Rick Hendrick who bought last 30th Jahre M5 for 700k!! Great man! Great legacy but?

[soooma]

As much trouble I currently have with Hendrick Delaership because of issues with my M5 after which they threw me under the bus!
But this won't prevent me from honoring this man Rick Hendrick who's someone to look up to and a role model for generations to come indeed!!

Here's my story and you be the judge!

2 years ago I purchased 550i 2012 used with 4k miles on it from one of Hendricks dealership specifically City Chevrolet ( across the street from the BMW delaership i have been having issues with now ) and I had called them on the phone and arrived to check the car out which was their sales manager's car and a rather old guy with a badge on it saying Rick Hendrick wo had recieved my phone call earlier showed up greeting me gleefully and I told him I was there to check this car and test drive it to buy it.

Lo and behold he (Rick Hendrick, yeah) said he would be glad to help me with this and then he pulled the car in front of me and apologized for having too little gas for a test drive and one of the guys around him offered to fill it up quick yet he said he would take care of it and I had no idea who he was till hours later as I wasn't paying attention except to my future car -

He grabbed a large container and walked across the street and filled it with gas in admirable utter humility and filled it himself and then apologized again and asked me to enjoy test driving the car, what a man! Was a heavy container and he is rather old!! I learned later that he is The RICK HENDRICK the owner of it all !!

I learned a lesson that day about why this man became the man he is now!!

And the reason I decided to write this post was I heard very negative feedback about him buying that last M5 30th anniversary edition for 700k and I wanted to say I am a big fan of this humble yet great man. (When most money is for good cause).

As much as I respect him yet Hendrick Dealership here in Charlotte aren't trying the least to walk the walk but rather just talk the talk and certainly not as humble as he is or try to follow his tracks or his suit !!

It is a shame that you start something great and believe in its goal and message yet people who run it for you when it's too big to be run by you alone don't give a damn about your legacy! Or have it in them to honor him such a great man!! But running a money making machine and counting the scores of customers' satisfaction surveys which could be devoid of real meaning or passion this great man really had, has and will always have for his customers at heart !!

What a great loss that his workers and employees don't bother try to learn from his humility when clients like myself did and will always tell this story about this great man.

As grateful as I once was for having Hendrick BMW in Charlotte in particular and BMW NA in general around as sad and disappointed I have become when they decided to tacitly throw me and my M5 under the routine and red tape bus when the time has come to prove whether they were in it for the money or they genuinely care about customer satisfaction and BMW driver's passion which is why I and I suppose all if us here buy BMWs for or at least for keeping such a great legacy that such a great man and his family have started once long time ago!

P.S As you may have noticed I could have mentioned names of the people who threw me under the bus under Hendrick's name but that is not my intention here to hurt any body and I mentioned one name which is Rick Hendrick himself to honor this man who is worthy of my respect which might not be much to offer but my only 2 mites -

Sadly coming from a loyal BMW fan!!
Who purchased 4 BMWs in 3 years worth more than 300k yet still not worth the time of the dealership to ask why I have become a very annoyed unhappy BMW M!!driver (?Oxymoron) and people here who know me know as well that I have been having problem with ticking rotors but really bad lately to the point that I hate driving this M5 which is supposed to be our "Dream car" at least for some of us here it is deemed the dream car not the "Headache car".

My heart is so heavy and burdened yet I won't say a lot more because it seems that the word of ONE BMW OWNER doesn't count anymore and certainly not heard and who cares about me after all I am just another BMW M5 owner amongst thousands !!!!!!!! As it seems all that matters I won't be able to hurt their sales which is sadly true!!

A helpless once upon a time biggest fan and loyal BMW M5 disatisfied owner!!
Thank you for your time guys and forgive me for rambling but please understand my utter frustration and I appreciate you here as a community.

