[etherbored]

you may wanna check my post in the "what did you pay" thread...
bellevue was pretty kind to me.
-e-

[darkie]

Originally Posted by etherbored

you may wanna check my post in the "what did you pay" thread...
bellevue was pretty kind to me.
-e-

I actually did see your post. (I spend way too much time on here...) don't get me wrong, if i went anywhere in the seattle area, bellevue would be my choice. I've heard nothing but good things about that dealership. and yes, your deal is very good for our area from what i've seen here.

However, as you stated above, the price you got was based on your boss's relationship with the rep. (too bad i don't have that working in my favor). But as stated before, since this isn't a really competitive market, all the dealers here can sell the cars at or close to MSRP.

But, if you think I could get a similiar price through your CA, then please let me know who he is and i will definitely go through him.

Thanks in advance...

[etherbored]

i made a pass at working with 3 california dealers (2 southern; 1 northern).
for me, the process was neither time- nor cost-effecient.
your mileage may vary (and frankly, i hope it does). if it doesn't, PM me for an introduction.
,
-e-

[Armen52]

The dealers I dealt with in CA were over the phone initially or in person. I imagine you'd have to fly down to get the car and drive it back up here, at which point it would not be cost effective.

Courtesy Delivery is not something that is guaranteed to happen either. The delivering dealer has to agree to it and TYPICALLY they charge another $500 for it. This is up to the dealer though, they could charge more or they could refuse altogether. This also doesn't make things very cost effective. It might also leave a sour taste in the mouth of the dealer you have to get service with later.

Like I said earlier to Heliskyr, I don't envy the people who have to buy up here in WA. I was lucky in that I was moving from CA to here anyway so I had to drive or fly up and the cost was eventually comparable. It looks like your best bet is with BMW of Bellevue.

I will look into a possible referral to someone at the dealer. I know someone who knows a lot of the people at that dealer. I'll let you know if I can come up with anything. Good luck and enjoy your new E90 wherever you end up getting it. Do a European Delivery if you can even!

[darkie]

Thanks guys!! yeah after really thinking about it, it really doesn't make sense driving the car back up here. it was just an excuse to see my family in the bay area and having some alone time with my car....

I considered ED, but the thought of being able to drive the car in Europe then having to wait another 6-8 weeks to see it again isn't worth the savings. Granted i'm overlooking the experience of being in europe, but since work won't allow me to take vacation until Dec., the thought of driving around germany in the winter with the sports package doesn't seem as enjoyable.

plus after using the ED calculator, it looks like the savings would be around $4500 - $1500 (flight and hotel) - $1500 (expenses) = $1500 savings after all is said and done.

yeah any help you guys can give me would be greatly appreciated

[etherbored]

part of what i do is cost benefit analysis, and believe me, i broke this down time and again. at this point in time, i did the very best i could.
especially considering that i'm getting very deep discounts on the 6-disc changer, stongard, and tinting...
my 'b' plan was to wait until end of the year and hunt for a pre-owned.
PM me and i'll make the proper introductions, darkie. do it quickly and perhaps you can avoid the september 1st price increase...
-e-

[E90Newbie]

Maybe I was a little harsh on the BMW Seattle guys in my first few posts. I just want to post this last post to clear the air. My overall experience with them turned out to be pretty good.

Most of my frustration in the beginning was just about me wanting to be able to track my car and not being given the information to be able to do so. In the grand scheme of things, this is a pretty minor issue.

There were a few things that I was fearing (my car arriving with wrong trim, car arriving with more than 10 miles on it, car arriving with wrong options, etc)... but in the end, it was all just paranoia. My car showed up perfect (even got heated seats for free) with only 6 miles on it.

Plus my CA ending up throwing in a bunch of cool stuff (keychains, carpeted mats, car shampoo, chamois, t-shirt)...

So that's that. If discount is a huge factor (which it should be) then I'm not sure whether or not Seattle has started to match some of these other places. But as far as overall satisfaction: I'd give them an A.

Like I said before: the most important thing is this... those "fears" that I listed above didn't come true; but we've all heard stories about that stuff happening at other dealers.

[etherbored]

my experience was 180 degrees different...
-e-

[berndts]

just bought my e90 325xi from BMW Bellevue. Before heading to the Bellevue Dealership, I started out with the Seattle one. I came all prepared with ED invoice and MSRP with a suggested dealer profit from the invoice price (including all the options). The sales guy, who generally didn't seem to know much about the car or anything else for that matter took the "numbers" and went to the mgr - came back and said they could only discount a laughable amount. After we raised our offer slightly...he came back and said the last offer was again...ridiculous....and there was no more 'wiggle-room' down. So we got up and left. We did the same approach with Bellevue, who gave us a reasonable counter-offer...which we countered...and that was that. We paid a fair price (actually just slightly over our initial offer.) So we're happy.

[obLu]

When I cross shopped BMW of Seattle to try to get them to beat Bellevue his response was literally, "um, yeah, that's a good deal you should take it."

