Sales Manager Reneged on Contract
I contacted Pacific BMW after seeing an online ad for a used M240i on offer for $33,920. The salesman, Raffi, was great; he talked me through the logistics of inspecting, paying for and shipping the vehicle (I am in Michigan). We agreed on a price, shipping fee (Raffi would arrange for hauler and I would pay the shipping fee), and terms. We had a verbal contract and Raffi sent me the credit application electronically (I was paying cash, but Pacific requires the application to start the purchase.) I asked if Pacific needed a deposit to hold the car and Raffi told me I did not and that he had flagged the car in their system as sold. So far, so good.
When I called Raffi with questions about the application, he informed me that another salesman had sold the car to a local buyer. I reminded him that we had an agreement and he offered to sell me a nearly identical car for the same price. After a cursory review of the other car while on the phone with Raffi I agreed because it was the same model, year, color and options as the one that was sold to another buyer. This was a slight hiccup, but Raffi handled it well. I was not happy that Pacific had broken its agreement, but the deal was salvageable.
After taking a more in-depth look at the second car I noticed that it had aluminum interior trim, which I did not like nearly as much as the wood trim in the original car. Pacific had a third car, which was identical to the original car - with wood trim - but with slightly more miles. I contacted Raffi and said I would like to instead purchase this third car for the original price ($33,920). All three cars had the same MSRP of $54,320 and were identical, except for the aluminum trim and slight difference in mileage.
Raffi checked with his manager and told me that he could not sell me the third car for $33,920. I reminded him that 1. it was identical to the original car, 2. it had the same MSRP as the original car, 3. it had more miles than the original car, and 4. Pacific broke its agreement to sell me the original car. Raffi said he manager would not sell the car for that price, at which point I asked him to get the manager to call me.
Things got really bad when the manager called me (I was at the grocery and could not write down his name). He said that he could sell me the second car for the agreed upon price, but not the third. When I reminded him that the third and original cars were identical he claimed that "no two cars are identical". When I informed him that the two cars had the same MSRP and I asked if the difference in price was due to the dealership's basis in the car he said that "prices for cars were due to a lot of things like demand, features, and what the dealer paid for the car". (News flash for the manager - the cars were identical, and "what the dealer paid for the car" is the basis.) When I reminded him that the dealership had broken a verbal contract he laughed and declared that there was "no such thing as a verbal contract" (yes there is, but they are extremely hard to enforce so no one bothers.) When I asked what he would sell the third car for he said ~$37,000 (I don't have the exact number because I was walking around without a pen and paper). At this point I told him I was leery about buying a car from a dealer on the the other side of the country who had already broken an agreement then rely upon them to ship the car. He told me that it was my responsibility to arrange for shipping. When I reminded him that Raffi had already found a hauler, gotten me a price and promised to arrange the shipping, he begrudging agreed. At this point I was done. I informed the manager that I did not trust him and did not want to purchase a car from Pacific.
I later asked Raffi for the manager's name so that I could write to him. After checking with the manager Raffi could not release it. I found the owner of Pacific BMW (David Ho), but decided not to contact him because I did not think it would do any good. If anyone else has ongoing issues with Pacific that require management's attention, Mr. Ho's email is davidho@pacificbmw.com.
I highly doubt the sale of the original car to a local buyer was a mistake. It was flagged as sold and a salesman would need to go to a manager for approval. In short, a sales manager made a conscious decision to break the dealership's contract with an out-of-state buyer to sell to a local buyer because it was easier. If you are an out-of-state buyer Pacific BMW cannot be trusted to honor any agreements it has with you. read more