Consumer complaint received 2017-03-15
Company: BMW Financial Services NA, LLC
State: NJ
Product: Consumer Loan
Sub-product: Vehicle loan
Issue: Shopping for a loan or lease

Complaint:
On Saturday XXXX XXXX, 2017, I purchased a XXXX through Mini XXXX ( MD ). I have Tier 1 credit score and by car and my credit profile qualified for a 1.4 % interest for 72 months offered through Mini/BMW XXXX. However the Finance Director ( XXXX XXXX ) offered me 2.99 % and after I agreed to purchase an extended " Maintenance Plan '' he offered me a " discounted '' rate of 2.4 % for XXXX through Mini/BMW Finance. I later found out from another Mini dealer, that I was eligible for the 1.4 % for 72 months, from Mini/BMW, but the XXXX XXXX /the Dealer never disclosed that to me, even though I asked multiple times. 

I also found out that the XXXX XXXX had quoted a price of {$2900.00} for an extended Maintenance Plan ( 6yrs/100k miles ) and then offered to lower the price to {$2500.00} saying he had a {$300.00} margin. I decided to accept the plan based on the information he shared about the actual cost of Maintenance for XXXX XXXX over the 100k miles, if I keep my vehicle. I found out from another Mini dealer who immediately quoted me {$2500.00} without any negotiation. 

I emailed XXXX XXXX on Wednesday XXXX/XXXX/2017 about the two issues described above, he called me back and stated that he was under no obligation to offer me a 1.4 % rate which he confirmed I was eligible for, but did not disclose to me at the time of financing. He also stated that he has a {$300.00} margin on the XXXX plan and he will be happy to send me a cancellation form if I wish to do so. 
I spoke to the Sales XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX on XXXX/XXXX/2017 and he too stated that " XXXX XXXX did nothing wrong '' and what I experienced was " industry practice '', he went as far as saying, " every dealer does this ''. 

As you can see from the above there are multiple issues impacting consumers of auto lending and auto warranty/maintenance programs which lead to deceptive/unfair practices by either Auto Dealers or Auto Finance companies since there is lack of transparency to the end consumer : 1 ) Mini/BMW website did not disclose their promotional rate of 1.4 % on their website, and Mini of XXXX XXXX did not either. However another Mini dealer in NJ did disclose it and therefore I was offered a higher interest rate by Mini of XXXX XXXX, than I was eligible for given my credit profile and vehicle. Why is n't the dealer required to disclose the mark-up they are putting on these loans? It leaves consumers of auto financing vulnerable to abuse by dealers and their finance departments. 

2 ) MINI/BMW sells extended warranties, maintenance plans and other options, however there is no suggested retail pricing available for these additional options, unlike the MSRP for a car, and the dealers are free to quote any price they want. As a consumer of these products, there is no way for me to know what price is a reasonable price, since neither Mini/BMW nor the dealers publish their prices so consumers can cross shop before hand. Thus the market is not transparent. So I had to make a decision on the spot during the financing process, which put me at a disadvantage.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation