Possible move to Cali

[Taymaishu]

Hi all,

It looks like i could be relocating to just north of LA with my job. I should know quite soon (within a few weeks). I'm definitely looking forward to a possibly change of scenery and been to both the West and East coast a few times each for work in the last few years and love the states!

However, it will mean i need to dump my lease here on my 125 (128 for you guys).

Because of pricing (and a nice salary bump) i'll be looking at a fairly well-optioned M3. Does anyone know any dealers in the North LA/Malibu/Westlake Village area who I could check out?

Also, we have a thing in Australia called salary sacrifice and novated leasing. It means we lease a car, but the repayments are made by the business we work for and then those repayments are deducted from our salary before tax, making it very tax incentive to lease. It also includes fuel, insurance, registration, tyres etc. Is there anything like this in the USA?

Thanks for your help in advance!

[former]

The closest dealer to Westlake Village is Rusnak, though I'm not a big fan. Others have had better luck.

On the edge of the San Fernando Valley, about 15 miles away is Bob Smith BMW. About 15 miles in the other direction in Camarillo is Steve Thomas BMW.

I've purchased from the latter two and they were ok experiences. Folks on here typically struggle to be impressed by sales folks. We usually know more than they do. If none of those work, there's a LOT more dealers in the greater LA area. You'll have your pick.

In terms of that lease arrangement that you mentioned, there's nothing like that here. I'm not a tax person but I know there are tax advantages to a business to leasing, but if an individual received a car and gas allowance, etc. there would usually be some negative tax consequences as you'd get taxed on the portion you use for personal use as that would be like a type of salary or benefit.

[mrgoochio]

I don't hear good things about rusnak dealers. i myself got my 135i at center BMW in sherman oaks, however, my SA doesn't work there anymore. I've still been there for service and had good experiences though.

[xbook]

Hey Tay,

Best of luck on getting to California. In my past experience, the dealers in LA aren't really that great. What I ended up doing was emailing all of the dealers in the state, and explained what I was looking for, details on the exact options I wanted, etc. I then waited for the emails to start coming back in. And after a day or 2 of waiting I ended speaking with a very professional gentleman, Kevin Thomas, who is the Internet Sales Manager @ BMW of San Francisco. He got me the best deal possible, and made me feel like he truly appreciated my business.

With the $$ we saved, my girlfriend and I ended up taking a nice trip back from SF Bay Area back to LA. It was well worth the 2 days of travel time.

Hit us all up when you reach our shores. I would be happy to show you around the fun twisty back roads of our coastal mountains.

[Taymaishu]

Thank you very much everyone for your replies!

I will most probably be looking at an M3, possibly an un-optioned M5, depending on pricing etc. I have done a few "Build Your Car" on the bmwusa.com website and pricing is ridiculously cheap compared to here. For example, my 125 (128) costs 1k less than an optioned M3 in the USA, even after taking exchange rate into consideration. I'm leaning towards the M3 Coupe as it's a much nicer looking car than the haul-ass M5.

Great tip xbook - I have a very old friend from school who is now living in SF, so I will hit him up and see what I can find. What is the availability of cars like in Cal? Or are most of you guys having to put them on order? Would love to do the Pacific drive down from SF

Definitely will do - would love to check out the mountains area! Unfortunately we have 0 mountains here, so most of the windy roads are flat and in crap condition.

Thanks again guys, i'll keep you updated!

[DMan11389]

I bought my car from Neda ay Beverly Hills BMW. It was the easiest, no-BS car purchase I've ever made. I don't know how knowledgeable she is about the details of the cars, but she is the #1 BMW salesperson in the US for the like the past decade. I'm assuming you know your stuff and know what you want. I did, and I dealt with her on the phone and made the deal. When I got there, the car was washed, ready to go, I signed the papers and walked out. Overall, it was a great experience so I'd definitely recommend giving her a call.

I've only gone back once for service and everything was fine. Nothing spectacular, but it all worked out as expected.

Good luck with the move and let us know if you have any other questions!

[Oleus]

The BMW dealer in Calabasas is pretty good.

[guydude]

^+1!

[KrackerXL]

bmw of riverside. make the trip

[Taymaishu]

Thanks heaps for all the tips Bookmarked all the websites and have the names in my diary.

I should know about the potential move in about 2 weeks time, perhaps shorter. Hopefully I have some good news soon.

I have been cruising around a few websites having a look at pricing. I just can't believe how lucky you are with your pricing. We're playing with around $175,000 (or $160,000USD) for an E92 M3 over here. As another comparison, an Audi R8 over there is around $120k, whereas here we're paying around $300k USD new.

Gah!

[Taymaishu]

Update: A step closer now, getting quite close to what looks like an eventuating offer!

Will keep you all posted.

[Chrissspyy]

Bob Smith BMW is one of the best dealerships I've dealt with. Good luck on the move!

[Taymaishu]

Thanks Chrissspyy

It's still on the cards, this is just taking it's time. 11 interviews so far!