Performance Center Delivery and home dealership question

Miami M3 · 11-08-2010, 10:03 AM

I am placing my order on an E92 sometime in the next couple of days and was planning on taking delivery at the Performance Center in South Carolina. Like so many others, I got sick of the bullsh*t that the dealers here in South Florida were trying to pull on negotiating prices and instead decided to order my car from Steve Thomas BMW in California. Here's my question:

If I order the car from a non-local dealer, and take delivery at the Performance Center, how do I establish who my local dealership will be for the sake of maintenance, service, etc? I literally live across the street from Bramman, and would love to have them as my dealership for service and maintenance purposes, but I have heard that they won't extend certain ammenities (namely rental cars) to BMW owners that didn't buy through them. Does anyone know what BMW's policy is on this kind of thing, and, even better, does anyone have experience successfully accomplishing what I'm trying to do with this particular dealership? Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

Gtrain · 11-08-2010, 10:06 AM

As long as you bring it in, they will service it. They might not give you a loaner though. Getting a loaner is all up to the dealership and not from BMW NA

shawshank772 · 11-08-2010, 10:07 AM

I purchased my car through Military sales (not from any dealership stateside) and have taken it to two different dealerships. Both of them gave me loaner BMWs when I had my car in for service. Thats just my experience.

CarbonAlpine · 11-08-2010, 10:43 AM

Hey man I think i remember you from m3forum. If it's not you then it's another guy with your same name. Anyways, I also was ordering from local dealer here and thought I was getting a great deal. Turns out Steve Thomas was significantly lower. I would take my e46 m3 and 650 to service at braman and I received loaner cars, I bought the 650i at pembroke pines. I live in brickell so I chose to avoid bramans' ridiculous markup but take advantage of their service.

BMWDavid · 11-08-2010, 10:52 AM

I have a few customers in Miami who get their BMWs serviced at Braman. For convenience it's nice that you are so close, but if they change their policy for whatever reason. You have quite a few locations in S. Florida for maintenance once a year.

Cheers,
David

davem3fan · 11-08-2010, 10:56 AM

This is the part where bottom line price shopping can be penny-wise, but pound foolish...

I got a great deal, even though I know I didn't necessarily get the "lowest possible" price. I do have a very helpful relationship with the dealer that is geographically convenient for me. Those relationships often prove valuable over the life of the car.

Just my .02

askjeeves · 11-08-2010, 11:07 AM

the policy at Braman is not to provide a loaner car, however if you have a good relationship with a SA or just happen to get someone cool, they will provide a loaner. it is kind of a crap shoot though.

ring007 · 11-08-2010, 11:27 AM

+1

Quote:

Originally Posted by davem3fan

This is the part where bottom line price shopping can be penny-wise, but pound foolish...

I got a great deal, even though I know I didn't necessarily get the "lowest possible" price. I do have a very helpful relationship with the dealer that is geographically convenient for me. Those relationships often prove valuable over the life of the car.

Just my .02

Technic · 11-08-2010, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miami M3

I am placing my order on an E92 sometime in the next couple of days and was planning on taking delivery at the Performance Center in South Carolina. Like so many others, I got sick of the bullsh*t that the dealers here in South Florida were trying to pull on negotiating prices and instead decided to order my car from Steve Thomas BMW in California. Here's my question:

If I order the car from a non-local dealer, and take delivery at the Performance Center, how do I establish who my local dealership will be for the sake of maintenance, service, etc? I literally live across the street from Bramman, and would love to have them as my dealership for service and maintenance purposes, but I have heard that they won't extend certain ammenities (namely rental cars) to BMW owners that didn't buy through them. Does anyone know what BMW's policy is on this kind of thing, and, even better, does anyone have experience successfully accomplishing what I'm trying to do with this particular dealership? Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

I get loaners (both rentals and BMWs) from Vista and Ft Lauderdale Imports and I bought my M3 at South Motors. And sometimes I don't get a loaner if they do not have any available.

