We recently had our MINI up to Tate MINI for its 1 Year Service. What a nightmare. After a week at the dealership and a call saying the car was ready K was on the way to finally pick up the MINI only to receive a call when 5 minutes from the dealership that the car was not ready. So she stops by and changes loaner cars. That was a Friday after leaving Alexandria in time to be at the dealership before 8AM. Supposedly they finally found the source of a noise in the clutch that I had reported and said they needed to replace the throw bearing!!! at less than 10k miles.

The following Tuesday after speaking with the Service Manager they agreed to deliver the MINI to our home. Unfortunately, on the way to make the delivery the dealership employee driving our MINI was involved in an accident, the car was rear ended. When the delivery person arrived at our home he says: "I have some good news and I have some bad news, your car is here but I was involved in an accident on the way here". After a call back and DISCUSSION, the Service Manager finally directed the employee to drive the MINI back to the dealership to repair the damage to the rear bumper.

The following Friday we received a call that the MINI was ready, so on Saturday morning we drive to Annapolis to find that the body work had not be accomplished in an acceptable manner as we could still see the damage to the rear of the MINI, the car also was dirty with dust and debris from the repairs. We also found that during the service the technician had not reconnected the bushing where the steering column passes through the firewall to the outside of the car and we could see the asphalt through the firewall. The Service Manager was not there on Saturday so we promptly got back in to the loaner car and departed.

That Monday K spoke with the Service Manager who refused to accept her calls. Finally after speaking to the Service Advisor who said that the Service Manager had inspected and approved the work himself the Service Manager finally called her back. He tried to justify the work but it was discovered that by this point he had not even gone out and inspected the work. K told him that the only acceptable remedy was to reaccomplish the body work to repair the damage from the accident and to also completely re-inspect the service work. Not surprisingly, when they went back over the MINI they found a coolant hose that had failed and needed to be replaced. Finally after another 3 days K received a call from Tate; "The repairs to your MINI have been completed but we want to get it over to the detailer so we can have it all PRETTY for you before you pick it up." Give me a break...

Finally, the next day K picks up her MINI after 3 weeks at Tate and thankfully this time all of the work appears to have been accomplished satisfactorily. We will be very reluctant to ever take the MINI there for future service.

 

Problems with Tate? What a surprise They continually shoot themselves in the foot by giving poor, and even dangerous lack of, service to their customers. They just don't seem to get it...probably never will...

Michael, if you'd like to call MINIUSA to register a complaint ( I strongly suggest you do), I have a the phone # of a customer service rep. PM me for the info if you want.

On an entirely other note, haven't seen either of you guys in a while...hope all is well.

 

So Tate's rep is still true...

 

Sorry to hear about your Tate-riffic experience.

Once again, Tate MINI of Annapolis has gone above and beyond the expectation of the MINI community. This just goes to show you that if you have the best customer service in the tri-state area, the #1 rated Service Department, and the "Best in the Business" customer relations, this is what you get.

I was, of course, being VERY sarcastic! Tate MINI of Annapolis has the worst service department in the area. I believe out of our large membership, perhaps a handful only go there now.

Good luck in the future. You may want to go to another dealership and have them check out the work that Tate did to make sure they didn't remove the body mounts or something.

 

As a former NOVA resident (and former DCMM member, BTW) I know that Alexandria to Annapolis is a hump on a workday, and there may have been other circumstances involved; but I have to confess that I would never, ever trust a dealership employee from even the most trusted dealership (let alone Tate!) to drive my MINI that far for any reason. Maybe I'm just too OCMD or untrusting. I would rather wait until the weekend if necessary and pick it up myself, rather than trust some bozo who probably sees it as an opportunity to put the car through its paces (the garage attendants in Ferris Bueller's Day Off comes to mind). At best, one probably loses some brake, transmission, and clutch life. At worst, ...

I'm really sorry to hear about the poor service and the damage. It is certainly unacceptable. I hope your MINI has been returned to its pre-Tate level of conditioning and you enjoy many more trouble free miles of motoring.

I also hope for the best in seeing the shared experiences of the DC-area MINI owners drive some positive changes at the named dealership...one can always hope.

 

That's a nice sentiment, but I don't think Tate will ever change, especially in a positive way.

 

i got my car there... and took it back for its first check up... (i didnt know any better)
it turns out (this is going to sound lame in comparison but...) they didnt change my windshield wipers (as they were supposed to) so then a few weeks ago, during a all that rain we got, my wipers all failed. literally the plastic fell off. so i had to get them changed... i was in va so i went to sterling... very nice... they were the ones who told me that it was supposed to have been done allready. so from here out- im going to sterling (near my folks house) and towson (near mikes folks house)- but not Tate! (near my house)

OY!

 

hey, if they miss the little things, what chance do they have with the major stuff?

 

I usually go to Tate. My experiences haven't been too terrible, however I really do hate that I have to make an appointment WEEKS in advance, especially if something is wrong (IE, need new brakes!)

Also, last time I was there, I had to have the Inspection II done, They also found that I needed new brakes, a new tire, and a brake fluid flush. When I made the appointment, I was offered a loaner right off the bat (I thought Cool!) being as I was looking at 3 hours of work at least, I was quite happy, up until checking in the following week, I get there, plan to drop off my car, but am asked for my drivers license. They see that I am not 21 and then tell me that they can't give me a loaner. I had to sit in that damn dealership for 5 hours after paying them 1600.00 for work done. Pissed me off. I will say that the mechanic working on my car was very nice, he came out and explained what he was doing and told me that he was working his hardest to get the car out on time. He did a good job at it IMO, however, I was still pissed that they didn't bother to ask my age BEFORE promising me a loaner...

