BMW of Visalia - Scam Artists

[SoCal1M]

Had an agreement confirmed over the phone and via email since May with BMW of Visalia for the purchase of their one allocated 1M. I was referred to Vic Surroz (owner) by a family member who was Vic's high school teacher. Vic's offer, and what I accepted in May, was $1,000 below MSRP. I offered to provide a deposit, but Vic said it was not necessary.

We were in touch about every two weeks via phone or email checking in on status since that time. I stopped by his store on 9/5, shook his hand, and confirmed everything was in place. He said everything was finalized except for when I would get the car. My car was black with no options and in the computer.

Then, on Friday 9/9, I get a call that a sales associate had "accidentally" sold my car since my name was not listed in the computer and Vic "happened" to be at a car auction at the time. I told them to simply advise the accidental customer that the car was already spoken for. I then am advised that the new customer is willing to pay $10K over sticker. I will be "allowed" to match the price and keep the car.

Vic Surroz somehow "forgot" the deal we had in place and even the conversation we had IN PERSON four days prior confirming the order, color, options, and price. I had other options to pursue this limited vehicle, but Vic assured me all along that his allocation was set and that I didn't need to worry. He waited until all of the allocations were gone to try to leverage extra money from me. I was blown away that a guy could be so dishonest and lie straight to my face.

The pricing below MSRP was known since the beginning, and Vic reiterated it at least four times. In an email chain where I explicitly defined the pricing Vic promised, he responded three times, including:

8/12
"Good Day XXX,
I just got off the phone with our BMW Rep, and we should have the allocation for your M1 to order in the last week in augusts. I will be out of the office all next week and returning on the 22. I will give you a call when I see that we have the allocation, and we are ready to order"

8/26
"Hello XXX,
Sorry it took so long to get back to you, we can put the order in today!! I have a doctors appointment around 10:30 today, but should be back around 11:30 or twelve, just give me a call after that, and we can place the order for you new M1."

8/31
"XXX,
I am sorry for not getting back to you sooner, I had a family emergency come up last night and have not been able to get back to you, how ever your vehicle is in the system as the way you requested. I will call you asap."

My only option now appears to be the legal route, which is incredibly annoying. Advice welcome. Stay away from those scumbags.

[James T. Kirk]

I'm sorry to tell you this, but you don't have a leg to stand on legally-speaking.

This is why they didn't take your reservation money or put anything on paper.
Unfortunately, you didn't have the relationship with him you thought you did.
Ultimately, your future business will be the true cost to them.
.

[v1k0d3n]

man, i am so bad for you!! unfortunately, this does happen. every CA wants to sell the car, and when a deposit isn't "officially" down a car, it's typically open to sell (from their viewpoint). that happened in my case actually. an older CA had an agreement with someone for an open allocation (using just a gentlemen's agreement), but because he didn't accept a down payment and my CA did...i ended up with the car. i really do feel bad for the other person, but i'm sure they found another open allocation (i keep telling myself that anyway). it's really sad that this happened to you so late in the game...that sucks and i would be pissed!! i hope that you're able to find something.

[Bimmer-Bob]

It sucks that the car got sold out from under you - but I can't imagine why a dealer in Southern California would agree for a microsecond to sell this car for $1,000 below MSRP.

What's that they say about things sounding too good to be true?

[Robert]

Do you have the agreed upon price and allocation in email? Unless its in writing it will be difficult to prove in court

[Red135]

Do you have anything other than the conversation to prove that the car was offered to you? If not, I don't see what the "legal route" would be. Your word against his won't even prove a verbal commitment.

[robertm]

This is the owner of the dealership that did this to you? I don't even know what to say. $10k to the owner has got to be peanuts. The example he is setting for everyone at his dealership is almost as bad as what he’s actually doing.

This reminds me of scene in Reservoir Dogs. When you hold up a bank and you get a teller that’s talking back break her nose and watch her shup. If you get a manager talking back, they know better than that. Cut off his pinky and tell him the thumb is next.

The owner of a dealership should know better than to pull this crap, or allow it to proceed. With one word, his, the car could be yours again. Make it your mission in life to ensure they lose 10 fold in business what they are trying to extort from you.

If you are a man of means I would take a sum of money, say $5000, sit down and decide the best way to spend it to get your message out about the despicable practices of the OWNER of the dealership. Maybe a nice billboard near the dealership, adds in the local newspaper etc. Additionally you can contact the local media as well as the internet blogs like Jalopnic and Autoblog. BMW USA needs to be made aware of this too.

Come up with a plan and run it by a lawyer to make sure you are in the clear. Once confirmed I would make one more attempt to allow the dealership to do the right thing and if that doesn't work release the hounds of hell.

None of this will get your car back, but it might make you feel better

[Artemis]

As previous posters mentioned, proof is the key to success for you: if you fail to prove/substantiate the agreement/commitment with the dealership, you risk to be left on a road to nowhere. I feel sorry for you.

[v1k0d3n]

Originally Posted by Robert

Do you have the agreed upon price and allocation in email? Unless its in writing it will be difficult to prove in court

This is true...if you have a build sheet...that could be your only recourse in this situation. I would imagine that most of us got build sheets as soon as we had "agreements" whether it be verbal or in the form of a deposit (I did, as soon as I put down a deposit). If you don't have a build sheet...unfortunately you have nothing.

