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1 dealer for purchase 1 for service?

2K views 16 replies 14 participants last post by  Michael_s 
#1 ·
Been reading with interest those of you who've recently ordered 2012 X5's. Meeting with my local dealer again tomorrow for test drive/appraisal of trade - if all goes well, will order my 12 X5i premium with conv + cold weather + sat radio + spare. Curious, in I had initially planned to submit requests for best price to a number of dealers via email - as my local dealer doensn't have best rep.

Has anyone out there purchased from a non-local dealer to get best price, but then used another dealer closer to home for service? What's the response been, any issues with that from the dealers? Do you lose anything in that model?

Just curious.
 
#2 ·
i have done this many times. all cars except my 07 and 11 were serviced at a different dealer than purchased. Sometimes dealers just don't have the car you want or you move.
 
#4 ·
Nowadays (i.e. economic climate) it's much less an issue. I was always worried about it but the dealers I've tried are more than happy to have your service business, whether you buy there or not. In fact the dealers I go to (from whom I didn't buy) even offered me loaners.

I'm in much the same position as you: I have a rep I like but wouldn't give you two cents for that dealer's service department. So I'm dealing with the rep and if he can meet my price I'll get the car there but service it at another dealership close to my home (that dealer will get second crack at appraising my trade and doing the deal).
 
#5 ·
I, too, bought from a dealer further away from home but take the car to a closer dealership for service. The 2nd dealer never has any issue servicing a car not bought from them. They will even work on issues that weren't quite resolved by the first dealer. I think they are happy to service your car because they get the revenue.

However, I don't seem to be able to get loaner cars from the 2nd dealer. They always tell me I have to wait several weeks for a loaner to become available. I'm not talking quick, minor service. I'm referring to overnight or multi-day repairs.

When I got my car serviced at the 1st dealer, they got me a loaner just like that.

From your experiences, do you find that dealers aren't as willing to give loaners to those that didn't buy the car from their dealership?
 
#6 ·
Some dealers are bigger and have a larger loaner fleet, some are smaller. Even if a dealer values the business of people who haven't bought the car from them, if they're smaller then they may simply run out of loaners. I'm sure customers who bought the car from them get first crack but I know a dealer who has trouble giving loaners to even those people.

How would one distinguish a large dealership who doesn't value your business from a smaller one who does but simply doesn't have loaners? I'm not sure you can.
 
#7 ·
Me too! I can never bargain with the centers in central Connecticut, but I always get a great deal from a center north of Boston. So, I have bought or leased 4 BMWs there, and get them serviced here. I have never had a problem with the service either. They treat me very well despite the fact I didn't buy them there. There is a lot of money to be made in parts and service.
 
#8 · (Edited)
Here is THE answer:

it will all depend on the local market practices and local dealers.

Some (rather unenlightened) dealers view an owners failure to buy from them as an offense and punish them. (The dealers over in Ask a Dealer for No Help will say 'not true, we just take care of our good customers' ** Note below) These dealers use Service as a coercive agent to influence buyers.

Others recognize that they make FAR more money in Service than they do in new car Sales, and simply try to build their service base- hence the dealership makes more money.

I suspect it depends on the internal politics, power structure and how Sales can call shots.

For the dealer I use it is a non-issue. Folks in the SF bay area, So Call area, and other metropolitan areas report more issues.

A

Note: **dealer speak for 'let us rape you on the sales, smile, and we'll give you a $15 rental when we service the car'.
 
#9 ·
(The dealers over in Ask a Dealer for No Help will say 'not true, we just take care of our good customers' ** Note below) These dealers use Service as a coercive agent to influence buyers.

Note: **dealer speak for 'let us rape you on the sales, smile, and we'll give you a $15 rental when we service the car'.
I like that new name for that forum! I definitely see a difference in the degree of helpfulness from the dealers in that forum compared to 2-3 years ago. They were definitely more forth coming with information and help before. I couldn't even get an answer on whether there is a March Eco credit when it was almost half way into March.

Back in February many of them indicated that there is no deal to be had on X5's because the high demand and short supply...and no dealer will let go of their X5 for anything lower than $2500 over invoice. Funny how I was able to find at least 3 dealers that would go well below that and on the hard to find diesel model as well.

I imagine the deals on 2011 X5 will get really good real soon if any of these dealers still have March allocations left. Those are not worth much with the MY 2012 starting production in April.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Think of this as two different stores. One to buy the car and another one to service it. They are under the same roof, but are different profit centers for the owners. The sales interest ends when you drive off the lot and the service interest begins when you come in for your first work. By the same token, if you choose to use another center for your warranty/maintentance work that is up to you as BMW will still have to warranty/honor the work. I have never had a problem getting a loaner on short notice (once I got the Sales Mgrs car) at dealers that I did not buy the car from, but used for service. As Ard correctly points out, in areas with many dealerships your options are much greater. Nice to have choices!:angel:
 
#13 · (Edited)
Because the owner(s) of a dealership are human and, for them, the pleasure of punishing people who didn't buy from them exceeds the pleasure of the extra profits they would make by enticing others to use them for service.

When the economy s**ks, like it has and does now, the owners' evaluation of that trade-off may change.

The most I've ever done to endear myself to the service department of a dealership from which I didn't purchase the car was to tell the manager that if he took care of me I'd let them put one of their hokey dealer license frames on my car to advertise their services.

But, really, when the fish stinks it stinks from the head first and if ownership is petty and spiteful then the service department will be unwelcoming to "outsiders". Personally, I hope to buy my car from one dealer (because the CA is honest) and service it at another, simply because the service department at the former is deceitful and dishonest. I don't anticipate any problems with that strategy.
 
#14 ·
LOL

I think dealers have their own dealer forum to talk about us owners. Who's easy money and who's a bitch........

LOL
 
#16 ·
I've bought my last three BMWs from 200 miles away, and had them serviced at the (amazing) local service facility.
Each time I've given the local dealership the opportunity to win my business, and told them that they lost the sale last time.

*This* time they finally got close enough to make it not worth my while heading out of town, for the "little extras" of local purchase (literally just free hand car washes, free parking for baseball/football games).
I've never had a problem servicing.

Yes - I've had to wait for a loaner sometimes, simply because they don't have one. However, my service advisor has worked with me to either rent me a nasty Enterprise POS, or have the courtesy shuttle drive me home again so that I can use my second car. It's never been an issue that I didn't buy from them.
 
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