I have reached out to BMW CCA Frank, Philip who is the head of the club but seems more helpless than I thought and I had reached out to BMW NA and haven't heard back either and wasn't planning on venting here but here I am exploding here while trying to defend Rick Hendrick - !! And I am not being cynical as I really respect him yet only him in there proved so far worthy of my respect!

[richard in NC]

Can you say if the issue is with Independence or Northlake?

[Seanmag]

nice story - thanks for sharing!

[stealth.pilot]

When I was 22 I bought a 15 month old 328i Cabriolet from Hendricks BMW in Charlotte. They said it was an executive car, driven carefully and good as new.

After 3 years I traded it for a 330ci cabriolet at Braman in Miami. Braman gave me a low trade in and said the car had significant bodywork (hood, fender, bumper).

I'm not sure who lied Hendricks or Braman. At that point I didn't bother to pursue it since I just wanted my new car.

But here is one point I want to share: the buck stops at the top. If a dealership has a culture of cheating or not honoring their customers, there is no way the owner and CEO is oblivious to it. They set the culture. So while you are impressed with his salesmanship, you should not be impressed with his values.

[soooma]

Originally Posted by Seanmag

nice story - thanks for sharing!

Albeit a sad one
Thank you sir

[soooma]

Originally Posted by stealth.pilot

When I was 22 I bought a 15 month old 328i Cabriolet from Hendricks BMW in Charlotte. They said it was an executive car, driven carefully and good as new.

After 3 years I traded it for a 330ci cabriolet at Braman in Miami. Braman gave me a low trade in and said the car had significant bodywork (hood, fender, bumper).

I'm not sure who lied Hendricks or Braman. At that point I didn't bother to pursue it since I just wanted my new car.

But here is one point I want to share: the buck stops at the top. If a dealership has a culture of cheating or not honoring their customers, there is no way the owner and CEO is oblivious to it. They set the culture. So while you are impressed with his salesmanship, you should not be impressed with his values.

Let's agree to disagree on this one
I believe he was acting out of real character rather than mundane salesmanship
Yet thank you for support and chiming in Stealth.pilot -

[soooma]

Originally Posted by richard in NC

Can you say if the issue is with Independence or Northlake?

Across the street from City Chevrolet Richard so you know which one

[stealth.pilot]

Originally Posted by soooma

Let's agree to disagree on this one
I believe he was acting out of real character rather than mundane salesmanship
Yet thank you for support and chiming in Stealth.pilot -

Perhaps but I don't see how you can separate the culture of his BMW dealership and his own leadership.

[Palomequet]

Originally Posted by stealth.pilot

Perhaps but I don't see how you can separate the culture of his BMW dealership and his own leadership.

If envy was a color it would be a frozen color.

[M6-Coupe]

Soooma I completely understand your pain and feel your disappointment, but buddy why you are bothering yourself for several months? I think it's at least 6 months that you are complaining and the issue is still there... I mean do something. Either live with that or get rid of the car... simple! I had that ticking noise for months and didn't care about that and finally had them fixed. Don't get me wrong I am not careless about everything but I accepted that this is not a big deal even for a 100k+ car... I had so many issues with my car a lot more than your issue, but I dealt with all of them.... issue with differential, suspension, transmission, brakes, rotors, even the trunk shocks were broken and I was waiting for back order parts for months! and finally replaced all of them... but still enjoying the car because of many thing she has... I'm not sure if my next car is BMW, but more than that I'm not sure even if I would have a chance to be alive to get the next generation of M6 .... So simply enjoy your life and be a little CARELESS... at the end of the day, it's just a car

[PhilT3]

Culture starts at the top.

Here's the test Sooma. Why don't you call or write Rick and explain your ugly situation to him directly. See how he handles it after you know for sure he is fully aware of it. His management team may have not brought your situation to him.

