Locations of visitors to this page

Monday, December 22, 2008

Sonnen BMW - San Rafael, CA


Sonnen BMW
1599 Francisco Blvd E
San Rafael, CA 94901
(415) 482-2000
sonnenbmw.com

My 100th review goes to Sonnen BMW...where I just purchased my new 128i convertible! I had looked at the new 1-series convertibles at East Bay BMW, but had never driven one. DH just bought a truck next door at San Rafael Chevrolet, so we came here afterwards, since I was interested in BMWs.

Kerri Till became our salesperson and I test drove the 128i, which I absolutely LOVED! She was friendly, professional, accommodating and made the whole sales experience very pleasant. Even her "closing" of asking me if there was anything she could do to make a deal that day was respectful after I told her I needed to think about it and wasn't ready to make a decision.

I did think about it overnight and decided I wanted my new 128i to be equipped exactly how I wanted it, which they did not have available on their lot. Kerri asked for the opportunity to give them my business, so I told her exactly what I was looking for and price-point I wanted to pay. She came through without a problem and delivered everything she promised! There was one car in the entire Western region that fit my needs, which she had it shipped to their dealership and I just picked it up on Saturday.

The delivery and paperwork went smoothly and I'm pleasantly amazed at the outstanding service I've received from Sonnen BMW so far! :) Kerri is wonderful at follow-up and called me yesterday to see how my drive home went and to let me know she'll inform me about the status of my black floormats, wind deflector and 3rd brake light replacement (it was defective) this week.

Kudos to Kerri for making my first BMW experience a wonderful one! Oh, and I love, love, LOVE my new 128i convertible...I look forward to many happy years of driving it! :D

Sunday, December 21, 2008

East Bay BMW - Pleasanton, CA


East Bay BMW
4350 Rosewood Dr
Pleasanton, CA 94588
(888) 812-8602
eastbaybmw.com

I tried to like East Bay BMW (since they are my local dealer) and even gave them three chances to be the dealership I would buy my new BMW from. However, neither the salesperson Said nor the internet salesperson James were capable of gaining my business. Said only seemed interested in buyers who wanted to "buy a car on the lot today" instead of matching a buyer to a car that fit their needs. James only kept sending me generic e-mails until I requested twice to be removed from their e-mail list, after I had already purchased my new BMW from another dealer.

Hopefully their service department does not disappoint, if I decide to give them a try when the time comes...

BMW of Fremont - Fremont, CA


BMW of Fremont
5720 Cushing Pkwy
Fremont, CA 94536
(888) 622-4509
bmwoffremont.com

I've only dealt briefly with Cathe Ganly, the internet salesperson at BMW of Fremont. She was prompt to reply, professional to deal with and had good follow-up. However, they did not have what I was looking for and did not locate a car that fit my needs, so things ended there.

BMW of Mountain View - Mountain View, CA


BMW of Mountain View
150 E El Camino Real
Mountain View, CA 94040
(650) 567-9901
bmwofmountainview.com

I've only dealt with Lonnie Phillips, the internet salesperson at BMW of Mountain View. He was very helpful, polite, knowledgeable and prompt to reply...but did not ultimately have the car I was looking for and did not locate one to offer me, either.

Valley BMW - Modesto, CA


Valley BMW
4369 McHenry Avenue
Modesto, CA 95356
(209) 575-0269
valley-bmw.com

I dealt with Stephen Rynne, the internet saleperson at Valley BMW. Things did not start off well, as I had asked him to reply to my questions via e-mail (I had contacted multiple BMW dealerships, so e-mail communications helped me keep things organized!) but he kept calling me instead. I asked him to send me the window sticker info on a particular car, but he never did...so finally I asked him point-blank if it was a difficult request I had made because the other BMW dealerships sent me their window sticker info without hesitation. He finally admitted that the reason he didn't e-mail was because their system was having problems!

Anyway, they did have a car I was somewhat interested in, but did not have all the options I was looking for...and he offered it to me at 10% under MSRP so I did seriously consider it. However, since I planned on keeping my next car long-term, I decided it wasn't worth settling for anything less so I didn't buy that one.

Weatherford BMW - Berkeley, CA


Weatherford BMW
750 Potter Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
(510) 654-8280
weatherfordbmw.com

Wow, I have different feedback after reading other yelp reviews about Weatherford's internet manager, Jennifer Bishop. She's the only one I had any dealings with and I wasn't too impressed at all.

First and foremost, when it comes to internet communication, time is of the essence. Jennifer replied to my internet request TWO DAYS LATER...and I mentioned that I was looking to buy a car ASAP. You snooze, you lose.

Second, I described the car I was looking for and was specific about the color being red, cashmere or black ONLY. She replied saying she had the car for me, a silver one...WTF??? Sure, she wanted to sell a car that was on their lot, but apparently she didn't care much about finding a car that fit MY needs.