IMO, the issue here is not the dealer is the Service Advisor. Just try to know yours and always ask politely.

M3maniac20 · 11-08-2010, 11:52 AM

Why did you go so far from Florida to order your car? Should have gone to BMW of Austin!

jeffnnj · 11-08-2010, 11:54 AM

I cannot believe that your local dealer wouldn't match the price of an out of state dealer. It's totally ludicrous. It is always better to buy from a local dealer. I had a guy come in with a ridiculous price on a 2008 535i. After busting my chops for over 3 hours he ended up going about 100 miles away to save about $300. His right, of course. However, he came back with a few questions about the iDrive and needed another cell phone paired. These are not service issues but are normally handled by client advisors. Since I had wasted quite a bit of time with him and was not anxious to do more work for no money, I suggested he drive to the other dealer to have his questions answered. Our cars have a lot of technology and there are questions that come up throughout the life of the vehicle. I have driven to my clients' homes many times to pair their cell phones and program their garage remotes. Good luck having a dealer in California extend the same courtesy.

mpardun · 11-08-2010, 11:59 AM

Murray Motors in Denver refused to deal on MSRP a dime! They gave me a line of BS about how rare M cars are and that they can't discount at all on them (as an '11 Jerez Black Coupe sits on their lot rotting for 2+ months)...but I digress.

Some dealers just don't have a good appreciation for supply & demand and what price the market will bare (pay). Didn't seem to stop them from gouging over MSRP when the cars were new however...

It's too bad for them - it's sites like m3post that make this much more transparent and empower the buyer to get the best deal available.

Knowledge is Power

Technic · 11-08-2010, 11:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jeffnnj

I cannot believe that your local dealer wouldn't match the price of an out of state dealer. It's totally ludicrous.

This is Miami/Ft. Lauderdale for you... there's no recession here according to these mofos. But again, worse are the customers that pay their prices without even asking for a better deal...

GOLFFRR · 11-08-2010, 01:08 PM

you can take a bmw to any bmw dealership for service. We have cars that were sold at other dealerships come in for service all the time. when we see cars coming in that were bought from other dealership we take that as a honor and a privilege that they have selected us to handle their service needs

. yes all dealerships would love to have everyone buy their cars from them and service their cars at their store but at the end of the day we are representing the bigger picture which is making the BMW brand the best in the world.

sounded a little cheesy didn't it haha. sorry guys its the truth .

Miami M3 · 11-08-2010, 01:26 PM

Thanks for all the responses guys. Carbon Alpine - I'm not the Miami M3 you're thinking of, but I'm glad to hear you've been able to get your service and maintenence at Braman without a problem, and more importantly that you get loaners too. Is there a particular service rep you deal with? If you could PM their name that would be a huge help.

As for all the comments about buying my car from an out of state dealership and the benefits of having a local dealership relationship, I couldn't agree with you more, but only in principle. The bottom line is that by going to Steve Thomas BMW I was able to pay $500 over invoice as opposed to $1800 under MSRP, which is the best I could get out of 4 local dealerships I spoke to. I just don't see any reason to throw money away to try and create/preserve a relationship with a local dealership. If they were willing to compete and offer me the same or even a similar deal, I would've been all over it without a second thought. Unfortunately the dealers down here think they have the market completely cornered and don't have to negotiate or compete. What makes it worse is that there are so many people who just walk in and write a check without even looking around at what's out there. Not trying to bad mouth those buyers or the dealers, because it's the buyer's right to pay what they want and if I were the dealer and knew another high paying buyer was around the corner I wouldn't sell to me at a discount either. I'm just glad I found this forum and the guys over at Steve Thomas (thanks Quinn, Ryan, and GOLFFRR) so that I could walk away from buying this car feeling good about the deal and the whole experience.

