[HKlein]

Originally Posted by deltron

I'm not going to buy the Geico warranty right away, but I'll be thinking about it and will look up comments online from those who have it. You can buy the extended warranty (and extended maintenance) anytime before your 4yr/50k miles is up. So you have lots of time to make a decision on that. You may have more negotiation room the day you're buying the car though.

You need to confirm that this is correct. I currently have the Geico extended warranty on the car that I'm trading in for my Bimmer (an '02 Passat), and I recall that you could only purchase the Geico warranty within the first 24 months of owning the car...not after 4 years.

[xeta]

HKlein,

I think he was talking about the extended warranty from BMW not geico.

[deltron]

Originally Posted by HKlein

You need to confirm that this is correct. I currently have the Geico extended warranty on the car that I'm trading in for my Bimmer (an '02 Passat), and I recall that you could only purchase the Geico warranty within the first 24 months of owning the car...not after 4 years.

I mixed up which extended warranty I was talking about. The BMW extended warranty needs to be purchased before the factory warranty expires.

The Geico warranty needs to be purchased before 15 months or before 15k miles. What are you thoughts on the Geico warranty? Worth it?

Oh yeah! I picked up the car this lunch. It's amazing!!!!! I can't even begin to believe that this is my car. Everything is perfect. The build quality just shows all over the place. I'll try to post some pics tonight.

[Ski&Board]

Hi All, Look what I found today..

Now more waiting while the put the spoiler on....

Post pics when you pick up - Xeta, Deltron, hklein.. and anyone else!

[HKlein]

Originally Posted by Ski&Board

Hi All, Look what I found today..

Now more waiting while the put the spoiler on....

Post pics when you pick up - Xeta, Deltron, hklein.. and anyone else!

Congrats to Deltron and Ski/Board on being the first of the Patriot crew to get your wheels!! And especially to Ski/Board for being the first to get your pics up! I got the call today that my car is at the dealer. I'm picking it up Saturday afternoon.

Gotta go clean out the garage!

[HKlein]

OK, so now that I'm about to pick up the car, any advice on what to do/ask for at the dealer? I've heard that we should make sure they throw in the floor mats and that we get the year free of Sirius (for those that ordered sat radio), but is there anything else that I shouldn't forget?

[Swyfty]

Hi All

Just from visiting these forums, I've been able to track my vehicle and it is indeed on the Patriot. Looks like it scheduled to dock in SC on 6/16. CA estimates delivery to St. Louis on 6/23. Woohoo!

[deltron]

Originally Posted by HKlein

OK, so now that I'm about to pick up the car, any advice on what to do/ask for at the dealer? I've heard that we should make sure they throw in the floor mats and that we get the year free of Sirius (for those that ordered sat radio), but is there anything else that I shouldn't forget?

I asked for a test drive before I went to work with the finance guy. My CA said it wasn't necessary since the car is test driven for you at the factory in Munich and also at the BMW VPC. My car had 4 miles on it only. I insisted and test drove it anyways.

Inspect everything. Open every door and cubby hole. Bring a music CD with you and test out the CD player. I had a thick swirl left over on my car. Initially I thought it might be a scratch but it was a swirl. They took the car down the road to their service center and made it all nice and shiny.

My CA didn't use the adhesive on the temporary paper tag. He taped it on all four corners and when I asked why he said its because the adhesive leaves marks and its a pain to remove the glue.

Other than that, have fun!! I had a great time at the dealership. CA was awesome. I spent almost 2.5 hours at the dealership, so take your time. My CA went over almost everything in car.

I also bought the tire insurance. It was $650 for 5 years and no limit on replacements for tires and rims, or monetary limit.

I drove the car 60 miles today!! No time for pictures. Tomorrow I will take some after I finish work.

I've never been a BMW owner, but I will say that this car is amazing. The quality glows from every corner of the car. The car drives amazing. I think the folks in Germany who built our batch of cars put a lot of pride in them because it feels so well put together. There is not a visual flaw in my car at all, no rattles or anything.

This car is worth the wait and every penny. I can't wait until I'm a few more miles into the car. This is such an amazing machine.

Awesome photos SkiBoard!!

[xeta]

Nice pic Ski! Can't wait to see it with the spoiler! C'mon del! Stop having fun driving and let us have some photos to drool over! heheh. Thanks for letting us know where to check for problems del!

Questions I have:

My dealer came up with a "convenience cost" during closing which included Mats, wash and wax, full tank of gas, registration fees, etc. Now I'm starting to see that everyone else is getting these items for free. Do you think I was jipped? or was everyone else charged for them but it was bundled into another closing cost?

[ToddL]

My sales guy (I still refuse to call him a client advisor, in the end he's a sales guy) called yesterday and said the car would be ready not later than next Thursday the 22nd. One of my co-workers who's listened to me endlessly for, oh, 6 weeks says BMW needs an Indiana-Jones style GPS tracker, with the red lines and all. Now that would be cool.

Xeta - I think some the things you're talking about should be free. Some reg fees, though, could be legit. I'm getting Mats, a wash, and a full tank of gas for free.

[xeta]

Forgot to say: "Welcome Swyfty!"

[deltron]

Originally Posted by xeta

Nice pic Ski! Can't wait to see it with the spoiler! C'mon del! Stop having fun driving and let us have some photos to drool over! heheh. Thanks for letting us know where to check for problems del!

Questions I have:

My dealer came up with a "convenience cost" during closing which included Mats, wash and wax, full tank of gas, registration fees, etc. Now I'm starting to see that everyone else is getting these items for free. Do you think I was jipped? or was everyone else charged for them but it was bundled into another closing cost?

