BMW Dealer Charges..

eddiem74

BMW Dealer quotes:

€850 Delivery
€350 Starter Pack (listed under dealer fitted accessories)

I assume 'delivery' covers the obvious i.e. delivery from factory to dealer, right ? What about this 'starter pack' what is that covering above and beyond the delivery ?

Thanks for the information.

bonham23

its just a little kit with screen wash etc...complete rip off.
The sales man will remove it from the order if you tell him too.

R.O.R

eddiem74 wrote: »

What about this 'starter pack' what is that covering above and beyond the delivery ?[/FONT]

Thanks for the information.

Mats (Which are now standard on 3 series and higher), fuel, car care kit (as mentioned above).

As also mentioned above - bit of a rip off. It's mainly dealer profit as they don't make much from the delivery charge - get them to remove it, or go elsewhere.

tinkerbell

It's a total rip off. A dealer told me that the MINI comes with starter pack as well, same as yours for €350 which includes floor mats (already on my MINI so I don't need a spare set thanks!), a valet on the car (if the car is brand new, I don't expect it to need a valet in the first place), a tank of fuel and your reg plates. If you're handing over €30 - €50k or whatever it is for a BMW you should be getting a free tank of fuel & reg plates. Tell him to remove it from the order!

eddiem74

Cheers guys for the information, good to know.

alpina

You should be able to get this FOC, brush up on some bargainig tactics,
"your competitor is throwing it in", "your competitor is charging exact same as you, if you throw it in we have a deal...."

Don't be afraid to push the boat a bit, have yet to pay for a starter pack & have picked up a fair few cars over the years.

Full tank of gas/starter pack/2 chrome exhust tips/ that's my ask & I always come away smiling, these aftermarket items cost the garages cents!

-Chris-

alpina wrote: »

You should be able to get this FOC, brush up on some bargainig tactics,
"your competitor is throwing it in", "your competitor is charging exact same as you, if you throw it in we have a deal...."

Don't be afraid to push the boat a bit, have yet to pay for a starter pack & have picked up a fair few cars over the years.

Yeah, push it hard and get what you can. There are good deals to be had, especially if you're willing to buy for immediate delivery. Sales numbers are down, so getting the deal is more important than how good the deal is.
Be fair in your negotiations and ask for what you want up front. Don't negotiate all the discount and then start asking for free stuff, you'll probably end up disappointed...

alpina wrote: »

Full tank of gas/starter pack/2 chrome exhust tips/ that's my ask & I always come away smiling, these aftermarket items cost the garages cents!

I love these comments. How does a full tank of gas cost a garage cents? Do you think they get charged less by Maxol/Texaco than everyone else?
Same with screenwash, floormats etc. It all costs money - the margin isn't that big that you'd throw this stuff in all over the place.
If I have €1,000 discount to play with and you ask for €300 worth of "free stuff", then you're getting €700 discount. There's no magic source of money that means you'll get your €1,000 discount AND all the free stuff.

And "free services" etc. cost a garage just as much as a normal service - if I give away a free service, I take up a ramp and mechanic for an hour and a half. The opportunity cost is the ability of the workshop to do a service during that time. Therefore the workshop charges me the same rates as they charge the public. The only way a "free service" is cheaper than a service for a normal punter is by the margin of the spare parts (hardly a whole packet of money).

MSporty

Incidentally I was talking to the head salesman in a well known Dublin Audi dealership who says their sales are slightly up on last year. Good to see somebody is going against the trend and not talking doom and gloom

alpina

Feel you misunderstood my post, I implied the aftermarket products cost the garages cents, obviously a tank of gas is not considered an aftermarket product!

Cents is obviously tongue & cheek, if I am spending €65/70 on my new car the €350 starter pack is an acceptable loss from the garage's point of view & not a bad deal I might say. Not that many deals I put together for €70K realise a mere €350 cost, maybe €3, 500.;)

Understand where you are coming from obviously, but also feel I am there to do the best deal that the garage can bear.

-Chris-

alpina wrote: »

Feel you misunderstood my post, I implied the aftermarket products cost the garages cents, obviously a tank of gas is not considered an aftermarket product!

Cents is obviously tongue & cheek, if I am spending €65/70 on my new car the €350 starter pack is an acceptable loss from the garage's point of view & not a bad deal I might say. Not that many deals I put together for €70K realise a mere €350 cost, maybe €3, 500.;)

Understand where you are coming from obviously, but also feel I am there to do the best deal that the garage can bear.

I understand alright, I just get frustrated by the people who think they're master negotiators by haggling hard, finally getting to agreement (normally getting to the max discount I can give - I'm not real good at haggling) and then, and only then, deciding they'll ask for free mudflaps, tank of fuel and sevice - a lot of the time I say no (and risk upsetting them and destroying all the good feeling we've built up so far) - when I'm at my max discount, I'm at my max discount.
When I get to €3,500, then that's where I am. Some people get there and then ask for the €350 of aftermarket products.

Yes there's decent discount to be had in a high value car, but if you're negotiating for cash discount, discount-in-kind, or a mixture of the two, you could at least give me a hint at the outset...

Seriously though, it's all just a game. I have the max I can go to and then I'll walk away. You have the min you'll accept before you walk away. Somewhere in the middle we'll meet and we'll both be happy.