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BMW 3-Series Prices Paid and Buying Experience

9147 messages,  Last post on Aug 29, 2008 at 5:36 PM

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What is this discussion about? BMW 3 Series, Sedan, Wagon

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#533 of 9147 2003 325i Update Part 2 ... Long by paulac1 Oct 01, 2003 (5:16 am)
Well, the dealer called late yesterday afternoon and agreed to meet our price of $32,450 for the 2003 325i. My wife and I (she wrote the above posts ... I'm writing this one) were cautiously optimistic. We arrived at the dealer, filled out several forms, waited approximately 1 hour, and then sat down with our salesman. He promptly added a $299 doc fee to our previously agreed price of $32,450. I firmly, but politely refused to pay the doc fee. Keep in mind, that I was offering $950 over dealer cost (calculated as 3% over invoice minus the $1500 "rebate" for 2003s). The sales manager entered, told me that "The doc fee was not negotiable ... I make my salesmen pay this fee" ... incidentally, the part about "make my salesman pay this fee" sounded wierd, but at any rate, we stuck to our firm offer of $32,450. We politely shook hands and left the dealership.   I would have gladly paid a small doc fee, but I absolutely refuse to pay the $299 doc fee. As a point of refernce, our last auto was purchased new in 2000 (as an 01 model) ... we paid 3% over invoice ... including ALL fees. Previously, we paid a $49 doc fee when we purchased a new car in 1996 (as a 96 model).   Of course my wife and I are disappointed, but this is not the end of the world. I am very encouraged by bmnick's purchase ... add the StepTronic ($1200) to his car and that is what we would like to have. In fact, the reasons we chose this particular 3 revolved around the fact that it was not bloated with premium, cold weather, and other packages we neither need or desire.   Bmnick ... if you are out there, we would like the name and phone number of your dealer/salesman.   Finally, part of the problem we are fighting is dealer monopoly. We live in Knoxville TN and there is only a single BMW dealership in this area ... Grayson BMW. There are other dealerships in Nashville, Chattanooga, and Tri-Cities ... we will most likely work with them over the next few months to find the car we want at a fair dealer profit.   Thanks for everyone's help.
#534 of 9147 RE: paulac1 by soupcan325i Oct 01, 2003 (7:11 am)
Paulac1, Great job sticking to your guns with the dealer and their insane doc fee, too bad you didn't get the car but they are just being greedy. When I negotiated for my 03 325i two weeks ago, I only offered $700 dealer profit because I knew they were going to tack on $300 doc fee. At $1000 over true cost, I still think your dealer would make a decent profit...give them a week to think about it (I bet they will call you back if they want to move the car...all depends on how popular that set of options is in their market) and if you don't hear anything in a week, and you haven't found a better deal (and you're sure that the car is a good fit for you, regarding options and color), then call them back and offer to split the difference - pay your offer plus $150 for doc fee. But of course, you may find a better deal somewhere else...in my limited experience, the dealers outside of the major metro areas are more willing to move old inventory.
#535 of 9147 paulac by ksoman Oct 01, 2003 (8:27 am)
great. we all bow to thy resolve. I've noticed doc fees creep up from the low 40s into the 2 and 300 range... and its just b.s.   one of the tricks i've been recomended and i've used and seen others use successfully is that when the manager or damager or whoever comes out to tell you its a non negotiable fee, you ask them to provide written documentation on exactly what this fee covers in services rendered including reasons for why it is not negotiable. It is not some fee mandated by law. Most of these dealerships don't have documentary proof for reasons to charge it. And just in case a dealer gets smart and manages to pull out a load of papers on it, tell them you will have your lawyer brother in law review it and if it all looks good, you'll come back. Most dealers lately have also gotten around to pre printing this fee on the sheets, so the only real way for them to cut that cost out is to further discount your negotiated price down by a logical amount. I am ready to pay doc fees in the middle 50s maybe even upto 100, because there's manpower involved in putting together your paperwork and forwarding your information for license and tag and title, etc. and manpower is not cheap, certainly not at dealerships, but i dont see any way in which the cost of these activities or services rendered could be about maybe 50-75 bucks.   ksso
#536 of 9147 kso by blueguydotcom Oct 01, 2003 (9:16 am)
Good advice. I've found asking for docs so my lawyer can look over the papers works. I actually do have a lawyer, and I've known her for 29 years or exactly as long as she's been my sister.
#537 of 9147 blueguy by ksoman Oct 01, 2003 (9:41 am)
i'm tired of you having all the advantages in the world... sigh...   just kidding cheers ksso
#539 of 9147 Deleted messages by pat HOST Oct 01, 2003 (12:55 pm)
Some off-topic posts have been removed.   Again, folks, this is not the right discussion to get into a debate about the ethics of the automotive sales industry. Please join an active discussion on our Smart Shopper board to pursue those thoughts.   Thank you.
#541 of 9147 3000 dollar incentive by 330iii Oct 01, 2003 (1:32 pm)
Can this really be true a 3000 dollar incentive on 03 330i's?
#542 of 9147 Is this a good deal by raygao Oct 01, 2003 (1:38 pm)
My dealer is offering me a 2004 BMW 325ci Convertible with $1375 off MSRP. Is that a good deal?

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