If they don't give you the mats for free, and this is at the very least, then say you won't be completely satisfied with the entire sales experience.

My CA told me upfront about the wax/preparation/clean/gas/etc... He called it a PAC fee, and that "all dealers charge this." I was skeptical, but any ways, he said this after we agreed on a price and said that he would include it in the price of the car.

Now if your dealer did not say this before, you should say that you expect this type of service as something include with the price of your car. You are buying a premium car and this is to be expected, and if all those things become a separate item you must pay for, then you will not be completely satisfied with the entire experience

If you are not paying invoice, and paying 500+ over invoice, then this is completely acceptable for them to give you for free. They are making a decent margin on you.

If you're paying 800-1000+ over invoice, then I think you absolutely deserve this treatment for sure. Remember, anything under a 5 is a failure for them. They will lose $1500 if they don't get all 5's. Matts, gas, wash and wax is only $100-125 at their cost. The CA will get the idea when you tell him you will not be 100% satisfied.

Based on the price of this convenience fee, the floor mats are the most likely the most expensive item. They sell for like $120. Try to get these for free at the least, and that should knock this convenience price down a lot.

If all fails, this convenience fee is small in comparison to the price of everything. You will end up being happy either way once you take off in the car. Don't sweat the small stuff!!!

Have fun and best of luck!

Update: Car registration and title fees are completely legit. I paid for this as well as. Wash,wax,gas and floort mats are negotiable and should be a given.

Update 2: I don't want to convince you to go there guns blazing. You still may have to work with this dealer in the future. I paid 800 over the invoice and I got all this stuff, except reg/title fees, bundled into the price of the car. Hope it all works out.

[deltron]

I'm not a great photographer and the light sucks right now, but here's the first images.

I have two bird droppings on the car already. Luckily they're on the rear windshield.

[xeta]

AWESOME PICS MAN!! You must be soo excited!!! Thanks for taking the time out to take and upload the pics.

[deltron]

Originally Posted by xeta

AWESOME PICS MAN!! You must be soo excited!!! Thanks for taking the time out to take and upload the pics.

Thanks man! I can't wait to see everyone's cars too. I think I'll try to take some more when there's less light outside.

Goods new for the folks with just the standard (BMW Professional) audio system. I burned some MP3 CD's using my iTunes and it can read ID3 Tags v2.3. Thats what iTunes uses if you import an MP3 from an audio CD.

Maybe Logic 7 and iDrive can use ID3 v2.3 now too.

'05 production cars seemed to only be able to read ID3 tags v1.x (1.0-1.2).

Ski&Board, are you getting the BMW spoiler? Are you getting it painted the same color as the car too? Nice color choice too, very unique.

I think most of you guys have 330's, if you so you're lucky. You get chrome tips on your exhaust standard. For 325's its a definitely future mod (and a cheap one too, $68 for parts).

[deltron]

Originally Posted by todd325i

Hey all, my car is/was on the Patriot as well. 325i 6MT, Electric Red, Black Leatherette w/aluminum trim, Sport package, Heated Seats, Sat Radio. I got 2.9% financing for 60 months through BMWFS.


Todd

Todd, I have the black leatherette too and just took delivery of my car. You will be pleasantly surprised how nice it is. I took a leap of faith hoping it would be nice. My dealership didn't have any leatherette cars. It looks and feels great.

[xeta]

Can't wait to see night pics! Everyone's pics are the only thing keeping me sane as I wait for Tuesday!! ARRRGH!!! MORE DEL! MORE! hahah

[Ski&Board]

Wicked nice pics, Deltron (showing my age here).

Thanks on the color, it was the wifes choice. My first choice
was your color. So needless to say, love the color.

Yes, spoiler is (will be) BMW unit, color matched Deep Green met.

Xeta, it's going to be a race to see who gets it first on Tues. I think thats
when we will pick up ours........

Swyfty, welcome. Good luck on the 23rd..

HKlein, did you get yours yet?

[HKlein]

Originally Posted by Ski&Board

Wicked nice pics, Deltron (showing my age here).

Thanks on the color, it was the wifes choice. My first choice
was your color. So needless to say, love the color.

Yes, spoiler is (will be) BMW unit, color matched Deep Green met.

Xeta, it's going to be a race to see who gets it first on Tues. I think thats
when we will pick up ours........

Swyfty, welcome. Good luck on the 23rd..

HKlein, did you get yours yet?

I'm picking it up this afternoon!!

Stay tuned...

[Swyfty]

Looking at the Patriot status today..it looks odd. Looks like the date has been pushed back. Shows 2 dates..for SC port. 6/17 and 6/18. Does anyone understand this "2 date" thing? I'm thinking that I probably won't have it til the week of the 26th.

[xeta]

Swyfty,

You may be seeing the NY and NJ land dates. 1 day apart.

[ToddL]

Originally Posted by deltron

Todd, I have the black leatherette too and just took delivery of my car. You will be pleasantly surprised how nice it is. I took a leap of faith hoping it would be nice. My dealership didn't have any leatherette cars. It looks and feels great.

Deltron, you're right about the black leatherette looking good ... one of my neighbors has a 325i w/the black leatherette which I had seen before ordering the car, so I knew what the appearance of it was.

Update: My car is at the dealer! They're going to wash/wax/safety inspect on Monday and I'm picking it up Tuesday night. I definitely like the look of the 161 wheels which come with the sport package a lot ... drove by yesterday and saw it sitting outside.