Never mind. Found the prices at the Mini Mania site. Any suggestions for a mild upgrade that is warrantied by Mini Mania for an MCS? Just want a moderate boost...not seeking to max out the hardware or race.

 

Drsms22,

The prices I have are over a year and a half old. Sterling used to sell 3 packages:
1) SX 200 = pully, exhaust, intake for $2500

2) SX 200+ = above + ECU upgrade for $3900

3) SX 220 = above + header and new catalytic converter for $5900

I found that their "packages" were too expensive. Back then, if you asked them to price the items + install separately, it came out much cheaper. I priced out pulley + install ($650), exhaust + install ($1150) and intake + install ($400), for a total of $2200. That is basically their SX 200. They would do the ECU for $750, which gave you everything in their SX+200 for $2900. Or $1000 cheaper by ordering a-la-carte rather than ordering the whole package. That didn't make a lot of sense to me. Still doesn't. The whole idea of getting a "package" is to save money. At the time, they told me that if they did the work, so long as the car was brought back there if there was a problem that they would honor the original waranty on the car. They did state that other MINI dealers would not honor this warranty.

I waffled around and couldn't decide. I finally went back this past January to have them do the pulley. Even though it was more than what I could get it done for at Helix, I was willing to pay that to keep the warranty. It turns out they have changed their policy. They told me that they will no longer warranty upgrades. Either they were caught and slapped by MINI USA or the former Service writer (Gene, I think) was promising stuff the dealership never agreed to. Without the warranty, having anything done at Sterling didn't make any sense especially since they are more expensive. I ended up having John, the owner of Glenelg Service Center and a DCMC Club member do the pulley for me. I saved $250. He's a great guy, races MINIs, and I would highly recommend giving him a call.

 

I went ahead and had Sterling install the Mini Mania pulley last month. Paid a little more (DCMM discount helps), but thought with Mini Mania's warranty, and having it installed by dealer, I "may" have less of an issue if something were to go wrong. Thought it a decent combination to have just in case.

 

Stinger,

Do you have a number for the Glenelg Service Center?

Thanks, - John

 

Someone's thinking about mods before they pick up their MCS. How totally cool is that?

dcmitchell

 

Constant slamming... you know I find that pretty damn funny considering there is another thread just below in which another mini dealership is being "slammed" and has near 50 posts, regardless...

Mini of Sterling is very odd to me. I've been there twice since I've moved to the area and both time Ive had nails in my tires, no low pressure warning lights or nothing. Personally I think they are bad luck for me... other than that from what Ive been through with them they have taken care of my needs very well.

But honestly, I plan on doing all my future servicing at Glenelg. I was very impressed with their knowledge, professionalism, and overall down to earth attitude.

 

asterix2112,
You can find Glenelg at: http://www.glenelgservicenter.com/

 

Hello All,

This is Christal Waddy the original BMW of Sterling Manager and Team Manager for Sterling Motorsports.

First, let me say thank you to all of you who have been loyal MINI of Sterling (MOS) supporters since I left. I know that there have been many changes/transitions here and sometimes difficult.

Currently I am in dealer training (to become a dealership owner), but in the meantime, I will be the General Manager of MOS with Michael Arata as Sales Manager. Michael has been with us for 2 years on the BMW side and I feel, the best new MINI Sales Manager. He is in training to get up to speed so please be patient. He fully understands the "needs" of MINI customers and is ready to go!

Now... regarding the future. MOS is preparing to separate from BMW (meaning building a new MINI facility!) We will also have separate parts and service. I feel that this is necessary to properly attend to all of our prospects and current customers, showing all that MOS is totally committed to the MINI brand.

Michael and I are preparing an open house so that I can say hello to my old buddies and meet the new friends of MOS. I would like to know approximately how many would be interested and what I should include in an agenda. Some thoughts are as follows;

Greetings
Introductions:smile:
Q&A
Sterling Performance Mods
Sponsorships
Club Support
Kudos
Issues
Etc.

Please send an email to cwaddy@bmwofsterling.com I'd love to hear from you.

