Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Sure they missed some spots, but free is free, and it's better than nothing.

Same feeling you should get when you get an injection by a hot nurse! Ya, it sucks but...

 

Well, I find that you get what you pay for with free carwashes! Especially when your MINI is black!!! The car "detailers" at the dealerships scratch them with their crappy rags! I always make sure when servicing Wanda to EMPHASIZE NO CARWASH! I'd rather wash her myself.


Clover

 

I always seem to get the Pontiac Grand AM loaners from them. Once I had an SVU for five days. But, every once in a while, I get a MINI. And thankfully most of the time I don't need a loaner at all.

 

Crown Mini of Richmond didn't program my car, not did they even tell me it was available till I asked a week later, needless to say I wasn't driving 2 hrs to get a 10 minute job done, so I got stuck going to Sterling and paying 65 bucks to turn on my Day time running lights. (this was back in 2004)


Ugg

 

Wag ... up to a point.

I asked Wayne specifically about mods and he was willing to install most anything from suspensions, exhausts, etc. Not quite as good as Sterling about it but pretty good EXCEPT pulleys. He told me specifcally dont pull in with a helix or whatever pulley because then they will have problems. On the other hand, most everything else was cool. This is kind of strange because they will install anything from the minimania catalog (including pulleys) but dont want to see them from elsewhere (I guess thats business). Further, the parts dept wont order from anywhere but minimania. Wayne told me to go buy whatever elsewhere and just bring the parts to him.

BTW, when we were in there before the London Bombings, Wayne was one of the top 10 SAs in the USA and was about to fly off to London for a free MINI vacation! COOL. Don't know if he went.

Just because you bought at Tate dont mean you have to get service there. I've gottent EXCELLENT service from Sterling... they went WAY out of their way for me. Sterling parts has it way over Towson as well in that they give 15% of most anything and will order "almost" anything you want and install it.

Towson doesn't need an appointment either. I've driven up at 4PM and they just take you. Sterling, OTH, is pretty bad about appointments. No experience with Tate except during my Pre-ownership homework phase, everytime I talked to them on the phone, they gave bad vibes.....

 

And Towson gives you free bagels!

 

They have Starbucks coffee now too...

 

Towson service .. the best,

Towson breakfast ... great,

Towson location ...bad.. very bad...

can they buy Tate and move closer to Annapolis???

MD STREGA2

 

Tate. Need I say more . Come the breakfast I don't know if I can keep a straight face

 

i have to agree here. i had a horrible shopping experience at sterling (sept. '03--ordered from towson nov. '03)--sales people who could not have cared less that i was there, ready to buy. but service has been painless with sterling. programming for free, loaner car for a couple days at no charge--considering their policy is to allow one day for a mini not purchased at their dealership.

 

i hate TAte, I had a problem with my Body Control Module and they told me it was goign to be over $600 to replace and fix the problem, I asked about the warranty and they said it was voided by the aftermarket stereo. I threatened to hire a lawyer, and what do you know, it was covered immediately, I still would really like to know what happened to my car while it was being serviced.

 

The new MINI service manager starts Monday. I'm going to print this thread, cross out names and show it to him. Hopefully, it'll rattle their cage a bit.
I'll talk to this new guy and perhaps things will change.

 

Go Katie

 

Well, if they dont offer free bagels and starbucks coffee, while watching the plasma screen movies ... they will need to upgrade a bit

 

after all those posts, i am kind of worried my 06 coming next month.
i ordered my MINi while they told me it will be a 38 build week. when i get the production number i was told it will be a 39 week build. after calling ASK-MINI i found out that it was a week "40" build since august i placed the order!
all the experience above just sold Tate. i will take my 06 from them, but i dont think i will have anything to do with them in the future. i dont really care what was really happened in between, but at least they should know what was the true info that i should have from them.

i think after reading all those, i will be better off take a vacation down in ATL and get all my work done there. from a dealer service aspect, i have been always with Global Import MINI in Atlanta. they have never fail to do anything to me and my fellow AtlantaMinis members.

my MINI buying experience is just not a good one overall from Tate. what can i say, I need a MINI and i dont wanna go too far to buy it.

 

Why?

Sterling has, literally, gone out of their way to help me. They even got the MINI Regional rep to see me when I had an appointment coordinating times. They've installed aftermarket parts and their parts dept gives a consistent 15% off.

Towson has also been very good about service. Just drive up and no appointment ... ever (unlike Sterling). Wayne, as I wrote before, is one of the top 10 SAs in the country.

I see no reason to go elsewhere for service

 

[QUOTE=kgdblu]The new MINI service manager starts Monday.

Lucky him ! I'll be one of his first customers. :smile: Next week I should bring my Little One back in as soon as the a/c part is in.


MD STREGA2

 

Me too...my airbag light is on for about the 11th or 12th time. I was told that I'd have to wait til the 28th to get it fixed. When I told them that was unacceptable, I was told I could leave it there for 2 days and they'd try to "fit it in".
Rick told me they now have 4 techs, so I'm not quite sure why anyone would have to wait. The backlog must be huge.
This poor guy is gonna get an earful.


