Adam Singer

Do not shop at Sonnen BMW

Even beyond the fact that the 2010 version of the 328i Sedan has been nothing but an exercise in corner cutting (I'll go into this in another blog post), 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.

I originally turned to BMW because I was in an Audi A5, and purchased the car before the economy went down the toilet. As such, I didn't get the best deal I could have, and I wanted to economize. BMW was a natural choice because it is still a luxury brand, but often has really attractive lease deals and free scheduled maintenance.

I popped down to the dealer and dealt with Jacques. He was a nice guy, and the appraisal process on the A5 and the negotiation process went very well. I was satisfied with the price of my new car, and I'd stand to save over $5,000 over the course of the remainder of the A5 lease. 

That's where the problems began... 

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 waitinf 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.

I was given all the relevant to take to the dealer to find out about the fate of my $930. Feeling empowered to finally close this chapter in my life, I drove to the dealer hoping for sweet sweet justice. I was greeted by Ken Lindley once again, and he said he would look into it for me right away. After about 30 seconds, he came back to tell me that the person who deals with DMV issues is "on vacation" until next week and that I would have to wait to find out about the situation until then.

This wild goose chase I've been on has been going on for over four months now, and I've had enough of this waiting. What this dealership is doing is tantamount to theft, and I will not stand by and accept what they are doing to me. 

I urge all of you to think twice when considering purchasing a car at this establishment. All they care about is the quick sale, and really don't care about you after the money is in their pocket. If you are planning to purchase a BMW in the future, please try one of the other dealerships in the Bay, or don't buy a BMW at all.

UPDATE: I just got a call from Ken Lindley. He just said (paraphrasing): "I just checked upstairs, and the lady that deals with the DMV stuff isn't on vacation after all." Then he proceeded to get more information from me and said he would follow up with me. This guy is seriously a piece of work. He didn't have the time to check upstairs while I was physically at the dealership? This is ludicrous!

UPDATE x2: Finally, after sending Ken pictures of the checks that proved that I had paid the fee before purchasing the car, he called me and said that I would have a refund sent to me. I told Ken that I was disappointed by this situation, and I was brushed off yet again with a total passing-the-blame non-apology. This issue is not over in my mind. I've spent countless hours dealing with Sonnen BMW and the DMV, as well as real money spent on gas and tolls, and all I get in return is lip service. I am extremely disappointed with my experience at Sonnen BMW.

UPDATE x3: Some of the sales managers made a couple ill-fated attempts at reconciling with me about this situation. I mean, I did lose tangible amounts of time and money dealing with all this, and Sonnen BMW did admit fault. In any case, any ill-fated attempt at reconciliation resulted in even more time lost driving to the dealership a couple times, and playing email tag. I guess this situation will never be resolved. What a shame. I honestly wish I hadn't stepped foot into that dealership. Everything about this car buying experience has been terrible.