[PhilT3]

Originally Posted by M6-Coupe

Soooma I completely understand your pain and feel your disappointment, but buddy why you are bothering yourself for several months? I think it's at least 6 months that you are complaining and the issue is still there... I mean do something. Either live with that or get rid of the car... simple! I had that ticking noise for months and didn't care about that and finally had them fixed. Don't get me wrong I am not careless about everything but I accepted that this is not a big deal even for a 100k+ car... I had so many issues with my car a lot more than your issue, but I dealt with all of them.... issue with differential, suspension, transmission, brakes, rotors, even the trunk shocks were broken and I was waiting for back order parts for months! and finally replaced all of them... but still enjoying the car because of many thing she has... I'm not sure if my next car is BMW, but more than that I'm not sure even if I would have a chance to be alive to get the next generation of M6 .... So simply enjoy your life and be a little CARELESS... at the end of the day, it's just a car

Yep.

[soooma]

Originally Posted by M6-Coupe

Soooma I completely understand your pain and feel your disappointment, but buddy why you are bothering yourself for several months? I think it's at least 6 months that you are complaining and the issue is still there... I mean do something. Either live with that or get rid of the car... simple! I had that ticking noise for months and didn't care about that and finally had them fixed. Don't get me wrong I am not careless about everything but I accepted that this is not a big deal even for a 100k+ car... I had so many issues with my car a lot more than your issue, but I dealt with all of them.... issue with differential, suspension, transmission, brakes, rotors, even the trunk shocks were broken and I was waiting for back order parts for months! and finally replaced all of them... but still enjoying the car because of many thing she has... I'm not sure if my next car is BMW, but more than that I'm not sure even if I would have a chance to be alive to get the next generation of M6 .... So simply enjoy your life and be a little CARELESS... at the end of the day, it's just a car

I wish I had it in me to be careless in a good way like purposefully able to ignore things that bug me, yet I sorts am because I have been having ot back for a few months but can't imagine having it for 2 more years buddy !!
I could do many things but I am not and I still have a flickering faith in BMW NA or International that they will respond and do something that might make me a happy M camper once again !!

[soooma]

Originally Posted by PhilT3

Culture starts at the top.

Here's the test Sooma. Why don't you call or write Rick and explain your ugly situation to him directly. See how he handles it after you know for sure he is fully aware of it. His management team may have not brought your situation to him.

I pnever thought of this!
Let me try that and will get back to you guys and hope he doesn't disappoint me even further ! -

[soooma]

Originally Posted by Palomequet

If envy was a color it would be a frozen color.

Doubt it -

[RPiM5]

Sooma, I love ya man, but sometimes your grammar is very hard to understand. You seem to keep your ethnicity a secret, which is fine, but by your writing style I think I can safely assume that you did not grow up in the U.S. I'm just pointing this out because I want to help and yet I had trouble determining what your actual problem is brotha.

So from I was gather, you have ticking rotors on your M5 and I think you may have tried to get them fixed many times from this Hendrick Dealership and they either won't fix it or can't fix it? Am I on track??

In reality your best option is contact BMW North America. BMW CCA is an organization with some power but their power only extends to events or incidents directly involving the club, (i.e. you were at a BMW CCA Sponsored track event and there was mechanical problem with your BMW while you were on the track and the dealership refuses to fix the mechanical problem because you were tracking the BMW).

BMW North America has come through for me many times, but I'll be honest, you really need the dealership on your side in order for North America to act in your favor. If it comes down to contacting Mr. Hendrick himself in order to get the dealership on your side, then that is an avenue you can pursue.

The only other course is to get a lawyer involved. I have gone this route as well. A good lawyer can do wonders for you. I would say that 99% of the time the lawyer can get things done for you as no dealership and BMW North America want a long drawn out process that would ultimately cost them a lot of money in the end, not to mention possible bad PR. So getting a lawyer involved would more likely result in reaching a settlement, which can be very good for you.

