Weatherford BMW (Bay Area) sucks!

[jnm]

Don't do business with those guys, they have no respect for enthusiasts like us, and will come back on their word and screw you over for a few thousands $. They are the kind of dealers that justify the reputation "car salesmen" have. Do yourself a favor and take your $ somewhere else if you want to buy a BMW.

Here's my experience with them:

About 4-5 months ago I called them to inquire about a 1M, at the time they hadn't even heard of the car themselves? After a few days they called me back and let me put my name on the waiting list with the understanding (I was VERY clear about this) that I wanted to pay MSRP. I believe I was the first one on the waiting list (must have been, since they didn't even know the car existed before I called them)

After a couple of months they asked me to spec the car and sent me back the 'order inquiry' printout. So far so good, I'm hanging tight just waiting for the news on allocation... I'm ready to wait for as long as it takes as long as I get the car. I'm even ready to put $ down on a deposit but I'm told there's no need for that, they don't take $ for putting people on waiting lists.

And yesterday they sent me an Email saying that since they are only going to get a single car and since they have so much demand for it they are going to mark it up by $10K (that's 20% over MSRP!) and give it to the first customer ready to pay that ransom and since I didn't want to pay over MSRP they are not going to put my order through....

WTF!!!!

On top of this, to add insult to injury I received the same day in the mail my drawing of the 1M sent from BMW-M (number 62/1000) ... that's just cruel!!

Needless to say, I'm besides myself and utterly disgusted with the whole thing, I have been doing all I can to try to secure one of these cars since the very start of the year and now I feel they came back on their word and 'have me over a barrel' and taking advantage to racket another $10K. Well, sorry Weatherford BMW, unlike you I have some principles ('values' if you want), and I'm not going to validate that kind of behavior by giving in!

And I'm going to tell everyone on the internet that may be reading this how you have treated me and heed them a warning not to deal with that dealership.

[Robert]

Should have asked for MSRP on paper

[Grey Dove]

Am I glad I live in the EU!!!!!!!!!

[evolution80]

Originally Posted by gs/e60/1m?

Am I glad I live in the EU!!!!!!!!!

aside from the fact that the 1M is twice the us price in austria...

[dsharpie]

It might be worth giving Vlaho a call over at BMW Mountain View ((408) 426-2277). When I dealt with him was very straightforward. I'm #2 on their list and put down a small deposit. He said that they will charge MSRP (although if you don't order a car with both packages, you may not get priority). I have to have faith that he keeps his word! Anyway, this was about a month or so ago - he thought they would have 3 total allocations for the year - I haven't gotten a production number yet, but I don't think it would do you any harm to give him a call and see what's up. Good luck.

(BTW - if I am later told I have to pay more than MSRP, I'm going to abandon ship).

[hwelvaar]

I said it before, and I'll say it again.
People in the USofA have a very weird way of doing transactions.

Over here, putting down a deposit without any written agreement on what you're ordering, how much it costs and when is the expected delivery date, is considered pretty stupid. And because it is in writing, both seller and buyer have certain rules they need to respect. Just an example: if car seller can't deliver, the buyer has the right for compensation, like 15% of the price. Cultural difference ? ...

Anyway, guess this doesn't help the OP who wants a 1M.
Hope you'll get one though.

[jnm]

Fortunately I happen to be on a waiting list somewhere else (but definitely nowhere near the top of that list I'm afraid) without a solid confirmation of having a car (i.e. prod #) and I'm afraid they could still pull the same kind of move at the last moment! Hopefully they will be more honest and keep their word...

I did go to Mountain View at the beginning of the year and the guy I talked to there told me to 'come back later' because they could not order the car yet anyways and would not really take my name on a list and saying that they may be charging a markup depending on demand, and he told me "wait 6 months and then you may be able to get one @ MSRP". That may have been just that guy that I deal with on the dealership floor, certainly didn't give me a 'good feeling' of dealing with him (or that he knew much about allocation/availability) and I walked.

As for SF BMW at least once I got a call back from someone that knew what they were talking about regarding the 1M they said right away: we're not doing a waiting list, as soon as we get the cars in we'll put them up with a markup and they'll go to the first person willing to pay that price... at least that was clear!