-Chase

 

Chase, I feel for you, because I've been under 21 too... however, you really should consider this a lesson learned. When I say that... never assume that you will ever be permitted to drive a loaner or even paid rental vehicle without asking first. Always ask ahead of time, and assume the worst unless they say otherwise.

The bias is very strong, and for good reason - statistically... but I know it sucks to be on the "low risk" end of the "high risk" age group, assuming you fall into that category!

 

I am @ TATE more than anyone else in this forum and I keep taking my MINIs at TATE for almost 4 yrs. as my Little Ones are being taken care (except for one time at MoT and one at Flow MINI) by TATE.

I can tell you that TATE improved a lot and the current SA (Calvin) is great and I am overall OK with TATE service.

What I found amusing is that some people who complained about TATE and their mechanics had no problems to follow the same mechanic elsewhere and some others continue to purchase their MINIs at TATE yet, continue to complain about their service.

The bodyshop (which has nothing to do with TATE MINI) is hit or miss deal. It took the shop two months and two trials to replace (no fix) a bumper, just because the moron of the Mgr. could not figure out how to order a bumper for a convertible (which comes STANDARD with parking sensors).

 

Oh I suppose I'll jump in here too,

Fact: Buying Wensleydale at Tate was a wonderful experience. Janie (departed ?) took the order and everything went as planned. In fact, I was able to get a bit less than MSRP. I felt I was treated quite well

Fact: Wensley had a slight pull to the left after 3000 miles (Desire to drive on the left side of the road ? ) Tate determined that I either hit something (which I didn't) or the tires were pulling. They rotated the tires and the symptoms got better for another 3000 mile. I requested they look for defective parts for my safety, they said they did

Fact: I took Wensley back in to get the alignment done at 6000 miles since the pull was back, at first they said I would have to pay, then changed it to warranty. Once on the rack they found the left front strut and control arm were defective from the factory Replaced and aligned free of charge and no more pull

Fact: While getting the strut replaced they scratched my boot hatch and I was not happy They did make good and repaired the damage. Not perfect but acceptable.

Fact: Calvin the SA is a nice guy

Fact: I have not had to wait periods of time that I thought were unreasonable, except for my factor touch-up paint, 6 months :impatient

To be honest, I really cannot say one way or the other. Things like this happen at all dealers. Wensley has been diagnosed with the defective flywheel issue and Tate says they'll replace it. Right now I'm trying to decide where to go for that or if I am even going to bother right now, maybe wait till the warranty is almost up

Mike

 

Tate service is horrible.

Tate sales is great.

Tate MA's, SA's, MGR's, or anyone of that level don't work on the cars.

It is the current Techs that are there that I don't trust.

 

WOW, I have been working as a tech in a dealership for years now.

If I did anything that bad I would have been fired.

A friend of mine works at towson and from what I know they do great work, I would trust them.

 

That's where I'll have to go from now on.

 

You want to know something funny? You just happened to be in the dealership the day that I was there! I don't remember if you were dropping off or not, but I saw ya! I believe you were talking to them about a clubman!

Well, I did learn from that instance. I seriously thought that the dealership would have loaned a vehicle to somebody over 18 that just so happened to be spending that amount of money with them... I hate the fact that at 18 you can be sent off to fight in wars and die, however you cannot be trusted with a loaner vehicle. I am one of those that realizes that I am using somebody else's property and respects that.

-Chase

 

I recently purchased my mini at Towson so I haven't had to deal with their service dept yet, but my MA was very proud of the fact that they had just won the "golden bull dog" award for service. She said there were very few of those given out in the entire country (something like 6, but can't remember exactly). Towson is not the closest to me, but I will be taking my mini there for service, particularly after reading all the issues at Tate!

 

Okay, the Chili Pepper is at Sterling now (my first service anywhere) and I hope to pick it up in the AM and be on my way to grandma's house for Thanksgiving!
It took me some doing to get it in for service and I hope I will be able to report back that all went well?

 

Or drink a beer for that matter

Funny to think but I'll bet I respect the loaner better than the Mech's respect Wensleydale when she's in for service I've noticed my gas mileage takes a substantial hit after they work on her.

Not having kids (yet) I've joked that dropping Wensley off at the dealer is preparation for how I'll feel having a daughter going out on a date

Cheers,

Mike

 

Sorry to hear about your experience. Good thing we have the warranty, huh?

 

yeah, until it expires...

 

[quote=chaseabryant;1875861]You want to know something funny? You just happened to be in the dealership the day that I was there! I don't remember if you were dropping off or not, but I saw ya! I believe you were talking to them about a clubman!




Yes, it was I - which MINI was I taking in?- pre-ordering the Clubman.
After I saw it in person I decided that w/ some modifications it will be our
next MINI. Did not pick her name yet.

Stella will go in on the 28th... It was strange that one month will pass by w/o going to TATE.

Yes, it sucks to be 18, but trust me sometimes it sucks to be older

 

[quote=lastrega;1876641]It sucks even more not to be able to get older.

 

man i would have negotiated for extended warranty if they screwed up my car...mfers...

 

[quote=lastrega;1876641]Marina, I know a name for the Clubman. How about Stretch-gina.