Chris Farnham (3193) passes away, 3/8/15

Rest in Peace. Condolences to his family and friends.

My condolences to his family. Bought a '09 Sportwagen from him new.
He literally spent hours with me going over everything in the car. Only
car salesman I have ever recommended. God speed

Condolences to his friends and family.

RIP Chris.

He was a super helpful person, he helped me track down a car when it wasn't even a sale for him. A huge loss for us but my condolences go to his family.

Godspeed Chris.

:-(

Very sorry to hear the news. I read a lot of Chris' posts as well as the replies and was greatly impressed. It is so hard to find a car salesman that you can like and trust and he was definitely the top of the pile.

Even from the west coast I thought I would find a way to buy my next VW from him. Condolences to the family.

So sorry to hear this. Chris was always friendly and helpful to me.

Very sad news. I spoke with Chris about extended warranties. He did not try and sell me anything, rather explained the benefits and gotchas with the program. Very professional and friendly chap. Condolences to his loved ones, huge loss for them. A highly respected professional in our community. RIP Sir.

I just came across this thread and am shocked and saddened.

Chris was a standup salesman and one of a kind. I've been driving for 48 years and bought only one new car - my '12 JSW TDI - and it was from Chris. I was not happy with my local dealer's BS and I called Chris... he said no problem, come over and we can talk. My local dealer, Prestige VW in Turnersville, had claimed the Goal wheels were just not available. Chris not only got the wheels but even offered a better deal... no dickering needed. It was painless to deal with Chris. We joked about how most auto salesman were regarded about as well as lawyers. Whenever I was at the dealership I would say hello and he usually had Philly pretzels. In spite of his health issues he was upbeat. I will miss him.

Rest in peace Chris. I will get a pretzel today in your memory.

It's kinda strange to be affected by the news of the death of a car salesman, given their overall reputation. But, Chris was one of the good ones. I did not buy a diesel from him, but he did sell me an Eos. He honored his original quote even though the price had gone up slightly when I picked it up.

We used to trek up to Langhorne to a few times each summer to go to the Sesame Place Water Park, just a short distance from Chris. Even before I had any intent of buying a VW, I made it a point to go over and meet Chris, just because of his reputation here on the board.

RIP Chris.

It was heartbreaking to read this thread. I didn't know Chris, and only only traded a few emails in the past month regarding my upcoming Golf purchase. He always answered quickly, and this being my first new car purchase, his reputation alone made it easy to make the travel to NJ worth it.

Can anybody post a picture of him here to put a face to the name?

Did Chris have immediate family? Wife? Kids? Maybe the community can do something nice for them. It might be enough to even forward them this thread.

On a personal note, it was easy to feel a kinship as Chris and I shared the same birthday based on his profile here.

Fwiw, I thought a quote from a recent email of his might be of interest to other forum members. I had asked him where his screen name came from.

"On the 3193 name, it was just the 4 digits in the address of the first real
mans job I had in Landscaping so I have kept it in my life for a few things!"

Rest in peace Chris,

LongEZ

Hey everybody. Dave Pittman here from Burlington VW. Thank you all for the kind words about Chris Farnham. He was a dear friend to myself and an excellent co-worker. His knowledge of the VW brand and his relationships with all of his customers was second to none. He was a major asset to us here at Burlington VW. I wanted to write a reply on here to answer some of the questions you guys have.

Upon Chris's request there is not going to be a funeral service for him. Chris's only family member was his uncle and that is who we have been in contact with. Both of his parents died when he was young, he was raised by his grandmother who passed away a few years back, and did not have a family of his own. I tried to look around to find an online obituary or something but was unsuccessful. Maybe we can start one for him and talk about our favorite memories of him.

Whenever we were having a tough day here at work, you could always count on hearing the click of his cane on the tile floor come closer and closer until he was staring at you, he would call you every bad word he could come up with, and then start busting out laughing. Chris was just as helpful to his co-workers as he was to all his customers. I remember I was looking for a stick manual TDI golf, 2-door (still almost impossible to get), and we found one pretty far away. Chris called the dealer and a gentlemen named Pete answered the phone and Chris said, "ya know Pete, when I woke up this morning, I thought to myself, man, who is gonna help me out to find this car, and you were the first person to come to my mind, that would go above and beyond to make sure we could get this rare car". Pete responded with, "Chris I don't think we've ever met, I have no idea who you are." Chris said, "I know that Pete but I just know you'll help us out." Needless to say, we got the car. He had an awesome sense of humor (if you ever dealt with him, I'm sure you know that) and will be missed by all of us here at Burlington VW.

On a side note, we have created a new username, BurlingtonVW (out of respect for Chris we will not be using his 3193 username),and we want to continue to offer all of the members of the TDI club the exceptional service you have come to expect with dealing with Chris Farnham. If anyone has any questions, concerns, or needs with there past, pending, or future transactions with Chris, please contact me directly.

Thank you again for all the kind words you guys have said about Chris. He will truly be missed.

Dave Pittman
Burlington VW
4500 Rt 130
Burlington NJ 08016
609-386-0084 ext 229
609-386-6087- fax
dpittman450@gmail.com

Thanks for the update Dave. He clearly touched a lot of people around here.

While I never met Chris, however he helped me on the deal on my 2014 JettaTDI. My dealer made me an offer on my 2012 JettaTDI and offered a deal on a 2014 JettaTDI.

