Unbelievable experience today - M5's

[sshenton1975]

Can't believe the experience I had today!! Made appointments to see various E39 M5s at several supposedly upmarket dealers.

Dealer one
Turned to find car with a flat battery and not prepped
Jump start the car
Car then runs out of fuel!!
This, combined with the fact it is advertised as full BMW history and immaculate but has not had a service for 20K miles
On test drive, the warning low oil level reminder flashed up!
NOT IMPRESSED!
I had made an appointment to see the car after various emails so it is not like I just turned up!

Dealer two
Another M5. Had booked to take car on test drive

Was greeted by dealer telling me he had tried to email me as, despite our appointment, he had wanted to finish at midday.
Asked him about the car and he was quite vague.
Asked if we could take the car out and he said up to you but "I am short staffed to be honest and need to move the cars around"
Also asked about a newer 530d he had for same price and he practically told me to make my mind up!!!

Dealer three
Described car very honestly. Pointed out faults such as wheels needing refrub, dings and scratches. Then told me that he was offering no warranty etc!!

Have all you dealers had a golden Christmas?? I dont get it!!
Was willing to pay cash for the right car!!

[Schermerhorn]

At this time of year car dealers tend to go a bit doolally.
People have spent all their money, car sales are very low , sales targets haven't been met, bonuses won't be paid out and there are plenty of window shoppers just popping in to have a 'if we win the lottery...' wander.

[*Al*]

Sorry to hear your all too common account. Having previously owned an E39 M5 i know you'll be thrilled with one as they are awesome cars, i miss mine loads. I'd personally buy privately from a UK forum member and do you homework into various potentially exspensive issues such a vanos (X2). Most vanos faults are usually solenoid faults that are fairly easy DIY and relatively cheap compared to BMW wanting to change a complete vanos unit at huge cost.When you find the 'right' car on a forum i'm sure the proud owner would be happy to let you have a private inspection done by a specialist (£200-300)Worth the money imo. I wouldn't bother with a Trader but not all are bad.This is the way i'd go to get a good one!

[ferrisbueller]

sshenton1975 said:

Dealer three
Described car very honestly. Pointed out faults such as wheels needing refrub, dings and scratches. Then told me that he was offering no warranty etc!!

Pretty sure as a trader he has to provide a warranty of some sort, otherwise it's a trade sale?

[*Al*]

ferrisbueller said:

sshenton1975 said:

Dealer three
Described car very honestly. Pointed out faults such as wheels needing refrub, dings and scratches. Then told me that he was offering no warranty etc!!

Pretty sure as a trader he has to provide a warranty of some sort, otherwise it's a trade sale?

I believe as a trade sale, there is, whether the trader likes it or not, a 30 day sales of goods act? Even if the trader implies there is no warranty. I may be wrong though?

[Jacob S]

^Pretty sure its 6 months warranty where he has to prove that the fault wasn't there when you bought it and a further 6 months when you have to prove it was there when you bought it?

[*Al*]

Jacob S said:

^Pretty sure its 6 months warranty where he has to prove that the fault wasn't there when you bought it and a further 6 months when you have to prove it was there when you bought it?

Yes possibly Jacob (might be 3 months each way) only applies to 'major' faults i think.

[ferrisbueller]

*Al* said:

ferrisbueller said:

sshenton1975 said:

Dealer three
Described car very honestly. Pointed out faults such as wheels needing refrub, dings and scratches. Then told me that he was offering no warranty etc!!

Pretty sure as a trader he has to provide a warranty of some sort, otherwise it's a trade sale?

I believe as a trade sale, there is, whether the trader likes it or not, a 30 day sales of goods act? Even if the trader implies there is no warranty. I may be wrong though?

By "trade" sale, I meant that you waive all your rights, and negotiate accordingly.

[The real Apache]

It's 3 months IIRC

[Fort Jefferson]

sshenton1975 said:

Made appointments to see various E39 M5s.

Also asked about a newer 530d he had for same price.


and he practically told me to make my mind up!!!

I can see his point.

[*Al*]

ferrisbueller said:

*Al* said:

ferrisbueller said:

sshenton1975 said:

Dealer three
Described car very honestly. Pointed out faults such as wheels needing refrub, dings and scratches. Then told me that he was offering no warranty etc!!

