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      09-10-2018, 08:31 AM   #1
warrenw
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Drives: 19 AW M2C, 21 M340i
Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Seoul

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Dealer messed up customs papers - twice - car delayed

Hi guys.

I'm in sort of a unique situation and I'm looking for some advice.

I ordered my M2 the day allocations were released and got week 28. Once the VIN was created the full amount of the car was due, so I put down a downpayment and financed the rest. The reason why I had to do this was it's a factory direct sale. The car headed to Bremerhaven and got on a boat. The car finally arrived September 4th to the port.

I'm participating in BMW Mil sales. I'm tax exempt and I get about a 10% discount. I'm currently living overseas and the car I bought is US spec. Since I'm tax exempt I'm only allowed one personal vehicle (understandable) so I sold my prior car before the BMW hit the port. In the meantime I'm in a rental car, at my own expense.

Now - I received the papers Tuesday, Sept 4. I go on Sept 5 (Wednesday) to get the customs papers stamped (so I get my tax exemption and can import the car) only to come to find out that the import papers don't match the invoice amount (dealer was doing multiple import papers at once, fudged the numbers). So I take it to customs the following day (thursday) once I got the revised paper. Well it was too close to closing time so they said to come back the following day to pick it up (Friday). I get the papers to the dealer Friday at lunchtime. Dealer says he will send the papers Monday to the customs office at the port (this is being sent electronically btw) and when I inquired as to why he couldn't send them the same day he said he had other papers he had to work up. Whatever.

Now it's Monday. I get a text from the dealer saying that it didn't clear customs yet and it would clear Tuesday (tomorrow). I then get a phone call an hour later saying that the country of origin on the paperwork is wrong and that my paperwork must now be restamped. Oh but now Monday is over so the earliest this can happen is Tuesday morning...

On top of all of this, the dealer insists that it takes BMW a minimum of 7 days to process the car once it passes through customs. That means I was supposed to get the car this Thursday, and now the very earliest I can get it is next Tuesday.

Meanwhile I am making payments on a car not in my possession (two so far), the bank is asking for my title and threatening me to increase my interest rate to 26% if I don't comply ASAP, I'm paying money every day to be in a rental car, and my dealer has zero incentive to release the car to me because the car is already paid in full.

What would you do in this situation?? I'm literally at a loss for words at this point. The dealer has no incentive to get the car to me, I'm paying every day to rent a car, and I'm on the verge of having my interest rate spike due to not having a title yet. What recourse do I have with this dealer?

Oh and to add insult to injury, even though I told the dealer I didn't want the car washed before delivery and I don't want holes drilled for the license plate (korean plates are euro style, being drilled on a US spec bumper, last person who had this happen ended up with 10 holes in their bumper and it looked terrible) the response was "we can't change or make any requests to how BMW processes cars at the port."

I will never, ever do this process again. Sorry for venting!
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