[Rally guy]

Hmmmm, not the welcome I was anticpating from the BMW crowd (or at least one guy's reaction) - but I can roll with this.

Re-reading my post - perhaps it comes arcoss as arrogant - but it certianly wasn't my intention. I meant only to give relevent details to explain various players' actions - including mine. Seems I failed in doing that for you Timbo, sorry.

I'm not quite clear though what your visceral reaction is to. My arrogance because I expressed disappointment at not being taken care of as valued client? I think EVERY person who walks into a retail business deserves outstanding client care. You NEVER know who can buy and who can't.

My mention of having a racing background? I'll assume there are lots of serious drivers here - certianly more skilled than I - and I mentoined it merely as background. I didn't (and won't) post details of my race resume - it's not germane to the thread.

My mention of being able to afford the car? I felt it relevent to make it clear that I'm not a tire kicker.

My knee-jerk reaction of rethinking my enthusiam for the brand? Yeah - I'll take that hit. It was perhaps totally naive of me to think that any dealship "gets it" as a bunch of car guys. I know - it's a busines and they are there to make a profit. Margin x turns = profit. So it's "move as many cars as possible" with the leanest overhead. If that means hiring sales guys as opposed to car guys - then I can't fault them for that. But if, (as thier mission statement seems to indicate, IIRC) the goal is to build a long-term relationship with thier clients, they're missing the boat. Car guys get asked all the time by friends, "what should I buy? - where should I buy it?". If BMW wows me with outstanding service and amazing product - I'll be talking them up to no end.

I'd be interested to know if others have either, a) had fun,positive, enthusiat-type relationships with thier dealers, or b) feel that my expectations are out of whack?

RK