Snappy,

Patrick is very tolerant of aftermarket products. OF course warranty for those parts or any direct impact they have would not be covered, but having said products doesn't seem to alter how they view the car. A lot of BMWCCA and MINI club members with mods have their cars serviced at Patrick. Keep in mind that Patrick is very invloved with motorsports including sponsoring and maintaining several race BMW's and MINI's.

Happy Motoring!

Jim

 

Thats cool to know!

 

i only have this to say... pls read my thread on my horrible after sales service horror story on bill jacobs entitled not happy motoring. thank u and may u not experience what my mini has experienced.

 

Thank you for providing the service hours of the 3 dealers.

 

We MINI enthusists in the Chicago area are fortunate we have 3 dealers to choose from.. each with their pros and cons.

We've been happy to deal with Patrick... (Kevin did a great job of introducing us to the sporty MINI)... yet we purchased not one, but two MINIs from Knauz. What swayed us? Knauz had all versions of MINI to test drive, they get cars in often, they couldn't be nicer, and have a knowledgable modern service dept.
We dealt with and recommend Dave Olenick in sales. Top Notch! He helped us get the best deal and even lined up a graphics guy to put on our stripes before purchase/pickup. He goes out of his way to see if everything is fine whenever we stop in, and makes sure we are handled promptly. A great salesman and friend. (He drove the 2007 MCS on our clubs latest Jelly Belly adventure!)

I was sorry to hear about the poor report given by Mr. Edly.. we never found Erik to be an issue, quite the contrary....
"Bought from Knauz, regret it. Patrick services my MCS.

I love my '05 MCS, but regret I bought it from Knauz.
I arranged the purchase entirely via email with sales manager Erik Lee."

Your voice must have been heard... as Erik is no longer at Knauz.

As far as service goes at Knauz, you are treated politely and professionally in a modern/clean facility. Adam is great as are the girls who call to remind you about your appointment. The mechanics have dealt with any issues we've had and let us know what they did. Much like a dental appointment... you don't look forward to having to go, but Knauz tries to make it pleasant. You can watch your car being worked on, and Dave is happy to chat if you head to the sales building, plus he lets you take out the latest and greatest...
Knauz has earned our loyalty and we don't hesitate recommending them to anyone.
p.s. If we ever felt like we weren't given enough information/attention from service, one conversation with Dave, and he was in finding out what was up. Can't go wrong with Dave on your side!!

 

only had one problem with Knauz since August '03, so can't complain. They do a nice job, and getting a 3 series convertible as a "MINI Loaner" is a plus!
The sole issue was not bad enough to terminate them, as I did with Breedeman Lexus a few years ago and moved that 1/2 of our business to Highland Park Lexus.

 

How about the Doc fee, extra charges comparison of Chicago Dealers? It seems everyone offers pretty good service - I am exactly in the middle between Bill Jacobs and Patrick (11 miles each!)

 

How did you swing that?? I scheduled my 30k maintenance and I ended up with a POS Lancer that someone was kind enough to smoke in. Now my garage smells like cigarette smoke since I left the windows down.

It also turns out that they are backed up. Hopefully I will get it back today. If I would have known about them being backed up or not having a loaner MINI I would have scheduled the maintenance for a different day.

 

Just purchased from Knauz. Question about getting the extended maintenance etc. Is it worth it? It's 1400 to extend the maintenance to 6 years, they claim it will cost $1200 just for brakes. Any of the other extended warrantees worth it? Thanks!

 

Wheel insurance tends to be worth it in the Chicago area.

 

Leek:

Shop around for the extended maintenance policies. Also, make sure they are talking maintenance, and not warranty. They are two seperate items. For my 2002 MCS extending the maintenance was no where close to $1200. I got different prices from different dealers.

Jim

 

Yes, that was for maintenance. She made the point that it costs $1400 to extend it for another 3 years, it would cover brakes, and generally brakes go after 3 years and cost $1200, so paying $1400 for the extension of maintenance is a bargain. It definitely was not for extension of warrantee.

 

ps - I did like the fact that Knauz didn't upsell us on things we asked about (snow tires, ipod connection) and we paid below MSRP (we took a car off the lot that had a few things on it we wouldn't have gotten if we'd ordered it ourselves). I would have liked it if they'd thrown in some floor mats, though.

 

leek,

If you can say, how much under invoice are you talking? Thinking about driving down from WI.

