Ken, a Californian who purchased a brand new BMW M3 from a Nebraska BMW dealership but was refused the ownership because the dealer didn’t like the purchase price (it didn’t accelerate with demand the way they thought it would) will be getting his car after all. Apparently BMW of Lincoln and – we can assume, BMW HQ – didn’t like the web onslaught that started at M3post.com, then Autoblog, and on to sites like GoodCarBadCar.net.
So, unless Ken doesn’t get his M3 tomorrow for the $60,000 price and we have to reignite the firestorm, there’s no more need to make fun of Fil’s haircut or harass the dealer. What this whole brouhaha may well affect is BMW of Lincoln’s long term reputation. YouTube, Facebook, and MySpace are only continuations of the whole WWW phenomenon that accentuates and defines problems like these and gives attention of the worldwide variety.
So good for Ken. And good for us. After all, wasn’t I/You TIME’s Person of the Year? If you haven’t seen the original post, follow this link.
So folks, this story hasn’t come to an end yet. Ken’s attorney got one condition lifted, that Ken couldn’t sell up in a certain number of years. But BMW of Lincoln is still misbehaving and even had a sales manager complaining about the bloggers who have too much time on their hands. And we know that Ken tamped down the internet tension that had flowed in BMW of Lincoln’s direction. So, give up the car already, eh.
Autoblog is reporting that other BMW dealers are contacting Ken ready to do a deal on an M3. And that Fil Catania admonished Ken over the phone that he isn’t doing enough to get the press off his back. And that Ken’s lawyer is attempting to get the help of BMW of North America to aid his cause. And that BMW of Lincoln didn’t want to take Ken’s credit card info over the phone just as he thought the deal was finally done. Give it up already, eh?
The latest from Autoblog: “Ken’s latest post says that all the details for payment are settled and the car is going to be delivered to his nearest Bimmer dealer, South Bay BMW, any day now. Props are paid to his lawyer, Scott, who really did the heavy lifting, as well as the hundreds of thousands of internet folk who made a stink on Ken’s behalf. Ken is also auctioning off the right to pick his vanity license plates for the car, which should be interesting. Half the money will go to pay his legal bills, and the other half to charity.”