VOB BMWis no more

VOB BMW has been sold and is now BMW of Rockville.

If you go to VOBBMW.com you will see that it has changed to BMW of Rockville.

Originally Posted by FDMeloan

VOB BMW has been sold and is now BMW of Rockville.

If you go to VOBBMW.com you will see that it has changed to BMW of Rockville.

Good for residents of Rockville, Bethesda, Germantown, Wheaton, ect. When I lived in D.C. I would never go to VOB because their reputation was so bad...would always to go BMW of Silver Spring (Tischer) or Passport. Hopefully the new owners fired all of the incompetent staff too.

We just took delivery of my wife's 2012 X3 utilizing the Performance Delivery Center option but the vehicle was purchased at VOB BMW and they were Great to deal with. They beat every other dealers price and were upfront and honest in every way. David Strassman the Sales Manager was my primary contact and David Engle was the CA. The experience was Excellent and I would not hesitate to purchase again from them and would recommend them to others as well.

Yes, they're now owned by the same people that own BMW of Towson. Based on my experience at Towson, this is going to be a good thing. I know that the managers at Towson are taking an interest, they want to keep what is good, and fix the problems.

The guys at Towson are really good. Very happy with my dealings there....

Anybody who thinks BMW of Towson is "really good" doesn't get out of the house much. BMW of Towson has been on an ego trip in Baltimore forever because there is no competition. Their attitude is pretty much take it or leave it when it comes to pricing and they are always HIGH. They are going to get their head handed to them in the DC market if they don't have a new game plan. They also have a bunch of nitwits as sales people. Mid eastern dudes, inner city dudes. None of which can speak much english. None of which know much about what they are selling but wear lots of aftershave. Every question has to get taken to the manager. Real old school. I shopped there last year a few times and on one visit I was looking at a 2008 e92. I had proof and showed them that they were much higher than Passport on a similar equiped, similar milage 2009 e92. They wouldn't budge. They acted like they could care less if they sold a car. They think they own the market. Only other dealer in Baltimore is Northwest and they never have any inventory and seem to get great pleasure in telling customers that nobody discounts BMWs. Same with the dealer in Annapolis. Check Towson's website right now. 2008 328i E92 WITH HARDLY ANY OPTIONS $33,900. 2009 328i E92 XI for $36,900! I live in Howard County and I chose to drive to Passport where I was treated much more professionally and received a fair price.

I see no reason to bash other people...grow up..my dealing there have been great and will continue to be, in my estimation....

I really notice people on these bimmerfest boards to be harsh and rude...vs the other BMW boards....anybody know why that is?

why not just start your post with "My experience is quite different..."?

Originally Posted by Glen E

I see no reason to bash other people...grow up..my dealing there have been great and will continue to be, in my estimation....

I really notice people on these bimmerfest boards to be harsh and rude...vs the other BMW boards....anybody know why that is?

why not just start your post with "My experience is quite different..."?

In my opinion I think he did explain his different experience......Other than the first sentence as a eye catcher. I think this site is lot more civil than many I have been on. Just sayin"

BB

Originally Posted by BobBNY

In my opinion I think he did explain his different experience......Other than the first sentence as a eye catcher. I think this site is lot more civil than many I have been on. Just sayin"

BB

an eye catcher?

really....?

I'm done here....

Should this thread be moved to the Mid-Atlantic forum?

Originally Posted by swood02

Should this thread be moved to the Mid-Atlantic forum?

While I would understand it if Jon or one of the other administrators moved this thread to the Mid-Atlantic Forum I think it is worthy of being left in the General Forum. Why? Because there are aspects of the sale of VOB BMW to the Priority 1 auto group which might be of interest to BMW enthusiasts beyond the Washington, D.C. area. For example, VOB was one of the few dealers in the D.C. area that did not charge a processing fee when most of the dealers in the area charge a Dealer Processing Fee that is as high as $399. Will BMW of Rockville change this policy?

Also, VOB BMW was not known by many BMW owners to provide the best service experience so the owners of BMW of Rockville have a great opportunity to improve the service experience for BMW owners in the area.

I for one think it will be interesting to watch Bimmerfest in the months to come for comments about the BMW of Rockville experience.