I look forward to hearing from you soon! Until then...

Sincerely,
Christal

 

Christal,

I had heard about this from one of the MINI people there on a previous visit. Sounds exciting!

Questions:

1) Will the current SAs that us MINI people go to move over to the new facility? I have noticed that particular SAs tend to be the "MINI people", whereas the other SAs are the "BMW people".
2) What will be the policy for loaner vehicles during service? Same policy? Will there be more MINIs available as loaners for this purpose? I'm guessing there won't be any more BMW loaners, so I think it's a valid question. Enterprise, while certainly better than nothing, sucks when they give you a very boring car as a loaner. :smile: Perhaps Enterprise themselves could be convinced to buy their own fleet of MINIs? :smile:
3) Are the same actual MINI technicians that currently work in the BMW/MINI service bay going to move over to the new facility too?

Basically, a more detailed rundown on what stays on one side of the street, and what goes, would be great... including what new hiring is planned to fill in the gaps (if any).

 

MINI service advisors and techs will all go to the new building. As far as loaners and enterprise go, we will do everything necessary to influence enterprise to get on board with a MINI fleet as we did with BMW. It is easier said than done and a little premature at this point.

When we are making an investment in our MINI Center's future, we expect that loaner car parameters will be increased by MINI USA to adequately accomodate service customers. Again, this is premature but I appreciate the questions and will be sure to address the need when the time comes.

Thank you for the support and the questions.

Xtall:smile:

 

Great to hear from you on NAM Christal. I sent you an email and trust that besides what you wrote about here, that all else is good with you. An open house sounds like a great idea

"Mini" Miller - aka Mr. Starbucks

 

You bet. I already have the Alta air intake, the auto-up window mod, and the aux in jack sitting at my house. As soon I drive the car a week or so (to make sure there are no major problems) I will put those in. I'll probably wait a couple of months for the 15% pulley and chipping though, just to be safe. plus I'm doing Friday at the Track at Summit Point in July. I want to do it the first time without the pulley so I can compare the time differences.

As for the warentee, what the hell, you only live once!

- John

 

Stinger,

Thanks for the link. taked to Brian up there, and they seem to know there stuff. Even told me things not to do because they would be a waste of my money (for my needs). Always nice when someone tells you the truth as opposed to just trying to sell you everything. I will definately go up there to have my pully done in a couple of months, still a bit of a drive from NoVA, but a lot closer then Helix in Phili! (they will do it while I wait though)

- John

 

asterix2112,
I had the same experience with them. I ended up not putting a lot of expensive and near useless stuff on the car. Good people who treat you well. It is worth the drive out there. I waited while John did my pulley. Well actually, I was in the shop with him while he did the swap and we had a great conversation.

 

Good to hear from you Christal. Glad that things are going well at MINI of Sterling. I am another happy customer of them.

 

My not-too-quick $0.02 on MINI of Sterling. They were my first contact with a dealership. I actually tried to look presentable by wearing nice slacks and a button-down shirt. (Didn't really know much about MINI at this point. All I really knew is that I was going to a 'BMW' dealership, and I didn't want to be looked down upon! ) When I got to the dealership, I looked around for a few minutes trying to look like that I wanted help. That didn't work, so I walked up to a group of MA's and mentioned that I was interested in a MINI, possibly an auto. They looked at me, told me that they were outside, and they went back to their conversation. I did indeed go outside, got back in my car, and left the dealership. Needless to say, I wasn't too impressed, to put it mildly.

Now fast forward a year and a couple months...

