[Rob_G77]

Originally Posted by Argo

Charging you for the initial fill-up is straight-up scummy.

Overcharging by 50% no less!

There are so many ways dealerships have their hand in your pockets these days that many people don't realize they are being fleeced for another $5k or more. There's even the financing kickbacks which seems way more prevalent these days.

Rob

[Westside Guy]

Originally Posted by Rob_G77

In all my car buying (mis)adventures, I have never seen a dealership charge for the first fillup.

I used to think my local dealership were a bunch of good guys, until they did some really questionable shit and completely washed their hands of it (because they can).

Rob

You are constantly having issues with dealers and your BMWs, did somebody put a curse on you?

[Rob_G77]

Originally Posted by Westside Guy

You are constantly having issues with dealers and your BMWs, did somebody put a curse on you?

Lol... I sure seem to be a magnet for it!

Rob

[swainbmw]

Originally Posted by Rob_G77

I asked for a lease quote on a 2023 Z4 M40i from a dealership a few hours away.

As part of the seemingly high $95k Cdn price tag, there was a nearly $5k 'option' package consisting of the following:

—-
BMW Carpet & All Weather Floor Mats
Lender Fee
Freight and PDI
Administration Charge
Air Conditioner Excise Tax
Invisitrak
Nitrogen | N2
Sask Tire Recycling Fee
Fuel to Fill
—-

I asked why they were charging again for freight/pdi and the salesguy said the costs outlined on the bmw website don't cover what the real costs are and they need to add another $1000 for shipping.

So I sent the salesguy another email asking why he was double charging for admin fee, AC tax, tire fee which were also priced out as separate charges (again) on the lease breakdown. I said floor mats don't cost $4000 and I don't recall any dealership EVER explicitly charging for fuel in the tank. And Nitrogen in the tires? Really? Don't know what Invisitrak is, don't care. If the car gets stolen, that is what insurance is for.

Of course he said I could make an offer if I was serious, but at this time I'm just seeing what prices are.

Rob

Don’t even answer their phone calls. Look for another dealer.

[Horseman]

95k CDN to US is about $71k.

These fees that Rob_G77 was talking about are absolutely insane.

[Wynnsiensheng]

I live in a different country so protocols are different, but the latest scam here is that dealerships take an optional item and make it compulsory.

I bought a Honda civic for my wife and the dealer insisted that they do ceramic coating because it was compulsory. Was listed as an option in the brochure AND on the eventual sales sheet that they gave me. I asked the sales assistant if he thought Honda knew his dealership was forcing people to take the option and he said probably not.

Move on to BMW to buy my Z4 and suddenly the option of a 3 year free servicing package is compulsory. Shown on website and brochure as option, listed on sales sheet as option, but they won’t sell you the car without it.

Dealers are always looking for scams and if one does it and gets away with it, more follow. Unfortunately, often there is only one dealer per province unless you go to Bangkok, which is 1k km away from me.

[Westside Guy]

Originally Posted by Wynnsiensheng

I live in a different country so protocols are different, but the latest scam here is that dealerships take an optional item and make it compulsory.

I bought a Honda civic for my wife and the dealer insisted that they do ceramic coating because it was compulsory. Was listed as an option in the brochure AND on the eventual sales sheet that they gave me. I asked the sales assistant if he thought Honda knew his dealership was forcing people to take the option and he said probably not.

Move on to BMW to buy my Z4 and suddenly the option of a 3 year free servicing package is compulsory. Shown on website and brochure as option, listed on sales sheet as option, but they won’t sell you the car without it.

Dealers are always looking for scams and if one does it and gets away with it, more follow. Unfortunately, often there is only one dealer per province unless you go to Bangkok, which is 1k km away from me.

Have you considered filing a complaint directly with BMW over your dealer’s rip-off policy?

[Wynnsiensheng]

Originally Posted by Westside Guy

Have you considered filing a complaint directly with BMW over your dealer’s rip-off policy?

I didn’t bother with the Honda, I wanted ceramic coating anyway. But I won’t buy from that dealer again. Plenty of Honda dealer around.

For the BMW, I called the BMW call Centre in Bangkok. After explaining that an “option” was being made compulsory, I asked the call Centre employee whether the dealer was ripping me off or if it was BMW policy.

Here’s where it gets weird. At first she simply recited back the benefits of 3 years free servicing. At which point I reiterated my view that it was cheaper for me to pay for servicing rather than take the “option” and repeated my initial query. Rinse and repeat that a few times, with me getting more and more pointed about the fact that the dealer appeared to be ripping me off and deviating from BMW policy.

At which point she sounds confused about what she should say and goes to talk to her supervisor. Wait two/three minutes and she comes back on totally confident and repeats as if by heart a paragraph saying that all dealers abide by BMW standards, or words to that effect. Simply repeats that standard wording exactly, each time I press her. Call ends.

So then I have a choice, get turned off by the whole episode and look for some other car to buy, or shrug my shoulders and say oh well never mind.

I opted for the latter. Life is too short for me to go on a crusade against a BMW dealer over the equivelent of USD3k and even if I got BMW to agree that their dealer was acting wrongly, the dealer would hate me from then on and the whole purchase would leave a sour taste in my mouth, instead of being an enjoyable experience.

So now it’s in the back of my mind still, but I can enjoy my car 😎.

[swainbmw]

Originally Posted by Wynnsiensheng

I live in a different country so protocols are different, but the latest scam here is that dealerships take an optional item and make it compulsory.

