I have purchased several BMW's and Audi's over the years and when I went to make my most recent BMW Purchase from the folks over at Elliott Bay Autos I thought I was getting a good deal. It was the specific color I was looking for and I was reassured by the owner Jim Phelps and his WIND BAG SALES GUY Jim Frost that they compete directly with the BMW reps to buy CLEAN lease return vehicles. They went though this whole mumbo jumbo sales pitch about how if they had not purchased this particular car it would have ended up at a BMW dealer with a much higher price. But since they have "low overhead" I am able to get a good deal on it.
It drove ok, had a few minor things that I knew I could get fixed at the BMW dealer under warranty so I was not worried. After making the purchase with Elliot Bay Auto Brokers I waited about a month before scheduling some work at the BMW dealer because the AC stopped working. I thought it was no big deal, boy was I in for a surprise.
When I dropped off my car at the BMW Dealer I expected to have it fixed up and covered under warranty with no problems as I had come to expect from the stellar service at Seattle BMW. However this time it was not the case. I was promptly informed that my AC issue would not be covered under warranty because my car had previously been in a MAJOR accident in southern California. The BMW dealer told me that the previous owner had the car fixed somewhere other than a BMW dealer to avoid getting charged high prices for repair and lease obligations and even though it was not reported to CarFax the accident was easily noticed by the BMW dealer where the car had been turned in from its original lease.
They went on to tell me that once the car is turned in it is inspected and deemed unsellable at any BMW facility and sent off to the River Side auto auction where is was sold with an announcement of the FRAME DAMAGE in the auction that would prevent any BMW rep from ever bidding on the car!!!
This is how the slime balls over at Elliot Bay Auto Brokers (aka Phelps auto brokers) get such a good deal. They check the carfax reports on all of the cars with announcements and knowingly bid on the ones with clean reports.
This is very unethical and unbelievable to me. I don't know how Jim Phelps and Jim Frost sleep at night. They must have absolutely no respect for their customers. Someone needs to bring a class action law suit against these jokers.
When I confronted Elliott Bay Auto Brokers about this issue I did not tell them everything the BMW dealer had disclosed to me and Jim Phelps LIED through his teeth and told me that they can only rely on the Carfax report and THEY HAD NO WAY OF KNOWING ABOUT THE FRAME DAMAGED HISTORY.
I will never do business with these bottom feeders ever again. After doing a google search I found quite a few other people who have had the same experience with this dealer. I wish Washington State would revoke their license.
DO NOT BUY A CAR FROM ELLIOTT BAY AUTO BROKERS!!!
And I will be inspecting any future purchases from independent dealers at BMW of Seattle BEFORE I BUY from now on.
Disgusted in Seattle
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