If I worked for BMW corporate, I would fire everyone at this dealership for coming up with such a farking stupid idea, then rehire them just so I could fire them again for causing such negative publicity to the company by not going through with it and just swallowing the cost. Then I'd hire a German hitman to kill them all.

Pocket Ninja: Then I'd hire a dwarf German hitman to kill them all.

ftfy

/Beware of German dwarves.

Pocket Ninja: Then I'd hire a gnome German Danish hitman to kill them all.

ftfy

/huh?

If the dealership loses the appeal, they will also lose their eBay seller account.

Wow. That's pretty harsh. How will they survive?

So their credibility in the marketplace is worth something less than $5k. Nice.

Bullshiatter: So their credibility in the marketplace is worth something less than $5k. Nice.

Shame on you for assuming car dealerships have any credibility at all!

OlafTheBent: Pocket Ninja: Then I'd hire a dwarf German hitman to kill them all.

ftfy

/Beware of German dwarves.

patrick767: ocket Ninja: Then I'd hire a gnome German Danish hitman to kill them all.

ftfy

And the little farker would be dressed as a clown.

I've been following this story since he Boobiesed on m3post.com and I'm so glad to see how many sites are showcasing it and getting the word out. Freaking bait & switch operation, they should give him the car and be lucky he doesn't have the Nebraska AG office get in touch...

But I bet if the price had ended up at $5k above MSRP these kindhearted, salt-of-the-earth local businesspeople would have said "No thank you. That's too much money. We owe you a refund."

And while I'm dreaming I think I'd like a pony.

Reserve. That is all.

why the fark would you bid on a car on eBay and pay more than the sticker price? For that matter who the hell actually pays sticker for a car. My last car deal I negotiated for $9,000 under sticker by going to the VW dealer one town over and showed them the deal at place #1.

Nestea Plunge: One hundred... You lied to me, Mr Lundegaard. You're a bald-faced liar. A... farking liar. Where's my goddamn checkbook? Let's get this over with.



Well played.

Gwendolyn: why the fark would you bid on a car on eBay and pay more than the sticker price? For that matter who the hell actually pays sticker for a car. My last car deal I negotiated for $9,000 under sticker by going to the VW dealer one town over and showed them the deal at place #1.

In cases where demand exceeds supply, like the Prius, the Corvette and now the M3, sticker price is not uncommon. "Don't want to pay sticker? Well the next two guys probably will."

Some dealerships are marking it up over sticker price, although they probably aren't getting the "Market Adjustment".

See! This is why you should only buy from a salesman at a dealer! When that salesman leaves you in the cubicle and goes into the Sales Manager's office, he's fighting to make sure YOU get the best deal!!! And, who else is going to defend the structural integrity of your car by offering you space-age rust repellents??

Gig103: be lucky he doesn't have the Nebraska AG office get in touch...

Why hasn't he already contacted them? With most Ebay transactions it can be difficult to find out who the buyers and sellers really are. Thats not a problem here.

"this guy had the nerve to condescendingly laugh and say we are a multi-billion dollar company, ebay will definitely side with us."

multi-billion? How many cars must you sell to not only be a billion dollar company, but a multibillion dollar company?

unless they were referring to BMW as a whole and not their little shop in Nebraska.

The Onanist: Well played.



Yes it was.

/ needs me some Trucoat

DRTFA but I assume it was Husker Auto Group?

R.A.Danny: And the little farker would be dressed as a clown.

Nyah.

/gave me the full-body shudder.

The Ghost Of Tom Joad: DRTFA but I assume it was Husker Huckster Auto Group?

FTFY

It's only 5K under the price...60K instead of 65K...I think for the sake of publicity and good relations they could eat that 5k easily and honor this deal.

Hell, you may even be able to talk someone down to that much on a 65K car.

Come on...the dealership are being tremendous douches here. They had a "buy it now" for $66,926 and the winning bid was $60,000? Don't tell me that even for 60K they're not making a profit on this.

If the guy is paying $60k for a new M3, he deserves to get ripped off.

...were they expecting to make more than sticker price? Because it's an auction, and people would just get caught up with beating the other guys, and not realize they could just go down to the dealership and get one for sticker price, probably under sticker price?

I vote for the German hitwomen in bikinis on motorcycles.

/that's what I read, anyways

R.A.Danny: OlafTheBent: Pocket Ninja: Then I'd hire a dwarf German hitman to kill them all.

ftfy

/Beware of German dwarves.

patrick767: ocket Ninja: Then I'd hire a gnome German Danish hitman to kill them all.

ftfy

And the little farker would be dressed as a clown.

And he should warm them up with a hosebeating before inflicting death by babalooboo. Using a mixture of lye soap and habanero sauce as lubricant.

If the dealership loses the appeal, they will also lose their eBay seller account.

OHHNOE!!!!@!@!@!1121!

They'll have to create a new account!

"this guy had the nerve to condescendingly laugh and say we are a multi-billion dollar company, ebay will definitely side with us."

Eh, BMW may be a multi-billion dollar company, but I doubt the dealership itself is. eBay is a multi-billion dollar corporation, and they're not going to tarnish their reputation by nullifying one of their own contracts. Especially for $5k. What an ass.

May the legal pwnage be swift and merciless.

