How not to sell a car- Suzanne Kingston at Century West BMW

[dorkytom]

Hey guys first post here. I've been lurking for a few months, but finally tried to pick up a 128i from Century West BMW in North Hollywood. I just came back from there and am just so pissed I needed to vent somewhere.

I first started dealing with a guy through email at century west bmw. Very nice guy. However I decided at the last minute tonight to go test drive a used 2011 128i. I tried to call that same person I was working with but couldn't get a hold of them.

So after driving about 2 hours through traffic I had the extreme displeasure of working with Suzanne Kingston. First she pretends that someone else is about to buy that same car, talking about how if I get I'll be stealing from right under another customer's nose. She uses that as an excuse to refuse to allow me to test drive the car. The best she can do is she will drive one block basically from the exit of the parking lot to the entrance.

Then when we went to her office she immediately starts asking for social security number never even talking prices. She starts going off about basically that since this is split commission cause the other guy entered me in the system she was doing me a favor.

So when I brought up that I was working that guy on price already, she decided to read aloud all that guys notes that entered in the sales system under my name including one about me being "Stupid". Honestly I don't blame the original sales guy for writing that, since i made an uninformed initial offer. However to read that aloud to a customer is beyond disrespectul.

I mentioned that the other sales guy told me that he would speak to the owner about the offer I emailed. She began telling me that the other sales guy was NOT really going to go speak to the owner about the 27k offer and that everything he's saying is just to get me in the door. Basically how could you be so gullible.

I have no idea what kind of person says this about their colleagues.

Anyways she even goes as far as to pretend to go talk to the other guy i was working with. When we first walked into her office she said oh thats him over there you were talking to, but when she said she was going to go talk to him about that 27k offer she went somewhere else no where near that guy.

Anyways at this point I'm so fed up I leave.

Thanks for listening to my angry rambles.

If any of you have suggestions on better dealerships around LA/OC/SD let me know.





***********UPDATE*****
After sending an email to the general manager, the sales guy and the sales manager called me with the promise that the general manager would call me tomorrow morning.

The sales guy sounded extremely apologetic and was genuinely a nice guy. Apologizing profusely, he seems like a class act. In a lot of ways I would say he was the victim also.

The sales manager however did not sound genuine and offered to sell me the car at 100 dollars below my last offer. With a take it or leave it type attitude and quickly mentioned something about he'd take steps to make sure the insults didn't happen again. Honestly I think he was just giving me lip service. When I mentioned I looked forward to talking with the General Manager tomorrow, his attitude was like oh.. yeah.. yeah.. I'm sure he'll call you. I mean probably he talked to Mark for a while... seemed Like he didn't believe it would happen.

Anyways look forward to providing an update to you all tomorrow if the GM actually does call me.

[Golden3ye]

a lot of buying a car is a bunch of dumb ass games, but it sounds like this lady was more than disrespectful. I think an email to the owner is in order, might land you some leverage when finally buying a car later down the road.

[135IS]

lol

[dorkytom]

Originally Posted by Golden3ye

a lot of buying a car is a bunch of dumb ass games, but it sounds like this lady was more than disrespectful. I think an email to the owner is in order, might land you some leverage when finally buying a car later down the road.

I wish I could email the owner. I couldn't find contact info. Honestly I swear she was crazy why would you go out of your way to try to make me feel stupid and why the hell would you undermine the other people working with you by saying he was liar.

[scoobysnax]

If you're willing to make the drive out to Glendale, I would suggest contacting Greg Poland at Pacific BMW. I ordered my car through him, and it was practically hassle-free.

[tlee55]

Try Will Shaw at Shelly BMW, I just bought my 135i from him. Tell him Ivan referred you. Great guy.

[foghat]

First thing I'd do is email the guy you were dealing with and explain to him why he lost you as a potential customer. Maybe send him the link to this thread...

[Focusedintntions]

Call BMW NA and report the crappy experience...that'll get you some kudos for sure

[ken1137]

Sorry to hear about your experience. As in any profession there is that 1% that makes you wonder wtf!? Don't let that sour your BMW experience. GL.

[foghat]

found this on yelp:

"AVOID! AVOID! AVOID! We looked at a used car they were selling. After we had it inspected (and spent several hundred dollars!), we learned that it had been in an accident and was not even the same year that they had represented it to be. Complete bait and switch. Do not trust used car manager, David Carozza or sales rep Suzanne Kingston."

[JimD]

My 128i was the 6th new car I've purchased. I won't spend long playing games. The process I used for the 128 I would recommend to others. I visited dealerships that had 128s (around here that didn't include the one closest to me) to drive them and determine what color/interior/top color I liked (mine is a convertible). Then I researched here and Bimmerfest and maybe at Edmunds what others said they were paying. When I went for a test drive I told each salesperson that I would be sending an email asking for a quote when I figured out what I wanted. I kept their cards.

Then I sent an email to the 3 dealerships that had cars and let me drive them to the salespeople who's card I had. Unfortunately all their prices were more than $1000 above what I thought was a good price based upon my research. So I invited two close to me that I did not drive a car at to give me a price. Both were about $1500 less. I then talked about how fast they could get me a car and the one who was the lowest price and closest to me was also able to get me a car the quickest. So I made an appointment to close the deal. I printed out their quote but didn't have any big problem. I was probably there an hour and left a reasonable deposit (I think it was only $1000).

I've done it the other way with the silly back and forth on price but if you don't like that process, you might want to try just using email. Not everybody will respond but my success rate was 100% when I told them in advance what I was doing. The two I added without visiting both had internet quote options which is where I made my request. I think a secret is to know for sure what you want when you ask for a quote this way. If you don't convince them quickly you are going to order right away, I believe you will get messed with. The other key piece of preparation is to know going in what you are prepared to pay. I ended up paying about $500 over the so called "dealer cost". They really get a rebate based upon volume and probably other factors so they made more than that.

