Very serious about purchasing a 135... couple questions if you don't mind.

[ZenDragon]

I’m looking at pre-ordering a 135 at a local dealership. I just had a quick couple of questions for you experienced BMW buyers and those who have made deposits on a new 135.

This will be my first BMW, and thus my first time dealing with a BMW dealership in general. I’m not sure what to expect when I walk in the door, and I was hoping you all could make me feel more at ease during my purchasing experience. I’m sure that sounds incredibly cheesy! haha

Anyhow, my first question is for those that have been able to place deposits on a new 135. How much are they typically expecting for a deposit? And what are the conditions of the agreement?

Second question is for everybody else, how was your purchasing experience in general when buying your new BMW? If you care to share; what kind of credit scores did you have? How much did you put down? What kind of interest rates did you get? And approximately how much are your payments?

I’m not concerned as to whether or not I will be able to afford a new 135, however I am concerned with my credit as I am recently divorced. I’m sure many of you can attest to this. I would like to know, from those who may have been in a similar situation. How cooperative was your BMW dealership in working around your situation?

I am a sports car enthusiast, and have owned several cars in the price range, but I have usually bought used in the past. I have also heard horror stories about BMW, Lexus, Infinity, etc, dealerships being less than cooperative with people with less than stellar credit.

I realize that I may have to accept my situation and wait a couple more months, for my credit to build back up. But I am in the market for a new vehicle due to reliability problems with my current vehicle, and willing to deal with high interest rates and so forth, as its likely I would have the car paid off within a year to a year and a half anyway.

One way or the other; WHEN I get my 135, Im sure you all will be seeing a lot more of me!

[1ster]

$1,000 down. Refundable.

Can't help you much on the credit issue. I have excellent credit so I haven't really thought about it. I would recommend you check with eLoan before you talk to the dealer about financing. I found they were 0.25% lower than the dealer could offer.

Good luck with your experience! Hope to have you as a 1-Series owner come March.

[ZenDragon]

Originally Posted by 1ster

$1,000 down. Refundable.

Can't help you much on the credit issue. I have excellent credit so I haven't really thought about it. I would recommend you check with eLoan before you talk to the dealer about financing. I found they were 0.25% lower than the dealer could offer.

Good luck with your experience! Hope to have you as a 1-Series owner come March.

Wow thats it for the deposit? I was expecting somwhere in the 2-4 thousand range. Sounds promising! Do they check your credit at the time of the deposit?

I "had" excellent credit! haha I just sold my house and paid off EVERY cent that I owed, so its just a matter of time for my credit to climb back up.

[mchaskell]

$1500 non-refundable.

Join a credit union and get an auto loan through them. Usually you can prequalify and lock in the terms for 30 days. The CU will give you a letter with the amount you are good for and you can show this to the dealer. The dealer gets a cashiers check or direct transfer from the CU for the purchase.

I suspect some dealers may run your credit when you present your license for a test drive. If you are afraid of this ask them not to run a credit check explaining that too many credit checks can lower your FICO score and you don't want that to happen just for a test drive.

[JohnL135I]

$2000.00 deposit, refundable until the production order is set. I'm still awaiting a production order.

[mergen]

I put down $500, refundable. That could change if I were to order something odd that may not sell quickly if I backed out, which I wont do. No further committments from me, until it's time to settle up at delivery. At first, he told me there was one other deposit ahead of me, but soon changed that and said he was mistaken and that I would be first. I felt like I was being "played" like a trout, but I didn't care. I was amused. I was thinking, "These guys are good." like the PGA says. Since then they have been very accomodating. Zero complaints from me so far.

I do recall him casually asking about how I was going to pay. Finance, cash? I thought he was just trying to guage the odds that he was wasting his time with me. My response seemed to put him at ease and that was the end of that.

[Smokey]

$500 refundable deposit-- I can walk away from the deal at anytime prior to actually taking delivery.

[Robert]

I put down a 1000.00, originally for the M3 which was later moved to 135i. Depends on how much you want to borrow. BMW dealers vary by each dealership. Some are snotty while others are honest. I wouldn't expect too much after all this isn't Lexus.

[BtheMoneW]

$500 refundable deposit. As long as I don't place an order the deposit is fully refundable. If I were to place an order and change my mind, they would keep my deposit unless I chose to go with another bmw model, in which case they would apply it to that car.

[M3Newbie88]

I put down 1k refundable, till the ordering of my options.. they dont even know the pricing here.. and credit wise well if anything you can get a co-signer..

[edge350]

$500 refundable deposit. They didn't check my credit.
One way or another, I suspect they'll find a way to take your money, unless your credit is hopelessly bad.