 

Just wanted to add my comments for this thread as it seems heavily weighted towards Patrick and down for Knauz. I got mine at Knauz and had a relatively pleasant experience. Sales could have been better at following up with me and keeping contact with me, but service has always been excellent there. They have a big place with good waiting rooms and big showroom which is nice and the service guys are always very courteous.

I must say though that I will be looking at Patrick for my 07 as it is in a more favorable area (close to my uncle's and shopping center). Before i make my final decision though, I will be checking them out. Could someone comment though that Patrick is equally polite to younger drivers (under 25) and give loaner cars when you bring your car in for service?

 

I have not gotten a loaner car yet. I bring my car in, no loaner. I bring in my mom's 2002 540i, no loaner. When she takes hers in she gets one. I guess my car has not had anything major, like to keep it there overnight. Also, I did work less than a mile from there, but now I don't. We will see when I take mine in next time, I have a longer list of things. Don't get me wrong, I would much rather drive MY MINI over a loaner any day of the week.

 

Always have a loaner from Patrick (perk if you bought/ordered there). Sometimes for a relatively quick job I just ask for a ride and later pickup from the mall or other area spot I'm going.

 

Argh.. having a hard time deciding on which dealer. Knauz says they can get me a car by mid-August, while Patrick is saying mid-Sept. My Knauz experience has been good, but not the best and the raves about Patrick here makes me want to get from there. Including the fact that I can visit my uncle or the mall when I go to Patrick, it makes me want to go there, but no sure if it's worth the 1 month wait and the shorter service hours on weekdays 6:30 vs. 8:00. Anybody with experience at both have advice?

 

Patrick is not perfect, I have had some hiccups with them in the past. But all is well now. In fact I was in for service last week and they were prompt and courteous. Had an O2 sensor replaced under warranty with no problems.

 

$600 off MSRP. Note that this was for a car they had in stock. We also did reasonably on a trade-in of an older Volvo that needed almost as much work as the Blue Book value on it. Not great, but well enough to not want to deal with the hassle factor of selling it ourselves.

They did not, however, toss in free floor mats. Which they def. should have!

 

Visited Patrick today. A MUCH smaller place than Knauz, which worries me a bit. I wonder if Patrick does less cars which means more time to pay attention to their customers. Or do they all get the same allotment?

 

Go see Dave Olenick at KNAUZ.... you will not be sorry!!!
Dave will make sure you are taken care of.... the service and collision center (yes, needed both... but NOT my fault!)... are right up there, and to sweeten the pot, they offer you a FREE spring ck-up.
Not going to name names, but have heard some recent horror stories. Knauz outshines in the end.
(no... I do not get a commission from Knauz.... and yes... it is worth the 45min it takes for us to get there from home base)
Good luck with your purchase!! MINI is a GREAT CAR!!!!

 

We went to KNAUZ and Dave Olenick took care of us and was fantastic. He was very laided back, easy to work with, answered my 101 questions etc. ( only my wife is more patient ) Absolutly no presure at all. Great exp. Can't wait to order my next Mini from him. Well worth driving up 41 a bit. Plus you see a lot of MC and MCS while test driving around the neighbor hood!

KNAUZ is also a great community partener as they are big players in the yearly car raffle for Children's Memorial.

Also happen to purchase off the lot ( lucky for us someone decided not to take delivery that morning on a beutiful astro black 07 MCS. so now its mine. ) Got a little off of MSRP but nothing to write home about. Did get the all weather floor mats which were ordered for the previously owner at no charge.

 

Wanted to update on service. I have been having the low rpm sputter and random CEL on (750 miles) and called Knauz for service. Got an appt. the next day (Tues) because someone cancelled.

Turns out if you buy from them, they will pick up and deliver the car to your door. It's limited to certain days for certain parts of the Chicagoland area, but Tuesday is Chicago day. They brought us a loaner, too - 328i, not shabby!

The woman I spoke with said they do not do loaners on Saturday, and unless it's a dire emergency they limit their Saturday work to short, easy things - oil changes, etc.

So props to Knauz!

 

I would say go with Patrick or Bill Jacobs, I ws buying from out of Town and Patrick and Bill Jacobs were fast and curteous over the phone it took almost 6hrs to get a return call from Knauz when I inquired about some cars I wanted to know about on their lot. Even told the guy I was driving up that night to buy one and he didn't seem to care.

Maria at Patrick is Amazing!

Dustin at Bill Jacobs rocks! We bought from Bill Jacobs in the end because they had what we wanted in stock when we wanted it. But Im going to have a tough call on who I buy from when I get my Cooper in a few years.