I just got off work, and just got finished running. I was in sweaty, and probably smelly, ratty running shorts and a t-shirt. As Sterling is the closest dealership to where I live, I went there to ask a question about coolant fluid. I normally would have showered and changed, but there wouldn't have been enough time to get back before they closed. And as traffic was, I wasn't able to get there until about a 1/2 hour before closing. I went in, and since it was so late, they only had two people in the office. One was talking with another customer, and the other was on the phone. The one on the phone mentioned he would be with me as soon as possible. After a few minutes, he apologized, and asked how he could be of help. I asked him my question, and he called around for a service tech. He couldn't get one on the phone, so he got up and went to look for one! He found one after a few minutes, and I got my question answered. I then wandered into the MINI showroom just to glance around, and almost immediately, I was greeted by (I think her name was!) Namaste. She asked me if I needed any help, and I explained that I was just snooping around the showroom. (Remember, at this point it looks like that I couldn't afford a Yugo, much less a MINI!) We then had about a 20 minute very pleasant chat about MINIs!

Needless to say, my opinion about Sterling has changed dramatically.

Oh, and Christal, I think that I have met you once, when I was looking for the parts counter about a half year ago. As I stepped into the showroom, you immediately greeted me, and not only told me where the counter was, but you got up and led me there! Thanks again!

-Paul!

 

It was good talking to you today at MOS about your plans for the new MINI dealership. I for one, as a proud owner of 3 MINIs, am excited about having a dedicated MINI facility in Sterling and having you at the helm will surely make this a successful endeavour. Good luck and God speed!

 

Christal – Your news about the split of Mini of Sterling from BMW of Sterling was just the medicine I was looking for to cure the sick feeling I get in my stomach every time I have to deal w/ BMW/MINI of Sterling.

I purchased a custom-ordered MCS from MOS and picked it up late April. I couldn’t have had a more schizophrenic experience. While my Sales Associate, Namaste, had the perfect attitude for MINI and treated me like a king, I felt like the disliked and forgotten stepchild of the dealership. Indeed, I got the impression that the MINI portion of the combined dealership was likewise scorned as an unwanted add-on to the turned-up-nose BMW dealership.

Not only was there glitches along the way that cost the dealership money (I tried to e-mail some additional options I wanted added to the car, only to have the e-mail returned undeliverable, at which point I lost interest in those options as well as others I was considering), but I was even rebuked when I wanted to pay for my car. After I received the joyous news that my MINI had arrived and was ready to be picked up, I told the dealership that I would be in on Saturday to pick it up. Instead of the “Can’t wait to see you” response I was expecting, I got a “I don’t think you can come in on Saturday because we [MINI] only get a certain number of delivery slots on Saturday. How about Monday or Tuesday.” I responded, with my blood starting to boil, that I wasn’t going to burn vacation time to give the dealership my money and that I expected something to be worked out for Saturday. I received a call saying that I could come in on Saturday, but that I should expect delivery to take 4 hours or more. I really felt like I wouldn’t have been treated in such a demeaning manner if I was buying a BMW.

There were a number of other things I could gripe about, but I think if the dealerships split, most of my complaints would be corrected.


Just a word to those who are currently dealing with MOS, the sales people are great, but the dealership stinks. I recently told the manager that I couldn’t wait for the warranty on my 1-month old car to expire so I would not feel compelled to take my car to MOS for service. I still mean that, but perhaps I’ll change my mind once the dealership splits.

 

Hmm. My experience was the opposite. Service has been fine (what little I needed, very very minor). Sales was a disaster. MA gave me several answers to my questions that were just plain wrong. Biggies too. Turns out I know WAY more about MINI's than any MA at Sterling did in January - March. I realize we're enthusiasts and to them it's just a job. But if you don't know the answer to a question about what the car does or does not include, the correct answer is 'I don't know'. Instead they just made up or guessed at answers. They guessed wrong a LOT. Of course the best answer in that case would be " I don't know but I'll find out", with follow through.

Too bad they can't afford me, I'd make a HELL of a MA :smile:

In spite of me realizing this and micro managing the order, the car arrived with the wrong wheels and wrong seats. In spite of the way things were going during the order I always was laid back and cool, never critical. I figured you attrack more flies with sugar than honey. I guess I should have been an a** from the beginning and things might have gone better.

Had to have them fix the order four times as I checked it on the Owners Lounge. Everytime they fixed one item another got messed up. I'd patiently point out the new error and they'd correct it. The wheel swap was done before delivery. I picked up the car and didn't realize in my excitement the seats were the right color but wrong material until I had driven away. Went back and they said they'd have a car in a couple days they could swap seats with for me. They called and did so no problem.

