So now that I have this wonderful car, what's the consensus on the local dealerships' service departments? I live in Montgomery Village, so it's a haul to any one of them - proximity is not an issue. The car has about 16 months left on the warranty.

So....Tate, Sterling, or Towson?

 

Tate has the fewest MINI mechanics, usually the longest wait for an appointment, and probably not the highest customer service ratings based on posts to this forum. They've been okay for me, but if I didn't live in Annapolis, I'd be more likely to go to Towson.

IMHO dealer enthusiasm has a lot to do with the fun of owning a MINI, and I just don't feel the love from Tate like I do from the other two. Check them out this Saturday at the breakfast (it probably won't be too crowded with DCMM folks), and decide for yourself!

Good luck!

 

Go to Towson, they are good and treat you well.

 

We live in Germantown, so howdy neighbor! We trek out to MOT.

It only takes us about 45-50 minutes. Same distance to Tate (but they suck)

If you didn't buy you car at Sterling they won't give you a loaner, you will have to rent something.

MOT will give you a loaner (100mile a day) From MOT to Germantown 40or so miles...

Tate will give you a loaner (no limits)


So far here is our experience with all three:
MOS took forever to return my call, when I finally got in touch, said we won't give you any kind of car, so someone has to go with you, or you have to wait.
TATE screwed things up. Had to get them refixed. The technicians who we all really liked left. They did do some good when we had an emergency, but the techs are gone.
MOT has been awesome and very fast. Take both Soulfire and Cecilia there to have work done. well now just Cecilia since SF is off his warranty

Cecilia and Soulfire both like going to MOT. Talk to Rosie, she is awesome!

 

Nice waiting lounge with wide screen TV, Good coffee & Panera's bagels, 2 computers with internet connection for customer to browse DCMM forum, always have real MINI as a loaner.

Towson, way to go.

 

Otto's of West Chester PA. i bought mine in Princeton NJ but i always made the drive down to OTTO's they have a great shop. they have stellar service and i've never had a problem with them doing sub-par work unlike Princeton. i know that could be a little drive for you but isn't that the point of a Mini. Let's Motor!

 

Towson.

I brought my laptop, surfed on the free wifi and ate free bagels with cream cheese, free coffee, free soda. Haven't had a need for a loaner car yet.

Also, the Dent Wizard guy is awesome. Just get there early in the morning.

 

That is a LITTLE far from the DC area! But good to know if I am ever up there!

 

I go to TATE for all my MINIs and sometimes they don't get things fixed at the first try but I always get the car fixed at the end and meanwhile I drive a loaner (MINI, and on occasion a BMW). Often , to have a MINI loaner, I have to wait a couple of weeks but I don't mind because of the 3 dealerships in the DC Metro area TATE is the most convenient for me.
They don't have the breakfaqst spread of Towson but since I don't hang around the lounge area I don't really care about the food.

They did a GREAT job with the GP. A noise coming from the back.. took in the first time and the problem persisted.. as it happened to other two or three GP owners in the US. Finally a MINI tech in CA fixed the problem , TATE SA got in touch with the CA tech and the tech at TATE fixed the GP in no time. When I went to pick up GyPsy there were some cosmetic issues..
I showed these to the SA and told him to call me when GyPsy was ready to come home and left with the loaner.. The following day everything was fine.
Incidentally, the GP is the only MINI I haven't purchased from TATE.

Calvin (TATE SA) is great and head mechanic is from BMW but TATE changes his people often., which is sad.. on the other hand over the years I learned that hair dressers and mechanics move around regulary .. does anyone know why?

 

Not exactly true They gave me one of those dreaded BMWs once. The SA was very apologetic about that. However, I have always been more than satisfied with their service. I had a problem with the cloth driver's seat fraying. No problem. No questions asked. They ordered one and I went back for the install. After they installed the new passenger seat they realized they had ordered the wrong seat. Again, they were very apologetic and ordered a new seat. Went back a week later for the install and everything has been great since. The good news is that there was a chocolate stain on the old passenger seat that was going to be almost impossible to get out. We ended up with two new seats, chocolate gone and no charge.

 

Do they treat coffee stain the same way as they did with chocolate stain?

 

I've mainly gone to Tate and they have been good, recently tried MOT and found them to be good as well. Both dealers scratched my car and both made good on the repair.

I agree with Hypno that part of owning a MINI is the dealer enthusiasm, it goes a long way to making you feel good about your purchase and makes a dreaded repair a little more fun. I would give MOT the for that, they are by far the most enthusiastic.

Tate seems to be quite a merry go round of people, I was sad to hear my sales lady was gone, she treated me great and was really into the MINI.

