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why don't we get roadside assistance for the life of the vehicle? caddillac does. mbz does. most "lux" marques offer this. bmw, only through warranty....
cheap bmw....
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Re: cheap bmw...
Eugene,
How much would you (hypothetically) be willing to pay for that? In order to add any more value to the "BMW Experience", wholesale and retail pricing will have to go up... (They have already slashed dealer margins as much as they can while leaving their dealers' profitability viable) It was only just a few years ago (late 1996 if I can recall correctly) that BMW began including "scheduled" maintenace as part of the "package'... In 2000 scheduled maintenance became "full" maintenance. The 4/50 factory limited warranty is a really good one. For cars like the M Roadster "Factory Roadside Assistance" is an absolute necessity (they don't even come with spare tires ~~~ sheeeesh!!) :dunno: For those with conventional newer models (e.g. E39, E46, ...etc.) who needs roadside assistance, anyway? These cars never leave their owners stranded, do they? When there's a "heat" problem I usually hear about it. Stranded drivers would be the norm for our Land Rover owners, but not for the Bimmers. (I can't tell you how many Range Rover owners have called me from the center divider of some LA Freeway to chew my a$$ out). It has never happened (to me) with BMW - that's thousands of vehicles since 1995. So... my question to you is: how much more would you be willing to pay for the extra roadside service?
How many of those reading this thread plan on owning their current cars 5 years from now? In the 3 to 4 years that we have been retailing BMWs to you tech heads on the Internet, we have observed an interesting trend: you like to get new ones every couple of years... :thumb:
Please don't take me too seriously.
Eugene,
How much would you (hypothetically) be willing to pay for that? In order to add any more value to the "BMW Experience", wholesale and retail pricing will have to go up... (They have already slashed dealer margins as much as they can while leaving their dealers' profitability viable) It was only just a few years ago (late 1996 if I can recall correctly) that BMW began including "scheduled" maintenace as part of the "package'... In 2000 scheduled maintenance became "full" maintenance. The 4/50 factory limited warranty is a really good one. For cars like the M Roadster "Factory Roadside Assistance" is an absolute necessity (they don't even come with spare tires ~~~ sheeeesh!!) :dunno: For those with conventional newer models (e.g. E39, E46, ...etc.) who needs roadside assistance, anyway? These cars never leave their owners stranded, do they? When there's a "heat" problem I usually hear about it. Stranded drivers would be the norm for our Land Rover owners, but not for the Bimmers. (I can't tell you how many Range Rover owners have called me from the center divider of some LA Freeway to chew my a$$ out). It has never happened (to me) with BMW - that's thousands of vehicles since 1995. So... my question to you is: how much more would you be willing to pay for the extra roadside service?
How many of those reading this thread plan on owning their current cars 5 years from now? In the 3 to 4 years that we have been retailing BMWs to you tech heads on the Internet, we have observed an interesting trend: you like to get new ones every couple of years... :thumb:Please don't take me too seriously.
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1,347 Posts
Re: Re: cheap bmw...
i understand all your points. yes, other than fan issues my bmw is fine. but why not offer it? other brands do. how much could it cost if we hypothetically never have to use it? not that bmw has to be the same as other brands, but damnit, the fact that i paid 200 for a single indash cd player when it's standard in so many cars. i dont think offering roadside assistance for the life of the car is too much. just an opinion.
sidebar that has a little to do with RA. jon, do you, or anyone here for that matter have any experience with roadside assistance's trip planner? i was reading the brochure on RA at my local dealer and it said to call them and tell them your destination and they would send you a trip packet. any experiences? thanks
jon -Jon Shafer said:Eugene,
How much would you (hypothetically) be willing to pay for that? In order to add any more value to the "BMW Experience", wholesale and retail pricing will have to go up... (They have already slashed dealer margins as much as they can while leaving their dealers' profitability viable) It was only just a few years ago (late 1996 if I can recall correctly) that BMW began including "scheduled" maintenace as part of the "package'... In 2000 scheduled maintenance became "full" maintenance. The 4/50 factory limited warranty is a really good one. For cars like the M Roadster "Factory Roadside Assistance" is an absolute necessity (they don't even come with spare tires ~~~ sheeeesh!!) :dunno: For those with conventional newer models (e.g. E39, E46, ...etc.) who needs roadside assistance, anyway? These cars never leave their owners stranded, do they? When there's a "heat" problem I usually hear about it. Stranded drivers would be the norm for our Land Rover owners, but not for the Bimmers. (I can't tell you how many Range Rover owners have called me from the center divider of some LA Freeway to chew my a$$ out). It has never happened (to me) with BMW - that's thousands of vehicles since 1995. So... my question to you is: how much more would you be willing to pay for the extra roadside service?
Please don't take me too seriously.
i understand all your points. yes, other than fan issues my bmw is fine. but why not offer it? other brands do. how much could it cost if we hypothetically never have to use it? not that bmw has to be the same as other brands, but damnit, the fact that i paid 200 for a single indash cd player when it's standard in so many cars. i dont think offering roadside assistance for the life of the car is too much. just an opinion.
sidebar that has a little to do with RA. jon, do you, or anyone here for that matter have any experience with roadside assistance's trip planner? i was reading the brochure on RA at my local dealer and it said to call them and tell them your destination and they would send you a trip packet. any experiences? thanks
Kinda
Although my 97 540i left me stranded three times in the year I owned it, I still don't consider roadside assistance very important. Between triple-A and my towing reimbursement through auto insurance, I've got the towing angle covered. I would bet many people that meet the BMW demographic are in this position.
As a side note, since the new Range Rover has the same engine as my old 540i (BMW 4.4l V8), I would expect reliability to be on par (for better or worse). It sure sounds more attractive than a X5 4.4.
As for wholesale and retail prices, BMW has the highest profit margin in the industry, at 9%, slightly higher than Porsche. Maybe when sales slow, something you would have expected but hasn't materialized during this recession, BMW will find new incentives for people to buy their cars.
--gary
Although my 97 540i left me stranded three times in the year I owned it, I still don't consider roadside assistance very important. Between triple-A and my towing reimbursement through auto insurance, I've got the towing angle covered. I would bet many people that meet the BMW demographic are in this position.
As a side note, since the new Range Rover has the same engine as my old 540i (BMW 4.4l V8), I would expect reliability to be on par (for better or worse). It sure sounds more attractive than a X5 4.4.
As for wholesale and retail prices, BMW has the highest profit margin in the industry, at 9%, slightly higher than Porsche. Maybe when sales slow, something you would have expected but hasn't materialized during this recession, BMW will find new incentives for people to buy their cars.
--gary
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Re: Kinda
Of course, from the kinds of comments that go around forums like this and in the pages of Roundel and the like, if this keeps up for too long, something is gonna break. :dunno:
I think this hits the nail on the head. We've seen BMWNA sales hit records almost monthly for several years. They have no reason to do things to boost sales or increase awareness or raise enthusiast excitement. If selling more general-consumer oriented cars while holding down the 'extras' is gonna keep sales up, why bother? Spending the time and effort to value-add, offer special enthusiast-oriented cars, etc. doesn't make much sense strictly from a "today's business" sense.Nat Brown said:
Of course, from the kinds of comments that go around forums like this and in the pages of Roundel and the like, if this keeps up for too long, something is gonna break. :dunno:
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