Honestly, I thought that if you walked into a dealership and said up front you're willing to pay MSRP on a (all said and done) $50K car, cash on the table, and willing to wait 6+ months to get the car as long as you get it in the end you would get treated a lot better than that!!!

[ianc]

I can understand your frustration with Weatherford since you entered into a verbal agreement with them on it. However, if it's not in writing, whoever you talked to may not have been authorized to make that call and perhaps his boss shot him down. Any number of things could have happened...

You've gotta look at it from the dealer's point of view too. They have a very rare commodity, and basically they can charge as much as they like as long as they can find someone to pay it. If they dealer can make $10K extra on the car, then why wouldn't they?

ianc

[M3 Adjuster]

Originally Posted by ianc

I can understand your frustration with Weatherford since you entered into a verbal agreement with them on it. However, if it's not in writing, whoever you talked to may not have been authorized to make that call and perhaps his boss shot him down. Any number of things could have happened...

You've gotta look at it from the dealer's point of view too. They have a very rare commodity, and basically they can charge as much as they like as long as they can find someone to pay it. If they dealer can make $10K extra on the car, then why wouldn't they?

ianc

Actually.. no.. he doesn't have to see it from their perspective. From his perspective (and mine) the dealer has not kept their word.. verbal or otherwise.. Just as if you had an agreement with a friend that you could ....say.. .. borrow a tool... ... you show up to borrow the item and the friend says.. yeah... well.. I loaned it to somoeone else. It's still breaking an agreement..... and there's no reason to try and see it from the other perspective when it SUCKS for you.

[ianc]

Haha! Verbal agreement = no agreement.

Wish it were otherwise, but unfortunately not so...

ianc

[Franklin Joseph]

But if i lived in the bay area, this dealer will not get my business...so that's $$ lost on their part...

If my dealer did this to me, i'll definitely inform everyone in my region about them. Plus they will lose me as a service customer too.

Sorry OP, truly unfortunate.

[eeghie]

Originally Posted by ianc

You've gotta look at it from the dealer's point of view too. They have a very rare commodity, and basically they can charge as much as they like as long as they can find someone to pay it. If they dealer can make $10K extra on the car, then why wouldn't they?

- Because you can get away with being an ass, doesn't mean you should.
- Check out the congressional report on the financial crisis; ao (mortgage) retail greed caused it.
- By prohibiting enforced MSRP's, the US firmly believes in retail trickle-down-economics. For us this should mean that if a dealer does well, he'll be less likely to overcharge. In reality last profit's rush will inspire to overcharge even more.
- BMWNA should have done more to avoid this nasty practice fi by allocating based on first come-first serve, yet they chose to stay in bed with their only true customers: the dealers.

[Papethova]

I had a similar issue with Roberto at Weatherford. In 2008 he took my deposit for my 135 and weeks later when I inquired he told me he hadnt put my order through. They had my deposit but never ordered my car. I went with another dealership.

[snowfro]

Dude I'm sorry to hear that. Screw that bs. The point should be heard by BMW that a BMW enthusiast is getting screwed out of a car he otherwise has thought he had for months. This will continue to happen too... Those of you that don't have it in writing I encourage you to get a "window sticker" from your dealer before they get their precious allocations. For those of us that do have our allocations we should thank our lucky stars and hope it all goes smoothly from here!

[Redadair]

I posted this same issue some time ago about Chapman BMW in Arizona. They wanted to start a bidding war between myself and another person starting 4K over MSRP.

I think this is just the start of this issue in the good old USA, greedy bastards!!!!!

[torquedemon]

Wow that is truly a shitty experience....i hope that doesn't happen to me.
That being said, I understand your frustration and I support your actions of informing everyone so that this behavior wont be condoned. And if I were you I would do the same as well as take my business somewhere else. However, you cant deny that the dealer is in fact a "dealer" and in the business of making money (as much as they love cars).....

[jnm]

Yes, I didn't have anything in writing, and yes I very much suspect the decision was not that of the specific sales person I was dealing with but of the management and yes they are 'dealers' and supply/demand and there's nothing legally preventing them (at least in the US) to charge whatever they want for an item they are selling.