I'm thinking since both have been good to me, small things will got to TATE and larger more intricate stuff to MOT. Tate is much easier for me to get to from work, about 15 minutes. MOT is a good two hour + ordeal, but worth it.

If DeWayne of MOT or Calvin of Tate happens to read this, Thanks guys for the good service from both of you !

Cheers,

Mike

 

At the risk of getting yelled at by Marina, I'd like to put in my 2 cents.

While the sales group at Tate seems to be ok, other than very rapid turnover, the service side is not ok....very not ok.
Take a look in my gallery to see why...

 

The experience you went through is the billboard for why most of us who suggest going elsewhere do so. If Tate treated everyone like they treat Marina, then we'd all love Tate!

Its certainly not a bad thing that they like her and treat her well. Its just that with other options (MOS and MOT) available, I wouldn't want to risk finding out that they don't want to treat me like her!

 

not just me...they've messed up a few other cars...Will's is the 1st come to mind....

 

It is always a personal choice.

We took SF to TATE when the roof leaked and our car flooded, and they were great. But we have taken SF there after that and then had to go to MOT to refix what they messed up.

Personally, Cecilia will only be going to MOT for fixers, just because I haven't had a single problem there with either car.

But as you know and love your car, you always have to look at EVERYTHING when you get your baby back, Jay makes me look under the hood, at the wheels, the body as well as the interior before I even think of driving away. I haven't had to deal with any kind of scratching and I guess there is one blessing about having all the graphics on the cars (as well as the Fireballed wing) is that they only hand wash our cars! I won't allow them to even think of putting them through the car wash.

When Philip was at MOT, he used to wash them himself. That's service!

 

Katie, I take it that they forgot to put the bolt in and it came out as you drove away ?


As for the scratches in Wensleydale

Tate: It appeared that they had the boot lid up and hit something hanging (airhose?) from above. There was a patch of scratches right dead center (I can post pics later) at what would be the highest point if it was open that required repainting, they made good, no questions or resistance.

MOT: It appears when they do the flywheel replacement that they remove the bonnet ? These were not car wash scratches, I always inform them not to wash it (I learned to request no wash when Tate did this and swirled the crap out of the paint) So it appears that the scratches were from it leaning against something or the Tech's hands were greasy grimey when they were handling it. Leona and I tried to convey that I was really particular about my paint when we dropped her off but I don't think they knew how particular.


Marina: You say you have your Minis washed at Tate, are any of them dark colors ? I know the MCSC is PW and the GP is TB. Wensley's space blue seems to be the next best thing to black and shows every scratch and swirl, the silver areas don't unless you really look hard. I know I'm a nutcase for my paint !

Cheers,

Mike

 

um..no...cuz it was both front wheels and that's not a bolt that simply falls out. They were removed, and as long as the suspension was under compression, one couldn't tell they were missing. It all came to light when Paul tried to put on my winter wheels...it's a long story, and if you're so inclined, I'll tell it to you sometime. Bottom line, I haven't been to Tate in nearly a year, and have no plans to ever go back there. Any new purchase will probably be done through MOT...

 

Thanks for the replies, folks. Looks like MoT is the way to go.

Didn't mean to open old war-wounds.

 

Katie,

I didn't say "fell out" I said "forgot to put in"

If this had happened to me I'm sure I would have the same feelings towards a dealer that you do.

Mike

 

I had two DS before the PW and the other convertible is a Cool Blue..
The GP must be washed by hand and I think TATE washed her more than I. I let anyone wash my car and I go thru the brushless carwash sometimes, in the summertime if I have time I handwash my MINIs, but very rarely I wax them..
As you've probably noticed, Ambrogina wasn't too clean last weekend... She never got washed, yet.. - I have to find an excuse to go to TATE and get her washed.. -



why is my post bold???

 

Are you stopping in for breakfast tomorrow ? I'll bet we can find a rattle or squeak somewhere in her that will need to be checked

Have you ever seen a clean dark car pull up to you and even though its shiny and clean you see what looks like an ocean of swirls from buffing ? That's what I'm up against with the Space Blue. I want you to see nothing but shiny blue paint , no spidey webs, no swirls and no scratches !........ok I'll go take my medication

Mike

 

Something probably got messed up in the way you modified the quote.

 

I made the breakfast with the GP and FOUND something that needs to be replaced under warranty, so I guess... GyPsy will get washed first

 

I have both my Minis serviced at Towson all the time and "Mini" Rose takes good care of me and when shes not there ......... Dwayne also is very good and both know Minis real well !!