My $0.02. YMMV

Fred Meloan

VOB didn't charge a processing fee because they were in MD and the MD law said that the most a dealer could charge was $99 therefore it was easy for them to dismiss the charge and look like a good guy. Thanks to Gov. O'Malley however last year MD changed the law so dealers can now charge up to $399. Only time will tell if dealers will start socking it to customers with this new ripoff charge. When I was looking I refused to buy in Virginia because all the dealers had a $399 paperwork charge. Maybe my next car will be purchased in Delaware.

MD dealer processing fee max is $200, set in July 2011. It was $100 before that.

I also think BMW of Towson isn't friendly to deal with. As well as Russel BMW. They are not as willing to negotiate as I've seen in other dealers.

My mistake. I thought O'Malley raised the fee to $400.

Originally Posted by Ringmaster1

My mistake. I thought O'Malley raised the fee to $400.

Actually $200 now and scheduled to rise to $300 after another couple of years.

Tom

Did anyone see the letter in new edition of the Roundel. Someone wrote in about how great VOB service is. Apparently they even got a BMW loaner and a new X5 to drive home. The only time I was able to get loaners from them is when my high pressure fuel pump failed. Heck once I had to fight (on a Saturday) to get a loaner as I am getting of the beltway in limp mode (just bring it in on Monday wtf!?!).

Today I got an email welcome to BMW of Rockville. It was sent from newsletter@vobbmw.

Originally Posted by swood02

Today I got an email welcome to BMW of Rockville. It was sent from newsletter@vobbmw.

I wonder if it came from the same idiot at VOB that cannot even torque down a spark plug properly! (As BMW of Silver Spring found out)

I "took a chance" and ordered a new X5 from BMW of Rockville two weeks ago. I hope I don't regret it - a few years ago we bought a CPO X3 for my son and although we had no problems with the sale (it was during the height of the recession), on our first service we were given a lovely Hyundai Accent. They now CLAIM they "cleaned house" in the service department but we shall see - they say all they have are BMW loaners. Last summer we bought a used 528x from Towson and they did seem professional. Oh - my recent purchase at the new Rockville BMW did have the processing fee, but their quote for the vehicle was $1500 less than Passport. The dealership was quite busy on a Saturday. What I can't understand is how VOB, which had such a bad reputation, always had about 200 new vehicles; people must buy there!

Any idea if any of the SAs from VOB are still there? I recently bought my third Five Series from them. I guess i have been lucky, but for the very few service issues that arose with any of these cars, I never had any complaints about how I was treated or charged.

Interesting thread as I am looking for a dealer that has an experienced CA for ED. Have used Adrian in Atlanta but looking for a local dealer in case I want to trade. Other than Joern at Passport can anyone recommend someone who will do a $500 over ED invoice? Thanks.

Does anyone know how it's possible that VOB had a lousy score on "dealerrater" and suddenly BMW of Rockville has all 5's. How legit is dealerrater if the scores can suddenly change? I'm thinking the dealers and staff rate themselves despite what the website says. Any thoughts? (This could be a"general BMW" question).

Originally Posted by BenF12400

Does anyone know how it's possible that VOB had a lousy score on "dealerrater" and suddenly BMW of Rockville has all 5's. How legit is dealerrater if the scores can suddenly change? I'm thinking the dealers and staff rate themselves despite what the website says. Any thoughts? (This could be a"general BMW" question).

BMW of Rockville has only been in existence since March 1, 2012 so the high number of ratings in Dealer Rater in such a short period of time suggests that the personnel at BMW of Rockville are making an effort to encourage their customers to give them a favorable rating on that website.

Presumably all the ratings are from customers and not written by BMW of Rockville personnel even though it would be possible for them to do that.

My $0.02. YMMV

Fred Meloan

The salesmean who sold me my new X5 in mid-March of this year already left and I've been "assigned" a new CA (trying to arrange for PCD, vehicle already finished, trying to change date they gave me if possible).

Can it retroactively assess them for their incompetence while they were VOB? As a follow-up to my earlier remarks - the dimwits at VOB were not even able to torque down spark plugs properly. Another dealership found that and even noted it in my service history!!!