BMW dealer to sell M3 to man for $60k after being pressured from internet

Believe us, there are good people in this world. BMW of Lincoln, Nebraska was under fire for the past 4 days after refusing to honor a winning auction on eBay Motors for a 2008 BMW M3 Sedan. But after many phone calls, threats, emails and even fake sales calls from forum members and random supporters of the bidder that heard his story on the internet, BMW of Lincoln was forced to sell the E90 M3 Sedan at the winning bid of $60,000.

Bidder theticketmasta, better known as Ken, was searching on eBay Motors for a 2008 BMW M3 sedan when he came across an auction that read in caps “LOWEST PRICE ON EBAY.” The auction started at $60,000 and had a ‘But it Now’ price of $66,926 with no reserve.

After the auction was over, Michael Barett at BMW of Lincoln contacted Ken telling him the auction was a mistake. Ken then...
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Brembo - 3/25/2008 11:26:03 AM

+16 Boost

The power of the internet when used for good.

07G35J - 3/25/2008 11:26:50 AM

+7 Boost

Well, good for Ken. Enjoy your new ride!! I'm sure you will.

sold2early - 3/25/2008 11:33:16 AM

+14 Boost

Don't take it back to that dealer for service..

KZ258 - 3/25/2008 4:34:17 PM

+5 Boost

LOL

Designer1 - 3/26/2008 1:08:31 AM

+3 Boost

lool that is so true, get the car and never go back to that dealer again.

Congrats!!

w209w114 - 3/25/2008 11:30:41 AM

+11 Boost

Congrats Ken!!! You got a great deal, it was worth it. The dealer however, ruined its image in the process. If I was in the market for a new car BMW of Lincoln Nebraska is the LAST place I'd go. Talk about sticking it to the customer.

sold2early - 3/25/2008 11:38:05 AM

+6 Boost

If the dealer decides to list any more cars on Ebay, he can look forward to lots of fake bids to sabotage the auctions.

People won't be forgetting about this anytime soon, even if the dealer ultimately honored the deal.

stash84 - 3/25/2008 2:17:30 PM

+3 Boost

NICE!!!!!!!!

whoever listed it didnt know what they were doing..the dealership lost this time but it shouldnt ruin their rep. they ultimately honored it..it was one person, not the dealership..

BFABS - 3/25/2008 12:02:27 PM

+3 Boost

I bet you the condition will be "not to sell the car within a year or sell it to them first" that way he does not sell it for more. Believe me there are not a lot of people willing to buy the M3 "SEDAN" (not coupe) for more than $60k.... when you can buy a used 06/early 07 M5 for that amount. Maybe that was why he won the bid at that price.

silver1 - 3/25/2008 12:23:27 PM

+4 Boost

I know BMW is mad. And i'm pretty sure they didn't wanna do it under any circumstances. I bet you this dealer will never auction another car on ebay again.

SHOWTIME - 3/25/2008 2:00:39 PM

+4 Boost

If I was BMW I would have fired both the salesperson and his manager instantly!

lexusis350 - 3/25/2008 4:16:00 PM

+2 Boost

Good, I'm glad they're going to sell it to him. And what a lucky guy, too.

thisismyname - 3/25/2008 4:52:34 PM

+2 Boost

The conditions would be that the buyer can't sell the car for pure profit right away... since he could beat the dealers price and sell it privately (in canada we have provincial and federal tax, when buying a car privately you only pay one tax, when buying one through the dealerships you pay both taxes. Is it the same south of the border?).

They can't make you take the car somewhere for service.. you can't shop around to other BMW dealerships for service quotes? Then what would prevent this dealership from gaining the money back in inflated service costs over the years?

I'm glad our bitching actually got something achieved , these stories don't typically turn out so "peachy".

minimalist - 3/25/2008 5:41:22 PM

+2 Boost

why the heck would bmw care if a buyer sold the car for less? what do they lose? they received the purchase price already which isnt unreasonably disparate considering msrp.

the likely condition is the relinquishment of any legal claim in addition to any disbaraging actions.

iamdabest1 - 3/25/2008 8:42:49 PM

+3 Boost

we should all make new user names and bid on their cars and just bother them with emails n fake bids.

KZ258 - 3/25/2008 8:52:13 PM

+2 Boost

there are severe consequences for that btw

maintainer06 - 3/25/2008 9:50:08 PM

+2 Boost

Where he gets it serviced doesn't matter, new BMWs come with free service for 4 yrs or 50K miles. When I had my 540, I never paid a dime for service and even got a loaner car while they did the work.

BMW wouldn't fire anyone over this...the owner of the dealership might but then he'd never get his money back out of the people who screwed up. BMW was probably a little worried about the bad publicity.

I really doubt the dealer had to come out of pocket on this deal although he did miss out on the $6K could have made off the suckers who pay sticker price.

I agree with BFABs, I doubt theticketmasta could make any money on a resale.

This was a non-event and will be quickly forgotten. I'd bet that less than 10% of BMW's target market has even heard about it.