They never did produce one accesory I orderd that was on a 'We owe'. Finally cancelled it and asked for refund. Jim Bartonwicz (sp?) said 'No Problem, the check will go out Monday" this was on a Friday.

I called Classic MINI and the part arrived NEXT DAY. MOS couldn't produce it between Jan8 and March 31st. I asked Classic MINI how they could get it to me the next day in light of this... The person who shall remain un named laughed and said quietly, 'We don't suck'

Weeks went by with no refund from MOS. Two months and eventually at least 20 emails and 30-40 phone calls I got NO return calls and NO return emails from MOS. EVER. The only time I'd get to talk to Bartanowicz was if he made the mistake of answering his phone. Happened about three times. Each time he'd always say "Oh, I just did that paperwork." In spite of having said that same thing a month or two earlier. By the by, I was VERY patient the month and only became a pest when the check is in the mail routine was over a month old. I was to the point of threating to bring someone like '7 on your side' TV consumer reporter into the game.

Met a VP of MINI USA down at the Dragon. He was VERY nice and asked how my experience had been. I said 'You don't want to know, we're all here for fun" with a smile. He said he definateley wanted to know any issues I had. So I did tell him all the wonderful things first about the car, but then my refund saga. He said he'd pass it on and by the time I got home from the Dragon the check arrived! Three months had passed.

FYI... The email bouncing issue comes from some of them using a web based email front end occasionally. You have to remove the 'webmail' or similar subdomain from their email address for a reply to them to make it.

I LOVE my car... We'll see how their service dept. does. I live roughly equal distance between Sterling and Annapolis, and my folks live near Annapolis so Sterling service will need to impress me to keep me.

 

i first went to mini of sterling in august '03 to look around, take a test drive, and get more info about. when i arrived, i spent 30 minutes walking around, inside and out, while 3 sales folks stood around and talked. practically had to beg to get some attention--granted i was not dressed to impress as it was 90+ degrees outside...moving on. finally i approched them and i felt like i was disturbing them...so i took a quick drive of the car. when i came back, one of the other guys took the keys from me, handed them to the next people waiting for a drive and proceeded to leave without asking me anything about the car. i promptly left the dealership very disappointed.

same goes for the second and third time there over the next month or so, with the exception of the sales director (or whatever her title was) asking me if i needed help the third time--if i could remember names i would post it, because she was good. at the time, i explained to her how sour i felt already and that if i was interested, i would not be purchasing from sterling--and living in ashburn, it was very convenient for me to go there. she did try to convince me that it wasn't normal procedure for that, but it was too late...

went to mini of towson in october '03, just to see if the service level was any different, and at the time, the customer service was phenomenal. they greeted me as i walked in, immediately asked what i was looking for and if i wanted to drive the car (benn edwards). after the drive, i told him i'd look over the options i wanted and work out a deal with him over the phone, to which he was cool with. his and the rest of the folks i met made my decision easy to give them my hard earned money. they seemed to want my business, unlike my experience with sterling. i worked out the car details over email and phone while on business trips, and had no problems during the process. if i lived closer to towson, i'd have my services performed there...

back to sterling, things are quite different for me as far as the service dept goes--tradd always takes care of me and looks for ways to lessen any costs i may have without my prompting (maybe it's because we went to the same high school around the same time and had friends in the same circles)..regardless, since i have had a couple tires, rim, and strut mount replaced there, i've not had a problem with delays, no call backs or anything of the sort, it's the kind of service i would expect, and often, above and beyond my expectations.

so while i probably wouldn't jump through hoops thinking about buying a car from them (though i would give' em another chance based on what the latest folks have said on this post), i have to say they have come around and made me a happy customer...

just my $.02 on the matter....

 

I purchased my Mini Cooper Convertible from Jeff last August (delivered in September) and he was great. Even with problems with Jim B. (the then sales manager), Jeff and Miss Waddy managed to salvage the sale (I had already located another vehicle in NC and was ready to make plane reservations) and I got my car.

