BMW Dealership won't allow me to test drive a used vehicle that they have for sale

[2SCOOPS]

Hi All

I have been in the market for a G01 X3 for some time now. I recently visited two BMW dealerships to view vehicles, but when I asked to go for a test drive, both told me it wasn’t possible. They explained that the cars still belong to BMW South Africa (fleet vehicles that have been used by BMW employees) and not the dealership itself, so they don’t have insurance that would allow customer test drives.


All the checks look fine – maintenance plan history, service plan history, and BMW’s comment history is clear. I even had Coisman do his check, and everything came back clear.


Has anyone else experienced this, or does anyone know the exact reason why dealerships won’t allow a test drive in these cases or is what they are saying regarding the insurance part actually true?

 

[modocrat]

Tell them to GGF and go to another dealer.

 

[2SCOOPS]

Tell them to GGF and go to another dealer.

Told that to the first dealer LOL. the salesman contacted me thereafter and said that a test drive would be possible if i put down a 10% deposit. i just laughed at him but here i am experiencing the same thing at another dealership and these are well known BMW dealerships.

 

[YozTruly]

Sounds a bit like horse s**t. I have a relative who works at a car manufacturer’s head office and from what he says dealers have to buy the cars they use for staff and demos. They get the demos at a discount to compensate for the loss in value.

 

[MR_Y]

This smells funny.
This is just an X3, not a new M5.
Keen to hear if this is the norm

 

[2SCOOPS]

I have been searching for the past 4 months for one as i am looking for a specific spec and they are far and few between but the amount of unscrupulous dealerships and sales reps i have come across is scary from trying to sell me ex rental cars to blatantly lying about the vehicle having no BMW comments( actually cutting off the section with the comment history and when asked to send me this information, no i am looking at it now and there are no comments on the vehicle) to now, not being able to test drive the vehicle. These interactions have all been with BMW dealerships.

 

[Teezoh]

This is bullshit, tell that salesman to go f*#$ himself with his 10% nonsense.

I test drove a M2 this past weekend, 5min of talking and I was driving. Second turn we took I could feel and clearly hear one of the wheels clunking about at random angles. Maybe a control arm bolt, sway bar link, or strut mount not being torqued correctly. If I paid a 10% deposit just to experience this I would have gone ape on his ass not knowing how long they wanna sit on your cash with "clearances".

I took it as a sign that now's not the time and they even offered a test drive in a M240i afterwards.

 

[b3rg]

Agreed on the above comments, it doesnt sound right as I have never experienced any issues when test driving ANY Bmw at the main dealers.

Either try a different Salesman, escalate to DP or walk away. Unless you really want that specific vehicle, I wouldnt waste my time.

 

[2SCOOPS]

Agreed on the above comments, it doesnt sound right as I have never experienced any issues when test driving ANY Bmw at the main dealers.

Either try a different Salesman, escalate to DP or walk away. Unless you really want that specific vehicle, I wouldnt waste my time.

Definitely walking away although it is the spec i wanted but i will not take the risk. Something is definitely dodgy.

 

[TBP88]

I've detailed how I was rejected for test drives when car shopping. It's HILARIOUS to me that anyone would think to buy *anything* without driving it. Sure maybe if you have R100s of millions and are just calling ferrari to get the latest whatever. But for normal folk where the car is a seriously big expense I'd like to get at least 20mins behind the wheel of it in motion...

 

[FILV]

I wonder if that dealer has had too many people come in and take the mickey and just go for joy ride when they prob couldn't even afford a car 1/10th of the value. Still very odd for BMW dealer.

Reminds me when i went to go test a JCW Countryman at S4 Auto.
Their test route is a back road that's probably a total of 600m or like 3 blocks. I told her not a chance im buying a car with out taking for a decent drive.

 

[TurboLlew]

Absolute horseshit. If the car is indeed owned by BMW SA, then any dealer will be able to sell you the car and provide you with the history. You might have to test drive a car that is on their floor for the feel, but once you're happy they can pull that car in the spec you want off the other dealer's floor and sell it to you. Vote with your wallet.

Please name and shame the dealer as well... I am not sure BMW SA would be too happy to hear that their dealer network is either sharing misinformation OR that they are not insured correctly LOL.

There is no reason they cannot let you test drive the car. I literally test drove an M4 the other week with virtually no mileage (under 200km below) that is also a "BMW SA" car sitting at a dealer. That is the whole reason the cars are sitting there. I don't even think they took my license to make a copy.

I've detailed how I was rejected for test drives when car shopping. It's HILARIOUS to me that anyone would think to buy *anything* without driving it. Sure maybe if you have R100s of millions and are just calling ferrari to get the latest whatever. But for normal folk where the car is a seriously big expense I'd like to get at least 20mins behind the wheel of it in motion...

And to this point I was super impressed with One Nine auto (sort of linked to Midrand BMW as well) who shared loads of info on the cars including reports for an M5C LCI, M8 and GTC that are sitting there. Played very open cards on condition... I was worried about the GTC getting into my driveway bottoming out due to the length/proportions/wheelbase etc and the solution was to bring it to my house to check LOL. As with everything in life, attitude is EVERYTHING - it actually makes me want to continue working with them and buying a car from them in future if not very soon.... It's the reason I enjoyed dealing with some specific sales people as well (not just with cars) even when their pricing wasn't always the cheapest. Conversely, I have an aversion to dealing with Mercedes after all my experiences with them over the years (I realise the irony with the pic below LOL)

When I first shopped for my F10 M5 I remember how difficult it was to get Merc to even acknowledge my existence and also dealing with people wanting you to basically buy the car before you get to test drive it (or put down deposits etc). Toyota at the Supra launch as well even though I showed up in cars very obviously worth more than the Supra and more powerful/faster... but I digress. BMW Midrand's strength was always the sales side of things for me and I test drove that F10 which I bought and then bought my F90 from them as well.



