BMW San Luis Obispo — Attraction in San Luis Obispo

Where to start. Had a bad experience with the BMW dealership in Idaho Falls, and found a car on BMW San Luis Obispo website. Called and had JT as a sales man. Everything felt right when I decided to buy a 2022 BMW M340i. I FaceTimed JT to make sure the car was everything it said it was online. He tried to use the tactic of someone else is looking at this vehicle right now so if you want it, you need to act now. Was very skeptical of purchasing a vehicle without seeing it but JT reassured me that we could do an inspection after it was delivered.

Told JT that the only way I would purchase is if I could inspect it and decline delivery if it was not up to standards, and he said absolutely.

This is where all the problems started. After I purchased the vehicle, it took a full week to get loaded on the transport truck. Kept telling us that funding was taking longer than expected but not to worry, the vehicle was being detailed and getting ready to get on the transport truck. After the vehicle was finally on the transport truck, I was told that someone would be in contact with me to set up a delivery time. No contact from BMW or the transport company until 30 minutes before the transport truck was about to deliver the car. Since there was no contact, I was in a different state when the vehicle was supposed to be delivered.

After contacting the transport company, they let me know that the paperwork given to them says that they don’t need a signature to deliver the vehicle and it is going to be delivered anyway and the key will be hidden.

The vehicle purchased was $43,000 And had to put down $20,000 out the door. You can believe how upset I was when I was told that. I called JT to explain the situation and he said he would get to the bottom of it and not to stress.

When I finally got to inspect the vehicle, it was almost like a different vehicle. It had a sideswipe on the carfax but I was reassured that it was repaired correctly and you couldn’t tell. Well that was not the case at all. I wouldn’t have accepted delivery if I was there when the vehicle was delivered. The interior doors were torn on every door in at least 1 spot. The rear bumper was dented and scratched and the tailgate was damaged as well. When this was brought up to JT and Jose (sales manager), they let me know that the car was delivered and there was nothing they could do on their side but would do everything they could to make it right. It has been more than 1 month since I took delivery of the vehicle and multiple emails and calls have been sent to the general manager Vincent and no response besides I don’t know how I can help you. I asked for a phone call to explain the situation and haven’t gotten a call back.

TLDR

BMW of San Luis Obispo is probably a great dealership if you are in person. DO NOT BUY A VEHICLE FROM THEM IF YOU ARE NOT THERE! The vehicle that I had delivered had $8200 dollars in damage that has been verified by a body shop. The vehicle was not detailed at all. All in total, to get this vehicle ready to sell by a dealership, it should’ve had $10,000 put in to it.

I offered to pay the difference in mileage that I put on it to return it and find something else that didn’t have so much damage on it. No response. Horrible customer service and bet there still won’t be any communication after this review. Will update you if there...

Lousy experience with the service department. I had a check engine light that needed to be evaluated and my local mechanic couldn’t diagnose the problem. They suspected the EGR cooler was leaking but recommended bringing to the dealer since the system is under an extended warranty. I typically don’t trust dealers to perform service and was validated with this experience.

I called this dealer to make an appointment and asked for the appointment to be scheduled around when I could receive a loaner vehicle. They said no problem and scheduled the service. When I arrived, they checked me in and as I was handing over my keys they said they in fact did not have a loaner vehicle. This dealership is far from my house and I do not have any easy means to get back-and-forth. I had to cancel the appointment, but was able to bring the vehicle back later that day after finding a ride. They asked if I wanted to do an oil change since I was due. I reluctantly agreed as I usually do my own but was tired and decided I’d let someone else do it.

I got a call about a day later and was told the EGR valve needed to be replaced along with a stripped oil pan bolt. Now, I’m no mechanic, but I’ve done hundreds of oil changes over every car I’ve owned. I have never stripped an oil pan bolt. I always torque to spec, with a torque wrench which the dealer probably doesn’t even do. $600 to rethread the oil pan bolt. What am I to do at this point? They claimed they can’t put oil back in. I asked about the EGR valve and why it’s not under the extended EGR warranty. Said the valve isn’t part of the warranty. I asked about the EGR cooler and if they inspected that as the issue, which I brought up when I brought the car in. They said they smoke tested the cooler and it was working fine. Service offered to drive the car back to me (added one star). Got the car back after several thousand dollars later.

Very next day, the check engine light goes back on, I checked it myself and it’s another EGR related code. I get the car back down to the dealer. Initially was told the air filter was the cause, which I always find to be a classic dealer way to take $100 from you. I had told them during the initial visit that I replaced the air filter recently and wouldn’t pay for that if it didn’t solve the problem. Didn’t hear back for a day. When I hear back, lo and behold the EGR cooler needs replacement. They don’t have parts or a loaner, so I’m out a vehicle over the weekend.

When they finished my car the following week, I called to ask if they could arrange an uber or Lyft, or drop the car off like they did last time. Was told, sorry we have an event so they probably won’t be able to help me out.

I’m a pretty simple guy, but I bought this car because it’s a luxury vehicle where you’re told you’ll get top notch service. I’m not getting that and the repairs are expensive. Starting to ask myself why I even bought this car. Probably going to sell it so I don’t have to deal with this...

Never going back! Avoid this place! Bait & switch like all other recent reviews! Last year I purchased a used Honda vehicle through the dealership. I was looking to trade in my vehicle on Kelly blue book and my info was given to BMW Slo who continuously called me and offered to buy me whatever I wanted from Starbucks and insisted on me coming down just to look around. They seemed very kind. I wasn’t sure about going with this dealership, but they sold me on the used Honda they were “trying to get rid of to avoid paying taxes on it.” It is a beautiful car. However, a month in, I had issues with the tire pressure sensor and I had it checked out with a local tire business, and they informed me I was sold a car with entirely bald tires which is illegal. I complained to the dealership and at that time, the guys who sold me the car still worked there, so I was treated more fairly. Every time I went there for service after that, the oil change price went up by $40-60 each time and I finally stopped paying $220+ for a basic oil change and found out no where is charging that much for a full synthetic. Then, I had no idea the front windows were illegally tinted. I was told the “only previous owner was a cop” so apparently this cop put illegal tint on the front windows. I had no issues for a year, then I got pulled over twice in one week and given two tickets I have to pay dismissal fees on because the vehicle was sold to me with illegal tint. I went in yesterday to have it fixed and I was frustrated having to deal with something they should’ve known better than to push this car into me without having inspected it. I have no idea about tinting levels on windows. The service department had to “decide” whether they were going to help me and I was treated very coldly (the opposite of when I came in to purchase the car) had I not shown how frustrated I was, they would not have done anything to help me. The head guy looked at me with disgust (the one who has the big office in the service department) and ignored me and went to another customer they didn’t screw over yet instead of acknowledging their mistake in causing me to have to owe the courts $50 because of THEIR lack of care in this situation. They claim to be “building relationships with the community” which really means “we will be extra kind to get your initial business and then even if we messed up, it’s your problem and we don’t actually care about you.” They offer a weekly meal to the homeless to appear to care about the community, but it’s all about reputation. If they genuinely cared about the community (I do social work), they would be treating everyone with respect and care during the sales and service process and ACKNOWLEDGE their mistakes instead of overcharging and begrudgingly helping in a situation that could’ve been avoided had they actually cared about their customers instead of just...