My car just turned 60,000 miles so it was time to get stuff done. Since I won't go to Tate (go ahead, ask me why), Towson is second closest.

Duane was my SA and couldn't have been nicer or more polite. After explaining my problem with Tate, he was horrified and had the head MINI tech work on my car.

When it came time to pay my bill, I inquired about the club discount. The cashier didn't know about it, but got her manager. Now, I've never met the guy, but when I explained who I was and the fact that we had worked out the discount details with Mark, he ok'd it straight away. The cashier made a copy of my club card, so that it'd be on file.

All in all a very good experience.

 

Good to hear it. That's where we go, but I can't remember our SA's name. It is an Asian lady...... Rosie I think. Oh well, not good with names anyhow.

 

Dwayn is my SA as well.

Dwayn and rose both are awesome.

 

Club discount? Seriously?

 

Yes. All the dealerships honor a club discount. All do it on parts, but some do it on labor as well.

 

Just make sure you have your VALID (I accidently used my expired one and was scoffed at) club ID and you should recieve a discount

 

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand what would the discount be? I'm sure I missed a bit from my new member packet, is this info included?

 

Generally it's 10% on parts... and if the dealership also does it for labor, 10% as well.

 

I wouldn't push the discount on labor, but there is a valid discount on parts.

New members, read your packet info!

 

Congrats on the 60k & the good service experience (mine's sitting at 29999 right now )

 

You can push it at MoS, because they honor it for labor too. Confirmed.

 

I've tried to use the discount at Towson (last May?) and was told it was no longer available. Is it just a matter of being pushy?

 

It's a matter of who you talk to a lot of the time. One time I was there and didn't get the discount on something (I think it was oil filters or something). The next time I was there the nice girl behind the parts desk gave me a discount. Your best bet is probably to ask about the car club discount, don't be too specific about it being a DCMM discount because they might not know what DCMM is.

 

Mini of Towson starts off OK, but may last experiance took 3 weeks to resolve and they could care less. And yes, it was under warranty and the top would not close. On a side note, they quoted me $800 for new ties (400 at Mr. Tire thank you) and $800 for new front rotors and pads, rear pads and resurface. No the wear light was not own. Got it done for $295.

 

Tires, brake rotors and pads, even windshields are always found more cheaply away from a dealership.
Compared to Tate, Towson still gets a 5 cuz I only had minor maintenance stuff done, which they did correctly, in a timely manner and without destroying my car or putting me at risk of dying.

 

You may be correct in comparsion to the dealers. I have only used Towson and I purchased from them. From here own through I will try to go elsewhere. I just purchased an extended warraty to 100K, or about 2.5 years for me. I have a spare car if it needs to be in the shop. I have a hrd time dealing with the "We are Mini, We are right" attitude.

 

For any OEM parts the best place to buy is Morristown MINI. It beats the prices of any local dealership w/ DCMM or SCCA or BMW membership.

My experience with accessories for my GP was: MOT and TATE give you discount on MSRP, MOS have discounted prices on the WEB but no additional discount applies. If you are a walk-in they will honor the Web price but you need a print-out.
Of course, if you are at the dealership often enough you can get a "personal" discount regadless membership affiliation.

 

MoT's service department is top notch.

 

The dealership honors our discount. All three of them. You should not need to be pushy. Just tell them. If the person you are talking to does not know, as for someone who does. Have you membership card with you. New staff might not be up to speed. Old staff might forget if no one has been there in a while and asked for the discount. If you need to, ask to speak to the dealership manager. In most cases, that is who we talked to to get the discount and they will know.

 

My Isabelle has been towed into Towson three times and there for all her service since I bought her in 2003. Never had a poor experience yet! Sorry that you did.

 

As to date I have not had and issue with the actual service. They had to replace the entire wiring harness for my convertible top. But when you wait 45 min, they handle 3 BMW customers ahead of and it is closing to find out you can't leave your car (yes, I had an appointment) that the top will not close, that is a problem. And before you say it, the only service advisors working that evening were BMW advisors. The same advisor that I spoke to helped other customers that arrived after me. I had a 5 year old and a 10 year old with me. I came away from that experiance that it was thier way or the highway. That is why I had a top not able to close for 3 weeks. I had been there 4 times prior, the last less than 6 months. I almost trading the car in from this experiance. The only reason I did not is I will not have to deal with them as I will take my chances with a service station rather than a dealership that thinks I have to use them.

 

This is strange, but again I don't know the whole story though.

I'm pretty sure that you were there later on in the day.

At Towson, MINI SA left early than BMW SA. I believe its 5pm or so.

I go there very often and since I know the fact, instead of bring the car in later on in the day, I call make an appointment for early morning and always request for a loaner just in case I need to leave the car.

From my own experience, they are quite good with their appointment.

Give them a chance, talk to your SA for the solutions. And if I were you, I would leave the MINI there until the job is finished. They will provide you a MINI loaner.

I've gone through 2 clutches, 1 flywheel, rattling noise from sunroof, etc. In the past 11 months, I went there multiple times. They've taken care of all the problem as promised and I still happy with my MINI.

Just my 2 cents.

 

I do agree with most of your posting. And I did schedule for a loaner, however the problem started from a policy change at MOT they did not inform me of. As stated I had been there just 6 months prior and 3 other times as well. All required me to request a loaner. In addition I purchased the car from MOT. The appointment was made prior to 9 am. They have always required a credit card, which I provided the same card I had always used. They refused it as it was also a debt card. While I have a credit card, I do not carry it with me. I pay for almost everything using my credit/debt card. I have used it all over the world. I have monthly payments having variable amounts each month. If I had been told of the change, it would have been differant. But at 7PM with 2 childern being told that you can leave the car (and do what walk to Westminster) and re-schedule for another day. I work in Rockville so it is a 60+ mile trek. And with the top not closing you cannot just pick any day, not to mention the security of the car. I was able to re-schedule around weather and MOT however they refused to give a loaner over the weekend. The quote was "we only allow loaner for a select few over the weekend. The owner is very hands on and checks this on Monday." Now, if you made a purchase, was promised a loaner, the car was under warranty, had made 2 attempts to have it repaired, had a potential for damage with the top not closing, then told you where not important enough, what would you do? I did sent them a very nasty letter, but they were offended and their feelings were hurt. Hold on while I get to a tissue.
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Now, I undertand how you feel.

 

Sorry for the downer. If they are working well for you, keep using them. Stuff happens and it does not mean it will happen to you. I don't think they have had a lot of problems.