Originally Posted by kcnsd
I purchased a CPO BMW 335i coupe on black friday, and when I sat down I asked the salesman if the car had bluetooth, as I forgot to look when I was test driving... I was too excited to even look. He said he thought so as he remembered seeing the bluetooth buttons on the steering wheel. So before we sat down to negotiate, I ran down to look at the car and confirmed that it had the bluetooth buttons on the steering wheel. It did... Sweet!
So after a little negotiating, I end up purchasing the car. I ended up waiting about almost 3 hrs to get to sign the paper work as they said they were busy with other "deals".
After all the paper work was completed my salesman, sat me down to go over all of the manuals and etc... He told me about how BMW assist worked and that it was about $18/mo, and was pretty much like onstar.
So I get in the car and start driving off... while driving, I attempted to setup the Bluetooth, but couldn't get it to work, so instead of fiddling and potentially getting in an accident, I pull over to grab the manual and pair my phone. The manual tells me to refer to another manual which I cannot find, so I head home, and try to look it up online but am unsuccessful.
The next day, I head back to Encinitas, and ask the salesman if he had another copy of the manual as I'd like to get it up and working. He couldn't find one but would help me himself. We get to my car, and he asks another salesman to help me set it up, as he was more knowledgable in the setup. So the guy sits in my passenger side and start to push some buttons. After 10 seconds, he tells me that I do not have bluetooth. WHAT! I'm like my salesman said that it did have it. Then he goes on about how the factory bluetooth is not that great, and alot of customers complain about the sound quality and that it sounds echoey. In my mind, I'm asking, DO YOU TELL THIS TO CUSTOMERS WHO ARE ABOUT TO BUY THE CAR WITH BLUETOOTH, OR TO CUSTOMERS WHO JUST BOUGHT ONE AND WAS MISINFORMED THAT IT DIDN'T HAVE ONE TO SAVE THEIR ASSES? He then tells me that a local high-end car shop (La Jolla Audio) can install a really good one for about $1500. I tell him that is ridiculous, and that I need this problem to be fixed. He tells me to speak with the sales manager.
I wait for about 5 mins and the sales manager comes over to me, very condesendingly, and asks what is going on? I mention that my car was supposed to have bluetooth, and that it did not. He says, no it doesn't and that it was not on the sticker. I then mention that my salesman told me otherwise, as it had the bluetooth buttons, and I reconfirmed that it had the buttons later on. He goes on to tell me that just because it has the button, does not mean that it has a bluetooth. Firstly, that makes no sense. Secondly, shouldn't the salesman know that and not mislead me otherwise? I tell that this needs to be resolved as it is a crucial feature for me. He says he will work with his parts manager to see what can be done and for me to call him in 2 days (monday).
I call him monday, and he says that they can offer me a visor bluetooth speakerphone. I buy a $36,000 car and you offer me a $50 bluetooth? I let him know that it wasn't going to cut it. He then tells me that the salesman did not tell me that it had bluetooth, and that I made an assumption. Yes, I assumed that the salesman would know about the car, and that they respected their customers.
BTW - this is my 3rd BMW in the past 4 yrs. I had an '02 BMW X5 4.4, and an '05 M3 before purchasing this car. I've serviced my cars at this dealership. I have friends who also own BMWs. I think a loyal customer deserves to be treated better than this.
He then says that we (himself, the salesman, and I), will talk via conference tomorrow morning to work things out and if things went as I stated them, that they would resolve this problem.
He does not call me that morning so I give him a ring after work, and he tells me that the salesman was off and he had a hard time getting in touch with him, but they worked out a solution. The parts manager could get me a similarly functioning bluetooth; ie it would lower the radio and play through the speakers, for $300, and they would split the cost. I ask him if it would show on the radio display (call id, phone numbers, etc), and he asked if I had Nav or Idrive, and I said no. Then he says that it wouldn't show on the radio anyways. I was shocked, because that doesn't really make sense. My M3 had Nav so it showed up on the big screen, but I didn't know that it wouldn't show on the slim radio display. So I say, if it wouldn't have it anyways, I guess its pretty much the same thing. So I didn't want to have to make a big stink about this situation, and ask him if he could get me more details about it, that it might work out. He says that he would call me tomorrow (weds).
So Weds, I spend all day researching bluetooth possibilites, and call various shops. I wanted to get as much info as possible before he called me so I could make an informed decision about this. So I call La Jolla Audio, the shop they recommended, and they had a good system for about $1000, but wanted me to come down to see if it would pair with my phone. There were a few other systems that other companies recommended for $300-$750, that would mute the radio and play through the stereo, but I was pretty bummed that the steering control wouldn't work and I would have no display. bimmernav.com has a kit for $755 but I need a few factory items added like the SOS button on the overhead console, and would have to have the car coded at the dealer and would need to change the fiber optic block behind the rear seat in order to add an audio device. So that is the best but most expensive option.
I end up leaving work early to check out La Jolla Audio. On the way, I decided to call BMW of SD and asked about the bluetooth, and the salesman tells me that the bluetooth will show on the radio, with info such as contacts, last calls, call id, etc... so that really P*ssed me off, since the Sales manager at Encinitas was lying to me intentionally to make me agree.
At La Jolla Audio, the salesman shows me the Cig blue system, but it would not pair with my phone. He actually has a E92 as well, and began talking to me about how amazing the bluetooth in that car is, how it is the best he's ever heard, and that his friends can't believe he's talking through the bluetooth on his car... So that again irritates me because the after letting me know that my car didn't have bluetooth, the salesguy, starts to tell me how horrible the system is anyways, and the shop he recommended that I go to, tells me how amazing the system is...
So now its principal to me to get this resolved. I will do whatever it takes to make them do me right. I cannot believe they would treat a loyal customer like this. I would see this from a shady private dealership, but not BMW.
|