I think BMW needs to see what happened to that Mitsuibishi dealership that tried to screw a guy out of his car. Of course, there is going to a lot less sympathy for a guy that's buying a BMW.

Many car dealerships themselves are multibillion dollar companies. Having worked for a former Fortune 500 company we had several privately owned dealerships that made quite a bit more coin than the company I worked for.

And incase you care to know. You can't spell sUCks without UCS.

hockeyfarker: ...were they expecting to make more than sticker price? Because it's an auction, and people would just get caught up with beating the other guys, and not realize they could just go down to the dealership and get one for sticker price, probably under sticker price?

I heard a guy sold a dollar on eBay and that's pretty much what happened.

I'm not sure I understand why BMW thinks $5000 under sticker is a big deal at all.

Unless this particular dealer is a complete idiot, there must be something we're not hearing.

Stan: No, what are the last three digits?
Xander: I don't even see the I.P. address.
Stan: It's right up...
Xander: Now I'm thinking of I.P Freely. Now I'm thinking of Ace Frehley. Stan, Ace Frehley...
Stan: Oh, for fark's sake...
Xander: Put him in on list.
Stan: Why is the damn thing turned off?
Xander: You said shut down.
Stan: Momentarily, a half an hour ago!
Xander: Well, I didn't go to computer academy!
Stan: Oh, shut the fark up!

The Slush: May the legal pwnage be swift and merciless diminutive, German, dressed in a clown suit, and riding a bicycle.

FTFY?

Considering most BMW drivers are douches, and the M cars are driven by even bigger douches, I'd say there was an appropriate amount of douchebaggery happening on both sides of this transaction.

When you put up and auction or bid on one it is considered a legal contract. The dealership will evntually have to pay up and deliver the car or pay a lot more than what they would lose on the lawsuit they will lose. Sounds like they are trying to bully the buyer into giving up.

15 minutes after Ken Tanisaka won a no-reserve eBay auction for a new BMW 3 Sedan for $60,000, he says a salesman at BMW of Lincoln nervously called him up and said that the price was a "mistake."

I wonder if the salesperson put the car on eBay without "authorization" thinking he would have a big payday without much effort. When things didn't turn out as expected he is trying to weasle his way out of it.

Having to fight against the dealer is probably going to keep the buyer from getting to the gym in 26 minutes...

Mr. Coffee Nerves: But I bet if the price had ended up at $5k above MSRP these kindhearted, salt-of-the-earth local businesspeople would have said "No thank you. That's too much money. We owe you a refund."

And while I'm dreaming I think I'd like a pony.

yup, under sticker? = we don't know the internets
above sticker? = sweet! we should do this more!

Jefepato: I'm not sure I understand why BMW thinks $5000 under sticker is a big deal at all.

Unless this particular dealer is a complete idiot, there must be something we're not hearing.

This is a niche car. It's usually sold above sticker because of demand. Still, it's a fair price IMO, the dealer should farking cough up the car.

And it's not a pricing mistake. A pricing mistake would be selling a lamborghini for $500. THAT'S a price mistake.

Classy cars, not so classy sales people.

Macular Degenerate

Sounds like someone has a case of the Mondays!

I hate people who can afford nice things.

/obligatory

fta: "this guy had the nerve to condescendingly laugh and say we are a multi-billion dollar company, ebay will definitely side with us."

i know someone who had a big problem with a bmw he bought. it was clearly the dealer's responsibility. When he went to them, they basically told him to go fark himself. When he said he'd never buy another one if they tried to screw him, they said, word for word "Sir, we're bmw, we don't have to buy our customers".

/he sued, and won
//fark bmw right up the tailpipe

I guess his prices really were insane.

/We can fix that with medication.

goalie0002: I think BMW needs to see what happened to that Mitsuibishi dealership that tried to screw a guy out of his car. Of course, there is going to a lot less sympathy for a guy that's buying a BMW.

my search-foo is producing no info on the Mitsubishi article.

Simplest answer for why the seller has no recourse here:

They posted it without a reserve.

Can't wait to read about the business excuses used by the BMW dealer in court as this guy proceeds to sue.

KoolerThanJesus: Many car dealerships themselves are multibillion dollar companies.

Billion? With a B? Individual dealerships?

Proof, please.

Gig103I've been following this story since he Boobiesed on m3post.com and I'm so glad to see how many sites are showcasing it and getting the word out. Freaking bait & switch operation, they should give him the car and be lucky he doesn't have the Nebraska AG office get in touch...

From the looks of their page on the Better Business Bureau site, the Nebraska AG and the dealership owner are on a first name basis. This dealer group apparently pulls all kinds of crap like this.

One should never buy a car off of eBay without looking at the actual car, especially a dealership. You'll definitely end up getting screwed one way or another.

When my wife and I were looking for a minivan, we found the exact model on eBay from a local dealer. Sure it was a reserve auction, but we didn't think the reserve price would be over the asking price, which was the high KBB value. We didn't know this until we went to look at the van. Two red flags: 1) the "dealership owner's wife" was out driving it around, like she had been for the past week (what about the mileage listed in the auction?), and 2) he told us the reserve price and said the people who were bidding on the van were dreaming.

We ended up going through Enterprise for an excellent deal on exactly what we wanted.

With the C63, GTR, IS-F and even the 135 coming out in the next twelve months, I think the markup will disappear before the end of the year.