[richiemail]

My X4 M40D is finally ready for collection Friday (Ordered in July 2021, with expected October 2021 delivery). However, the dealer has reduced the discount "Cash Price" from what was agreed in July. Originally this was £61,500, now it's £64,500. (List price with options is £65,700)

I'm trading in a 5 series, and with the X4 arriving 6 months later than expected, I've paid down more of the finance, resulting in an additional £3K of equity in the car.

The amount of cash deposit, the size and number of monthly payments the same as the original finance document. Essentially the dealership is reducing their discount by the same amount as the additional equity, and claiming the X4 increased in cost, but they were able to increase the equity in the current car to offset it.

The ordering document sent I signed yesterday shows exactly the same BMW list price for the X4, and all options as July.

I see this as the dealer trying to dishonestly reduce the discount, to scoop up the additional equity and expect me to accept it.

I don't think I have much of a leg to stand on here, but curious if anyone else had a similar experience? It's still a better deal than I could get going elsewhere now and starting from scratch. If there is nothing I can do, I'd like to at least tell the they'll never see any service/new car business from me in the future once I have the keys...

[TheFiX3r]

Were any of the terms you agreed to specified in a contract or any other document?

If not, then while what the dealer is doing is arguably shady, you're at the mercy of the dealer. Your only leverage is to be willing to walk away, but the dealer knows that in this market the vehicle will sell at a higher price in short order.

[richiemail]

I've got a copy of the finance quote from July showing a lower list price, but it wasn't a document that was electronically signed at the time. The signed documents all just reflected BMW list prices.

In the last 10 minutes I've been sent a new document to sign, the same BMW list price document, but reflecting the price increases BMW introduced earlier this year, and now including a £2K Sytner discount.

I'm pretty sure that having me sign list price documents, and not including their discount in that document I'm screwed.

It's shady, and they're never going to see this car for servicing, or another car purchase from me. But I'm going to have to swallow it... Just leaves a bad taste in the mouth on what should have been a joyous day!

[Oswego79]

It all depends on how much you want the car. I ordered in Oct car came in Dec. We talked and put figures on paper but nothing was signed by dealer. MSRP for car, 57500. for trade in. When the car came in still MSRP but I looked around at what my trade in was worth and value had gone up so I said I needed more $$ or deal was off. CA said we had a deal and I replied nothing was signed so no we didn't. I ended up getting 60K for my trade and did the deal.

[sbt007]

Trade in should not be part of the deal in my view - I just make the deal on the actual vehicle and decide on whether to trade-in when the time comes. This way there is nothing for the dealership to fudge on.

[mikeoz]

Originally Posted by Oswego79

It all depends on how much you want the car. I ordered in Oct car came in Dec. We talked and put figures on paper but nothing was signed by dealer. MSRP for car, 57500. for trade in. When the car came in still MSRP but I looked around at what my trade in was worth and value had gone up so I said I needed more $$ or deal was off. CA said we had a deal and I replied nothing was signed so no we didn't. I ended up getting 60K for my trade and did the deal.

UK/EU lead times are heading to 12 months so as above the dealer will know that in this market they can sell on with out issue.

[richiemail]

Replying with outcomes, since people were kind enough to provide their input. Dealership gave me several reasons and denials, mostly contradictory. Their main argument was that they were guaranteeing equity levels for all delayed orders. In some cases that would mean they'd lose money if equity levels fell, but they my case the equity increased. They intended to keep the difference to help maintain equity for other customers. I don't believe this was true, and said so. Apart from the fact that in the current market, used prices have been increasing, but certainly anyone still making payments on existing cars would certainly be increasing equity. After some back and forth I managed to get most (but not all of it back). I would have walked away if it just meant a delay of another month or so, but I'd be looking at 6 months at least right now.

My fear had been the dealership walking away and find another customer, which limited how hard I was pushing. I would say given how quickly "The Managers" agreed to my final proposal I could have pushed harder, if anyone comes to this thread in the next 6 months because of similar concern, my advice would be not to assume you're completely at the dealers mercy. I had threatened bad feedback to any Dealer group or BMW AG post purchase survey, and that really did seem to carry impact. At every step they wanted to know what would make me report on the transaction favourably.

Thanks all for your advice!!

[ukpolak]

It is for reasons like this that I separate the trade in and purchase components of the deal so that
1. I maximise value of my trade in (WBAC, Motorway, Autotrader) and
2. Get lowest price on my new car (carwow, coast2coast, dealer direct, drive the deal)

Selling cars privately or through motorway was always a bit of a pain but my one objective was to get the highest price and no talk of equity or interest etc as I just wanted the max amount for my asset.

They use smoke and mirrors on nonsense like this and 99% of people don’t check the paper work or worst still, don’t even know how to interpret or understand the numbers. So they don’t challenge and dealers get away with it.

I also try to purchase on HP which makes sums easier. Deposit plus loan plus interest on the loan for lowest possible car cost, when PCP shifts the focus to monthlies and introduces smoke and mirrors.

On a recent purchase on HP, say a car cost £50k and I put £40k down expecting a loan of £10k, even some of the order forms have different numbers which I can never quite get to agree with my agreed price. It’s like dealers book it differently to suit their own accounting and what not.