I went into Chapman BMW towards the later part of September 2014, this was my experience:
First of all the salesman Dustin that helped me AWESOME, no issues with him at all, he is fantastic! Showed me a few BMW's we finally found an awesome 08' 335i White, and I was sold. He did a perfect job.
Going into finance is where things started to go sideways. A gentleman named Steve helped me and was very kind. I asked specifically "is this loan approved?" "No, but I am 99% sure it will go through." Steve said. I voiced that was apprehensive about taking delivery of a vehicle when financing wasn't secured but he claimed "this is BMW, we'll make it work don't worry about it."
I took delivery and loved my new BMW 335i. Showed it to my friends, co-workers, family. Then I got a call 2 and half weeks later from Lyle the Fleet Manager. "I'm sorry but we'll need you to bring the car back you aren't approved"... So apparently Steve had no clue what he was talking about... Lyle went on to say "However we have a 328i that's in great condition that we can approve you on." I had traded in an old Jeep and I much rather would have a lesser BMW than take my trade back so I played ball.
Went down, turns out the car was AWESOME! I loved it! However Chapman had me sign all new paper work, agreeing to an INSANE APR of 29.99%, agreeing to have a tracking device in the car, basically making me feel like a criminal for not having the best credit score on the planet. However I agreed and jumped through their hoops.
Steve in a rush and obviously looking annoyed and embarrassed that I was back, rushed through the paper work. I asked him again, "So is this approved, are we good?" He replied "yes, this is approved you are good to go." Never once manning up & offering an apology or recognition of wrong doing or over promising, instead he treated me as if I was a pain to deal with.
A couple more weeks went by, I showed the second BMW to my friend co-workers, family etc. Bought a decal for the back window, took a road trip in it, the car was mine. I loved it!
Well into October I had an amazing job opportunity open up, so I quit my previous job accepted the new offer.
Lyle from Chapman called and said "The lender can't approve your loan, they need to verify employment" I explained the situation, and he made me feel assured that there would be something they could work out for me. I sent over my offer letter from my new job, as well as contacts to legally verify employment. Keep in mind this was Chapman BMW's "In house" finance group... Apparently a legal offer letter and a direct line to HR to do a standard verification of employment doesn't satisfy Chapman BMW. Never mind the fact the "lender" was slow in their verification of employment.
Lyle called back explaining his job was on the line and I needed to return the BMW. I obviously didn't want to cost anyone their job over a car, so I returned the car and took back my Jeep.
Later that day I get a call from Lyle telling me that Chapman now has a problem because my Jeep (registered in CA) had the title transferred to AZ in their names. Since the registration was expired, they needed to either get the Jeep registered for me here in AZ, or make the deal with the BMW work. He suggested that Chapman pay for a rental car, and when I find out when my I'll have my first pay stub from my new job, to let him know. Then they'll pay for my rental car and we can get the deal worked out on the BMW. GREAT! It maybe a weird and stressful situation but hey at least they are working with me.
A week went by and Lyle called me and asked when I would be getting a pay check, I explained the soonest I would see one is Nov 7th. He then explained that Chapman would be unwilling to pay for the rental car until then and I needed to return the rental car and pick up my Jeep. Finally fed up with the insanity of all of this, I took back my Jeep. Magically Chapman had an AZ Title for the Jeep in my name, not sure how they did that but okay. Then they let me drive my Jeep off the lot with a broken Wheel Hub which I had to pay to fix on my own. Thank God I did, I might have died on the way home.
In closing: My credit might not be the best, but it won't always be that way. I make great money, and I am very capable of bringing money to the table to make this work. Not once was that suggested, or the option was ever given. Chapman is not the only BMW Dealership in town, and after all the hoops I had to jump through, I would expect them to look at me not as a pain but as a chance to establish a good customer relationship. Exceptions can be made, deals can be done, and people can wait for pay stubs. Not a good look Chapman.