I bought a Honda civic for my wife and the dealer insisted that they do ceramic coating because it was compulsory. Was listed as an option in the brochure AND on the eventual sales sheet that they gave me. I asked the sales assistant if he thought Honda knew his dealership was forcing people to take the option and he said probably not.

Move on to BMW to buy my Z4 and suddenly the option of a 3 year free servicing package is compulsory. Shown on website and brochure as option, listed on sales sheet as option, but they won’t sell you the car without it.

Dealers are always looking for scams and if one does it and gets away with it, more follow. Unfortunately, often there is only one dealer per province unless you go to Bangkok, which is 1k km away from me.

Walk on say no thank push paper contact back say again no thanks get up and leave .

[Bimmerfun82]

There are a bunch of Z’s for sale, at least around here, and it’s winter so they sell more slowly… you have the upper hand. Just go somewhere else.

[Wynnsiensheng]

Originally Posted by swainbmw

Walk on say no thank push paper contact back say again no thanks get up and leave .

Go where exactly? Millennium is the largest dealer in Thailand and the only one in Phuket. Sure I could go to another dealer in Bangkok, one thousand km away. Err, no thanks.

[Wynnsiensheng]

Originally Posted by Bimmerfun82

There are a bunch of Z’s for sale, at least around here, and it’s winter so they sell more slowly… you have the upper hand. Just go somewhere else.

Think it’s a case of different countries, different circumstances. No such thing as winter in Thailand. It’s wet season, or hot season. Come to think of it, wet season is pretty hot too. We are pretty close to the equator 🤗

[Bimmerfun82]

Originally Posted by Wynnsiensheng

Think it’s a case of different countries, different circumstances. No such thing as winter in Thailand. It’s wet season, or hot season. Come to think of it, wet season is pretty hot too. We are pretty close to the equator 🤗

True- but OP is in Canada, yes?

[Wynnsiensheng]

Originally Posted by Bimmerfun82

True- but OP is in Canada, yes?

Sorry, I thought you were replying to my post rather than to the OP.. my mistake 🙏

[Westside Guy]

Originally Posted by Bimmerfun82

True- but OP is in Canada, yes?

The OP is in Canada and based on his many past posts in this and other Bimmerpost forums he has a troublesome history with his local dealers.

[Bimmerfun82]

Originally Posted by Westside Guy

The OP is in Canada and based on his many past posts in this and other Bimmerpost forums he has a troublesome history with his local dealers.

Yes being in Seskatchewan doesn’t help things. There’s probably 5 dealers within a 500 mile radius if I had to take a wild guess.

[stlcdr]

Originally Posted by Bimmerfun82

Yes being in Seskatchewan doesn’t help things. There’s probably 5 dealers within a 500 mile radius if I had to take a wild guess.

While the common refrain is to just 'walk away' sometimes that's not a useful answer. It is either that, or nothing. However, 5k is a bit excessive, even if it is CAD.

I don't know what the answer is. When I purchased, I had no choice but to get wheel locks, first aid kit, all-season mats, 'paint protection' and LoJack; at an extra cost. Even though I didn't need those things, I paid, anyway. It was the only one in the country which matched my criteria.

[Bimmerfun82]

Originally Posted by stlcdr

While the common refrain is to just 'walk away' sometimes that's not a useful answer. It is either that, or nothing. However, 5k is a bit excessive, even if it is CAD.

I don't know what the answer is. When I purchased, I had no choice but to get wheel locks, first aid kit, all-season mats, 'paint protection' and LoJack; at an extra cost. Even though I didn't need those things, I paid, anyway. It was the only one in the country which matched my criteria.

What about a pre-owned? I got a discount on new, but I traded it after 11k miles on MSRP of 77 and now it’s on sale for 62. That’s USD. I’ve seen less miles even lower - 6k at 59k. These engines are almost bullet proof but mine is being offered certified.

[Balr14]

Originally Posted by Wynnsiensheng

Sorry, I thought you were replying to my post rather than to the OP.. my mistake 🙏

Your situation would be a tough call. I'd skip the package "deal" and pay for service, as needed.

[Wynnsiensheng]

Originally Posted by stlcdr

While the common refrain is to just 'walk away' sometimes that's not a useful answer. It is either that, or nothing. However, 5k is a bit excessive, even if it is CAD.

I don't know what the answer is. When I purchased, I had no choice but to get wheel locks, first aid kit, all-season mats, 'paint protection' and LoJack; at an extra cost. Even though I didn't need those things, I paid, anyway. It was the only one in the country which matched my criteria.

Yes. I think the point that is clear, is that no matter the country, dealers will try to score extra profit through add Ons that the consumer doesn’t necessarily want or need. Mis selling in other words.

Interestingly, 4 years ago I bought a new Benz C43 from a Bangkok dealer and the sales lady was very interested to know where I would get the car serviced. I asked her whether there would be any problem getting the car serviced by the Phuket dealer, given that I didn’t buy the car from them.

She told me that they would be very keen to do the servicing because the dealer makes more from servicing than the sale of the new car! I don’t know if that is true, but it’s what she told me.

After paying for the first service on that car, I kinda do believe it. It wasn’t cheap given that there really isn’t much to do on a new car. And they tried to sell me all sorts of add ons such oil additives etc.

So I think the moral of the story is that if a dealers hands are tied in terms of the base pricing of the car, anything that they can sell on top represents good profit and they will do anything to tie that to the car purchase decision.

[Westside Guy]

The service department is the largest profit maker at a dealer.

[Wynnsiensheng]

Originally Posted by Westside Guy

The service department is the largest profit maker at a dealer.

Let’s face it, they make money from the consumer, but also from the car manufacturer. Warranty repairs are a gold mine.