chrislotusatl and the bimmerstore
Discussion
One of the trusted members of the other mailing list I'm on (turboesprit@yahoogroups) posted this message to everyone.
Since Chris takes a ton of sh!t from some people here, myself included when neccessary, I only thought it was fair to give a nod when appropriate. I don't know if Chris was the triggerman on this deal, but it seems his shop is a good one.
(Long and probably boring...)
I don't normally write letters like this because I don't feel they are
very often deserved. Here's an exception.
You may have read that I just purchased a '00 Esprit from The Bimmer Store
here in Atlanta. They are the authorized Lotus/Lambo dealer here. I showed
them the car I wanted on the web page to Park Place Ltd's website and
said, 'That's the car I want. Is there any way to make that happen by
using my car as a tradein and working through you?'. Now, there's always a
way, but I'm not made of money and I really didn't think it possible.
As you probably know now, not only was it possible, but it was possible at
a reasonable price. (Relatively speaking, of course). Really no haggling
to speak of - I was offered what I felt was a fair value for my trade in
(imagine my surprise!), the price for the car I wanted was quoted under
what was listed on the website, and they covered the shipping for me. What
more could I ask for?
Well, I could ask for the manuals, service notes, and the glass roof that
was advertised with the car. Somehow those didn't make it with the
shipment. I felt certain that getting the roof was going to be a
nightmare. Wrong. Chad Mann at the Bimmer store contacted Park Place and
got them to send all of the above items, no problem. They are being packed
up today. (They offered me a glass top out of stock if PPL didn't come
through.) What my suspicious mind thought to be a scam on the part of PPL
turned out to be an oversight (well, maybe!).
I used to use the previous Lotus dealer here in Atlanta when I first
bought my '87. They almost killed my enthusiasm for the marque.
After my recent purchase experience, I can't tell you how excited I am to
be dealing with the new Lotus dealer. If their service department lives up
to the standard set by their sales department, I am in good hands.
Sometimes the list has been used to slam a dealer or two for a bad deal. I
thought I'd use it to relay the good experience I had.
Just FYI. No financial interest, blah, blah, blah...
Since Chris takes a ton of sh!t from some people here, myself included when neccessary, I only thought it was fair to give a nod when appropriate. I don't know if Chris was the triggerman on this deal, but it seems his shop is a good one.
(Long and probably boring...)
I don't normally write letters like this because I don't feel they are
very often deserved. Here's an exception.
You may have read that I just purchased a '00 Esprit from The Bimmer Store
here in Atlanta. They are the authorized Lotus/Lambo dealer here. I showed
them the car I wanted on the web page to Park Place Ltd's website and
said, 'That's the car I want. Is there any way to make that happen by
using my car as a tradein and working through you?'. Now, there's always a
way, but I'm not made of money and I really didn't think it possible.
As you probably know now, not only was it possible, but it was possible at
a reasonable price. (Relatively speaking, of course). Really no haggling
to speak of - I was offered what I felt was a fair value for my trade in
(imagine my surprise!), the price for the car I wanted was quoted under
what was listed on the website, and they covered the shipping for me. What
more could I ask for?
Well, I could ask for the manuals, service notes, and the glass roof that
was advertised with the car. Somehow those didn't make it with the
shipment. I felt certain that getting the roof was going to be a
nightmare. Wrong. Chad Mann at the Bimmer store contacted Park Place and
got them to send all of the above items, no problem. They are being packed
up today. (They offered me a glass top out of stock if PPL didn't come
through.) What my suspicious mind thought to be a scam on the part of PPL
turned out to be an oversight (well, maybe!).
I used to use the previous Lotus dealer here in Atlanta when I first
bought my '87. They almost killed my enthusiasm for the marque.
After my recent purchase experience, I can't tell you how excited I am to
be dealing with the new Lotus dealer. If their service department lives up
to the standard set by their sales department, I am in good hands.
Sometimes the list has been used to slam a dealer or two for a bad deal. I
thought I'd use it to relay the good experience I had.
Just FYI. No financial interest, blah, blah, blah...
hey maybe chrislotusatlanta has my manuals and books for the 95 s4s i got through them that didnt come with books / tools / ?? Maybe they need a checklist before they send out cars!! Same thing happened to me from them. But i got the car from them as the originator and a local place did the deal.
