Need advises for foreigner buying car in America

I'm foreigner, studying in LA, California, U.S, so I don't have any SSN or credit. Buying car to me is down all cash and pick up the car. I bought mine 650i used for 50k. Now I'm in the market for a daily driving SUV, a new X1 and X3 (I prefer this) or an used X5. I know Volkswagen has a promotion that offer finance for foreign students but of course not BMW. I definitely has no experience buying car in any dealer. My first car was a new 2008 Honda Accord, only get $1,000 off from a sticker price (I think that wasn't a deal either). When I buy my 09' 650i last May 2012 from Rusnak, I accidentally felt in love with the 6, ended up paying full Internet Quote price.

Now I'm in the market of buying a second car. Besides matter about money, I just don't wanna be victim for dealership anymore. Therefore, I'm seeking advises from professional and experienced buyer (since my 6 is my first BMW). My goal is to get the car in next Jan or Feb because I'm bullying my 6 real bad (18k miles in 6 months).

So far, according to my dealership experience, I think Pacific BMW in Glendale CA impress me most. I got the best quote for Extended warranty and maintenance among all other dealer within 50 miles radius from my current address. Santa Monica BMW was too slow and looks sad. Beverly Hill BMW was too crowded and busy. Crevier made me confuse about their process. SouthBay BMW always welcome with sarcastic smile, I have that feeling personally. But if I have plenty of cash to throw, I will go there and enjoy pampering like a clown, which I used to be.

bmwconfig.com

^^

To elaborate, bmwconfig.com is a great tool to build your car with the options you want which provides the wholesale or "invoice" price for the car and each option. This way you know how much the dealer pays for the car. It also helps narrow down what you want and shows confidence. And it lets you know the absolute rock bottom price - BEFORE any incentives like holiday credits are applied.

If you want to test drive a car, go to any dealer and tell them that you're deciding and want to test drive a car, and don't sit down for negotiations. Always negotiate via email so you have things in writing. The Internet sales manager at any dealership is usually the best person to deal with for the best deal. My last car, a 2012 GL550 for my wife, I had the entire numbers finalized and approved via email and a few phone calls and the only time I went to the dealer was to sign papers and pick up the car. I did my test drives a few months before while my wife and i were deciding on the model of car to get. Once we decided that, I started shopping for a deal. No haggling or negotiation in person!

The general negotiation strategy is to use the invoice price as a starting point, and negotiate up from this number. Negotiating from MSRP down is always a bad idea, because the dealer or sales person might tell you that you're getting a $3000 discount and it sounds great, where an invoice deal (say $500 or $800 over invoice, for example) would yield you a better discount.

I made this mistake before when I fell in love with my first X6 and got screwed with a small discount on a dealer demo model (new but had more miles than a non-demo) where later I learned and realized I could have ordered a new car and gotten a better deal. Not going to do that again

Also you are not trading, but for future reference, don't ever mention you want to trade in your old car until you got the deal agreed to on the new car. This prevents the dealer from playing with the numbers and making your deal look good while screwing you on your trade-in. I always check with CarMax to see what is the best price I can get, and either the dealer matches it or not. Treat a trade and a new purchase as 2 separate transactions, always, because that is exactly what they are.

I usually build the car on bmwusa.com, choose my desired colors and options, and then build it again on bmwconfig.com so I know the invoice price.

Bottom line, know what car you want with the options you want, know what the invoice price is, and be aware of the incentives being offered that you qualify for. Some incentives may require BMWFS financing, so if paying cash, you can't use them. When you are armed with this info, there is not much room to mess with you when you walk into the showroom.

Better yet, contact a forum sponsor (Pacific BMW in Glendale that you already said you like is a sponsor, I think, at least I found them on here and am working with Greg) and you're likely to bypass all of the above and just get the best deal. Knowing what you want (exactly) helps a lot because it cuts to the chase and doesn't waste your time or your sales advisors time)... I am in this process now and have to say it's been completely painless and easy.

Good luck and let us know how it goes. That 6er you have is a beauty, I've always had a soft spot for the 6-Series.

Reytran.... Shoot me an email.