Chapman BMW Reviews
I went into Chapman BMW towards the later part of September 2014, this was my experience:
First of all the salesman Dustin that helped me AWESOME, no issues with him at all, he is fantastic! Showed me a few BMW's we finally found an awesome 08' 335i White, and I was sold. He did a perfect job.
Going into finance is where things started to go sideways. A gentleman named Steve helped me and was very kind. I asked specifically "is this loan approved?" "No, but I am 99% sure it will go through." Steve said. I voiced that was apprehensive about taking delivery of a vehicle when financing wasn't secured but he claimed "this is BMW, we'll make it work don't worry about it."
I took delivery and loved my new BMW 335i. Showed it to my friends, co-workers, family. Then I got a call 2 and half weeks later from Lyle the Fleet Manager. "I'm sorry but we'll need you to bring the car back you aren't approved"... So apparently Steve had no clue what he was talking about... Lyle went on to say "However we have a 328i that's in great condition that we can approve you on." I had traded in an old Jeep and I much rather would have a lesser BMW than take my trade back so I played ball.
Went down, turns out the car was AWESOME! I loved it! However Chapman had me sign all new paper work, agreeing to an INSANE APR of 29.99%, agreeing to have a tracking device in the car, basically making me feel like a criminal for not having the best credit score on the planet. However I agreed and jumped through their hoops.
Steve in a rush and obviously looking annoyed and embarrassed that I was back, rushed through the paper work. I asked him again, "So is this approved, are we good?" He replied "yes, this is approved you are good to go." Never once manning up & offering an apology or recognition of wrong doing or over promising, instead he treated me as if I was a pain to deal with.
A couple more weeks went by, I showed the second BMW to my friend co-workers, family etc. Bought a decal for the back window, took a road trip in it, the car was mine. I loved it!
Well into October I had an amazing job opportunity open up, so I quit my previous job accepted the new offer.
Lyle from Chapman called and said "The lender can't approve your loan, they need to verify employment" I explained the situation, and he made me feel assured that there would be something they could work out for me. I sent over my offer letter from my new job, as well as contacts to legally verify employment. Keep in mind this was Chapman BMW's "In house" finance group... Apparently a legal offer letter and a direct line to HR to do a standard verification of employment doesn't satisfy Chapman BMW. Never mind the fact the "lender" was slow in their verification of employment.
Lyle called back explaining his job was on the line and I needed to return the BMW. I obviously didn't want to cost anyone their job over a car, so I returned the car and took back my Jeep.
Later that day I get a call from Lyle telling me that Chapman now has a problem because my Jeep (registered in CA) had the title transferred to AZ in their names. Since the registration was expired, they needed to either get the Jeep registered for me here in AZ, or make the deal with the BMW work. He suggested that Chapman pay for a rental car, and when I find out when my I'll have my first pay stub from my new job, to let him know. Then they'll pay for my rental car and we can get the deal worked out on the BMW. GREAT! It maybe a weird and stressful situation but hey at least they are working with me.
A week went by and Lyle called me and asked when I would be getting a pay check, I explained the soonest I would see one is Nov 7th. He then explained that Chapman would be unwilling to pay for the rental car until then and I needed to return the rental car and pick up my Jeep. Finally fed up with the insanity of all of this, I took back my Jeep. Magically Chapman had an AZ Title for the Jeep in my name, not sure how they did that but okay. Then they let me drive my Jeep off the lot with a broken Wheel Hub which I had to pay to fix on my own. Thank God I did, I might have died on the way home.
In closing: My credit might not be the best, but it won't always be that way. I make great money, and I am very capable of bringing money to the table to make this work. Not once was that suggested, or the option was ever given. Chapman is not the only BMW Dealership in town, and after all the hoops I had to jump through, I would expect them to look at me not as a pain but as a chance to establish a good customer relationship. Exceptions can be made, deals can be done, and people can wait for pay stubs. Not a good look Chapman.