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      03-29-2008, 09:22 PM   #1
europlane
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Thumbs up Habberstad BMW of Huntington

A very good buying experience at Habberstad BMW in Huntington (after two not-so-happy tries at two different dealerships).

About 3-4 weeks ago I tried to place an order for a European delivery of a 100 series. First I went to the BMW dealership in my neighborhood in Queens to place an ED order. I spoke with the CA that usually deals with European delivery and he said that it was possible, but I would have to pay above ED MSRP and he would have to speak with his manager to find out for sure, and then he would call me. From reading many posts in this forum, I knew that most dealers were not willing to do ED from their regular allocations and that many buyers were paying above MSRP.

Some days later I called that CA and he said he had good news and bad news. The “bad news first” he said. I would have to leave a 20% deposit on the price of the car to have European delivery. I said “No problem”, and then he said that “BMW of … would not do ED”. And he said that with an arrogant tone of voice and then hung up. I don’t know what the “good news” was.

After a couple of days I went to another dealership on Long Island to see if they had a car on display. No one tried to speak to me and then I asked a CA if they were going to get any 135 soon. He just said a curt “no” without anymore interaction.

I was resigned to the fact that I would not be able to get ED, and that was really a pity since I spend my summers in Europe. I waited one more week before gathering the courage to try another dealer. I called Habberstad in Huntington and got Howie Schulman on the phone. I asked him if they would do ED on a 128. He said he was an expert in Euro delivery and that they would love to do it. So I went there, chose the car and my options and asked for the price. Without any hassle he quoted me a price that was below Euro MSRP and that I found to be the right price for the car. Never had a better car-buying experience in any of my previous times. No need to negotiate, no bad feelings, no give and take! Just a relaxed experience.

I’m not saying that the first two places where I went were really “atrocious”, and I would not say not to go there. I just mentioned those experiences only to contrast the different customer’s treatment and sales practices between those places and Habberstad.

I recommend Habberstad, and in particular Howie Schulman, to anyone looking to buy a BMW. If there are other “1Addicts” in NYC/Long Island region contemplating Euro delivery I think that Habberstad is the only place to go. Tell them Carl sent you. Who knows, maybe I’ll get a t-shirt or something.
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