[Bailey]

Would like to bring to the attention of all the members of a new subtle racket (IMHO) at the BMW dealership in Kerala.

At the time of purchase the sales team does its level best to dissuade you from buying service packs or extended warranties.

Misleading indications are given about the costs of routine maintenance of your vehicle during the first few years.

Misleading information is shared about the cost of buying the extended warranty or service packages at a later date. You are kept in the dark about the increased pricing applicable for these if purchased after one month of the date of purchase of your vehicle. You are kept in the dark about annual price hikes.

By the time you realize what its actually going to cost you to service your vehicle the only option left would be to buy the service package at the then applicable higher price.

The same is the case with the extended warranty.

What this means is that the dealership obviously gets a higher amount for the same package since its being bought at a later date. More money earned for the same thing.

Another important point to note is that BMW India have now stopped offering the option for a 6th year warranty extension. The cost of the 5th year extension is also much higher than earlier.

Has BMW India been facing heavy claims during the 5th & 6th years which has lead to the above decision?

[manson]

Originally Posted by Bailey

Would like to bring to the attention of all the members of a new subtle racket (IMHO) at the BMW dealership in Kerala.

Unless there are more similar cases from the same dealership I'd like to think of yours as a one off case and the responsibility being shared equally between the careless sales advisor and the gullible buyer.

The dealerships certainly make a cut on selling extended warranties and service packages, but that cut certainly doesn't grow too much with an inflated price from the OEM to a point that the sales advisor would risk the sale altogether.

Safe to say BMW India, or any other OEM won't strategize such business practices either. There simply is more revenue to make from selling extended warranty and maintenance packages than making hay from handful of customers whose cars have developed issues outside of warranty period.

[Bailey]

Originally Posted by manson

Unless there are more similar cases from the same dealership I'd like to think of yours as a one off case and the responsibility being shared equally between the careless sales advisor and the gullible buyer.

My aim here is to inform those who may possibly make the same mistake as I did. Absolutely agree on being a gullible buyer . I take full responsibility for that. But would beg to disagree on a careless SA. It was his Manager and not the SA who vehemently tried to convince us that there was no reason to take the 5th & 6th year extended warranty at the time of purchase as the cost to take it 4 years from then would only be marginally higher. He very conveniently chose to keep us in the dark about the difference in price after 30 days and that there are annual price increases, the latter which I now have on email from the dealership.

Originally Posted by manson

The dealerships certainly make a cut on selling extended warranties and service packages, but that cut certainly doesn't grow too much with an inflated price from the OEM to a point that the sales advisor would risk the sale altogether.

The SA has not risked the sale. He has just made sure that the dealership gets more money for packages that we would have bought at the time of sale itself. If the cost of the package is X & the margin is Y%. Y% of an increased X is obviously more money to the dealership.

Originally Posted by manson

Safe to say BMW India, or any other OEM won't strategize such business practices either. There simply is more revenue to make from selling extended warranty and maintenance packages than making hay from handful of customers whose cars have developed issues outside of warranty period.

We will end up buying the extended warranty package like we bought the service package but now at a much higher cost. If the price variation post 30 days of delivery and the actual service costs were explained to us instead of a much lower figure, we would have taken them all at the time of purchase.

If there are only a handful of customers whose cars have developed issues outside of the warranty why would the max warranty be reduced from 6 years to 5 years. It was a chargeable extra anyway not free. Chargeable means more income. In addition the 5 year extension is also a lot more expensive. Some food for thought

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Agree & surprised. My understanding is as follows:

For both BSI & BRI, there is an 'Early Sale' rate <30 days of invoicing the vehicle and a 'Late Sale', i.e. >30 days of invoice date. Are dealers so negligent that they will mislead buyers about the 12-16% savings between the 2 rates?

Again, these packages are sold by BMW India, and are not at dealer-level. The money goes straight to the corporate, which in turn releases it to the dealer based on actual work done. As far as I know there is unlikely to be any vested interest at the dealer level here.

But this is India, and I could be wrong!

It was not just the SA, it was his manager as well. So I would infer as either showroom staff are seriously under trained or a smart move to earn more. Both equally dissapointing. Irrespective of how the payments are shared between BMW India and the dealership the payments are collected by the dealership and hence there would definitely be a margin for them in it. So a higher amount obviously means a higher margin.

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by manson

Safe to say BMW India, or any other OEM won't strategize such business practices either. There simply is more revenue to make from selling extended warranty and maintenance packages than making hay from handful of customers whose cars have developed issues outside of warranty period.

Agree & surprised. My understanding is as follows:

For both BSI & BRI, there is an 'Early Sale' rate <30 days of invoicing the vehicle and a 'Late Sale', i.e. >30 days of invoice date. Are dealers so negligent that they will mislead buyers about the 12-16% savings between the 2 rates?