Based on the great sales support from Jeff, I took a co-worker into the dealer to order a 2005 Mini Cooper (hardtop) and Namaste and Jeff took great care of us. Jim B. (who has since left the dealership, thank god) managed to mess up the order, ordered the car wrong and never bothered to confirm the order. We caught it looking at the Mini Owner's Lounge when the incorrectly configured vehicle was already loaded on the W & W ship to the states and Jeff managed to get a correctly ordered car into the US only two weeks after the first one was due to arrive. They even gave her the mats and wheel locks for free.

They have definitely cleaned up their act and are really trying to get a much better reputation.

I wouldn't hesitate to buy from Jeff or Namaste if I was in the market for another Mini and wouldn't hesitate in referring anyone to them.

The Mini dealership being separate is a good thing. I will be glad to see it happen.

 

what's this i hear about mini of sterling separating from bmw? are they moving? when/where?

 

[font=Arial] [/font]

Last Sunday I lost all power to the drive wheels of my MINI Cooper. I was in Largo, MD. I had the car towed to MINI of Sterling.

On Monday after a quick once over it was evident that it was not anything easy or cheep to fix (i.e. CV joints). I gave them the go ahead to take the car apart inorder to find if the problem was the clutch or the trans. Clutch is 300 parts plus labor, the trans is 2K and change plus labor, the labor is something like 10 or 12 hours for either job. I told them that based several cars I know the history of I suspected the trans. I also expressed my concern about having to repair a car with only 56k miles. The service advisor said that there was nothing he could do for me at that point, but added that I should let MINIUSA know ASAP.

I sent MINIUSA an e-mail and followed up with a phone call. It was my position that the 5 speed in the early cars have known problems. That even though is out of warranty they should provide a trans. I could understand if they would want me to pay the labor. They suggested that we wait until the cause is found.

I got a call on Wed eve and they said that it was the trans. The service advisor was sorry it took so long to get back to me but he, MINI of Sterling mgmt spent some time talking to MINI USA. It was agreed that MINI would cover the cost of the transmission plus labor. I had them put in a clutch as everything was apart and it only cost parts to do so. The service advisor said that it is not uncommon for MINI to cover this kind of fix out of warranty. But he did say that when they do so it is done case by case and a review is done on the car. So it is not automatic that a repair is done out of warranty.

I did not post sooner because I forgot to ask if it was ok to say to the world that that MINI of Sterling came through for me in a big way. On the one hand I felt they would want the good press. On the other hand I was concerned that this was the kind of thing that may cause more trouble for them with customers that they could not help.

Thursday I got a call from the Service Advisor (I will not say the name to protect him in just in case) to say the car was ready. I asked if I could tell folks about what they did for me. The Service Advisor said to spread the word …BUT be sure to tell folks that the repair is done on a case by case basis. They can and have said no.

Thanks MINI of Sterling, when it comes time for a new car I will be at your door first.

John DaCrema
Aug 02 build, 03 MC named DaMINI

 

By now you may have this info, but the MOS material shows four performance packages: Cooper SX205 (hp) at $4,200); Cooper SX220 at $5,900; John Cooper Works package (adds 37 hp to S-config 168 hp) at $6,900; and Cooper ZX150 (adds 25 hp) at $4,995.

 

I'm not quite a Mini owner yet -- mine is on a ship and will probably be delivered next week. Mini of Sterling is the closest dealer to me and reading this thread was very helpful before visiting the first time. It was great reading so much about the staff and then being able to put faces with the names after I got out there. As it worked out, Namaste became my MA. She pretty much lived up to her reputation in this thread. I also was very pleased with the assistance provided by Mike, the sales manager. I just called today to check up on things since the car should be here soon and learned that Namaste is no longer with the dealership. That's a shame as I know she will be missed. I feel like I'm still in good hands with my new MA, Ahmed (not sure of the spelling), and I can't wait to get the car.