Today I'm doing something I swore I wouldn't: I'm actually creating an entry in the hopes people will read it.
If you are considering buying a car from Vista Motors of Pompano Beach, please read this!
Now, let me preface this by saying, I'm not crazy. There aren't any snakes in my head. I'm a college educated, married mother of 2 small children. I vote Republican. I have a job. I attend church regularly. I don't drink or smoke. I don't eat fried foods. I describe myself as such in an effort to show that I'm a conservative, cautious individual.
Unfortunately, I'm married to a cheap man. I mean, a man who likes nice things but doesn't want to pay for them. This leads us to our current dilemma.
Memorial Day weekend we negotiated a deal with Vista Motors of Pompano Beach for a 2006 BMW 525i. We were able to purchase the car for a good $2,000 less than any other place we had tried. Now, we live in rural MS, so of course all of this was done via telephone and fax. It was a reasonably amicable exchange. The car was certified pre-owned, which created an image in our heads. There was some angst concerning the odor or lack thereof in the car: we wanted in writing that the car was a non-smoker car and the dealership assured us that it was, but was hesistant to put it in writing. Hmmm, we should have walked but the bait of such a deal was too good to pass. Let me list the issues for you:
- We received the car on a Sunday afternoon. Monday while my husband was enroute to work, the check engine light came on. We had to take the car to our local dealer, an hour away, 3 times before the car was fixed. The car spent 3 weeks total in the shop. It ended up being a faulty fuel pump. The car was on the road less than 20 miles before the light came on.
- We received the certified, pre-owned car with 1 key and no floor mats. This is the 3rd pre owned luxury auto we've purchased and it never crossed my mind that we would not receive 2 keys and a full set of new floor mats.
- The car had an odor. Granted it was a very strong air freshener smell, but a 3 year old car that hasn't been smoked in shouldn't need such an air freshener. The dealership couldn't have known that I have a very sensitive nose to which such strong scents are highly irritating, which was one of the reasons we didn't want a previously smoked in car. We could have children with severe respiratory issues or a smoke allergy, thus making it a significant reason for not wanting a previously smoked in vehicle. Thankfully, it is only irritating and not allergenic. Still, it is a bit suspicious.
- This is the big one--we received no paperwork for the title. I didn't thing to look for it, so I packed up our 2 small children (in the rain) and drove to the courthouse to apply for the tag, only to find that I didn't have the paperwork. The dealership has assured us that they are applying for our tag and thus we do not need the title paperwork. Wasted trip dragging an 8 month old and a 3 year old out. 2 months later we still have no tag. I've called the dealership 3 times and my husband has called twice. We've tried to be only pleasant and accommodating, but this is ridiculous. The dealership now says that there is something we need to sign at the courthouse, so now that's another trip. Why couldn't we just get the title paperwork and apply for the tag ourselves? The dealership says that it is a BMW policy that they apply for the tag but our local dealer says that they've never heard of such policy.
We now have 2 keys and new floormats, which required about 5 calls to the dealership and one call to BMW USA. The floormats, when they finally arrived, were the wrong color and I had to drive them to Jackson to exchange them. I was NOT going to ship them back to Fla and wait another 2 months for mats. We have yet to receive a tag and I'm not too certain what I'll do if this doesn't get straightened out soon.
If you see a car on the internet at Vista Motors of Pompano Beach, don't be enticed by a low sales price. You can save some money but spend hours on the phone trying to get the minimum of what you should get from BMW. It's your call, but I for one will never do it again.
Update: The tag is at the courthouse and ready for us to pick up. If I have to drive to the courthouse to pick it up, just let me apply for it outright. However, I'm thankful to be done with Vista Motors. Did I mention my husband called and the Check Engine light is on again?
