Summary: Good discount on a new BMW should be 11%. For CA buyers, goto Irvine or Murieta or save yourself the hassle and talk to one of the brokers here.
I saw some of the insane deals on the 530e and thought to try for myself. I would prefer loaners but the pricing I got had little difference in terms of how I valued new vs new**. Sadly I failed because atleast for me I could not find the find the right car in the right color with the right features at the right price***. Anyways. Learned a ton, here is some info that may some info that may save newbies some hassle. Please remember that this has been mostly my experience and if someone wants to add to this please feel free to.
Best discounts
Irvine: Came out with initial offer of 11% discount. Didn’t budge much but overall customer service was excellent. They take credit card for down payment and MSDs. Don’t have much loaner inventory though.
Murieta : you already have a dealer rep with excellent reviews in the market place section here on the forum. Not much to add.
New Century : they have nice variety of colors like blue, golden etc and the usual black/white. They have cars sitting on the lot for 200 days but they won’t budge more than 12%. CA was kinda rudish, no surprise that cars have been sitting so long. They don’t seem to be interested in discounting loaners thu.
Long Beach: Initial offer was 11%, like Irvine, but they dont seem to be interested in selling you. They don’t respond to emails or calls. I had to initiate request 3 times from dealer website for someone to get back to me. However, their loaner inventory is great, decently discounted. However, they refuse to budge on loaner pricing, saying its set by Corporate (Sonic).
Decent dealerships:
Sterling: 10.5% is the max they will go. However, their CA was courteous and genuinely wanted to make a deal but Im guessing his manager didn’t wanna go deeper.
Mckenna: Had loaner cars sitting on lots for ~6 months. Asked for 20% off , got no response back basically.
Nick Alex: Similar to Mckenna, basically. In the end they become rude saying if I can find a loaner off for >16% , I should just go buy it and not bother them.
Beverly: Good inventory, I know someone on this forum getting a 12.5% discount on a new car thru them, but I didn’t have much luck. 8% off new and won’t give a decent number for loaners. Sonic dealerships don’t like to negotiate on used cars it seems.
Rusnak: Best quote I got was 15% off for a loaner.
Not to bother:
South Bay: They think invoice (6%) is a great discount on a new and 10% on a loaner is an awesome discount.
Crevier: For a car sitting on the lot for 200days, 10% off the last day of the month/quarter is the max they will do for a new car.
Santa Barbara: Initial offer for a loaner was 4% off and MF jacked to max. Final offer was 6% off at buy-rate. Needless to say , I did not reply nicely.
Pacific.: Emailed multiple times, and they were always gonna contact me back with a quote but never did.
Valencia, Vista and Buena Park: I just avoid autonation dealerships. Opaque pricing, marked up MFs etc. BP was actually surprised I wanted to do buy-rate, but they “couldn’t do that, best they can do is mark-up only 20 basis points”.
Others:
Bob Smith, Century West and Center: Did not find cars that I was looking for
Riverside, Bakersfield: Did not contact.
Norther Cal:
Weatherford: Manager was up-front, was willing to deal 11% discount at base MF. If you want to shop in norcal, I’d say start here. Loaner inventory limited
Valley: I did not shop here cuz of limited inventory but I’ve known a couple of people getting 11% for new cars at buy-rate
East Bay: 10% off at base MF is the best they can do.
Stevens Creek / Peter Pan / Fremont: You may be able to push more than 11% but MF gets jacked, so it becomes a “moo point”. Someone however did pull-off a 20% off a loaner at base-rate at Fremont on this forum last month, I’ve no idea how. I personally had a talk with their manager and 15% for a loaner is the best they would do for me.
SF: Don’t really want to negotiate. Someone however did pull-off a 18% off a loaner at base-rate here on this forum last month, I’ve no idea how.
Niello: 8% off a new is the best they would do.
Mountain View: The sleaziest dealership on the west coast. To be avoided like the plague.
Fresno , Monterery: Please, just don’t bother.
** For me, a 530e loaner is worth an additional ~4% discount over a new 530e (1500 CA Ev rebate+ ~850 CCA = 2400 $, which is about 4% for a 60k car, ignoring tax for now.
*** Getting the right car for me was slightly more important. E.g. I wanted the Driving Assist Package, and wife absolutely hates white colored cars… so there is that
This is very innacurate, different dealerships will do different deals on different models at different times. Just because one dealership offers the most aggressive deal at one time doesn’t mean they’ll be the most aggressive next time around
Also, you seriously shopped every BMW dealership in the state?
Thanks for the plug but I also agree with the posts above. % of discount is not an accurate indicator anymore. Plus (and don’t ever make me repeat this) brokers and dealers each have their benefits (you’re welcome @legendsauto). I have more 5-Star Reviews than most dealerships as a whole but I may still lose a deal to another store on a random loaner because it has been sitting on their lot much longer than mine.
In summary, go with the people that are recommended here since the folks here have done of the research already. Each deal will be case by case and decide on the person that is giving you the price and service that you expect. And always…ALWAYS, check any BMW Center’s customer reviews. That speaks volumes.
I had opposite experiences for almost everything in your Norcal section.
Had a 20% loaner at SF - Guys were kind of bullies though
Had a 20% loaner at Niello
Had a 20% Loaner at Mountainview
Stevens Creek- Bait and switched twice
Weatherford 800$ for a 330e… Ignored my emails asking for clarification on how they got there.
East Bay Nice guys disapeared on me.
Fremont no inventory
Peter Pan ignored my emails, laughed at me in person. Currently has the largest inventory of leftover models and wont discount.
The moral of the story is that it does not really matter which dealer you go to. They will all be good or bad depending on the CA, Manager and timing of your visit.
Your title is very misleading and it damage dealerships reputation. You rate Good and Bad dealership based on the discount you received for 530e during a specific of time.
Maybe the title should be “Best and Worst deal for 530e”?
I leased different BMW through out the years from New Century, Crevier, South Bay and Monrovia before. I shopped around and they all provided the best deal I got for the car I was looking at that time.
I’ve leased or helped family lease from Murrieta, Pacific, Long Beach, Beverly Hills, South Bay, McKenna, Sterling, and Valencia, all with excellent deals. Your experience is going to depend more on the client advisor and the particular circumstances of that day, rather than who manages the dealer.
Every dealership sets its price differently depending on their goals, the specific vehicle model, etc. And with loaners, it’s more about the car itself rather than who sells it.
Michael says it all. Everybody wants to know when the best time to buy a car is. People assume it’s the end of the year, the end of the month, Labor Day or some other holiday but there is no exact time.
The best time to buy a car is that random Tuesday at 5-6pm when a dealership hasn’t sold a car yet that day. It truly is about luck and timing and unfortunately there’s no way to source this particular kind of moment.
Thanks for putting this together, it’s a lot effort, but it really depends timing and the dealer’s willingness to make a deal, you never know. I got 11% of for a 530e from Crevier, same car as your post.
For other dealerships, I got 16% off for a 2019 new 330i, from one of the dealerships that you didn’t visit. Also, Buena Park was much better when they were “Shelly” before transferring to Autonation. I got 24% off for 330i loaner with the base MF. Even after Autonation I still got offers from them with base MF, ymmv depending on which manager you deal with.
Thanks for the post, I got my loaner rental from mountain view and they were able to offer me a pretty decent discount about 18%. However when negotiating with them you do need to know what you are doing or I can people getting ripe off by them.
). I have more 5-Star Reviews than most dealerships as a whole but I may still lose a deal to another store on a random loaner because it has been sitting on their lot much longer than mine.