Quote:
Originally Posted by Lups
Of course, I told him I'm not leaving anywhere, and I will be happy to enjoy our time together as he told. Naturally I started to pack an other pack while telling him this over and over and over again. Apparently I'm taking dresses with me now too. 
But I told him to come along, that I'd get the inlaws here by Monday, so he could come and enjoy the open roads in a fast car with me. He turned green. It's pretty safe to say he does not enjoy my style of speeding, braking, or ruining the rubber.  |
To All...this is from one of our dear friends:
"Ok, so I think it’s time for me to chime in on this thread because I feel like the situation isn’t being accurately represented, and it’s a tad bit disconcerting and disappointing. I’d post this myself, but I’m still finishing up my 30-day time out for arguing with @Dondula, so I can’t post in the F8X forums until 8/6 nor will I be able to respond to anything you guys post until Wednesday. Thanks to @jc05e46m3 for posting this for me. Anyway…..
This entire ordeal began after a Northwest dealership sold @Lups ' car allocation right from under her due to dealership politics (…and I admittedly don’t know the full story on that, only the aspects for which I was informed). It was unfortunate, but it happens. With her and I being friends, I obviously felt bad for her, so I made it a point to help her find a car.
I have two really close dealership contacts here in So.Cal, and both of them found her a car. The one I selected for her jumped through a lot of hoops to find her a car to meet the early August deadline that she had set, and I ordered my car through the other contact for other reasons. He found a coupe that was about to enter production, called his contact at BMW headquarters, and had the entire spec of the car changed to match what Lups wanted. This was done for her without mandating a deposit, without a written commitment, and simply as a favor for me. After all, I wanted her to have a good summer and enjoy the remainder of her time here in the U.S.
No actual numbers were agreed upon (..but he provided her the MSRP numbers on the car), and there was a delay on sending her final numbers while the car was being built because he was trying to pull strings to get the mark-up reduced. Most dealerships here in So.Cal are selling the new F8X with a mark-up that ranges between $5k-10k, and very few are selling at MSRP (…props to the select few that are, San Diego BMW being one of them). Every manufacturer with a hot car does it (..hell, even Ford marks up their Raptor SVT trucks as much as $10k due to popularity). I don’t agree with it, but people pay to play. Nevertheless, he was trying to get her the best deal that he could.
I have been more or less coordinating this whole process from the beginning, so I was always in contact with him regarding the car and its status. He would constantly provide updates on where the car was in the construction process, when it was in the body shop, when it would be on the ship, etc., and he was truly trying to look out for her. The fact that he is being passed off as an unscrupulous salesman is both unfair to him, and it’s a bit of a personal jab to me, especially when only a part of the story is being told. Lups is trying to get a deal on the car. I get it! ….but she also wants the car for $1500-2k under MSRP. There is no way that the owner of that dealership is going to let that happen (..especially when people have been offering to buy her built car from the dealership, $10k mark-up and all, because there are no dealer stock 6MT’s), and my friend isn’t in any position to pull those kinds of strings. He’d probably be fired for that. Yes, the car that he is selling her has a mark-up (..I believe $5k), and that’s the best that he can do having already gone up the management ladder. Heck, even if he could manage MSRP, Lups doesn’t really want to pay that figure. She even wanted him to ship the car up to Washington; something he was willing to do if she wanted to pay the shipping fees. At this point, what is my friend supposed to say to her when his hands are tied? He didn’t move the goal posts. He didn’t change the terms. Admittedly it would’ve been more prudent to provide her the final numbers sooner, but all he tried to do was help her as best he could when another dealership totally screwed her out of money and a car, yet the picture that is being painted here is a negatively inaccurate one.
Sure, some of you will say, “…but Clan, he’s your friend. Of course you’ll defend him.” Naw, if a friend fucks up, he fucks up, and I’d be the first to admit it. This isn’t one of those cases. He told me from the beginning that MSRP on her car would be unlikely, he just couldn’t negotiate the terms until the arrival time was closer. All I told him in the beginning was, “She’s a friend. Do the best you can for her.” For comparisons sake, I’m getting my car under MSRP, but that was only afforded to me because I’ve purchased a shitload of cars from them (..averages out to one a year). IF I were just a customer off the street, or had only purchased a car or two from them in the past, I’d be paying some kind of mark-up too if I wanted the car this early in the game.
My only goal in this post is to paint a more accurate picture of what happened, not to sling mud. I just don’t like partial truths. I deal in black & white on most things, and this situation is no different. With that said, I hope that you find a car Lups. Your experience has been a troublesome endeavor indeed."