[EnerJi]

Originally Posted by drob23

I was looking for a good price and spoke with someone at the Mountain View BMW, I sent over a 335 build using BMW config with an offer of 1K over invoice...he offered to give me 1.5K off MSRP...I said thanks for your help and he replied:

"You are welcome. If you decide to give me a chance to earn your business and decide to give me a little profit, let me know."

LMAO... I had a local dealer pull a similar line to me as well. Ended up ordering out-of-state for Performance Center delivery. Joke's on them!

[nikneo]

Originally Posted by Sharp_Cai

^ why did u skip SJ BMW??

The fleet manger came off as a little rude and impatient during the negotiation process. I just decided to take my business else where. Their loss.. soon after I got the price I was asking for from their competitor. This came as a surprise to me since the manager had mostly positive reviews. But for whatever reason, he forgot rule#1 of closing a deal: Never talk down to an informed customer with options

[drob23]

Originally Posted by EnerJi

LMAO... I had a local dealer pull a similar line to me as well. Ended up ordering out-of-state for Performance Center delivery. Joke's on them!

I'll admit I do empathize with them a little considering their livelihood is tied to how many/much cars they can sell...but sulking about it to the customer is a little over the line and something I wouldn't expect from a BMW salesman...kind of a passive aggressive F-you in their language I suppose.

[EnerJi]

Originally Posted by drob23

I'll admit I do empathize with them a little considering their livelihood is tied to how many/much cars they can sell...but sulking about it to the customer is a little over the line and something I wouldn't expect from a BMW salesman...kind of a passive aggressive F-you in their language I suppose.

It's absolutely an F-you.

I have two perspectives on this as to whether I empathize or not. In the case of a rare car on the lot (a 335, an Msport, etc.) then it may be a prudent business decision not to discount too much, as even if it results in one consumer walking, there may be someone else who walks into their dealer an hour later willing to pay substantially more.

It's different when it comes to ordering a car, however. A significant discount should be de rigueur in these cases, as the dealer is guaranteed an immediate sale. The CA shouldn't be unhappy, as they get additional volume that month and are one step closer to their volume bonus. When I visited my local dealers to order my car, none of my local dealers were willing to be anywhere close to reasonable. My best offer was a $2,500 discount off a > $57k MSRP, so I walked and went out-of-state. In my case, I have zero empathy for the local CAs.

[azzurro]

Originally Posted by drob23

I was looking for a good price and spoke with someone at the Mountain View BMW, I sent over a 335 build using BMW config with an offer of 1K over invoice...he offered to give me 1.5K off MSRP...I said thanks for your help and he replied:

"You are welcome. If you decide to give me a chance to earn your business and decide to give me a little profit, let me know."

Unreal...The sad thing is that clowns like this actually sell some cars. Thr trick is to go to large metropolitan areas with lots of competition to buy new cars. Los Angeles is an awesome place to buy. Find the biggest market you can and start sending emails to people. There is zero need to negotiate in person.

[nsquared]

Originally Posted by drob23

I was looking for a good price and spoke with someone at the Mountain View BMW, I sent over a 335 build using BMW config with an offer of 1K over invoice...he offered to give me 1.5K off MSRP...I said thanks for your help and he replied:

"You are welcome. If you decide to give me a chance to earn your business and decide to give me a little profit, let me know."

If you went in they would have given you the deal you wanted.

Originally Posted by nikneo

I went with these guys in the end too. The internet sales manager there was definitely easier to deal with than the other neighborhood dealerships.

Very easy and a nice guy too.

[drob23]

Originally Posted by EnerJi

It's absolutely an F-you.

I have two perspectives on this as to whether I empathize or not. In the case of a rare car on the lot (a 335, an Msport, etc.) then it may be a prudent business decision not to discount too much, as even if it results in one consumer walking, there may be someone else who walks into their dealer an hour later willing to pay substantially more.

It's different when it comes to ordering a car, however. A significant discount should be de rigueur in these cases, as the dealer is guaranteed an immediate sale. The CA shouldn't be unhappy, as they get additional volume that month and are one step closer to their volume bonus. When I visited my local dealers to order my car, none of my local dealers were willing to be anywhere close to reasonable. My best offer was a $2,500 discount off a > $57k MSRP, so I walked and went out-of-state. In my case, I have zero empathy for the local CAs.

I'm just glad not to be in a similar line of work. Is it as simple as you imply on your second point? If it was just sales volume than why wouldn't they discount every allocation until people pulled the trigger? As far as I understand, an allocation is an asset equal to a car on the lot, maybe more valuable since it has the "potential" to be exactly what a customer wants. Furthermore, they only get so many allocations per year. I'm also guessing it's worse to have a car sit on the lot for prolonged time. It's obviously a zero sum game between seller and buyer, but how about within their salesman world? What benefit do they get for selling a car at a higher price vs selling more? Promotions, bonus checks, a bumper sticker?? Clearly I don't know much about sales...

[UhhItsANT]

Originally Posted by Sharp_Cai

U mean BMW of Berkeley??? That's why I am always ask questions online with the internet sales manager first, then go do the test drive. I have to say being an Asian has a little bit advantage now days. CA thinks u r a potential customer. My neighbor is a 20 years old college cat, his dad from China bought him an M6 and his borther a X6 M. No wounder I was treated so good at BMW(besides the price).

im a asian also. Vietnamese to be exact.