The last car I bought the "old way" I probably bargained down a little lower. It was a Hyundai Elantra for my daughter. I had her along so she could see how to do it. I pushed them hard enough they took money from the business manager's fee. He was pissed and did the shortest most curt process I have experienced yet. That made me want to cut his fee next time too!

You're on the wrong coast but whenever possible I recommend Performance Center delivery to reduce the hassles at that end for bimmers. The dealer process gets shorter and the process at the performance center is a lot more fun.

Jim

[chili555]

to refuse to allow me to test drive the car. The best she can do is she will drive one block basically from the exit of the parking lot to the entrance.

I would have left right then. If I can't drive the car, I won't buy the car.

After a test-drive, I ask if they'll sell the car for my firm offer or not. If so,write it up; if not, see you later and thanks for wasting my time.

IMHO, all the talk about other buyers, split commissions, etc. is just a tap-dance. I don't really care.

[Section147]

Originally Posted by dorkytom

I wish I could email the owner. I couldn't find contact info.

Start with the General Manager. GMs usually get pretty pissed hearing about repeat "offenders", whether they be
in sales or service. Anything that negatively effects the dealership's bottom line usually gets dealt with quickly.

[dorkytom]

Originally Posted by Focusedintntions

Call BMW NA and report the crappy experience...that'll get you some kudos for sure

does BMW even care? i mean all the dealerships are independently owned. I did email the management there and the guy i was working with, but honestly i doubt they actually care. Not like Im buying a super expensive car or anything.

[TX78666]

Road trip.

Chapman BMW on Camelback. Phoenix. Got ours there and had it shipped to TX. Great experience.

http://www.azbmw.com/

[1speedbike]

Originally Posted by dorkytom

does BMW even care? i mean all the dealerships are independently owned. I did email the management there and the guy i was working with, but honestly i doubt they actually care. Not like Im buying a super expensive car or anything.

BMW NA likes to ensure quality control, even though the dealerships are independently owned. Same thing with a restaurant franchise. Yes, there is an owner, but you have to play by the franchise rules.

If you contact them reporting a bad experience at a dealership and they feel that 1) you're not lying or exaggerating and 2) you've been treated unfairly, then they will have a bone to pick with the employees and management at the dealer.

I have a friend that is a BMW tech and a lot of times promotions, bonuses, and staying employed depend a good amount on good reviews (or a lack of bad reviews, I should say). Remember, BMW NA wants you to have a good experience. Now, if you go to them complaining the dealership refused free maintenance work on your modded car, then they won't do anything. If you tell them you're being treated unfairly, they will step in to protect a possible future customer.

You can contact them here:

BMW of North America, LLC
300 Chestnut Ridge Road
Woodcliff Lake, NJ 07677-7731

Customer Relations:
1-800-831-1117
customerrelations@bmwusa.com

[dorkytom]

Originally Posted by 1speedbike

BMW NA likes to ensure quality control, even though the dealerships are independently owned. Same thing with a restaurant franchise. Yes, there is an owner, but you have to play by the franchise rules.

If you contact them reporting a bad experience at a dealership and they feel that 1) you're not lying or exaggerating and 2) you've been treated unfairly, then they will have a bone to pick with the employees and management at the dealer.

I have a friend that is a BMW tech and a lot of times promotions, bonuses, and staying employed depend a good amount on good reviews (or a lack of bad reviews, I should say). Remember, BMW NA wants you to have a good experience. Now, if you go to them complaining the dealership refused free maintenance work on your modded car, then they won't do anything. If you tell them you're being treated unfairly, they will step in to protect a possible future customer.

You can contact them here:

BMW of North America, LLC
300 Chestnut Ridge Road
Woodcliff Lake, NJ 07677-7731

Customer Relations:
1-800-831-1117
customerrelations@bmwusa.com

Thank you, i'll definitely send them a message.

[dorkytom]

Originally Posted by foghat

found this on yelp:

"AVOID! AVOID! AVOID! We looked at a used car they were selling. After we had it inspected (and spent several hundred dollars!), we learned that it had been in an accident and was not even the same year that they had represented it to be. Complete bait and switch. Do not trust used car manager, David Carozza or sales rep Suzanne Kingston."

Yeah i saw that when i put my own review up on yelp... Theres at least one other one there complaining about Suzanne specifically.

[dorkytom]

Originally Posted by TX78666

Road trip.

Chapman BMW on Camelback. Phoenix. Got ours there and had it shipped to TX. Great experience.

http://www.azbmw.com/

I'd drive over there if they had a good deal, but I think there maybe a lot of extra registration and emissions testing requirements to bring back to california.

[TX78666]

Could be. "The environment" knows its place, in Texas.

[doublevanosrc]

Dude the best thing you can do is go to somewhere else, this dealership doesn't deserve your business.

[MPowerF1]

Originally Posted by dorkytom

I'd drive over there if they had a good deal, but I think there maybe a lot of extra registration and emissions testing requirements to bring back to california.

Yeah, I tried that and that's definitely the case. They can issue a temporary registration but you'll have to re-register it in CA which requires going through SMOG and paying additional registration. Trust me, it's probably more trouble than it's worth.

I just bought my car from Sterling BMW in Newport Beach. Had absolutely no trouble and was the easiest experience ever. Call Danny Miller. He and Bob Hogan (general sales manager) treated me perfectly and I'm sure they'd do the same to anyone. I can provide a little more contact info if you'd like to send me a PM.

Best of luck! That experience is absolutely dreadful and no one should be treated like that.