Both guys I dealt with there were super nice, but they weren't very interested in selling me a car.

[BMW0]

I'm glad I didn't buy from this outfit. It would of really made me leave terrible remarks on this thread.

[mwilli]

So I have bought 2 cars from BMW of Seattle and generally they were pretty nice folks, I am however having a hard time getting a test drive in a 6sp MT from them so I am trying to decide if I want to abandon them and try Bellevue.

Either way it does look like the cars are in short-supply here allthough I am seeing more and more of them on the road. I say 3 of them on the way to work an in our parking lot this morning.

[obLu]

Did they work with you on the price in the past or were they msrp only?

[mwilli]

I got them to come down on $800 bucks both times.

[BMW3]

I bought my first 325i from BMW Seattle four years ago. Got $1700 discount then. I picked up my 2nd 325i from the same dealership last week with another reasonable discount of about $1900 off MSRP. BMW Bellevue on the other hand was not near the price tag at all. In a way I think they're spoiled by Microsoft people in the neighborhood who don't mind paying more for less.

I just think that individual experiences vary greatly depending upon their negotiation skills. Surely your sales rep's professionalism and willingness to negotiate takes big part in this. Show your sales rep you're serious buyer and willing to put money down if deal is right. If for some reason you find it unattractive, simply walk way but leave your business card with him/her. Most importantly make sure your sales rep understands what it takes to make a deal with you. Your sales rep who is not flexible today may be so tomorrow. Leaving your contact info will provide you a second change to make that win-win negotiation. This is strictly business so don't take it personally whether you win or lose.

[artichoke]

My experience with Marta Heinz of BMW Seattle was excellent. She was well informed, and provided expert guidance through the ordering process. My order was delivered exactly as promised. Making the deal was painless, too--I said that I was looking for a $1,000 discount and got a swift and positive response. Sure, I could have asked for more, but the best deals are for cars already in stock and I wanted to place a custom order to get my preferred combination of colors and features. After years of getting knocked around by salespeople who didn't know the cars and couldn't make the deal without going to a sales manager, it was great to work with someone who knew what she was doing.

[lostwanderingfool]

just wandering through and was curious what others thought of the dealers in the area. i bought a 325CI (e46) coupe on 1/29/06 at bmw seattle. i used the "free quotes" i found online and sent one to each dealer in the area (seattle, bellevue and northwest). rob from bellevue immediately responded and was pretty helpful, rather nice in general in fact. when i went to check out the cars rob wouldn't ever answer my questions directly and that made me very leery. dave at bmw seattle finally responded after a few requests and i found him to be quite helpful. i was looking for a pretty bare coupe, i love the e90 but liked the way the e46 drove better. anyway, i ultimately found the car i wanted at seattle and got a few grand knocked off the msrp which wasn't what i was hoping for but better than i got anywhere else. bmw northwest never responded to any of my requests and i found their website to be pretty useless so i just went with bmw seattle as i live three blocks away. i had no problems at all, they gave me a good deal on my lease and have been very helpful ever since, if a bit shameless in requesting to get all 5's on bmwna's reviews. (i gave them 4's and 5's, communicating with them wasn't the best.)
anyway, just my experience.

[Armen52]

Don't head back near the sales department if you didn't score them all 5's. Anything but all 5's is not a passing grade according to BMWNA and they likely took a huge hit on bonus payout because of it.

From what we've seen from other members, odds are good they will act like jerks if you don't rate them perfectly.

[lostwanderingfool]

i only gave them like one or two 4's out of the like 6 or 7 questions, but if they are bitchy (why would bmwna tell them what i rated them? that's the stupidest marketing/customer service approach imaginable) then i have no problem contacting bmwna again, they seemed nice!
anyway, i'm hopin for the best. can't imagine why i would go to the sales area anyway, at least until the new 1 and 3 series coupes come out.

[obLu]

Yup, it's a stoopid system, but it's the way it is. That's why they plead for all 5's; they get bonused out on it. But you can also use it to your advantage and a bargaining chip since there is money involved.

I'm severly disappointed to hear you only got a couple of k knocked off an e46 with the e92 right around the corner. I would've expected much better with it being the last model year.

[seatown_guy]

I bought from BMW Bellevue in January. I get my car April 13th. They knocked off $1000 the MSRP and they thought we had a deal. While my sales rep was talking to the sales manager, I wrote a down payment (deposit) check for $1000 to BMW Bellevue. He came back and said that they would do it, but it was really tight - their best offer. I told him to throw in Xenons (which I knew I wanted all along) and I'd give him the check I was holding. They agreed after 20 minutes of trying to counter and I kept saying no.

My brother bought from Fife BMW and was happy with the sales team. He services at BMW Seattle and has had bad experiences. I am servicing at BMW Bellevue.

Oh, one cool thing. My sales guy quite to go back into real estate. So, this new guy came on and I told him I was promised free floor mats, and he agreed. Way to squeeze the turnip.

[Buddy1]

I typically ask if the dealership has costco pricing. It saves alot of time.