[P1]

I read the original post twice. I don't understand what the frustration is. All they asked of you was to come and pick up the car within 24 hours? What's the harm in that? If you couldn't physically make it in that time period, then do all the paperwork remotely or via FedEx.

[JamesGames]

Originally Posted by P1

I read the original post twice. I don't understand what the frustration is. All they asked of you was to come and pick up the car within 24 hours? What's the harm in that? If you couldn't physically make it in that time period, then do all the paperwork remotely or via FedEx.

Car arrived thursday after OP ordered in April and OP told Ryan that he would be there Saturday. This is reasonable - 48 hours after car arrived. Dealer gave him 24 hours or they'd sell his car for a profit I assume. I would be annoyed if a dealer gave me some ultimatum when I waited 4 months for the car, especially as I can't really answer calls or respond to emails at work.


Not exactly the best experience to go through, that is all, nothing more, nothing less.

[Vivek.]

Originally Posted by Jesda

I'd definitely do that if I was leasing.

I drive all over the country and just let the chips happen, then after 100k repaint the bumper. Most of my mileage is on road trips so I'd have the blue tape permanently.

With leasing, almost isn't worth it since a clear bra costs about as much as a front end respray. I think that the people who do this plan to keep the car for an extended time want to preserve the factory paint. I saw a funny/fitting response to someone doing that on the forums many years ago, "if I needed to respray my front end every thousand miles my car would've been painted 150 times by now"

[Tommysalami]

Originally Posted by Germanauto

Love you dropping names OP.

I had some shitty experiences with Alfa during my shopping process and roasted them on Google reviews. These people deserve to be called out by name.

I am not a fan of Tesla but have to commend them for subverting this dealership bullshit. In this market segment clients are overwhelmingly well-educated professionals yet still get treated like dirt by high school graduate salesmen. I don't wish people to lose their jobs but I wouldn't shed a tear if the dealership model goes the way of the Dodo.

Don't get your hopes up on the auto industry changing to a direct sales method. Manufacturers currently selling through dealers cannot just decide to put the dealers out of business and sell directly to consumers. There are contracts in place preventing this. Tesla gets around it because they're a new automaker.

[buddybash]

Originally Posted by BMWCCA1

You were treated badly. No question. Dealers who pull that crap deserve to be called out.

But, I started selling BMWs at a dealership 45-years ago. I've owned BMWs for over 50-years. I wish I could just call out all the customers who treated me as badly—or even worse than what happened to you. Just today a customer I'd sold two cars to and spent countless hours walking through the process of building an X5 45e, even borrowing a customer's car so he could see and drive one, who then went to a dealership less than 100-miles away and ordered his car based on the build specs we created, called me to ask questions about his car. He also asked me to appraise his 2010 trade for the third time in the past year, a trade he said the other dealer was giving him so much more for—yet he still owns it. Now I'm sure most customers think the dealer has nothing better to do than to spend hours with them. And then we should simply wish them well as they go hours away to order the car because another dealership will just drop their pants on price knowing they'll never have to spend time or even see the guy again. And—and!!—then have the nerve to ask me to spend more time with them on a car they purchased elsewhere just to save money.

I know my time is free. But my years of expertise and knowledge acquisition are my stock in-trade. Every dealership can sell the same car and every dealership pays the same for that car. But the honest, helpful, knowledgeable sales people are expected to just suck up this bad behavior and smile: "Thank you sir, may I have another??"

Just my way of letting you know it's not just the dealers that are assholes in this car-purchasing "game". I have families as customers who now rely on me in their third-generation of BMW purchasing. I have customers now living over 500-miles away who wouldn't think of trusting their purchase to anyone but me. And it's people like this who keep me going to work every day when many would have retired from this wretched business by now.

Value the good dealers and continue to call out the bad. That's a luxury you have that your sales advisor does not. It's your right. But remember there is another side of how this business works where the dealer isn't always the bad guy!

I used to be in retail sales for 10 years and I understand selling a car versus a cell phone or home theater system is different, but fundamental it comes down to customer service and sales.

I agree that the list of shit customers is endless and I have many stories that can help reaffirm that statement. However, there is a difference between a knowledge and respectful customer vs. an asshole.

The problem in car sales specifically is that the GOOD salesmen do not get enough recognition because they are just out numbered by the shitty ones. You may have a great sales guy, but the finance guy is having an emotional breakdown because you won't buy the wind and rain protection for $1,500 or it's the GM didn't get his AM bump, etc.

I've had good experiences at the dealership in the past, but one in particular really pissed me off.
I also have family that has been in the business so I've had a chance to hear stories, both the good and bad.

[buddybash]

Originally Posted by P1

I read the original post twice. I don't understand what the frustration is. All they asked of you was to come and pick up the car within 24 hours? What's the harm in that? If you couldn't physically make it in that time period, then do all the paperwork remotely or via FedEx.

Originally Posted by P1

I read the original post twice. I don't understand what the frustration is. All they asked of you was to come and pick up the car within 24 hours? What's the harm in that? If you couldn't physically make it in that time period, then do all the paperwork remotely or via FedEx.

The frustration is that I was being lied to and had to rearrange my workday to drive down 3 hours to pick up the car because at that point I did not trust in the dealer.

If the dealer truly had a written policy that cars is to be collected within 24 hours and was provided with a copy of the policy at the time of order then I would not have an issue.

Ultimately this ruined my new car buying experience.

[omasou]

Originally Posted by buddybash

I<snip>
Taped up front end for the drive home.
Now just to wait on PPF and coating.

Oh my. That's a lot of painter's tape. Send that to 3M, I'm sure they could use it in their marketing or maybe develop a new product.

[omasou]

Originally Posted by P1

I read the original post twice. I don't understand what the frustration is. All they asked of you was to come and pick up the car within 24 hours? What's the harm in that? If you couldn't physically make it in that time period, then do all the paperwork remotely or via FedEx.

To reword the dealer side of the conversation...

Hi, I see you live 3 hours away and we will not be making any money off you in the future for service or parts. If you don't pick up your car and I hope you cannot, I'm going to sell it at a mark up to someone else and make a few dollars extra b/c I don't care about you or anyone that you complain to.

[P1]

Originally Posted by omasou

To reword the dealer side of the conversation...

Hi, I see you live 3 hours away and we will not be making any money off you in the future for service or parts. If you don't pick up your car and I hope you cannot, I'm going to sell it at a mark up to someone else and make a few dollars extra b/c I don't care about you or anyone that you complain to.

I think you summarized buying a vehicle in 2021 perfectly. I've heard of plenty of instances where out of towners aren't welcome to buy vehicles from dealerships. What a world!