Oh Woody, BMW dealers are terrible, Benz isnt much better though.
Before I got my LS400, I almost bought a 740i, thats where my line about them not wanting to deal was. The salesman was a jerk, but I liked the car. We sat down to deal, and I had done my homework well enough to know that the car commanded a good price, but that I should expect about a $1,000 discount off MSRP. So I informed the salesman that if we could meet this price, then I'd walk out of there in the new 7, and leave my Cadillac behind. He chuckles and says "Look man (he was something like 28 or 30 too) if you can't afford the car, we can look at something cheaper, now can you afford this car or not?". Worst thing is, my son is sitting right next to me, he was 16 or so. To say something like this to someone is bad enough, but with their son right there? I said Fine, and walked out to the showroom floor, it was a busy Friday afternoon. I told everyone what this salesman had said to me, and the way in which he said it, and I suggested to all of them that they take their business to another BMW dealership that had a basic respect for their customers as people.
I'll tell you what, I cleared the showroom floor. EVERYONE walked right out with me. We got in the car and rode over to the Lexus dealership, I wound up liking the LS400 a lot more than the 7, and the rest is history.
Funny thing was, I sat down to deal with the Lexus salesman, I made him an offer, he said "Actually, we already had an offer made up" and handed me a slip of paper, $500 less than my offer, so we agreed on that! Great service, the best car buying experience I've EVER had.
I wrote the general manager of the BMW dealership a letter informing him of the fabulous job his salesman did of steering me towards the competition, and how right he was that I couldnt afford that 7 series (that was a whopping $2,000 more than the LS400). I also enclosed a picture of me standing beside my new Lexus, the salesman's business card, and a photocopy of my $30,000 paycheck for that month. I sent it to the dealership, and BMW of North America. Never heard back from BMW NA, but the GM of the dealership sent me a VERY apologetic letter informing me that this salesman had been terminanted.
I also almost got knocked down by a Mercedes salesman as I walked into the dealership in 2001 when I was looking at the S Class, he just stepped right in front of me, and slammed the door right in my face.
Maybe its a failing in me, but I want to be appreciated as a shopper for an $85,000 car, I dont want to feel like I should appreciate thist GREAT company and the'se GREAT cars.
"Oh thank you Mercedes salesman for even seeing me today!"
Screw that.