But really if you have to take the attitude of when a sales person tells you (even verbally) "yes, we will put you on our waiting list, and yes we will sell it to you for MSRP" then you have to retort something like "I don't believe you, I want to have it in writing, and from your management" what kind of sales experience is this?

Do you have to consider the sales person of an official BMW dealership (it's not like we can buy directly from BMWNA) as a lier that's going to screw you over on the price a few months later?

This is my first time buying (well, trying to...) a BMW, and I honestly thought that when buying a rather upmarket item for a non-negligeable amount of $, agreeing upfront to not even try to haggle the price down from MSRP (for those outside of the US you have to know that here when buying a car, typically, the MSRP is just a starting point for the negotiations and that most cars are sold at a discount from that price) AND ready to wait for months for it, you would get a certain amount of respect and that gentleman's agreements would be honored.

In the end all I can do is share my experience here to heed as a warning to others that may want to deal with this particular dealership that the experience may not be any better than dealing with some shady guy selling cheap crap cars from a second hand lot in the bad part of town.

[spritle1010]

Although your situation is crummy, there are plenty of dealerships that would be willing to try and obtain an allocation for you. Look in other regions, I know of a few very popular and well respected dealerships in the Chicagoland area that would try and source one for you. Though they may be unsuccessful, if you really want the 1M it never hurts to give it a shot.

[Jaguar66]

I got the best price on my 135i at Weatherford. Later, I emailed inquires to the sales guy, back when I knew the 1M was coming. Never got a response.

When I got news of the limited production and the BS BMW is pulling, I stopped inquiring, because I didn't want to participate in the BS, that I knew was coming. I primarily blame BMW for this, not local dealers. This car has been touted as an entry lever M car, but will be anything but entry level. I consider BMW an untruthful auto manufacturer in this regard. It could exert its influence over the dealers, but I have not heard of any efforts to do this.

That said, I believe this M car, is a warmup for the next generation 1M. When BMW produces more of this car (F20 1M) than they can sell, it may become a bargain. But I have forgotten about this version for now. If one falls in my lap, then I may become interested. Meanwhile, I will enjoy my JB4 boosted 135i. And my Porsche Cayman S.

[yemski]

Look at this email I got from that tool Roberto months ago when inquiring about the 1M Coupe, moments later someone else from the same dealership wrote me and said they are not taking deposits. The idiot didn't even know the correct name of the car, he also does not know how to spell the name of the dealership he works at:
Needless to say I am getting my 1M Coupe from another dealer.

> From: roberto@weatherfordbmw.com
> Date: February 22, 2011 11:19:26 AM PST
> To:
> Subject: BMW M1 Coupe
>

>
>
> Dear xxxx,
>
>
>
> Yes I am taking deposits for the all NEW M1 CP. The Deposit amount is
> $5,000.00. Should you have any questions I can be reached directly at
> (510)761-6075.
>
>
>
>
> Thank you,
>
>
>
>
> Roberto Roy
>
>
> Wetherford BMW
> 750 Potter Street
> Berkeley, CA 94710
> Berkeley, CA 94710
> (510) 761-6075 Direct
>

[friscogypsee]

As a San Francisco resident I will keep your bad experience with Weatherford BMW in mind. SF BMW was dickin' me around too saying they might charge over msrp, and I bought my 135i from them.

I said screw it and called the guy that my mom bought her X5 from, Coast BMW in San Luis-Obisbo. He said he'll only charge msrp even though it's a limited production car and everything has been real smooth between our interactions and I have a deposit down. I would recommend them if you are still looking to get a 1M. Ask for Scott Boulanger, real nice guy.

Hope everything works out for you and sorry to hear about that BS, cheers.

[friscogypsee]

Just as an interesting fact, I went to peter pan BMW in San Mateo and I was like, so what's up with the 1M? He looked at me, shook his head and said something to the effect of "There's 12 people on a list who think their getting a car, and were getting maybe 2 allocations."

I think he may have been saying that cause he wanted to sell me something used. I was like, "1M or nothing damnit!" haha