Pretty sure as a trader he has to provide a warranty of some sort, otherwise it's a trade sale?

I believe as a trade sale, there is, whether the trader likes it or not, a 30 day sales of goods act? Even if the trader implies there is no warranty. I may be wrong though?

By "trade" sale, I meant that you waive all your rights, and negotiate accordingly.

Yes but it's not a 'Trade' sale. It's a sale by a Trader offering no warranty.

Quote: Dealer three
Described car very honestly. Pointed out faults such as wheels needing refrub, dings and scratches. Then told me that he was offering no warranty etc!!

[Fish981]

Under the SOGA any fault that manifests itself in the first 6 months is deemed to have been there at sale unless the dealer can prove otherwise.

Not that it's going to do you much good with a lot of dealers as they know that prevarication and bullying will see off 90% of punters and the other 10% will soon realise it's cheaper to get someone else to fix the car.

[Flintstone]

Fort Jefferson said:

sshenton1975 said:

Made appointments to see various E39 M5s.

Also asked about a newer 530d he had for same price.


and he practically told me to make my mind up!!!

I can see his point.

I suspect you'll be in the minority there.

[ferrisbueller]

*Al* said:

ferrisbueller said:

*Al* said:

ferrisbueller said:

sshenton1975 said:

Dealer three
Described car very honestly. Pointed out faults such as wheels needing refrub, dings and scratches. Then told me that he was offering no warranty etc!!

Pretty sure as a trader he has to provide a warranty of some sort, otherwise it's a trade sale?

I believe as a trade sale, there is, whether the trader likes it or not, a 30 day sales of goods act? Even if the trader implies there is no warranty. I may be wrong though?

By "trade" sale, I meant that you waive all your rights, and negotiate accordingly.

Yes but it's not a 'Trade' sale. It's a sale by a Trader offering no warranty.

Quote: Dealer three
Described car very honestly. Pointed out faults such as wheels needing refrub, dings and scratches. Then told me that he was offering no warranty etc!!

Agreed. I think we're making the same point in a roundabout way!

[Sbloxxy]

Well I'm a dealer and have worked in car sales for many years and I've got to say that kind of behavior from a dealer is nothing short of appalling.
If they can't be bothered to even present the car properly, then God help you when/if it goes wrong and you need some decent customer service.

Simply take your business elsewhere.

[slipstream 1985]

Flintstone said:

Fort Jefferson said:

sshenton1975 said:

Made appointments to see various E39 M5s.

Also asked about a newer 530d he had for same price.


and he practically told me to make my mind up!!!

I can see his point.

I suspect you'll be in the minority there.

i suspect not. but he was treated badly having previously booked appointments...

[andye30m3]

I've never bought a car off of a trader but over the last 2 weeks have spoken to two about CSL's they have in stock.

First one I drove up to see was a waste of time, needed paintwork and the interior was fairly well abused.

E-mailed the second a number of questions as I want to avoid wasting my time again and his response was

full service history
lovely car
my number is ..........

so I called him up to ask when the last big service was etc etc, didn't know any of the answers to my questions, no offer to find out and call back and not remotely interested about talking about part exchanging my current car which is the only reason I'd buy from a dealer as I've found better private cars for less money but am struggling to sell my current car. I'm quite surprised some of these dealers are still in business.

[STW2010]

Fort Jefferson said:

sshenton1975 said:

Made appointments to see various E39 M5s.

Also asked about a newer 530d he had for same price.


and he practically told me to make my mind up!!!

I can see his point.

I assume you're not a salesperson then?

[Mastodon2]

Fort Jefferson said:

sshenton1975 said:

Made appointments to see various E39 M5s.

Also asked about a newer 530d he had for same price.


and he practically told me to make my mind up!!!

I can see his point.

Really? A good salesman should A) Get the customer the car they need and B) Make the sales, although which of those takes priority depends on how the business is run. However, treating customers disrespectfully and practically turning them away is not in anyone's "Run a successful business" book.

However, since car dealerships have been raking in such huge piles of cash and cars are flying out of the showrooms these past few years, I suppose the salesmen can just tell potential customers to fk off if they can't be bothered to help them, right?

[007 VXR]

When times are hard thats not good OP