Last month two Pacific BMW dealership employees posted video of themselves dangerously flogging a brand-new BMW 1M at high speeds on residential streets on YouTube. It ignited a firestorm of hatred against the dealership in Bimmer fan forums and on Los Angeles local television news shows.
Now the car's owner has stepped forward to tell us he's now been forced to lawyer up. Unsurprisingly, it's because Pacific BMW isn't willing to return the $10,000 paid above the car's sticker price. Here's the wronged owner's story.
In case you were the one of the countless dozens of people who have not yet seen the video of the two joyriding dealership employees from Pacific BMW, it's right over there on the left side for you to familiarize yourself with it.
Done? Good. Now, let's hear the owner's side of what's transpired since we last heard about this story a few weeks ago.
The owner originally posted his story late last night on the 1Addicts forum — under a user account named "icasio":
So, I was the sucker who ended up purchasing this 1M from Pacific Glendale on Aug 26th, 10 days after this clip went online...I bought it for $10k over sticker. The dealership never mentioned a word about the joyride scenario during their sales pitch for obvious reasons.
I'm new to the BMW world but was won over by the 1M and so the question and help I ask of all of you is what should I do? The story goes like this;
-Bought the car on the 26th. Dealership knew they were selling me a car that had been driven improperly by their techs but of course never mentioned this to me.
-They denied me the chance to test drive it citing that it was a highly sought after car and they weren't allowing anyone to take it out in an effort to keep low miles on the vehicle (understandable, but I guess this message was never relayed to their techs).
-When the story breaks and goes public (NBC and KTLA both did TV news coverage of it here) the manager calls me all worried and asks if I had seen my car in the news. This was 5 days after the purchase. I say, "no." He goes on to say that the techs video taped the PDI and posted it on youtube and they were fired for it. He then goes on to curse the news outlets for not having the integrity to go after "real news." I tell him that I'll look online for more of the story.
-Then I see the clip and realize that it wasn't just some standard PDI that was taped but that it was a joyride that was taped. In my car. My stomach dropped.
-I'm feeling it's fair to ask for the $10k over sticker that I paid to be refunded. The dealership basically laughed and said we'll give you $2k back. At this point I'm bringing in a lawyer.
Thoughts/advice? I mean $10k is much less than the damage that a story like this causes a brand like BMW. It's got to be embarrassing for BMW NA to have to babysit dealerships like Pacific BMW.
Thanks in advance.
So, basically, dealership employees took this guy's car for a joyride, potentially damaged it, and yet are still adamant about making a huge profit on the transaction. I know dealers can be heartless pricks lacking in even the slightest bit of common sense and decency, but it sounds to me like, if this story is right, that Pacific BMW of Glendale is taking prickitude to all-new highs.
Anyone have any advice on what he should do next? Also, who among you would ever even think of buying a car from Pacific BMW now? I know I wouldn't.