BMW dealership won't accept trade-in due to air bag recall

[vdeshpa]

My E92 has an airbag recall. Dealer saying they won't accept it as a trade in at all, since they don't know when they will get parts for it and how long would it have to sit in the lot before they are able to sell it. Anyone else in a similar situation? My M3 is paid for btw, so any discounts that BMW would give for a lower lease payment doesn't apply to me.

[asilva]

They'll take it, but they'll low ball you pretty hard on it. At least that's what they did to me. I'm in the exact same situation with my 335i, and the F80 is only about a week away from pickup. I was going to shop around and see what Carmax would offer me, however..... My car got hit while parked last night, sooooo.... Now I'll have to wait for that.

[idyfohu]

Originally Posted by vdeshpa

My E92 has an airbag recall. Dealer saying they won't accept it as a trade in at all, since they don't know when they will get parts for it and how long would it have to sit in the lot before they are able to sell it. Anyone else in a similar situation? My M3 is paid for btw, so any discounts that BMW would give for a lower lease payment doesn't apply to me.

I ran into the same situation...had a buyer private party and was going to do an in and out with the dealership to save on taxes, then they ran the VIN and realized it was impacted by the Takata recall. Really sucks as it cost me $1,500 or so in tax savings.

I can understand why they don't want the car though, they just have to sit on it apparently. I'd look into selling it private party if you're in need of the cash and hopefully you can get a bit more than the dealer was going to offer you too.

Good luck!

[al3xander]

I would take it to CarMax and see their offer if you're looking to sell outright. BMW is offering some type of compensation to dealers who take in cars with the takata airbag inflator recall though so I'm not sure why they wouldn't want to take it as a trade in at all. My dealer was still taking them as trade ins but were forced to offer below market value due to them not being able to sell it until the recall is complete.

[Draper]

Originally Posted by al3xander

I would take it to CarMax and see their offer if you're looking to sell outright. BMW is offering some type of compensation to dealers who take in cars with the takata airbag inflator recall though so I'm not sure why they wouldn't want to take it as a trade in at all. My dealer was still taking them as trade ins but were forced to offer below market value due to them not being able to sell it until the recall is complete.

I believe it was in the neighborhood of $500 /mo. However, since the replacement parts are finally starting to arrive at dealers it should be a non-issue soon.

[dom_cmh]

I got the dealer to take my 08 E90 M3 in on trade last month. They mentioned the recall but took it anyway. I didn't get low-balled and I negotiated a good trade in cost.

[RickFLM4]

I heard that AutoNation dealerships won't sell cars with open recalls so I can see an impact if trying to trade in at one of their dealerships. I haven't heard of any other dealers jumping on that bandwagon.

There are so many cars with the open airbag recall that dealers will eventually run low on used inventory and affect new car sales if they refuse to take the affected cars in trade or over-do it with lowball offers. If they won't take a trade due to the recall then they can't buy at auction for the same reason.

[The Automotive Enthusiast]

That's not right. There is a six month pull ahead available to anyone that has been affected by the Takata airbag recall.

[BzsBimmer]

According to what I just read yesterday, there is a group working hard to limit sales of cars with recalls on 3rd party lots as well as rental/fleet lots.

I'd imagine if they get their way, even places like Carmax, would not be able to buy or sell cars with open recalls.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by BzsBimmer

According to what I just read yesterday, there is a group working hard to limit sales of cars with recalls on 3rd party lots as well as rental/fleet lots.

I'd imagine if they get their way, even places like Carmax, would not be able to buy or sell cars with open recalls.

That's one way to eliminate used car salesmen... it would grind dealership used car sales to a halt.

[TheGermanTroll]

That is crap. Is this the dealer you purchased your BMW from?

[3tekcorps]

Originally Posted by vdeshpa

My E92 has an airbag recall. Dealer saying they won't accept it as a trade in at all, since they don't know when they will get parts for it and how long would it have to sit in the lot before they are able to sell it. Anyone else in a similar situation? My M3 is paid for btw, so any discounts that BMW would give for a lower lease payment doesn't apply to me.

My dealer has at least 30 cars sitting in storage on a NO SELL status due to this. One is a 1M that they had in December when I stopped by to look at cars.

[CCossairt]

I would call BMW of America and make a complaint against the dealer, I don't think they can refuse to take there own product in on trade because of a recall, just means you have a douchebag sales manager. I've worked for dealerships for the last 14 years ( In service ) no dealer wants to get a call from corporate customer relations.

[3tekcorps]

I'd just sell it private party. If you have to strong arm the trade, can you imagine the deal you'll get on the transaction. Figure about 50% of private party value at most.

[lemetier]

Originally Posted by BzsBimmer

According to what I just read yesterday, there is a group working hard to limit sales of cars with recalls on 3rd party lots as well as rental/fleet lots.

I'd imagine if they get their way, even places like Carmax, would not be able to buy or sell cars with open recalls.

Yes, it's called the FTC since the regulation requiring stop-sales for used vehicles as well was removed from the final bill yet the rental car restrictions remained. NADA is really the only lobby opposed and several members including AutoNation are going rogue.

[RickFLM4]

I saw Mike Jackson from AutoNation on CNBC this week. While they won't retail cars with open recalls, it sounds like they do send them to auction (with disclosure) where another dealer will buy them and retail them. So they aren't exactly taking cars out of circulation by not retailing them - just passing them off for someone else to sell. They don't really have a choice. Dealers can't realistically hold millions of cars in inventory while waiting for parts.

[Haywood]

My lease was ending in May and BMWFS told me that I can't buy my car. They did take $150 off a 12 month lease extension and will also give me $2500 rebate if I want to buy the car after the lease is up. Actually worked out for me!

[lemetier]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

I saw Mike Jackson from AutoNation on CNBC this week. While they won't retail cars with open recalls, it sounds like they do send them to auction (with disclosure) where another dealer will buy them and retail them. So they aren't exactly taking cars out of circulation by not retailing them - just passing them off for someone else to sell. They don't really have a choice. Dealers can't realistically hold millions of cars in inventory while waiting for parts.

I've known Mike for years and have worked with him at both MB and AN. This Takata mess has reached such a massive and lengthy scale, the losses incurred for AN alone have exceeded $2B and continuing to hold inventory is no longer an option. Its not an immediate action and affected cars are sent to auction only after 180 days in sell-hold inventory and repairs cannot be guaranteed to occur within the following 30 days with two exceptions; BMW and Honda vehicles continue to be held as they are compensating their franchise dealers. BMW dealers who use BMWFS for their Floorplan, are provided additional credit at zero interest and extendable due dates for these cars specifically. If I were the OP, I'd raise hell with the dealer and BMWNA as there should not be any reason for a BMW Franchise Dealer to refuse a trade-in of an affected BMW Group vehicle.

This is one of those improbable situations that was accounted for back when I was working with a think tank between manufacturers/distributors/dealers/regulators to reform the network structure. I specifically suggested manufacturers/distributors be allowed to establish wholly owned regional service centers within franchise market areas to take on major warranty or manufacturer liable situations such as this. Dealers and their lobbyists balked at the idea and now they're wishing they hadn't.