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Re: Z4 Test Drive
Fred:
Wow.....what a marketing change for BMW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Giving away sunglasses and just handing you the keys to a new car to let
you drive all by yourself. You must not be living in the Washington DC
area. Dealers here don't want you to put miles on their cars, sit in
them, etc. They are just works of rolling art sitting in the dealer lot
till someone is bold enough to plonk $50-60K down on a car they have
never driven before. All paperwork is filled out and a check is
produced by the new owner. Then the new owner is privileged to drive
his new mystery rolling work of art out in the metropolitan jungle but
within a reasonable period.....say a few miles, bring the car back if
he doesn't like it and get a full refund.
Now I got this BMW purchasing procedure from my good friends at my local
BMW store...BMW of Sterling. For M Cars, this is how they handle the
deal. And I have it on good authority from Mr. Ed Aikenhead, Sale
Associate, and Mr. Thomas Moorehead Owner/President of the franchise.
The reason, if anybody sees that a new M car has more than a few miles
on it, they will not buy it. So why don't they keep a demo on
hand???.........they can't afford to. Cars are too much in demand.
They don't want to tie up $50-60K in a demo.
Another of my many reasons for getting away from the yuppie/pompous BMW
dealer attitude. What am I driving now............1999 Porsche 911.
I wasn't sure what a Porsche drove like.
I go down to Porsche of Arlington, see Chic Stanton, he throws me the
keys to a brand new 2002 911 Carrera 2, an $80K
auto......................lets me drive it on my own. Kind of like your
Z4 BMW experience....................................So where would I go
buy a car and what would I buy if I had $50-$60K.........a 1999/2000
Porsche 911....................Go figure..................
Chris Osborne
BMWCCA# 92573
Elcrinv@domain.elided
Sent by: To: bmw@domain.elided
owner-bmw@digest. cc:
net Subject: Re: Z4 Test Drive
02/02/2003 05:16
PM
The other day BMWUSA sent me a card offering a pair of sunglasses if I
would
test drive the new Z4. Since I was in the market for a car (though not a
ragtop) I took them up on it. Our dealer in Colorado Springs didn't have
a
manual shifter right away but called me when one came in. The other
Saturday
I went in and they pulled up a nice deep metallic red Z4 and handed me
the
keys. I got about a half mile down the road before I realized I had this
big
grin on my face. I really liked this car! At first I thought I had left
a
door open because of the road noise but it was just my unfamiliarity
with a
convertible. Nice engine sound, very nice smooth tight 6-speed shifter,
responsive engine and a great road feel. I've driven the Z3 and M coup
on the
road and track but never really cared much for them but the Z4 is a much
better handling car, probably because of pushing the wheels out further.
As
for looks, it reminds me of the older corvette roadster bodies, but more
updated. Again, much better than the Z3. Anyway, I just tooled around in
that
little bomb for about a half hour enjoying how comfortable and familiar
it
felt. It is a piece of engineering worthy of the roundel emblem, without
doubt.
Would I buy one? Well, actually I have a Z on order about the same
color
but it's a coup with 287 HP, torque to match, a great looking shape and
about
15 grand less. But I am happy to report that, at least in my opinion,
BMW has
a really nice little car there. The Mcoup version ought to be just about
nirvana.
As for the sunglasses, they are the fold up kind and come in a silver
case
with a place for your in initials to be engraved and a soft leather case
to
put on your belt. Stylin'!
Fred Callender RMC BMW CCA
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