Chris confirmed the offers were good.

I had a quote from him in my pocket on the extended warranty, when I finalized the deal. It confirmed this dealer wasn't jacking up the price on the warranty. If they had I was prepared to buy from Chris.

I bought my 2012 from a different dealer and I feel I was over charged for the extended warranty. It was like pulling teeth to get the balance back after I traded in my 2012.

He will be missed. I always enjoyed reading his posts. He opened our eyes to the possibilities.

My God rest his soul.

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk

Thank you Chris, for the no-nonsense deal, for picking me up at the train station, and for being THE guy for the community. You were the model of what we want from a car dealer.

This is a punch to the gut. I bought my 2011 JSW and Chris was a pro. The only car sales person who I raved about and gave referrals to no matter what. I'm originally from Maryland and we talked about Glen Burnie and how he ended up in the Philly area. Anytime I emailed with him he would jokingly ask me if I've gotten out of my car lately because of the miles I put on my VW (209,000). I will miss Chris and it pains me that he has no family. What a wonderful guy Chris was. More dealerships should hire down to earth guys like Chris. I was looking for 3193 to get some ideas on a car for my wife as Chris was my car rep for life. RIP buddy.

In November 2010 I flew from Atlanta to Philadelphia to buy my Golf from Chris. He sent a friend to pick me up from the airport and welcomed me with fresh Philly pretzels. It was my first new car, and I was nervous about entire transaction. Chris took the time to explain everything from financial, registration, taxes and warranty aspects to how all the car's features work. He treated me like friend! I drove the new Golf back to ATL and the next day he checked to see if I made back safely.
These posts are a reflection of his kindness, righteousness.
Rest in Peace Chris!

I miss you Chris! You have cared for your grandmother and many of us. May you find care and peace as you move on. Godspeed!

Everyone has said it, but it needs to be repeated. Chris was a stand up guy in a world full of sharks. Chris helped us or friends not just on cars, but extended warranties and was always a funny as hell guy with a story and a laugh.

When ever I asked how he was doing, he just side stepped the question. His problems were his own.

Chris, rest in peace my friend, you will be truly missed!

Steve

Bought my wife's 2011 golf from Chris in october of 2010. He was the coolest salesman ever. He pulled no punches and there was no bs trying to sell you things you don't want. Everything went as he said it would with no surpises, except for the pretzels that were very good. He will be missed very much.

I wonder if VWoA have any idea about the quality of salesman they've lost in Chris Farnham? I'm a Canadian tdiclub member & Chris took the time to respond to my purchase inquiries a number of years ago despite the bleak prospect of a cross-border sale. They would be wise to reference this memorial in a training manual for sales staff to illustrate the impact they can have when the job is done right even over (a perceived impersonal medium like) the internet. I hope somebody picks up the torch & keeps doing it the right way--Chris' way. The proof is 6 pages long and counting. Rest in Peace Chris. You will be sorely missed.

Anyone close to the famiky? Anyone willing to set up a gofundme? I bought my 2010 cup car from him and saves 6k dollars. Best sales person I ever met.

Antsrcool said:

Anyone close to the famiky? Anyone willing to set up a gofundme? I bought my 2010 cup car from him and saves 6k dollars. Best sales person I ever met.

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All he had was an uncle.

This is sad news indeed. The world needs more good car guys in the business like Chris.

We bought a 2010 sport wagon from him. What a great guy. I saw him a while back at Langhorne as I was there for a VW show. Made a point to say hi. He will surely be missed. And the best guy to deal with in my 40 years of buying cars. Chris god speed and save me a pretzel up there.

geoman said:

I wonder if VWoA have any idea about the quality of salesman they've lost in Chris Farnham? I'm a Canadian tdiclub member & Chris took the time to respond to my purchase inquiries a number of years ago despite the bleak prospect of a cross-border sale. They would be wise to reference this memorial in a training manual for sales staff to illustrate the impact they can have when the job is done right even over (a perceived impersonal medium like) the internet. I hope somebody picks up the torch & keeps doing it the right way--Chris' way. The proof is 6 pages long and counting. Rest in Peace Chris. You will be sorely missed.

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After spending my several hours with Chris I even wonder if Burlington VW knew what a special guy they had......

D15SEL said:

After spending my several hours with Chris I even wonder if Burlington VW knew what a special guy they had......

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Chris started his Automotive career at Burlington VW.....below is a copy of the Email I got from Gus at Burlington who is the General manager there Chris told me he was Sales Manager there for awhile before going to Langhorne....

Thank you so much for the kid words and fond memories of my dear friend,
Chris. He and I opened Burlington VW back in 1986. He washed cars and got
them ready for sale in those days. I offered him a job as a salesman and he
took off from there.
He will be missed.
Thank you,
Gus

Silence

Chris had e-mailed me about three weeks back asking about a Touareg. He also was keeping an eye out for me for a GTI. In the past few days I had e-mailed him and wondering why the silence since he and I always had a rather rapid reply system going. I was avoiding checking in here over the past few days since I had begun to sense that something was wrong.

I will greatly miss his booming voice over the phone. I / we have lost a a great friend.

Chris was the second car "salesman" I've done business with in my life who stood FAR, FAR apart from the rest.

What a shame. RIP Chris. You will be sorely missed.