pharding

I didn't pay this fee on my Euro Delivery 550 Sport. I understood that BMW Buyers are able to make this stupid fee go away on US orders also. Am I mistaken? Others claim that I am.

For what it is worth, I find the new Training Fee to be particularly obnoxious. Training is DEALER OVERHEAD. BMW with its stupid ever increasing fees, Dealer Prep and Handling, the ever variable MACO and the new Training Fee, is crossly the line in my opinion. BMW is starting to become rather arrogant and is slowly taking advantage of BMW Enthusiasts. Audi and MB make fine cars also. BMW does not have a monopoly on my business.

Is the Training Fee now part of every US Deal? Thanks.

westcoast550

Never heard a word about this .

lynx10

The salesman told me this fee was as inviolate as the destination charge, and thus had to be paid by the buyer.

I was skeptical, but I paid it anyway.

pharding

BMW's recent strategy of adding and allowing ever more fees, is counter-productive to the important, core strategy of BMW Enthusiast satisfaction and loyalty. The fees create confusion and bitterness in the marketplace for the BMW Enthusiast. BMW's are expensive automobiles that are purchased by an affluent, well educated group of people. We are not buying cheap domestic cars. Loyalty to BMW is a relationship that merits integrity if is going to be long lasting. Shoving Training Fees and Advertising Fees down the throat of the BMW Enthusiast hurts BMW in the long run with repeat customers. Plus tolerating other fake finance fees added by the dealer plus allowing dealers to do leases without showing the math also violates that trust between BMW Enthusiasts and BMW.

Speaking for myself there many good options for my next lease in 2010 including an Audi A7 and the next generation MB E-Class. I am not afraid to say enough is enough and move on.

big_ipaq

Can you explain what this fee is? Training? Meaning what?

timewa

Never heard of this training fee in Holland. You "only" pay for delivery and a full tank of fuel, a little over €1000.- if I recall correctly.
I'm curious what it is and if this will also come in Europe...

big_ipaq

Can you also explain what you "pay for delivery" means in Holland?

jmatthe

There is no training fee that BMWUSA sanctions. I believe that fee is an individual dealer mark-up that is negotiable. iI would not pay it or, in your case, demand my money back.

5 Rakete

The Training Fee, formerly known as the Training & System Fee (or do I have that backwards?), has always been there. It used to be buried in the base wholesale price that most people saw published. If you looked in BMW's internal Wholesale Price report on a car you would see it listed separately with the wholesale base price reduced by the same amount. Note that some wholesale publishing sites showed these amounts, hence some people's confusion over a $180 difference when comparing one site to another. Anyway my guess is this fee is no longer buried and so it represents an effective $180 factory markup or price increase. In other words BMWNA ate some more of the dealer's margin compared to MSRP (unless that was adjusted up too).

Make no mistake, BMWNA invoices the dealers for everything on the Wholesale Price report for your car. This includes this Training Fee and MACO. You may not like it but it's there and the dealer pays it. You can negotiate it all you want, what you are really negotiating is the amount over wholesale + training + MACO (if applicable). Don't blame the dealers for everything. Marking up the money factor, the acquisition fee, and their real profit is one thing but stuff they get tagged with by BMWNA?

pharding

Thank you. I am trying to separate fact from fiction about the $180 Training Fee. You can see from the above posts that there is considerable confusion about the Training Fee among us loyal BMW Enthusiasts.

MACO varies by area. Some dealers opt out of it and do not charge for it as a line item.