[olsenhut]

I'm having trouble getting my car delivered.

It was off loaded in Charleston 2 weeks ago today - still no car.

I questioned the dealer if the delay was related to damage during shipment? They are not sure exactly what the reason for the delay is but have been told it was not related to damage during shipment.

I got to thinking if the delay could be related to the way the dealer ordered the car. It is not unusual for distributors to get a larger discount for stock orders than for customer orders.

Anybody know if BMW works this way and if it's possible my dealer ordered my car as a stock order to try and take advantage of a larger discount and my delay may be related to this?

[suzer]

No idea what you are talking about.

But I did see this:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=144463

[olsenhut]

Thanks,

It's just when I read thru other posts people who had cars come in on the same vessel and port as mine have already taken delivery. In fact some people who have had their cars come in on the vessel after mine have also taken delivery.

Mine was at the VDC for 14 days.

I know the VDC processes "priority 1" cars first, those are the cars that have already been sold. They then process the dealer stock orders.

I'm wondering if the dealer discount is higher on stock cars (due to the added costs associated with carrying inventory) than the discount is on "sold" cars.

Could it be that my delay at the VDC is associated with them ordering my car as dealer stock rather than a customer order to take advantage of a possible higher discount and they got stung this time due to the high E90 sales and the work load at the VDC?

[suzer]

OK, now I think I understand what you are saying.

But....

Wouldn't you think that even if the car was originally destined to be dealer stock, once you decided it was the car for you, it became a priority 1-sold car? And would be treated the same as, say, my car, which didn't exist until I ordered it?

Sold is sold, right?

I'm thinking your dealer should try a little a harder to find out what's up with your car. Especially as it gets closer and closer to month's end - if you don't take delivery, they don't get to count it for April.

[olsenhut]

I agree, I'm just thinking the dealer may have been trying to keep the larger discount from BMW by calling it a stock vehicle even though it was sold.

I'm just reaching for straws to try and understand why it sat for over two weeks at VPC?

The dealer said there was nothing they could do as it was out of their control.

Just don't understand it.

Another customer and I both ordered our cars the same day from the same dealer but mine takes 3 weeks longer?

[KL2DC]

If you are concerned about in-transit damage, the VPC logs a full damage report into the DCS BMWcenternet system that your CA has full access to...

Not sure if stock cars and customer-sold cars have different invoices, I thought they were all the same. If what you say is true, BMW dealers would carry huge inventories like your Toyota or GM dealerships and push stock cars rather than 'encourage' customers to custom order...

[olsenhut]

Not really concerend about in transit damage as the dealer has stated they will show me the print out.

I just thought that BMW may give a larger discount to the dealer on stock orders to cover inventory carrying costs.

We do that in our business as inventory costs can be quite high when you include the cost of money, property taxes on the space/land required, security, insurance, etc. These costs can be 20-25% of the inventory value per year or higher. If for example the cars are in dealers inventory an avg of 45 days that is an avg cost of 2.5 to 3% per car. Stock an excessive number of cars and the avg time they stay in inventory goes up driving the costs per car even higher. That's probably the main reason BMW inventory is low (it all related to how quickly you can turn the inventory and the related cash flow).

Thought maybe my dealer was trying to take advantage of a possible larger discount by ordering my car as a stock vehicle - the downside is that it would then not be handled as a priority one order and that is the reason for the delay?

Just trying to figure out why some customers cars were delivered to the dealers within 2-3 days yet 14 days later mines still being processed.

[KL2DC]

olsenhut: My CA told me that internally there are ways to 'work' the system. Without going into too much details, he mentioned dealership volume as one of the main reasons (high-volume dealership have more clout/leverage). Also practices like knowing/communicating with people in the works (e.g. POE/VDC/VPC people) and ensuring customer's last name is prominently placed on the Priority-One label on the cars (apparently cars appear more urgently needed this way)...goes a long way