Quote:
Originally Posted by Texan Engineer
Sorry to the thread resurrection, but I thought I'd add my thoughts to the thread for future buyers.
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Classic definitely is a large dealer, and they've got a showroom & lot to go with it (which is a good thing - I suspect their monthly allocation is quite large and good for special order people)). BUT being located in Plano, they (generally speaking) definitely feel like they have this snobbish, richer-than-thou attitude - I would know, I grew up in Plano, and my family has been dealing with them on/off since 1997 back when they were in Richardson.
I went in in March 2013 shopping for my 128i, dealt with Aaron (don't remember his last name). Pretty quickly he had this condescending attitude along the lines of "poor you, you want a new car but you can barely afford a 128i - you're too young to be good enough to drive a BMW, etc." which was evident in the way he phrased things, assumptions he made about what I did or did not want to do regarding a potential buy. Granted, yes I'm 22 and fresh out of school so I'm obviously not in the market for a 120k+ 7er but I do expect at least polite respect as a paying customer - even if I'm buying the cheapest car you sell. It's just fundamental business practice (and no, I'm not a business major either) - but don't run off your future customers. I didn't order from them this time around, and I really don't want to for my next car. Not looking forward to servicing with them either, but I'm not sure how good of a choice the others are in the area.
I don't expect to squeeze every penny out of someone in my business dealings and I view myself as a fair person, but at the same time I don't take well to being ripped off, or even overcharged for the sake of it.
That said, both my instinct and previous experience with them has been that if you pay what they say (usually sticker), then you get great service. This seems in line with the clientele that exists in the Plano/Frisco area, who may (not all, mind you) be willing to part with more money in order for the intangible "better service."
Conclusion: Classic is good if you pay up. Otherwise, you might want to shop elsewhere. I did - I called Greg Poland at Pacific BMW (Glendale, CA) and got my car at xxx over invoice. Factor in shipping costs (I opted to ship instead of drive), and you're STILL at a better price than what Classic offered me. And that was with little/no hassle and none of the condescending arrogance.
Just because we drive BMW's doesn't mean we're willing to overpay for stuff. Sorry for the slight rant-ish, but I figured sharing my experience would be a good counterpoint.
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Interesting. I faced the same thing too - at first. My parent's have shopped at Classic in Richardson since I was a wee little kid (we've probably bought 10+ vehicles from them in our lifetime). When they moved to the Plano location (which is actually like 10 minutes from my house), I feel like the salesmen's changed.
Gone were the people that loved BMW and instead were "normal" businessmen in their place. For example, I'm sure if you went and talked to them about the 2 Series, some might be clueless of what you are talking about since the car was just released online, and dealers still don't have information.
My 128i had an air conditioning failure problem a few year backs. It was a horrible experience - the AC was smelling horrible and I couldn't use it at all. I was 20 at that time, I wasn't even allowed a loaner car (although I paid for my car and it was under my name!!), it was part of their insurance policy you must be over 21 to get a loaner. I had a crappy enterprise car for about a month.
The first time, they told me it was dirty and they just sprayed some cleaner in the air vents. That worked for about 3 days before the smell was back. They did the same exact same thing the second time and the smell came back. Repeat this process multiple times until I finally snapped and spoke to the owner and sent him an angry e-mail! It also didn't help that when I got "How was my service" review, I gave them all 0's. That finally woke them up since that affects their status of top BMW dealerships!
The owner is a great guy, and you can tell he has passion for BMWs. He solved my issue immediately (A/C was replaced under warranty) in a few days, and has been flawless since. It was just very sad it took getting to that level for me to get the service I deserve.
THAT BEING SAID, that is the only issue I have ever had with Classic, and I understand that mistakes can happen and all is forgiven. For giving our family flawless customer service for 10+ years for 10+ cars, we can't really complain.
They repaired my 128i after my neighbor hit it, and honestly it is the best repair job I have ever seen! Not only that, but when my car was about to be out of warranty, they went ahead and changed my brakes even though they still had 1,000 left until service.
As you said, the dealership is big. I personally think if you find the right people, you will be happy. I am extremely happy with my salesman, tech advisor, and the owner is a great guy as well.
I like them so much that I already pre-ordered my M235i from them.
BTW Texan engineer - I will be selling my parts from my 128i soon. If you are interesting in them let me know!