Again, these packages are sold by BMW India, and are not at dealer-level. The money goes straight to the corporate, which in turn releases it to the dealer based on actual work done. As far as I know there is unlikely to be any vested interest at the dealer level here.

But this is India, and I could be wrong!

[PrideRed]

Not able to understand what has this got to do with KL or BMW. Quite a common practice across dealers in India, as long as the buyer doesnot bother to check details, dealers(well most of them) will try to fleece you. I am not blaming dealers, afterall they are here to make money. Forget about misleading comments on service/warranty costs, we have examples of dealers/sales advisors who have mislead on engine, variants, features, pricing etc.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Bailey

My aim here is to inform those who may possibly make the same mistake as I did. Absolutely agree on being a gullible buyer . I take full responsibility for that. But would beg to disagree on a careless SA. It was his Manager

Are you aware of other buyers having experienced this as you have? If not, then it's just one-off case that could happen to others going forward, but it is nowhere equivalent to a "new subtle racket" as you put across in your first post.

And as for this as a learning (to opt for service and warranty packages at the beginning itself), it applies to most if not all brands.

[HighRevving]

In my experience of almost a decade of dealing with Navnit and BMW in Bengaluru, I have to tell you that this may be a one-off case.

BMW India sells extended warranty and maintenance packs and the dealers are supposed to do all that they can to promote it. For example, when my service advisor realised that my car was doing more than 12,000KMs a year, he immediately suggested I extend the BSI+ pack because that was more beneficial for me as a customer, albeit I smell the fear of being whipped by BMW India if they do not. Also remember, the customer surveys are conducted by BMW India directly and if the customer complains that the dealership discouraged a purchase, it will not go down very well. Despite, if the dealership does discourage a customer, I am sure BMW India has ways and means of giving them a dressing-down.

In many metros there are multiple dealerships already dealing with a dog-eat-dog kind of a situation where one will better the other's pricing for new cars, so I don't think any dealership will dare risking their relationship with BMW India. As a customer, if one dealership tries to better the price by excluding the packages, as a responsible customer it is our duty to check them by making both offers apple to apple and then taking a call.

Always remember, if you are unhappy with a dealer you can approach BMW India who are really responsive and can resolve things for you.

[Bailey]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Are you aware of other buyers having experienced this as you have? If not, then it's just one-off case that could happen to others going forward, but it is nowhere equivalent to a "new subtle racket" as you put across in your first post.

Honestly don't know if other buyers have experienced this. Hope any one else is not as Gullible as I have been. If its not a racket then its a serious lack of training. Again IMHO

Originally Posted by PrideRed

Not able to understand what has this got to do with KL or BMW. Quite a common practice across dealers in India, as long as the buyer doesnot bother to check details, dealers(well most of them) will try to fleece you.

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

And as for this as a learning (to opt for service and warranty packages at the beginning itself), it applies to most if not all brands.

Lesson learnt. Inspite of the best of advice received, I chose not to opt for an extended warranty package beyond the 4th year(which I took instead of an additional discount) as I believed what was misrepresented to me by the SA and his manager.

Originally Posted by HighRevving

In my experience of almost a decade of dealing with Navnit and BMW in Bengaluru, I have to tell you that this may be a one-off case.

BMW India sells extended warranty and maintenance packs and the dealers are supposed to do all that they can to promote it. For example, when my service advisor realised that my car was doing more than 12,000KMs a year, he immediately suggested I extend the BSI+ pack because that was more beneficial for me as a customer, albeit I smell the fear of being whipped by BMW India if they do not.

It was actually the service team from whom I learnt this when I went to them with an issue of the AC blower barely working after less than 8000 Km. That's when I heard of a shocker that the new ac filter that was one of the main features highlighted during the sales talk would normally require replacement in less than 10000 km. Cost approx 17 K. That's when I realised that the service costs were highly understated. No complaints with the service team on the few occasions that I have had to visit the service centre so far. I was given wrong information by the sales team.

Originally Posted by HighRevving

In many metros there are multiple dealerships already dealing with a dog-eat-dog kind of a situation where one will better the other's pricing for new cars, so I don't think any dealership will dare risking their relationship with BMW India. As a customer, if one dealership tries to better the price by excluding the packages, as a responsible customer it is our duty to check them by making both offers apple to apple and then taking a call.

Unfortunately in Kerala there is just one dealer who has all the 3 dealerships in the State.

Originally Posted by HighRevving

Also remember, the customer surveys are conducted by BMW India directly and if the customer complains that the dealership discouraged a purchase, it will not go down very well. Despite, if the dealership does discourage a customer, I am sure BMW India has ways and means of giving them a dressing-down. Always remember, if you are unhappy with a dealer you can approach BMW India who are really responsive and can resolve things for you.

