I totally agree with you on the general behavior of a lot of dealers and SA's - I think all the money in Ca has made them lazy and a little contemptuous of customers and customer service ... sadly I think we have to deal with the devil in order to get the cars we want!

 

Everybody's experience is unique and I can say that I've had my fair share of BMW experience and every time I walked into a BMW dealer when I was shopping, not one person ever walked up to me. BMW dealers are notorious for having terrible sales tactics and just being plain crappy. To be honest, when we went shopping for our Spyder, we expected the same when we went to the Porsche dealers and surprisingly, every single dealer that we went to, we were very promptly greeted either by a SA or sales manger who then introduced us to an SA. My wife and I were very surprised.

Some dealers took our info and said they would give us a call and I've learned over the years that taking our info means absolutely nothing. I think what it means is that who ever enters your info "claims" you as a customer so if you do really come back to purchase and you start the car buying process with another SA, the original person that took your info gets to put dibs on you. I don't know this for certain but it's my guess because taking our info and doing absolutely nothing with it seems to be a very common practice in the car industry and I've alway wondered why go to the effort of taking someone's info if you're not going to actively "ask for the business."

If you're serious about buying a car in CA, I would recommend you try my method of sending emails as that has been very successful for me. ...or PM if you would like the contact info of my SA.

 

there are a number of Bay Area BMW dealership that are notorious; for example BMW of Mountain View are, or were, well known for not allowing real customers to test drive M-Cars ...

bottom line, I think our expectations are seldom met by dealership sales people...

 

You don't say where you live @halfmonkey but I can tell you Bay Area is different. Completely useless sales appendages, at best call me when you want to order people. I wish it were different, as it makes my purchases of any P-car challenging from anywhere as the wife literally *hates* the brand.

PCNA I am sure knows in their surveys, as we've complained and received, err, empathy cards

In contrast, SF BMW and Oakland BMW are both decent operations. Not perfect, and there are always sales people as individuals, but I've met the management and they are car people and at least useful for you to test out cars and learn what you really want.

In the BA sending you an email blast with inventory they can't sell is their idea of managing relationships.

YMMV. Sorry for OT rant, but I will try the out of state dealers for a Spyder. In my case I am in the market for a GT3 too but not wasting time 'round here.

 

2 weeks ago he was at 8K over OBO on his 21 allocation. GLWT.

 

I'm in SoCal so I guess NorCal dealers are just bad. SoCal is the car culture capital of the US so if people are finally getting MSRP down here, it sounds like NorCal dealers are just being crooks to be crooks.

Maybe you didn't see my post but here is a link that might be helpful to you. https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...errerid=243681

 

Thanks, I missed that as I wasn't subscribed. Good info, and not surprising as Covid reality hits I think the bigger worry is Porsche cuts production numbers drastically and we end up back in ADM-land. Let's hope not, we may even see discounts on some cars as time goes on.

Personally, 4.0 GTS is close enough - and fast enough - for street use that I think it will cut into Spyder demand at 8-12K le$$.

This recession will be comeuppance for some dealers for sure. And well earned.

 

I've had good experiences with Porsche Stevens Creek, Fremont, Marin and Monterey over the years. Beware relying upon just one person's opinion about any given dealership. And if someone tells you that all the dealers are bad, remember that old saying about the guy who meets ******** all day.

 

Yup. I know it's his opinion and his experience. I've heard some bad opinions from others about NorCal dealers too but I'm not taking it as gospel as it doesn't affect me since I have my allocation already. Just the same as I've heard about bad experiences about dealers in SoCal. As my MSRP Spyder thread mentioned, I came across 6 dealers that offered me MSRP with other dealers playing games. Was just trying to help the guy out. What he makes of it is his business.

 

Of course, pretty sure I even said YMMV, but thank you for your insinuation. For sure everyone has their own things they value in a dealer, and values certain experiences. Glad you've found responsive ones in Norcal for you - I've purchased from 2 of those including a Board sponsor, and can't recommend either of them. I am a straight shooter and spend money with people who display integrity and value trust. Perhaps those aren't as important for some. I know I am not alone, some long time 991 board members actually rail on these names in their signature lines.

I've had wonderful experiences with many dealers over 25 years of car buying, and in fact just 2 months ago with 2 local BMW dealers who were extremely helpful with an M-car purchase.

Once again, YMMV.

 

+1 AFIAK

 

he confirmed MSRP on their GT4 but ADM on Spyder ... time to send them to the penalty box I think

 

I have been working with a dealer in Illinois who has a Spyder allocation for an October build available if anyone wants to PM me for his info.

 

Randy is the best! He has been with Porsche Burlingame for over 30 years and he likes to talk about his vintage Porsche race cars. I ordered my GT Silver Spyder from him 3 years ago at MSRP. Picking it up this Saturday.