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      12-01-2005, 12:00 PM   #1
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I need help

I traded in my 04 TL for my 330i in Sept. Since I owed less than what the dealer is giving me for the trade in, I requested to keep the remaining equity after I pay off the taxes and fees for my 330i lease.

A month later, I receive the check. It was less $1K. My TL had some body damage to it. Nothing major. But it's big enough that you can see it. When the dealer appraised my TL, I thought they saw the damage. I didn't have to tell them about the damage. Before I received my check, they didn't even bother to let me know that they took off $1K. I found out when I got my check.

I have the paper that the dealer gave me with the trade-in value and lease plan we agreed on with both parties' signature. Can they just change the trade-in value after I picked up the new car?

For over a month now, I have been calling my salesman almost everyday. Most of the time he would put me on hold and than tell me he would call me back and never does. Other times he would say he'll call me right back and never does. Last week I finally called and asked for the general manager. I know I should've asked for the general manager sooner. I left him a message and he called me back. He said he'll look into it and call me back. He hasn't called me back yet so I just called him before and left him a voicemail.

What else can I do? I really regret buying my first BMW from them. I really regret giving my salesman all 5's on the survery. He was nice at first, but than it seem liked he just didn't care after I picked up the car. Will calling BMW customer relations help in anyway?

I'm not going to name the dealer yet. I want to see if they will do anything about it first.

If only I had just waited. My friend just started working at a BMW dealer in NJ. He's a CA there.
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      12-01-2005, 12:15 PM   #2
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It does not sound like what they did is legit, but I could be wrong. If you do not get the response you desire, I would start sending them certified letters requesting the issue be addressed. You really need to start a paper trail. This has always proven effective for me in the past. By putting it in writing, I personally believe (a) they think you are more serious and are not going to give up (i.e., in other words, a PITA that they'd rather settle with than ignore) and (b) if you ever did want to somehow pursue this legally, you have lots of documentation of what they did and that they received and did not respond to your communications. I once got a dealership to send me double my money back on an extended warranty I decided I did not want based on some "overstatements" as to what it covered by the sales guy. Initially, no one would respond until I sent letters out with a cc: to the GM of the dealership, the finance manager, and to customer service HQ.
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      12-01-2005, 01:58 PM   #3
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Thanks. I'm going to send them a certified letter. Who should I address it to?

Also, I was thinking of contacting the owner of the dealer. Is there anyway to find the contact info for the owner?
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      12-01-2005, 02:26 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RyBMW
Thanks. I'm going to send them a certified letter. Who should I address it to?

Also, I was thinking of contacting the owner of the dealer. Is there anyway to find the contact info for the owner?
Send the letter as certified with return receipt and at the top of the letter (above the date) type "CERTIFIED RRR" (which means Certified return receipt requested... so that if the envelope gets separated from the letter, the reader of the letter is aware that this came certified.) Address it to the sales guy to give him the opportunity to address it directly, but on the bottom "CC:" the names of the general manager, finance manager (and owner, if you want, as you mentioned) and anyone else like a corporate office. If you don't have these names/addresses, you can call the dealer anonymously and ask the receptionist. He/she may also be able to provide the owner's name, but may get a little suspicious and transfer you to the manager to find out why you're asking for everyone's name. You might also try Googling this info, if it's available. Then send all these people copies of the letter with a cover letter that you are copying them and why (and that perhaps they can be of assistance in the matter). This all takes a bit of effort (and postage) and thus you have to decide if it is worth it to you--but if you want to seriously up your odds of seeing your $1,000 again, this is what I would do. You should follow this up with a call to, say, the sales guy and the finance manager once you receive the return receipts back to gauge their reactions before next escalation steps ;-)
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      12-01-2005, 05:43 PM   #5
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Will filing a complaint with the BBB help?
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      12-01-2005, 06:17 PM   #6
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Will filing a complaint with the BBB help?
Seriously doubtful. I'm no expert whatsoever, but I would guess they just "log" the complaint and look for trends over time before they would think about investigating (i.e., looking for a pattern of abuse). My position is generally one of proactive yet courteous assertiveness. Let the facts speak for themselves. Lay out your case... e.g., we contracted for this price and the damage was right there when we entered into the contract, and you (the dealer) did not honor our contracted agreement...etc... and then explain how you would like the situation resolved. There's no silver bullet here... just a process you have to go through if you want to improve your odds of getting your money back.
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      12-21-2005, 03:32 PM   #7
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After I contacted the GM of the dealership, he took a long time to return my calls. I contacted the CSR of the corporate office for the dealership. The GM called me back about 20min later. After that day, the GM still took a while to call me back. I tried calling the CSR, but she wasn't available. So I called BMWNA and the GM called me right back.
Everything is settled now. I got my $1K back.

Thanks for all the replies.
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