If I could give this dealership zero stars, I would.
Even beyond the fact that the 2010 328i Sedan has been nothing but an exercise in corner cutting, I have had a nightmare experience with this dealer, and it would be wrong of me not to put this up here for all to see.
Just to give a little bit of back story: I had recently renewed the registration on my A5. It was a couple days overdue, so I had to fork over a hefty $930 to the DMV. They cashed my check, and I was issued a receipt, so I assumed this was dealt with.
Right as I was about to sign the papers on the BMW, I was told that I needed to pay the DMV for the registration on my A5. This was perplexing to me as I had already paid the registration. I told them that this was a mistake because I had already paid my registration. I showed them my bank record proving that I had paid it. Despite all the proof, they said they couldn't move forward with the purchase without paying this fee. At this point, Jacques ASSURED me that it would be as simple as going over to the DMV and showing them the receipt. He said that if I did that, they'd just write me a check right there.
Oh, how wrong he was.
I went to the DMV the next day and explained my situation. They said that I would need to fill out a request for refund form, and that I would hear back from the DMV within 90-120 days. I was a bit agitated to hear this, but I thought there was no other choice; so I filled out the form, and provided proof that I had paid the registration twice.
While I was waiting to hear back from the DMV, I called Sonnen a couple times to check on whether or not they had heard anything. Every time I called, I spoke to the finance manager that I had originally dealt with when purchasing the car, Ken Lindley. Each time I called the dealer, I was given the brush off; they would tell me to just continue waiting until I heard back from the DMV.
So I waited 120 days...
After 120 days I called the department at the DMV that handles refunds. They said that they had indeed received my payment of the registration (the original one). They also said that no refund would be issued because the dealer was only asked to pay $23 to transfer the title of the car, and was never asked to hand over the $930 I paid them for the registration.
What this means is that the dealer took my $930, sat on it until they transferred ownership of the car, and never called me or notified me in any way that this money was never sent to the DMV.
Ultimately the dealer did realize their mistake and refunded me the $930, but it took several months and countless hours waiting on hold at the DMV, going to the DMV, and going to the dealer. Plus, I spent tangible amounts of money on gas and bridge tolls going back and forth to the dealer and DMV.
Any attempts to reconcile this situation have resulted in a complete and utter waste of my time.
Please, just don't shop there.
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