I plan on taking my car in to Braman for the first service. I'll be sure to post and let you know if I have any issues. Hopefully not. Thanks again for the responses.

ericiu · 11-08-2010, 01:34 PM

Hey MiamiM3, I'm also in Miami... just moved to the Beach here from New York. I'm taking delivery up at West Palm Beach this week hopefully. I, too, bought out of state (up in New York actually). I'll probably be getting mine serviced at Braman Miami... already connected with a SA there who said he'd take care of me. I'd suggest you post (if you haven't) in the Southeast regional section about finding a cool SA in Miami/Ft Lauderdale.

BMWDavid · 11-08-2010, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mpardun

Murray Motors in Denver refused to deal on MSRP a dime! They gave me a line of BS about how rare M cars are and that they can't discount at all on them (as an '11 Jerez Black Coupe sits on their lot rotting for 2+ months)...but I digress.

Some dealers just don't have a good appreciation for supply & demand and what price the market will bare (pay). Didn't seem to stop them from gouging over MSRP when the cars were new however...

It's too bad for them - it's sites like m3post that make this much more transparent and empower the buyer to get the best deal available.

Knowledge is Power

Totally agree. When I started getting calls years ago from people in California, Florida, Colorado, Washington, Hawaii, even Spain, I was really amazed at the response for my program. For people fortunate enough to stumble upon this forum or get referred here the savings is tremendous. Not to mention the valuable information you get for all things BMW. This is a great community that I will continue to support.

I receive out of state calls every day now. I also notice that income levels for most of my clients is well above the median average for larger metropolitan areas. Time saved is money earned. A dealership shouldn't hold you hostage for a loaner and "good service".

You can buy local and the one day you need service, the loaner department gives the car reserved for you to someone else. The owner's friend needed it or the loaner gets sold by the sales department. Then what?

Bottom line is that with all the information available to consumers today, why stick to sales tactics from 1970?

"Stay thirsty my friends".