[QUOTE=lastrega]

 

I have had only good experiences with Towson. Aside from writing this, I will not expend any energy thinking about Tate, even though that is were I bough my MINI. It is beyond me why DCMM continues to give defacto support to Tate by going there for the Saturday morning meet ups.

When I first went into Towson for the 25K Inspection I service, I was provided with an Enterprise rental car for the day. Everything was done without a problem. A couple of weeks ago I went back to have them take care of a list of little things that have occurred since then, like broken clips on the battery cover, torn screens on the cowl vents, peeling plastic on the door sill plates, and to have the brakes checked for wear. Much to my pleasant surprise, I was provided with a nice CR/W 5 speed for the day.

All the little things were taken care of and I got free brake and rotor replacement too; saves me over $400. Yeah! Dwayne and Wayne in Towson Service, and Jeff, the mechanic who did my work are all top notch in my opinion. Like others, I wish I’d bought from Towson. The reason I did not was because the sales staff back in January 2003 was a PITA, so I went elsewhere. I hope the Towson sales staff is better now.

 

We continue the meetings at Tate because it is a chance to add to our membership, period.
If service continues to be poor after the new manager steps in, perhaps we'll re-think the breakfasts there.

 

I was one of the first MCC customers from Tate just over a year agao and 33k ago.. since driving out of the showroom I have not thought, looked or even ventured near Tate.
All service has been done by Towson. 10k 25k They are thorough .. courteous.. and genuinely concerned for the health of my vehicle. I have been very accustomed to specialised service and individual care from an enthusiast mechanic, having owned primarily enthusiast cars, Lotus and Alfa Romeo..(not the most service friendly bunch).

Towson gives the type of service one expects if one owns a much more exclusive and or expensive vehicle. I drive from Annapolis to Towson. Tate is 15mins from my home but not worth the time. If you want peace of mind go straight to Towson even if its a few extra miles in some states Mini owners dont have a choice.

Still motoring.

 

Just thought I'd update everyone. Today, I spoke with the new MINI service ***'t. manager at Tate, his name is Will. I even took a printed copy of this thread for him to read, so he understood the severity of the problems.
He has assured me that he will do his utmost to improve service at Tate.
It is a daunting task, however, and I ask that everyone be patient. The change will take time, so please bear with him.
As Tate customers, we can work with him to remedy the situation. Past bad service isn't Will's fault, so please don't blame him, k? Positive attitudes will bring positive change, yes?

 

Past bad service isn't Will's fault, so please don't blame him,

I agreed with you on this Will or whomever is not responsible for the lousy work done at Tate. While I want to keep a positive attitude about their service I find that what they did to me (and did not do to my car is unacceptable !! ) I will call today- since I am still waiting to get called - and schedule a stay over for my Little One.

I believe that Chris was OK and he meant well, but at the end he got burned out.

MD STREGA2

 

Don't forget with the spread of the members geographically. Tate is sorta in the middle... Some of us live south of D.C. and some north of Baltimore. Annapolis makes for a middle ground that isn't too terribly far for anyone. I do like having it at a dealer. It's nice to see what's new in the way of 'point of sales' brochures and such.

[QUOTE=-=Mike=-]It is beyond me why DCMM continues to give defacto support to Tate by going there for the Saturday morning meet ups.
[QUOTE]

 

Hi all,

Just wanted to say hello to all of you out there. I'm the newbie at Tate Mini & with a little luck & a lot of hard work, I aim to restore all of you faith in tate. I know from my conversation with Katie (BTW, thanks again for the help) yesterday & lurking in the background reading these posts that so far the service hasn't been, uh, stellar. This is something I hope to turn around as quickly as possible, but it will take some time to do. The place is a gawd-awful mess, but not irrepairable. Time will tell, & I'm patient not to mention persistant to a fault. I am buried at the moment so if I don't call back immediately you know why. BTW-leave messages with the receptionist, avoid my voicemail (it's temeramental, to say the least!)

About myself: I'm 28 years old, live in Annapolis (1 mile from the dealer, in fact) & I've been working in the car business for about 11 years now. I started out as a BMW/Porsche/Mercedes tech but after an injury in an auto accident I left for a little while, only to come back in the administrative side. I've worked with 2 BMW dealers, along with Merecedes-Benz & Volvo dealers as well. I was an active member of the BMWCCA for several years doing autocrosses ('88 M3 & '91 M3), currently a member of the M3SIG list. Yes, I am a BMW guy, BUT(!), most importantly I am an enthusiast. I enjoy all cars, regardless of make or model, & being an enthusiast means I don't descrimnate either. Although I do not know very much about these cars, I want learn fast & welcome any advice along the way. I'm trying to thin out the car & bike collection, so maybe a Mini will be in my future, sooner rather than later. Until then, I'll try to live vicariously through you all!


I will be coming to the cookout next Saturday so I can introduce myself to all of you, and hopefully make some new friends at the same time. In the mean time, wish me luck as I try to pull Tate out of a long nose-dive into the ground-I'm gonna need it!

Looking forward to the 24th,
Will Mitchell
Assistant Service Manager
Tate Mini Annapolis