exactly how I wanted it and picked it up 6 week later at the performance center. All X3's are made in the South Carolina so there are no port delays to worry about.
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      10-23-2012, 06:02 PM   #10
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Are you sure about the 120 days thing for the incentive? My dealer told me 6 months is the earliest we can refi.
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      10-23-2012, 07:49 PM   #11
morrisryanc
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Quote:
Originally Posted by amoeba
Are you sure about the 120 days thing for the incentive? My dealer told me 6 months is the earliest we can refi.
Both my local dealer and the one I ended up buying from told me 120 days. I guess if we want a definitive answer, we could just call up BMWFS and ask them since that is who the contract is with.
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      10-23-2012, 08:30 PM   #12
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Nice work, but I got an even better deal...

MSRP $49,450

Actual $47,000
Plus:
$300 1st month credit due to BMW app
$500 BMW CCA credit
$1700 in car payments on my lease turn in
$200 back for reg
$750 loyalty

Built to order, received it in under 4 weeks, I think it was 3 weeks door to door. I couldn't have asked for a better SA, or buying experience
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