Did that first. No joy. Got a reply from the dealership stating that they would try to see if an discount could be offered on the 5 year warranty. No luck with a 6th year.

[RakishRam]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Are you aware of other buyers having experienced this as you have?.

One question I can answer with conviction. I bought my 3series from EVM Kerala and haven't experienced anything of this sort. In fact the SA was prompt in providing BSI and BRI details.
And the simple fact that the SA was so responsive and professional was the reason I picked from EVM instead of next street Navnit.
This sounds like a one off case and I find the thread title slightly on the negative side.

On warranty, it's upto us to select 5 or 6 years. I agree, 6th year is ridiculously expensive. Being Paranoid, I took six years though.

May I know the SA name (in personal message, of course).

PS: I wasn't happy they added handling charges in final invoice, which was taken out or reduced on discussions.

[Bailey]

Originally Posted by RakishRam

In fact the SA was prompt in providing BSI and BRI details.
And the simple fact that the SA was so responsive and professional was the reason I picked from EVM instead of next street Navnit.
This sounds like a one off case and I find the thread title slightly on the negative side.

The details were provided and they were extremely responsive and professional. No complaints about that. The issue I had was that I was deliberately mislead about the variation in price if being purchased at the time of vehicle purchase or at a later date. This was something that I checked again and again with them. So again either not trained well or deliberate. The thread title is negative as that is my exact feeling at this time.

Originally Posted by RakishRam

On warranty, it's upto us to select 5 or 6 years. I agree, 6th year is ridiculously expensive. Being Paranoid, I took six years though.

I wanted to buy 6 years which I can't do now. I will buy 5 years at a highly inflated price. Extremely frustrated with myself for having made such a stupid decision.

Originally Posted by RakishRam

May I know the SA name (in personal message, of course).

Replied by PM

[manson]

Originally Posted by Bailey

Extremely frustrated with myself for having made such a stupid decision.

Everyone makes mistakes, don't be too hard on yourself and instead focus on enjoying every trip with your new acquisition that is worth several times more than the change in maintenance package cost. Here's wishing your endless joy with your newly acquired Beemer

Originally Posted by Bailey

Replied by PM

If anything, you should name the SA and his manager on the public forum and ensure nobody surfing the forum ends up in a similar scenario!

[wbd8779]

Its an unpleasant experience with one dealership and one customer till now - how can it be generalised to all of BMW and all of Kerala?

[Bailey]

Originally Posted by manson

Everyone makes mistakes, don't be too hard on yourself and instead focus on enjoying every trip with your new acquisition that is worth several times more than the change in maintenance package cost. Here's wishing your endless joy with your newly acquired Beemer

I am actually more worried that BMW does not want to offer a paid 6th year warranty extension. Is there some thing that we are not aware off? Price increases are inevitable. The vehicle itself cost a lot more than what it was a few years back that too with quite a few feature deletions. But such a drastic jump for the 5th year and an elimination of the 6th year option is worrying.

The silver lining is that the time of my purchase was quite fortunate as there are no new 530D's anymore.

Leaving this aside I have been enjoying every day with it. Our love for road trips has been rekindled again.

Originally Posted by manson

If anything, you should name the SA and his manager on the public forum and ensure nobody surfing the forum ends up in a similar scenario!

Wouldn't that be too harsh? I just wanted to make sure if possible via this thread that no one would make the same mistake I did.

Originally Posted by wbd8779

Its an unpleasant experience with one dealership and one customer till now - how can it be generalised to all of BMW and all of Kerala ?

The same group EVM owns all the 3 dealerships in Kerala. No other options to buy BMW's in Kerala other than from them. I do agree it could be just one customer or could it be one customer who has realised this and decided to bring it out in a public forum.

I first took this up with BMW India, who in the name of investigation just left it to the dealership to reply to me.

[Turbanator]

Despite being a buyer of multiple BMWs in past two decades, I have never ever bought a fifth or sixth year warranty at time of purchase. Neither most of the dealers will recommend as it’s too long a time and a majority of the customers will have an itch to buy something else at around 3-4 year mark.

Yes, the price increase has been much higher on the extended warranty which surely must have something to do with the number of complaints they get, depreciating value of INR vs Euro and increase in other overheads. Discontinuation of 6th year warranty can have multiple reasons probably, higher number of complaints or simply less number of customers opting at so high prices. I fall in the second category, never got the 6th year except on my X6 that I got in 2009.

[the_skyliner]

Originally Posted by Bailey

By the time you realize what its actually going to cost you to service your vehicle the only option left would be to buy the service package at the then applicable higher price.

The same is the case with the extended warranty.

My experience with BMW Pune has been exactly opposite. I was made aware of the 30 days limit to make the most of the lower price of the package.

Is it possible that your's in a one off case? Would be good if other BMW customers can share their experiences to judge whether this is that common.