[SoCal1M]

This was in the email chain referenced above:

$46,135 MSRP Base Price
$550 MSRP Metallic Paint
$875 MSRP Destination & Handling
$250 Delivery Fee
-$1000 Discount off of MSRP from Vic Surroz
-------
$46,810 <-- Money to Visalia BMW

[James T. Kirk]

Originally Posted by SoCal1M

Vic Surroz somehow "forgot" the deal we had in place and even the conversation we had IN PERSON four days prior confirming the order, color, options, and price. I had other options to pursue this limited vehicle, but Vic assured me all along that his allocation was set and that I didn't need to worry. He waited until all of the allocations were gone to try to leverage extra money from me. I was blown away that a guy could be so dishonest and lie straight to my face.

But how did he "leverage extra money" from you? Were you given the option to pay a premium or do you think he just blew you off?

I'm not surprised that this happened especially because you were dealing with the owner. A big customer calls in a favor and the owner has ultimate power to pull it. He probably even took the premium under the table off the books. No way could you compete with that especially if you were particularly righteous about getting it $1,000 below MSRP.


The more I think about it, the worse I feel for you. Good luck getting any sleep tonight. Try not to kill anyone.
.

[adobeee]

Did you record the phone conversations or have receipt/records of the e-mails?

If you don't...then going to legal might be a little more complicated

[v1k0d3n]

wrong. a build sheet has YOUR NAME on it, along with your production number and options. this ties you and your car together. it looks like this (the top of mine is cut off):

[fourtailpipes]

i think you have an enforceable contract here. this possibly constitutes fraud.

misrepresentation: this is obvious... he told you it was earmarked for you when it wasn't. you can clearly prove this.

intent: this could be hard to demonstrate, but it always is. your emails are a good start, showing him directly going against his word. if not, he could be considered negligent, in which case he would still not be entirely off the hook.

injury: you placed reasonable reliance on this misrepresentation by NOT pursuing other 1M allocations. this can serve in lieu of monetary consideration, meaning it shouldn't matter if you put money down... his word to you and your demonstrable reliance on his word constitute adequate contractual consideration.

i wouldn't let this one go... i think you have a decent hand to play.

[b33g33]

Send emails to jalopnik.com, autoblog.com ASAP.

Nature and the internets will take their course.

[Red135]

Originally Posted by SoCal1M

This was in the email chain referenced above:

$46,135 MSRP Base Price
$550 MSRP Metallic Paint
$875 MSRP Destination & Handling
$250 Delivery Fee
-$1000 Discount off of MSRP from Vic Surroz
-------
$46,810 <-- Money to Visalia BMW

If that is all that you have, then you have nothing to reference.

[1SerieStud]

The fact that he kept referring to the car as an M1 was a clear indication that he had no idea what you were ordering or what he was talking about. His punctuation was also very poor. Those two points right there would have made me very skeptical...and to think that this idiot owns a BMW dealer lol

Go to the Allocations thread and keep your eyes open...MANY individuals have been able to find allocations at MSRP thanks to that thread. You may get lucky.

[nachob]

So sorry, I knew how it feels. A Boston dealer did something similar though not as drawn out. Eventually, I got a car but had to pay over MSRP. The whole 1M buying process has brought out the worst from many of the dealers. I was lucky in the end because I kept working with my dealer and we met halfway. I paid over MSRP and they did Euro Delivery for me. The difference was that they were up front about wanting over MSRP from the beginning so at least I knew what I was dealing with. Good luck and keep trying. I have been in your spot and had a similar post. I know you feel angry and betrayed and lost some faith in people...at least that's how I felt for a bit.

[carchrism5]

Originally Posted by v1k0d3n

man, i am so bad for you!! unfortunately, this does happen. every CA wants to sell the car, and when a deposit isn't "officially" down a car, it's typically open to sell (from their viewpoint). that happened in my case actually. an older CA had an agreement with someone for an open allocation (using just a gentlemen's agreement), but because he didn't accept a down payment and my CA did...i ended up with the car. i really do feel bad for the other person, but i'm sure they found another open allocation (i keep telling myself that anyway). it's really sad that this happened to you so late in the game...that sucks and i would be pissed!! i hope that you're able to find something.

Are you joking? You feel bad for him when you did the same exact thing to another person, but since you benefited you went through with it anyways.

[Ky1M]

Originally Posted by carchrism5

Are you joking? You feel bad for him when you did the same exact thing to another person, but since you benefited you went through with it anyways.

1. Really

[sergeremi]

Originally Posted by SoCal1M

Had an agreement confirmed over the phone and via email since May with BMW of Visalia for the purchase of their one allocated 1M.

I feel for you man, I really do if that's what happened. But one of the fundamental tenants in a financial transaction is to get a binding signed agreement. Signed by both parties agreeing to the terms. Anything less than that, there is no confirmation of anything and no obligations by anyone.

I guess you could try going the legal route, but in my opinion and IANAL, you've got no case. No signed purchase agreement, no signed vehicle inquiry report (build order) and it doesn't seem you've even got a written confirmation of the price from the dealer in email (i.e., the price you laid out was explicitly confirmed and agreed upon by the dealer). We've only seen a cut and paste of your email chain.

And if you take it to court, what do you expect to get? I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be forced to take the car back and sell it to you. So then you'd have to sue for some sort of compensation of what... a broken contract? what contract?

There may be a case of misrepresentation and fraud, but not sure what that will get you in the end other than a fine the dealership may have to pay and a whole lot of legal hassle for you. And you'd still have no car.

Dunno. Again, I certainly feel your frustration and anger at being defrauded but I don't think there's much you can do but learn your lesson and move on.

[v1k0d3n]

Originally Posted by carchrism5

Are you joking? You feel bad for him when you did the same exact thing to another person, but since you benefited you went through with it anyways.

Aren't you quick to judge? I didn't find out until I already had my PCD date.