He may very well be a good person to deal with. Who knows.
Most of us have a marginal opinion of many car sales people unless we know them very well in person.
Of the sales people we do have initial contact with we look for red flags signals "is he one of the good ones in it for the long haul" or a Bull Sh*t short timer looking to make a quick buck.
One of the things many of us look for is how much a sales person actually knows about the car or did he just memorize a few buzz words and lines on some sales brochure.
So when a car like an Esprit is advertised by a dealer it had better be accurate or he will be ripped to shreds. Even now the Bimmer store has an ebay ad for S4s that shows pictures of two different cars in the ad one is of a V8 and the other an S4s the cars are not even the same color (one is black and the other green).
Oh he is probably not responsible for creating the ad and someone else was tasked to do it. But it sure makes his job a lot harder as his credibility and that of the dealership is put in to the negative right off the start as one of the know nothings that are common in the industry.
There are two types of Lotus owner/shoppers. One is the one that wants one and knows virtually nothing about the car except it looks neat.
The others are those of us are very detail oriented. When dealing with one of our cars and easy points/details are over looked can we trust the dealer/salesman that the details that that are not so obvious has been taken care of or checked that often determine an excellent ownership experience or turn it into a bad dream.
I still do not have a firm public opinion on Chris or the Bimmer store. It does not mean I do not have opinions on this matter, just that I do not make them public.
A lot of people read this forum and the opinions of the long timers and those deemed credible owners are very respected. It is in Chris's best interests to turns things around, bury the hatchet with many and overcome the feeling of dis-trust and incompetance of several people on the forum.
To many of us since Chris has self proclaimed himself to be affiliated with the Bimmerstore, we look at him and dealership as one. It is in his and the dealers best interests to be as detail oriented as possible and time will tell us what type of person he is.
Calvin 90 SE
>> Edited by cnh1990 on Thursday 26th June 16:44
Most of us have a marginal opinion of many car sales people unless we know them very well in person.
Of the sales people we do have initial contact with we look for red flags signals "is he one of the good ones in it for the long haul" or a Bull Sh*t short timer looking to make a quick buck.
One of the things many of us look for is how much a sales person actually knows about the car or did he just memorize a few buzz words and lines on some sales brochure.
So when a car like an Esprit is advertised by a dealer it had better be accurate or he will be ripped to shreds. Even now the Bimmer store has an ebay ad for S4s that shows pictures of two different cars in the ad one is of a V8 and the other an S4s the cars are not even the same color (one is black and the other green).
Oh he is probably not responsible for creating the ad and someone else was tasked to do it. But it sure makes his job a lot harder as his credibility and that of the dealership is put in to the negative right off the start as one of the know nothings that are common in the industry.
There are two types of Lotus owner/shoppers. One is the one that wants one and knows virtually nothing about the car except it looks neat.
The others are those of us are very detail oriented. When dealing with one of our cars and easy points/details are over looked can we trust the dealer/salesman that the details that that are not so obvious has been taken care of or checked that often determine an excellent ownership experience or turn it into a bad dream.
I still do not have a firm public opinion on Chris or the Bimmer store. It does not mean I do not have opinions on this matter, just that I do not make them public.
A lot of people read this forum and the opinions of the long timers and those deemed credible owners are very respected. It is in Chris's best interests to turns things around, bury the hatchet with many and overcome the feeling of dis-trust and incompetance of several people on the forum.
To many of us since Chris has self proclaimed himself to be affiliated with the Bimmerstore, we look at him and dealership as one. It is in his and the dealers best interests to be as detail oriented as possible and time will tell us what type of person he is.
Calvin 90 SE
>> Edited by cnh1990 on Thursday 26th June 16:44
solar said:
hey maybe chrislotusatlanta has my manuals and books for the 95 s4s i got through them that didnt come with books / tools / ?? Maybe they need a checklist before they send out cars!! Same thing happened to me from them. But i got the car from them as the originator and a local place did the deal.
I am not saying this has happened but a lot of places will hold back items if the price they want is not met.
A sun roof, manuals, etc can easily run a 1-2K or more if sold on the open market.
