Rant: why dealers are so greedy and... stupid?

[Hit_Apex]

Most dealerships have all the work they can handle, doesn't make sense to win jobs like this with discounts. You might have some leverage up front when negotiating the deal, but once that's done you're just another servicing customer.

[NervoS]

Originally Posted by heavyD^2

A dealership would be the last place I would ask to install a dash cam. Why would you want to pay dealership mechanic rates to install an interior accessory?

It is a bmw dash cam in a brand new, under warranty bmw. It requires a lot of interor disassembly. If they break something during the installation - they will fix it, and they won't have a leverage on me to reject any warranty claims in future.

[NervoS]

Originally Posted by Littlecoupe

Dealers have gotten especially greedy since covid. The ADM, short supply thus dictating prices, and charging extra to make up the margins that are lost on volume sales became the norm. One of the dealers I worked with when looking at my '23 told me they hoped BMW would take a "make to order" approach and they not bother stocking any inventory. It was a different time during the pandemic and some dealers have not clued into the fact there is now inventory and people will look at shopping around. Even look at incentives, there were next to none, now they are plentiful.

Furthermore, the fact the dealers think they can charge as much as they do for additional services and installs only stems from the fact that some people are willing to pay it. It's dishonest, but they're in the business of making money, so I can't totally fault them for trying, even though I strongly dislike it.

Oh, yeah, I remember those grim times. When they charged over MSRP for some models. Audi was particularly bad at that. They wanted 3K above msrp for Q5 in 2022. Yeah, right.

[NervoS]

Originally Posted by tdott

I think you need to get the hint they are giving you.

They don't want to install dash cams. They don't like installing parts they don't sell esp. aftermarket stuff.

Do it yourself, or go to somewhere that specialises in that sort of stuff like an audio shop.

I get it. But the dash cam is not aftermarket, it is BMW. I was ready to buy it from them, if they price match it to online price + shipping amount, but they don't care. Installing it doesn't take that huge amount of hours the want to charge for (even 4.8 hours is way too much). They clearly can make money on me. Just a bit less than they want, but better than nothing, I would think. But clearly I'm wrong

[Alfisti]

100 beans on a new car laden with intrusive tech, beeping and bopping warning sounds, screaming, screens everywhere, touch controls instead of knobs. Madness.

[Hit_Apex]

Originally Posted by Alfisti

100 beans on a new car laden with intrusive tech, beeping and bopping warning sounds, screaming, screens everywhere, touch controls instead of knobs. Madness.

The universal forums are great - where are manner of humanity cross paths. It's a big increasingly complicated World out there...

*post may or may not be my own. I've caught my AI clone posting several times now.

[DrVenture]

I guess you need to decide if the extra thousand is worth the peace of mind that they will honor your warranty.

[Westside Guy]

There was a famous advertising campaign with the following slogan, "An educated consumer is our best customer."

Dealers charge top dollar for their services, if you are willing to do your homework and research the vendors that do certain types of work such as detailing or installing a dash cam, even if it is made by BMW you will get a quality job and spend far less money.

[Leucosticte]

Because they can get away with it, it's that simple.

[BMWCCA1]

Originally Posted by NervoS

Oh, yeah, I remember those grim times. When they charged over MSRP for some models. Audi was particularly bad at that. They wanted 3K above msrp for Q5 in 2022. Yeah, right.

And yet when General Mills does it to you in cereal pricing, it's okay? Or egg farmers?

Two-weeks ago I was buying fresh local corn for 25¢ per ear. The next week it went up to 33¢. Within days it was 38¢. Yesterday it was 75¢ an ear. Sure, I can just refuse to buy it. And just like your dealership, there really isn't anything else I can do about it, if I want it.

[BlkGS]

3k over MSRP for a Q5 wasn't all that bad. Escalades were going for 25-50k over MSRP.

At the end of the day, rising costs hurt everyone. The farmer growing your corn isn't making any more money when you pay 75c vs 25c, he's just passing his increased costs on to you. He has fuel costs, equipment costs, labor costs, regulation costs, accounting costs, retail costs, and his own personal cost of living.

Our governments in the developed world have by and large not wanted anything to do with things they see as archaic". They stifle growth in manufacturing and agriculture, and incentivize growth in retail, services, etc.

If a farmer says "I want to develop this 100 acres into a farm that provides high quality, locally grown food for our community, and a developer says "I want to take that 100 acres and put up a bunch of houses, condos, apartments, strip malls, and coffee places" who do you think is gonna get the approval from the local government? Or who is going to get tax incentives to do it? Not the farmer, that's for sure.

[moriluvatar]

The only thing I’m having the dealer here in Seattle do is put on my winter wheels. Everything else is a local shop.

The markups are just too much

(I bounce around between the three: Seattle, Bellevue and Northwest whenever I do have to go through one)

[UtahBimmerBoy]

The 5 Series is equipped with an excellent drive recorder with 360 high definition video coverage (If you have the packages).

No offense but i’m wondering why you’re opting for having a external dashcam in the first place?

[NervoS]

Originally Posted by UtahBimmerBoy

The 5 Series is equipped with an excellent drive recorder with 360 high definition video coverage (If you have the packages).

No offense but i’m wondering why you’re opting for having a external dashcam in the first place?

Do you mean the drive recorder? The drive recorder doesn't do parking recording, and all it does is saving 20 sec before and 20 sec after the physical hit. But will it register more minor accidents - who knows. I have it, and it is a good backup option, but it is not a full replacement of the dash cam, which records everything constantly, including during the parking.

[UtahBimmerBoy]

Originally Posted by NervoS

Do you mean the drive recorder? The drive recorder doesn't do parking recording, and all it does is saving 20 sec before and 20 sec after the physical hit. But will it register more minor accidents - who knows. I have it, and it is a good backup option, but it is not a full replacement of the dash cam, which records everything constantly, including during the parking.

Yep! The drive recorder also has a manual option where you can manually record your entire trip where recordings will automatically be stowed on your phone.

Also holding down the camera button near your idrive controller will bring the recording menu up.

Parked surveillance is where an external dashcam will definitely shine.

[NervoS]

Originally Posted by UtahBimmerBoy

Yep! The drive recorder also has a manual option where you can manually record your entire trip where recordings will automatically be stowed on your phone.

Also holding down the camera button near your idrive controller will bring the recording menu up.

Parked surveillance is where an external dashcam will definitely shine.

And still - I am not going to press those button for each trip (and definitely my wife is not going to), while dash cam just works all the time...
TBH, I am surprised how bad and useless is that Drive Recorder from usability point of view and that BMW still have guts to charge for it additional 100 bucks.....

[wizardofOz]

I'm guessing this is still in progress OP?

[NervoS]

Yup. My SA is still "trying" to figure that out. I'll post here if there will be any updates.