Buying a Car from BMW Of San Francisco: Review, Reputation

Who is BMW of SF?

BMW San Francisco is a car dealership located on 1675 Howard St, San Francisco, CA 94103. In August of 2020 the dealership was sold from German Motors to Lithia Motors. They are a full service authorized dealer offering sales and service for all BMW models.

Is BMW of San Francisco Trustworthy?

The dealership over time has accumulated a number of complaints mostly notable on crowd-sourced local business review platforms and social networking sites such as YELP, Dealer Rater, Reddit, SureCritic, and Google Business.

Forums, such as Bimmer Post, have a BMW San Francisco Review, corroborating a disturbing pattern of unethical behavior causing inconvenience and expense for those flying in from out of town only to have the car sold out from underneath them or be short changed.

Other customer complaints center on: improper work performed, maintenance not done, or products such as add-ons or service plans forcefully opted into that were not desired. Others complain of a warranty that was misrepresented. Then there is the Better Business Bureau D- grade for BMW of San Francisco.

Adding up sentiment across the Web, the reputation of BMW SF is certainly well below acceptable standards with allegations of fraud.

My Initial Contact Experience

In December of 2023, like many, I thought because the dealer represented a luxury brand that there would be high standards and not much to be concerned about. I would soon realize how wrong I was. I contacted BMW SF and made an offer. Nothing. I tried again. No response. Odd I thought.

Frustrated, I left a negative review.

Within minutes, I receive a reply from Dinu Cotoros, Internet sales manager. Mr. Cotoros offered to do a walk around for a Mercedes C400. It took several attempts and days to ask if we were moving forward. Finally, I received the video. When I voiced concerns about the condition and lack of service history I was ghosted.

And from this point on, it became much worse.

My Used Car Experience with BMW SF

My experience trying to purchase a car from BMW San Francisco only became more cumbersome. I placed a total of 4 calls. All were unpleasant. During 3 calls both guys were rude cutting me off when I began to ask about policies that were not disclosed such as pricing. The second man hung on me twice. Not one took my phone number or called back.

Larry (2nd & 3rd Call) was rude, talking a mile a minute, cutting me off, and placed me on hold twice when my line of question was not well received. Not sure what was so upsetting...His demeanor was strange. It went from "we'll have our tech review the car again for leaks" to rescinding it— all within 30 seconds.

Like a light switch. Huh? Try to figure that out.

I would need to arrange a tech to come out to check for leaks.

I began to wonder how they treat the cleaning crew?

Additionally, Larry had a short attention span. I had to continually repeat my concerns. You'd think he'd have the common sense to write them down. He didn't.

On call 4, I reached Carl Chenault, also in internet sales, who at least had an acceptable temperament. He was able to hold a conversation but his demeanor too hardened once I began to probe with concerns such as post sale. He listened and did not interrupt unlike the others. Progress perhaps? It was short lived.

He then stated any inspection would have to take place on site. Taking the car to mechanic would not be allowed. Very irregular I thought but said nothing.

Additionally, Carl refused to disclose the dealer fees unless I filled out the credit application. Ridiculous on its face but at least tolerable conversation wise. The other red flag was he dodged my question should the dealership fumble the DMV registration. I had read a few reviews showing a pattern.

Simply, he was unwilling to commit to seeing that thru or offer a way to address saying it was out of his control.

The Car Buying Experience Part 2

The saga continued when I did not immediately move forward to purchase.

The following day I received a text from Rod Helaire, sales manager who could not bring it upon himself to apologize for the conduct of his subordinates. His initial text appeared to be professional but it was obviously canned.

When my texts for info went unacknowledged and I sent a 3rd text criticizing him, his demeanor changed much like the others. He decided to part ways— offering no explanation. Evidently Rod can't take criticism when he FAILS to follow up after 2 texts.

BMW San Fran staff can dish it but they can't take it.

If this dealer had been transparent and fair with me, we could have come to agreement.

Lastly, Aaron Escarrega, Sales Manager, email of aescarrega @ bmwsf, was returned as "undeliverable." I notified him via LinkedIn and was ghosted.

SUMMARY

My recommendation when considering BMW San Francisco is to proceed with caution and verify everything before you sign. Any promises get them in writing otherwise you will be in the same boat as others. The impression is they only care about the sale not the post sale or doing what is ethically correct.