Calvin 90 SE
Trust me Calvin, I'm not sold either way yet either. However, since I have clubbed him in the past, I felt it would be disingenuous of me to pass up a known positive in his favor as well.
If anything, it shows I'm trying to be fair about the whole thing. Therefore, in the future, I can't be said to have any vendettas or personal influences in either direction.
Also, having read some of Chris' more recent posts, he seems to be getting the 'tone down the soft sell' message, and has offered some helpful suggestions from the dealer perspective.
I too would like to see the online ads situation improve drastically. I am however willing to accept that they probably didn't realize how detail oriented perspective Lotus owners (or current owners) really are. Hopefully, now they do.
What I do have to go by, is I've now seen a success story...someone very happy with them. I haven't heard any horror stories yet, so I think it's only fair to assume they are on the level thus far.
Mike
If anything, it shows I'm trying to be fair about the whole thing. Therefore, in the future, I can't be said to have any vendettas or personal influences in either direction.
Also, having read some of Chris' more recent posts, he seems to be getting the 'tone down the soft sell' message, and has offered some helpful suggestions from the dealer perspective.
I too would like to see the online ads situation improve drastically. I am however willing to accept that they probably didn't realize how detail oriented perspective Lotus owners (or current owners) really are. Hopefully, now they do.
What I do have to go by, is I've now seen a success story...someone very happy with them. I haven't heard any horror stories yet, so I think it's only fair to assume they are on the level thus far.
Mike
solar said:
hey maybe chrislotusatlanta has my manuals and books for the 95 s4s i got through them that didnt come with books / tools / ?? Maybe they need a checklist before they send out cars!! Same thing happened to me from them. But i got the car from them as the originator and a local place did the deal.
It's also quite possible the owner who sold/traded in your S4s to the Bimmer Store kept those items back and sold them as well.
I sort of doubt that the bimmerstore would have...kinda chump change and more effort than its worth to move the merch. It's not like too many folks are clamoring for the toolkits, and those who do in the US all know each other from the yahoogroups list. It would be pretty obvious if they did it.
If they don't move it thru eBay or the yahoogroup, they probably aren't moving it, period.
Actually both the tool kits and glass roofs are hot items. I have been on the lookout for a complete tool kit for a list member for about a year for Scotty (Yeeeha). The glass roofs do not last very long forsale at all. It gives an inch or two extra clearence for tall drivers. Sometimes costs over 1K alone for the glass roof and both can be turned over in day. The glass roof for the SE is even rarer. The service notes and parts list can go for 3-4 hundred and even the original owners and warranty book can get $50.
Calvin
>> Edited by cnh1990 on Thursday 26th June 17:02
Calvin
>> Edited by cnh1990 on Thursday 26th June 17:02
cnh1990 said:
Actually both the tool kits and glass roofs are hot items. I have been on the lookout for a complete tool kit for a list member for about a year for Scotty (Yeeeha). The glass roofs do not last very long forsale at all. It gives an inch or two extra clearence for tall drivers. Sometimes costs over 1K alone for the glass roof and both can be turned over in day. The glass roof for the SE is even rarer. The service notes and parts list can go for 3-4 hundred and even the original owners and warranty book can get $50.
Calvin
>> Edited by cnh1990 on Thursday 26th June 17:02
Sorry, should have been more clear. Yes, I know they are hot items, because there are virtually none available, but it's still not an easy item to move outside of the few channels to do so. Not without word getting back to the car buyer that his parts were just sold. Most everyone knows most everyone else in our community somehow, after all.
Just saying if the bimmerstore had done it, they'd probably have been found out by now.
It's kind of a catch 22 argument...if they are too dumb to know the marquee well, how can they be smart enough to know the sunroof, toolbag and manual are hot items?
That's the only point I was trying to make. If I'm proven wrong and they do this sort of thing, I'd be back in the 'evil dealership' camp with the rest of you guys
Mike
Most of the time the items never make it to ebay. They are done by direct contact or by someone who knows a person is looking for an item. I almost got Scotty a tool kit early this year but he missed by a few days. In fact I have a list of items that people are looking for. I'm sure many of the well known people also are looking out for items for their own cirlce of friends.
Calvin
Calvin
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