So, I’ve got a clunker* and want to trade it in to buy a 335d. I can’t find a dealer within a 4 state region who is willing to do a cash for clunkers deal. We came back from our vacation early to do a deal and the salesperson/dealership flaked. Since then numerous dealers have played footsie with us but when it comes down to doing the deal they’re all: “We changed out mind, it’s too much paperwork, I’ll give you $1000 bucks for your clunker. It’s a good deal, why won’t you take it?”
And then I read that the CEO of BMWNA is whining that BMW sales are off because they aren’t getting their piece of the pie from the program. BLEH, bite me, keep your fucking car.
*Our clunker completely meets the C4C requirements.
Pull a reverse salesman. Get them emotionally invested in the fact they think they have a sale, negotiate a price you are comfortable with, then spring the clunker on them.
Was this before or after they ran out of money? A lot of dealers shut down the program when it was uncertain if the Senate would pass the additional $2 billion - you might want to check back.
Just as you should do with any trade in - always negotiate a fair price first, get agreement from the salesperson and manager, then say “Oh, and I’ve got a trade in” or “oh, I’ve got a cash for clunker trade”
They are less able to screw you on price, and after all that work and effort on their part will be more willing to go through with it even if it means more work and less profit.
Number one rule of buying a car is negotiate a final total price first - never include trade ins, financing, monthly payment, etc in the process until you have a price agreed on.
We have been playing this game both before and after the the money ran out and was reinstated. It’s gone like this:
Dealer #1: “We have a car here’s the price (which we like), can’t do anything about the C4C until you drive the clunker into the lot even though you have all the paper work, just give us a deposit over the phone and all will be well, trust us.” We would not put a deposit down until we had it in writing that the C4C was part of the deal so we drive the clunker in after cutting our vacation short. Dealer; “We changed our mind, we don’t want to participate in C4C, it’s to much of a hassle. But we’ll give you $1000 bucks for your trade-in, trust us, it’s a good deal.” We walk.
Dealer #2, I participate in C4C and have a car that matches your requirements. Us: “How much is it, exactly how is it equipped blah, blah.” Dealer: “Come in and see me and let me evaluate your car.” Us: “Well it’s a bit of a drive (over 300 miles) can you give us the specs on the car you have and how much you want for it.” Dealer: “Well I don’t really have a car but I think I might be able to get one but I’m not sure if I want to do the C4C paperwork anyway.” Us: “??? Why are we talking?”
Dealer #infinity: “I don’t have the car you want but I can get one for you and we participate in C4C.” “Oops the money is gone but we can still get that car for you.” We reply we want to wait a couple of days to see if C4C is re-upped. After C4C is reinstated I e-mail him back and say we are still interested. He replies somewhat annoyed that he told me before that they have decided not to participate in C4C deals anymore and why am I bothering him. Um, no that’s not what you said, but thanks for your time.
I went to the BMWUSA site to look for a way to contact the BMW management but could not find a contact e-mail. Bleh, I like their cars but this is just bs. If you don’t want to sell me a car and do C4C tell me up front. Don’t do a dance and make me jump thru hoops and then say oops we changed our minds. This will not make me want to buy a car from you.
I don’t need a new car. The only reason I’m even considering doing this is because I have a 20 year old clunker and want a fun, fuel efficient car to drive instead driving my big honking silverado towing vehicle everyday.
After wading thru a bit of the the C4C thread in GD: Do any of you guys against the program want to buy my clunker? 1990 Toyota 4-runner, manual tranny, 200,000 miles, cracked windshield, leaking from every oriface. Runs good, excellent ac, no air bags, cup holder broken, antenna broken, slightly rusty, slightly musty smelling because it leaks when left out in the rain. $4500 and it’s yours.
Maybe we’re too addicted to ridiculous levels of spending and cash flowing(even if it’s borrowed cash) to be able to allow the corrections to happen without intervention, but couldn’t we do something better than this? The program is getting a very small number of people to open their wallets and release their own money into the market. Most are taking the money borrowed by Uncle Sam(using their and their children’s future earnings as collateral) and borrowing a bunch more money(auto loans are at a 91% Loan-to-Value ratio) which increases overall household debt. By the way household debt is at the highest rate since 1929. We, as a nation, just shouldn’t be buying right now. C4C is like giving an addict in withdrawl another hit. Maybe it’ll cushion the crash, but IMHO that moves it into the category of necessary evil at best.
Blog about it. Then tweet the blog posts. Post the tweets to your Facebook status. Send the folks at Consumerist a detailed e-mail and a link. Basically, leave something about your experience with BMW all over every social media site you can think of. I imagine someone at BMW will realize that they’re about to lose more in goodwill than they stand to make screwing you on your trade. And then they might do something about it.
Bleh, forget about it. I’m keeping the Toyota. I pay a jillion dollars in taxes and don’t really mind most of the time. I just thought for once I could get a benefit from a gov program. We’ve been paying the damn marriage penalty for 35 years.
BMW CEO and multiple BMW dealers just pissed me off, sue me.
And to Mtgman; we would be paying cash for the car so none of that 91% loan to value stuff. We are very conservative in that way. Heh, that’s why we drive a 20 year old Toyota.
Ummm you got a cite for that? I work at a dealership and I can tell you at least in my end of the world, car sales are up, way up and it is not all C4C trades.
At my dealer we have done 5 C4C deals. We are tracking a 25% sales increase vs. last month. Last month we had about a 25% sales increase from the month before (and sales had been flat for about 6 months) We have gone from 110 days supply of new cars to 40 in just a few weeks.
Used cars (which aren’t covered in the C4C program) are also way up. We are currently tracking for a record used car month.
the other dealers I have talked to are having the same experience. C4C has brought people out and they are buying cars. Most are not using C4C money, but are using either their own money or are leasing.
Y’know, I was shopping for a car in the early-mid 80s, when most dealerships were offering sexual favors in exchange for a test drive, but it was also when Toyota salesmen still thought that their cars sold themselves. I hit the showroom floor in full “I have a job and can make the payments” regalia, but could they be bothered to drop their eyes from their newspapers and take their feet from their desktops? :rolleyes:
BMW seems to have gone down this same self-satisfaction route. Makes me want to try selling Beemers, though most dealerships seem to think that hiring back the same losers will do the job. Nope; what they need are guys who will both sell the product and the brand, but also not be like Ralph Spoilsport.
This was your biggest mistake. First you negotiate the purchase price, then you drop the trade-in on them. If they ask about trade, you say “ain’t got one.” That said, the 335d is a tough car to find these days (apparently). Good luck.
I just bought a BMW this weekend, and also did not use C4C. I did, however, get a smoking deal. There also did not seem to be a huge shortage of customers.
There also did not seem to be a huge shortage of customers.