If you truly like that particular M5 that you currently own then I would try to get it fixed. I understand personal attachment and sentimental value more than most, but in the end as M6-Coupe pointed out it's just a car. If the ticking rotors simply cannot be fixed, even if they agree to replace 99% of the parts on the car, then I say get out of it and try to reach a deal for a replacement vehicle. I've known many people who have had BMW replacement their entire vehicle for a newer year model of the same car, including F10 M5's. It actually happens all of the time. No car company is perfect, Ferrari's, Lambo's, Porsche's, etc all have their problems too. Just look at that one guy who made that YouTube video with all the 28 problems his new Porsche 911 was having. He even showed on video smoke coming from the damn door. These car companies will do almost anything to avoid bad PR. They don't want anything to hurt their brand image. Most individual dealerships could care less if your M5 caught on fire from a defect, they just see us as a customer, unless you take the time to really establish a repertoire with them.

[stealth.pilot]

Originally Posted by soooma

I pnever thought of this!
Let me try that and will get back to you guys and hope he doesn't disappoint me even further ! -

Yes. This will either prove your point or my point about Mr Hendrick. If it proves your point then he's a good man but a poor leader. If it proves my point then he's not a good man but a good leader. The characteristic of good leadership here being whether he is able to instill his own values and principles into the actions of his people.

[soooma]

Originally Posted by RPiM5

Sooma, I love ya man, but sometimes your grammar is very hard to understand. You seem to keep your ethnicity a secret, which is fine, but by your writing style I think I can safely assume that you did not grow up in the U.S. I'm just pointing this out because I want to help and yet I had trouble determining what your actual problem is brotha.

So from I was gather, you have ticking rotors on your M5 and I think you may have tried to get them fixed many times from this Hendrick Dealership and they either won't fix it or can't fix it? Am I on track??

In reality your best option is contact BMW North America. BMW CCA is an organization with some power but their power only extends to events or incidents directly involving the club, (i.e. you were at a BMW CCA Sponsored track event and there was mechanical problem with your BMW while you were on the track and the dealership refuses to fix the mechanical problem because you were tracking the BMW).

BMW North America has come through for me many times, but I'll be honest, you really need the dealership on your side in order for North America to act in your favor. If it comes down to contacting Mr. Hendrick himself in order to get the dealership on your side, then that is an avenue you can pursue.

The only other course is to get a lawyer involved. I have gone this route as well. A good lawyer can do wonders for you. I would say that 99% of the time the lawyer can get things done for you as no dealership and BMW North America want a long drawn out process that would ultimately cost them a lot of money in the end, not to mention possible bad PR. So getting a lawyer involved would more likely result in reaching a settlement, which can be very good for you.

If you truly like that particular M5 that you currently own then I would try to get it fixed. I understand personal attachment and sentimental value more than most, but in the end as M6-Coupe pointed out it's just a car. If the ticking rotors simply cannot be fixed, even if they agree to replace 99% of the parts on the car, then I say get out of it and try to reach a deal for a replacement vehicle. I've known many people who have had BMW replacement their entire vehicle for a newer year model of the same car, including F10 M5's. It actually happens all of the time. No car company is perfect, Ferrari's, Lambo's, Porsche's, etc all have their problems too. Just look at that one guy who made that YouTube video with all the 28 problems his new Porsche 911 was having. He even showed on video smoke coming from the damn door. These car companies will do almost anything to avoid bad PR. They don't want anything to hurt their brand image. Most individual dealerships could care less if your M5 caught on fire from a defect, they just see us as a customer, unless you take the time to really establish a repertoire with them.