11-08-2010, 10:03 AM	#1
Miami M3 First Lieutenant 28 Rep 323 Posts Drives: 2011.5 E92 M3 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Miami iTrader: (0)	Performance Center Delivery and home dealership question I am placing my order on an E92 sometime in the next couple of days and was planning on taking delivery at the Performance Center in South Carolina. Like so many others, I got sick of the bullsh*t that the dealers here in South Florida were trying to pull on negotiating prices and instead decided to order my car from Steve Thomas BMW in California. Here's my question: If I order the car from a non-local dealer, and take delivery at the Performance Center, how do I establish who my local dealership will be for the sake of maintenance, service, etc? I literally live across the street from Bramman, and would love to have them as my dealership for service and maintenance purposes, but I have heard that they won't extend certain ammenities (namely rental cars) to BMW owners that didn't buy through them. Does anyone know what BMW's policy is on this kind of thing, and, even better, does anyone have experience successfully accomplishing what I'm trying to do with this particular dealership? Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.
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11-08-2010, 10:06 AM	#2
Gtrain Colonel 144 Rep 2,018 Posts Drives: something slowwwww Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: NYC iTrader: (21)	As long as you bring it in, they will service it. They might not give you a loaner though. Getting a loaner is all up to the dealership and not from BMW NA
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11-08-2010, 10:07 AM	#3
shawshank772 Major 120 Rep 1,159 Posts Drives: 08 135i and 16 M3 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Chicago iTrader: (1)	I purchased my car through Military sales (not from any dealership stateside) and have taken it to two different dealerships. Both of them gave me loaner BMWs when I had my car in for service. Thats just my experience.
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11-08-2010, 10:43 AM	#4
CarbonAlpine Captain 204 Rep 835 Posts Drives: ///M4 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Miami iTrader: (25)	Hey man I think i remember you from m3forum. If it's not you then it's another guy with your same name. Anyways, I also was ordering from local dealer here and thought I was getting a great deal. Turns out Steve Thomas was significantly lower. I would take my e46 m3 and 650 to service at braman and I received loaner cars, I bought the 650i at pembroke pines. I live in brickell so I chose to avoid bramans' ridiculous markup but take advantage of their service.
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11-08-2010, 10:52 AM	#5
BMWDavid 433 Rep 860 Posts Drives: MSport F30 Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: BMW Secret Test Facilities iTrader: (0) Garage List 2011 BMW M3 Sedan [0.00] 2005(sold but not f ... [10.00] 2006 X3 [0.00] 1984 633csi [0.00]	I have a few customers in Miami who get their BMWs serviced at Braman. For convenience it's nice that you are so close, but if they change their policy for whatever reason. You have quite a few locations in S. Florida for maintenance once a year. Cheers, David __________________
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11-08-2010, 10:56 AM	#6
davem3fan Captain 186 Rep 722 Posts Drives: 2011 M3 Sedan Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Philly Metro iTrader: (2) Garage List 2016 BMW M3 [0.00] 2013 BMW X5 xDrive35d [0.00]	This is the part where bottom line price shopping can be penny-wise, but pound foolish... I got a great deal, even though I know I didn't necessarily get the "lowest possible" price. I do have a very helpful relationship with the dealer that is geographically convenient for me. Those relationships often prove valuable over the life of the car. Just my .02 __________________ Dave Flogaus CCA #123862 11 E90 M3 Sedan DCT 94 E36 325is M-Tech (S50)
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11-08-2010, 11:07 AM	#7
askjeeves Captain 147 Rep 957 Posts Drives: e92 m3/spece30 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Miami, FL iTrader: (1)	the policy at Braman is not to provide a loaner car, however if you have a good relationship with a SA or just happen to get someone cool, they will provide a loaner. it is kind of a crap shoot though. __________________ 2011 e92 ///m3 zcp - jzb/fr ED 6/29/10
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11-08-2010, 11:52 AM	#10
M3maniac20 Captain 87 Rep 725 Posts Drives: 2013 BMW 335is Coupe Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Austin, Texas iTrader: (0)	Why did you go so far from Florida to order your car? Should have gone to BMW of Austin! __________________ 2016 340i M-Sport 6-MT(on order) 2013 335is (still have) 2011.5 M3 ZCP (traded in)
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11-08-2010, 11:54 AM	#11
