Delivery at the factory

[wirelessF]

Originally Posted By: G-MAN
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
When I bought my 135i, i elected to pick it up at the BMW performance center in SC.


About 20 miles from my house. Congrats!


Do they build the M series there?

 

[Coprolite]

Destination still applies for European delivery, as you drop it off and they ship it to the closest dealer. I was under the impression that the ED prices weren't negotiable. Anyone have insight on that past the link already provided?

 

[eljefino]

You need a dealer network to invest in [blank] of America. This investment didn't quite happen for Mahindra trucks, for example. A strong dealer network helps the manufacturer by selling cars (duh) but also paying for advertising etc. IIRC the importer also does a lot of the legwork for making a car meet our safety/emissions specs.

Getting a euro delivery car is basically a grey market thing: for example I had an uncle who bought Minolta SLR cameras for the whole family in Vietnam for way cheaper than anyone stateside could do this.

Manufacturers are basically contractually tied to sell through dealers; they used to end run this by dumping into their related rental car agencies then letting the agencies sell used cars with 5k miles but that sort of dried up. I was hopeful the GM bankruptcy might hatch some bright idea like factory pickup but no...

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: TooManyWheels
In late 02 I was looking to custom order a Toyota Tacoma, but I was being foiled by the Gulf States distributor which only orders in a few configurations, none to my liking. Dealers would say they could get me what I wanted, but when it came time to deliver, none could.

At that time there was a saleslady, Dianne Whitmire, for Carson Toyota in California, who could order what ever you wanted from NUMMI and have it trucked to you. Obviously you could pick it up at the dealer too if you wished. This is not the same as direct from the factory (I can't imagine Toyota would allow that) but it bypassed the local distributor problem.

Wow, I did not know that Dianne had been in the business for that long. I met her earlier this year at Carson Toyota when another priuschat member was picking up their car. Dianne definitely delivers a great buying experience.

 

[BrownBox88]

Audi does it. I think you actually pick yours up from the factory in Germany and drive it throughout Europe and can drop it off at various ports...

 

[MrCritical]

In the case of a domestic, you still pay shipping (thanks UAW!)

If you buy a ZR1 Vette, there is an option to help assemble the engine. There are not tours or admission to the Camaro factory. If you work there, you can get fired for taking pics.

 

[BobsArmory]

Originally Posted By: MrCritical
In the case of a domestic, you still pay shipping (thanks UAW!)


I would be interested in seeing a list of non union car companies where you can skirt a destination charge.