Dunwoody, GA
Had an interesting time buying a car.
Original owner of my a 2012 Honda Pilot EL-X and put on 95,000 on it. Bought for $33,800 new all in including dealer fees, tag and tax. My wife put a timeline on me to get a new car. Lol
Kids grown up teens but don’t drive much (weirdos). Looked at upgrading to a Acura MDX, Infiniti Q60 or Audi Q5. Not really a car guy but had a friend come down to ATL and visit me last week who was. He wanted to go to the BMW plant in South Carolina for a tour 3 hours away. Classy tour and really well done. BMW got on the list. My friend just bought a Ridgeline by the way.
Decided to go nicer and upgrade all the SUV’s on the list. Looked at MDX still, Mercedes, Porsche and BMW new.
Well Full MSRP and “marker adjustments” still in effect. I didn’t follow so had no idea. It was shocking! MBenz GLC +$5000 and GLS +$10000. Porchse Macan + $2000 and Cayanne $3000. MDX couldn’t do much off, but that was going off the list. All the cars were pretty loaded also. I didn’t want a base car but didn’t want “too” much.
Test drove BMW X5 and asked sales person to send me a quote and just give me the number they can do because I am not going to negotiate. He came back with an email later on at $3000 off. Hmmm. I semi knew a GM of another BMW dealer in ATL and messaged him last and they said they can’t do much off MSRP. Dude I know you! What did I do?? Lol
So BMW X5 $3000 off it is! Being close to a city has its advantages with multiple dealers. All though it seems like they collude with each other on pricing. My dealer I got the car from couldn’t give me a good number on trade for my Pilot. $12,000 for my Pilot from Carmax it is! Took 15 min to appraise and when I came back 20 min to sell. Not bad!
Bonus with my new car purchase my wife and I can go back to the BMW factory and get a complimentary test drive of a BMW on their track with an instructor.
All in all not bad once I found the needle in a haystack dealer that went lower then MSRP.