jeffnnj Second Lieutenant 14 Rep 281 Posts Drives: 2011 E93 M3 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: NNJ, USA iTrader: (0)	I cannot believe that your local dealer wouldn't match the price of an out of state dealer. It's totally ludicrous. It is always better to buy from a local dealer. I had a guy come in with a ridiculous price on a 2008 535i. After busting my chops for over 3 hours he ended up going about 100 miles away to save about $300. His right, of course. However, he came back with a few questions about the iDrive and needed another cell phone paired. These are not service issues but are normally handled by client advisors. Since I had wasted quite a bit of time with him and was not anxious to do more work for no money, I suggested he drive to the other dealer to have his questions answered. Our cars have a lot of technology and there are questions that come up throughout the life of the vehicle. I have driven to my clients' homes many times to pair their cell phones and program their garage remotes. Good luck having a dealer in California extend the same courtesy. __________________ 2011 M3 Convertible, Alpine White/Black Novillo Leather 2008 550i Sport, Platinum Gray/Natural Brown (retired) 2006 550i Silver Gray/Black (retired) 2002 M3 Convertible Titanium Silver/Black(retired) 1998 328i Convertible Arctic Silver/Gray(retired) Last edited by jeffnnj; 11-08-2010 at 12:02 PM..
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11-08-2010, 11:59 AM	#12
mpardun CO 14GIPPR 8 Rep 172 Posts Drives: '11 e90 ///M3 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Denver, CO iTrader: (0)	Mine would not either! Murray Motors in Denver refused to deal on MSRP a dime! They gave me a line of BS about how rare M cars are and that they can't discount at all on them (as an '11 Jerez Black Coupe sits on their lot rotting for 2+ months)...but I digress. Some dealers just don't have a good appreciation for supply & demand and what price the market will bare (pay). Didn't seem to stop them from gouging over MSRP when the cars were new however... It's too bad for them - it's sites like m3post that make this much more transparent and empower the buyer to get the best deal available. Knowledge is Power __________________ 2011.5 e90 M3 ZCP {Space Gray / 1/2 Fox Red & Blk / 6MT / ZCV / ZCW / ZP2 / EP Sound} Former BMW's: '08 335i sil/blk (6sp) / '03 M3 sil/red (SMG) / '98 540i sil/blk (6sp)
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11-08-2010, 01:08 PM	#14
GOLFFRR 10816 Rep 27,599 Posts Drives: GOLFFRR cart Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: we sell BMWs to "ALL" US states iTrader: (4)	you can take a bmw to any bmw dealership for service. We have cars that were sold at other dealerships come in for service all the time. when we see cars coming in that were bought from other dealership we take that as a honor and a privilege that they have selected us to handle their service needs . yes all dealerships would love to have everyone buy their cars from them and service their cars at their store but at the end of the day we are representing the bigger picture which is making the BMW brand the best in the world. sounded a little cheesy didn't it haha. sorry guys its the truth . __________________ BEFORE YOU BUY YOUR NEXT BMW, EMAIL OUR GUY KOTE FIRST! Kote M Sales:Kotem@bmwofcamarillo.com Cell:805-368-9101 vipfinance@bmwofcamarillo.com for warranties!
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11-08-2010, 01:26 PM	#15
Miami M3 First Lieutenant 28 Rep 323 Posts Drives: 2011.5 E92 M3 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Miami iTrader: (0)	Thanks for all the responses guys. Carbon Alpine - I'm not the Miami M3 you're thinking of, but I'm glad to hear you've been able to get your service and maintenence at Braman without a problem, and more importantly that you get loaners too. Is there a particular service rep you deal with? If you could PM their name that would be a huge help. As for all the comments about buying my car from an out of state dealership and the benefits of having a local dealership relationship, I couldn't agree with you more, but only in principle. The bottom line is that by going to Steve Thomas BMW I was able to pay $500 over invoice as opposed to $1800 under MSRP, which is the best I could get out of 4 local dealerships I spoke to. I just don't see any reason to throw money away to try and create/preserve a relationship with a local dealership. If they were willing to compete and offer me the same or even a similar deal, I would've been all over it without a second thought. Unfortunately the dealers down here think they have the market completely cornered and don't have to negotiate or compete. What makes it worse is that there are so many people who just walk in and write a check without even looking around at what's out there. Not trying to bad mouth those buyers or the dealers, because it's the buyer's right to pay what they want and if I were the dealer and knew another high paying buyer was around the corner I wouldn't sell to me at a discount either. I'm just glad I found this forum and the guys over at Steve Thomas (thanks Quinn, Ryan, and GOLFFRR) so that I could walk away from buying this car feeling good about the deal and the whole experience. I plan on taking my car in to Braman for the first service. I'll be sure to post and let you know if I have any issues. Hopefully not. Thanks again for the responses.
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11-08-2010, 01:34 PM	#16
ericiu Private First Class 32 Rep 131 Posts Drives: 2024 BMW Alpina XB7 Join Date: May 2006 Location: FL iTrader: (0)	Hey MiamiM3, I'm also in Miami... just moved to the Beach here from New York. I'm taking delivery up at West Palm Beach this week hopefully. I, too, bought out of state (up in New York actually). I'll probably be getting mine serviced at Braman Miami... already connected with a SA there who said he'd take care of me. I'd suggest you post (if you haven't) in the Southeast regional section about finding a cool SA in Miami/Ft Lauderdale.
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