# Advantages of buying from the same dealer you would go to for service?



## bbkat (Oct 27, 2002)

ObD said:


> It's called greasing the skids. Personally anything under $500 or so is not anything to quibble about. You get what you pay for. If you want to save money buy a Hyundai.  You are spending $40K. Why be a dickhead. :dunno:


It's not just about the money. The lower price guy has been cool with me and the local guy lied about my ED car coming out of his dealership's allocation. Am I still a dickhead? :flipoff:

Thanks for all the replies and good info so far!


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## mquetel (Jan 30, 2003)

TedW said:


> I've been in the car business for 13 years and with Carbone BMW for the last 8. Through the years I have handled this in different ways. Here is what I have been doing for the last few years:
> 
> When a customer from my town services his/her BMW in my shop, but didn't buy from me I try to find out how I lost the deal. That's right, I blame myself. I then treat that customer just like one of my own. They get loaners, timley appointments, and preferred treatment. Why, because I want to earn their business the next time. If I don't treat these people in the same way that I do all my customers I have no chance of ever making them my customer. Once I win over a customer with exceptional service it is very hard for another dealer to take that customer from me because I have built a relationship. As I stated earlier I have been doing this for a few years now and it really works for me. Sure, I get burned sometimes, but in the long run it pays to give exceptional service to every customer and not just your own.
> 
> Ted


Hey Ted, want to move to Oregon? We need people like you out here!! :thumbup:


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## vern (Apr 19, 2002)

*dealers*



robg said:


> This sounds like a smart business practice to me. Its amazing how many car dealers don't understand this.


I'll second that.Maybe thats why JMK BMW treats me so good and I can't find anything wrong in what they have done for me.
vern


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## Tanning machine (Feb 21, 2002)

TedW said:


> I've been in the car business for 13 years and with Carbone BMW for the last 8. Through the years I have handled this in different ways. Here is what I have been doing for the last few years:
> 
> [etc., reposted above]
> 
> Ted


 :yikes: Remarkable. A salesman who actually understands how this should work. :thumbup: What does it matter if someone bought somewhere else? The sale is already gone, so the effort should be on getting the customer to buy from your dealership the _next_ time. Being spiteful about the past doesn't win any new customers and threatening to be spiteful only drives them away.


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## JeffreySB (Oct 9, 2002)

TedW said:


> I've been in the car business for 13 years and with Carbone BMW for the last 8. Through the years I have handled this in different ways. Here is what I have been doing for the last few years:
> 
> When a customer from my town services his/her BMW in my shop, but didn't buy from me I try to find out how I lost the deal. That's right, I blame myself. I then treat that customer just like one of my own. They get loaners, timley appointments, and preferred treatment. Why, because I want to earn their business the next time. If I don't treat these people in the same way that I do all my customers I have no chance of ever making them my customer. Once I win over a customer with exceptional service it is very hard for another dealer to take that customer from me because I have built a relationship. As I stated earlier I have been doing this for a few years now and it really works for me. Sure, I get burned sometimes, but in the long run it pays to give exceptional service to every customer and not just your own.
> 
> Ted


It's amazing how other dealers don't feel the same way as Ted. I too have purchased a BMW from a out of town dealer (Jon Shafer at Cutter to be exact) due to exceptional service he and Franco provide. I hate to think I will get a "second class" treatment just because I didn't purchase my car with the nearest dealer in my area. In fact, the worst treatment will absolutely convince me that I was correct purchasing my vehicle from Jon/Franco.

A master technician once told me BMW dealerships generate far more income servicing your vehicle than selling you one. Denying a customer the right to obtain a loaner or to receive good service when he/she did not purchase the vehicle from you is just plain stupid and does not constitute a good business practice IMHO.

And to think how people on various boards are always complaining about BMW service.


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## testyrosa (Jul 16, 2003)

bbkat said:


> It's not just about the money. The lower price guy has been cool with me and the local guy lied about my ED car coming out of his dealership's allocation. Am I still a dickhead? :flipoff:
> 
> Thanks for all the replies and good info so far!


I saved my money by being careful with it. Unless you get something out of it why throw $400 or even $10 away ? The cost of the item purchased is irrelavant. Don't let this snobbish BS about it being a $40k car or BMW turn your head. I'll bet dollars to donuts that if anyone saw $400 lying on the ground they would pick it up. That said, don't forget to factor in things like variation in local tax rates, gas and the biggest one, your time.


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## Fuzzypuppy (May 1, 2003)

TedW said:


> When a customer from my town services his/her BMW in my shop, but didn't buy from me I try to find out how I lost the deal. That's right, I blame myself. I then treat that customer just like one of my own. They get loaners, timley appointments, and preferred treatment. Why, because I want to earn their business the next time. If I don't treat these people in the same way that I do all my customers I have no chance of ever making them my customer. Once I win over a customer with exceptional service it is very hard for another dealer to take that customer from me because I have built a relationship. As I stated earlier I have been doing this for a few years now and it really works for me. Sure, I get burned sometimes, but in the long run it pays to give exceptional service to every customer and not just your own.


Whoa! *Bingo!* There's a guy who gets it! Ted, if you ever relocate to California, I'll come looking for you when I'm next in the market.

I don't mind Service departments treating their "sales" customers to extras like loaners instead of rentals and such. That's their perogative. But it doesn't make me any more inclined to buy from them in the future. But if a dealership does right by me when I come in for service, their sales guys get the benefit of the high ground in the next sales battle.

That's why the next time out, the Claridges guys will have first shot to win my business: they don't have to be the best price by any stretch, they'll just need to be competitive. On the other hand, a bad experience handicaps the opposite: Peter Pan will need to offer me a car at $2000 UNDER anyone else to even be in the running.


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## xspeedy (Apr 10, 2003)

SARAFIL said:


> Keep this in mind: when you have a big problem with your car and need some help (I'm not talking about the simple things, I'm talking about the times when your car suffers a major malfunction or potentially has to be bought back), wouldn't it be nice to have "someone on your side"? If you buy a car at dealer ABC, and you service it at XYZ, who at XYZ is going to go out of their way to offer you the best of service above and beyond the call of duty? Who will put pressure on the appropriate parties to ensure you are treated correctly?
> 
> All I know is that if you buy a car at the dealer where you service your car, you'll have a salesperson there to put in a good word on your behalf. Also, your salesperson will have a sales manager that can put pressure on the service manager to ensure that you are taken care of. Further, you'll have a general manager that will go above and beyond to accomodate you quickly and professionally to ensure they keep your business. Not to forget the loaners, pick up and delivery services and other perks dealers give to their own clients.
> 
> ...


In my experience of buying new cars, I have never found that the sales guy or sales manager pressures the service department. If anything, I find that once the sale is over, the sales department forgets about you. You are now the service department's "problem". Sales and service are stove pipes.


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## HW (Dec 24, 2001)

TedW gets my vote here! :thumbup: 

as for experience. i got worst treatment from the dealer that i bought my car from! the one that i did go to frequently because it was close gave me great service and provided me w/ a loaner when i requested for it. 

sarafil, chris330ci: don't the service dept also have a CSI? does bmwna look at a low CSI score from a customer and look at the customer's record? if it shows that it was purchased from a different dealer, the bmwna (or whereever) will drop/reject the low CSI score. :tsk: 

re: if something goes really wrong then why not just go back to the dealer you got it from?


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