Dear Dave -; )
1. Grammar and language skills are overrated
2. You are just jealous that my English is better than yours albeit not born hereyours
On a more serious note :
3. I am of middle Eastern ancestry which can be overrated In a different way LOL
4. I appreciate your eloquent reply (you amamged to make me ashmaed of my poor Engkish dude) and more than that I appreciate your sincere concern and interest that's felt between the lines that you really want to help me
5. All these things crossed my mind but I really have no time and hate litigation unless I have to and I am not done with BMW NA as I still as I mentioned before have some flickering faith in their better judgement! Appealing to that at least !!
6. I can't fathom going against BMW my most beloved car company that I have been raving about for years now in here saying thst M5 is one of the best cars ever made!!
soooma vs BMW !!!Unimaginable to me!!! Taboo if you will but who in BMW NA understands this or even cares!! I doubt any of them are car enthusiasts in the first place!!
I love BMW and you guys attest to this and this break my heart even more and cuts deeper and what adds salt to the wound is that I do love this particular car color and options and all and I won't accept but same exact car and I did offer to end lease or put me in another similarly equipped car with same or better options but guess what?! What Hendrick BMW in Charlotte decoded to do!!
Genius solution?!!
Ignore the customer and his concerns -
Seriously exactly what happened they have been ignoring my emails as if I have an invisible account -
7. Questions for you?
Is there a collusion between BMW Dealerships and BMW NA against their customers ?! To make sure image is good even resorting to twisted ways and who cares about a few unsatisfied customers as long as they are in the safe margin with scores ? We are just some numbers to them?
Is poor local dealership ethics and implicit non chalance a good reason why to hate BMW and join the masses of mass exodus to Audi and MB? Especially when I used to be an Audi fan before I was swept head over heels for M5!!
Still mulling over these things
I am not sure my next car is going to be a BMW this way!!
And because it is just a car (an expensive toy though) I can't imagine hiring a lawyer and wasting my precious time besides I am not that type of person in the first place, yet local dealership seems to be pushing me to my limits by ignoring me and making me want to prove them wrong about being in it for the money!!

P.S Forgive my poor English it is hardly a second language dude

Thank you Dave

[Mbdurham17]

I have to agree with you about Hendrick BMW Charlotte sales department is great but the service department is very inferior. My wife called me crying from there once when she dropped off her car (07 335 loaded we bought new from them) needless to say I met her at the dealership very irate. At the time I also had a Range Rover I purchased from right next door and the service was worlds apart. Not sure what it is with them all they care about is making sure you are going to fill out the survey with all high marks. We moved to Atlanta after and switched to united and they were great. The service department is no comparison to Charlotte. I have bought 3 more BMWs from United and will not buy anywhere else. I even drove over 4 hours to buy my M5 there when i lived in Charleston

However I agree if you are not happy keep pushing up the ladder until you are made happy. Eventually you will find someone that will make it happen.

[soooma]

Originally Posted by Mbdurham17

I have to agree with you about Hendrick BMW Charlotte sales department is great but the service department is very inferior. My wife called me crying from there once when she dropped off her car (07 335 loaded we bought new from them) needless to say I met her at the dealership very irate. At the time I also had a Range Rover I purchased from right next door and the service was worlds apart. Not sure what it is with them all they care about is making sure you are going to fill out the survey with all high marks. We moved to Atlanta after and switched to united and they were great. The service department is no comparison to Charlotte. I have bought 3 more BMWs from United and will not buy anywhere else. I even drove over 4 hours to buy my M5 there when i lived in Charleston

However I agree if you are not happy keep pushing up the ladder until you are made happy. Eventually you will find someone that will make it happen.

Thank you for your kind words Mbdurham
I will do my best to make sure this doesn't happen again easily to other BMW owners in general and M owners in particular whom I believe represent the beating heart of BMW enthusiasm and passion not only in the USA but everywhere !!
And we shouldn't be treated this way!!
I believe we should empower each other as a group so this can't happen to one of us because he/she is alone by himself/herself but if we are one and so supportive of each other THIS M5POST FAMILY WILL HAVE MORE LEVERAGE AND WILL MAKE THINGS HAPPEN!!!

[soooma]

Originally Posted by stealth.pilot

Yes. This will either prove your point or my point about Mr Hendrick. If it proves your point then he's a good man but a poor leader. If it proves my point then he's not a good man but a good leader. The characteristic of good leadership here being whether he is able to instill his own values and principles into the actions of his people.

Will give it a try and will keep you posted -