I would like to think that BMW in the current climate would not want to lose interested customers!

 

[TBP88]

Absolute horseshit. If the car is indeed owned by BMW SA, then any dealer will be able to sell you the car and provide you with the history. You might have to test drive a car that is on their floor for the feel, but once you're happy they can pull that car in the spec you want off the other dealer's floor and sell it to you. Vote with your wallet.

Please name and shame the dealer as well... I am not sure BMW SA would be too happy to hear that their dealer network is either sharing misinformation OR that they are not insured correctly LOL.

There is no reason they cannot let you test drive the car. I literally test drove an M4 the other week with virtually no mileage (under 200km below) that is also a "BMW SA" car sitting at a dealer. That is the whole reason the cars are sitting there. I don't even think they took my license to make a copy.

View attachment 30391 View attachment 30392





And to this point I was super impressed with One Nine auto (sort of linked to Midrand BMW as well) who shared loads of info on the cars including reports for an M5C LCI, M8 and GTC that are sitting there. Played very open cards on condition... I was worried about the GTC getting into my driveway bottoming out due to the length/proportions/wheelbase etc and the solution was to bring it to my house to check LOL. As with everything in life, attitude is EVERYTHING - it actually makes me want to continue working with them and buying a car from them in future if not very soon.... It's the reason I enjoyed dealing with some specific sales people as well (not just with cars) even when their pricing wasn't always the cheapest. Conversely, I have an aversion to dealing with Mercedes after all my experiences with them over the years (I realise the irony with the pic below LOL)

When I first shopped for my F10 M5 I remember how difficult it was to get Merc to even acknowledge my existence and also dealing with people wanting you to basically buy the car before you get to test drive it (or put down deposits etc). Toyota at the Supra launch as well even though I showed up in cars very obviously worth more than the Supra and more powerful/faster... but I digress. BMW Midrand's strength was always the sales side of things for me and I test drove that F10 which I bought and then bought my F90 from them as well.

View attachment 30393

I would like to think that BMW in the current climate would not want to lose interested customers!

At the costs for new cars these days you'd think the brands would be bending over backwards to accommodate customers - that the converse seems true would fully justify why fewer and fewer people buy fancy cars. Why spend big bucks (even on an X1 it's a near R1m price!) when the experience is no different to getting a suzuki or a toyota? Just save 60% of the price and get the cheapy seeing as either way you're being treated like a fucking peasant. haha

 

[2SCOOPS]

So another BMW dealership informed me that i cannot test drive the vehicle i am interested in. This was the sales rep's response when questioned why i cannot test drive. This is now the third BMW dealership that has told me I cannot test drive the vehicle that i am interested in but can test drive a similar vehicle.

 

[AshG108]

I understand their stock issues, but you cannot buy a vehicle without test driving it...they have to then only advertise cars within their floor plans going forward to avoid this

 

[Veedub]

So is it an insurance issue? I suppose dealers are reducing stock holding (due to slow sales), but BMW want full floors, so BMW are sending vehicles to the dealers? These vehicles are then maybe only added to 'dealer stock' once they have a confirmed sale.

I wonder if the dealership insurance only covers vehicles that are part of their dealer stock.

 

[TBP88]

Dunno, I'm confused now - I understand if they have specific stock you can't drive - what is "similar" Is it the same car/engine just some small spec differences?

Totally different model? To me you can't expect to drive/see the EXACT thing you want, but it should be the same model/drivetrain even if the spec is different or the interior options are different.

 

[YozTruly]

Could this be a one-off problem where BMW SA had a fleet of cars to get rid of, dealers said no money to buy stock and BMW forced them to take the stock without paying. So technically the cars are on consignment and thus not on dealer floor plan?

I dunno, just trying to make sense of it all.

 

[need_4_speed]

Could this be a one-off problem where BMW SA had a fleet of cars to get rid of, dealers said no money to buy stock and BMW forced them to take the stock without paying. So technically the cars are on consignment and thus not on dealer floor plan?

I dunno, just trying to make sense of it all.

It's probably related to low sales and their company car employee benefit.

I forget what the rules were exactly but from a certain level inside the company you'd get a company car. My ex-manager drove a brand new X5. I guess in the past they were able to sell these cars but now they are over stocked.

I remember that they were also pushing for a digital experience whereby you'd buy the car online and simply collect at dealer.

 

[Nastaliq]

This is a simple thing.
They need you, you dont need them no matter how "rare" the spec youre looking for is.

Tell us which dealerships these are, so we can all avoid them.

BMW dealership footprints across SA are shrinking because for some odd reason, they think these cars, (which apparently all start close to a bar) sell themselves.

A dealership that wants to sell a car, will do what it can to give you a good experience.
Treat this like a relationship (because once you buy a car from a shit dealer, the shit experience is your own fault).

These dealerships literally said, if you want to date me, put 10% down, and told you no, you cant ask me any questions.
I dont want to get into the "test drive" analogy here, but youre clearly dealing with someone high maintenance.

Just avoid them.
If you consider that BMW will let you drive a brand new car on a track and on an open road at a launch event, but not a used car of a far lower value, tells you all you need to know.

Take your business elsewhere and name and shame the poor business practices BMW dealerships, that BMW is trying to make us accept here.