Greetings --

I need some advice on how to get my 2002 mini serviced in less than two weeks.

Eight days ago, my windshield wipers froze up in the midst of a classic DC torrential downpour, as I was driving on the beltway. A harrowing experience, but nothing compared to my efforts to obtain service at Mini of Sterling. I called numerous times over the past 8 days to arrange to have the wipers fixed. On each occasion, I was transferred to voicemail and left a message. Thus far, none of my approximately 10 messages have been returned.

Today, I pretty much insisted to the poor receptionist that I needed to speak to a human being in service. She was kind enough to try at least 10 numbers. Finally spoke to the service manager, David Rockwell, who was less than polite. Mr. Rockwell indicated that he wouldn't be able to schedule service for at least a week and a half, said he doubted I'd called numerous times because calls are "always routed to him," and said he couldn't provide a loaner for more than a day. When I protested that it seemed unreasonable that although under warrenty I'd be without a car for 2 and a half weeks, Mr Rockwell essentially said that wasn't his problem. He suggested I take my car to another dealer (Annapolis and Towson are at least 90 min one way with summer traffic). The general tone was unhelpful, rude, and dismissive.

Although I love driving the Mini, I'm beginning to think it was a mistake, given that we only have the one unresponsive dealer as an option for service.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get the car back on the road without making two 3 hour trips to another state?

Thanks in advance.


June

 

June,

As far as warranty service goes, your only choices are MINI dealers. That means MINI of Sterling, MINI of Towson, Tate MINI... or driving to Richmond (Crown MINI).

MINI of Sterling has a very serious backlog, and ALL customers are impacted. Their policy is to only give "no strings" loaners to people that bought their car from them. The other dealerships are not as strict right now, but I think part of the disparity has to do with supply and demand. Since MoS is so backlogged, it's understandable that they would give preferential treatment to existing customers.

I don't have a good short-term warranty solution for you, unfortunately... but the good news is that in 60 to 90 days, MoS will be opening up a new satellite MINI service facility, which should greatly increase their ability to handle the load. I myself look forward to again being able to make appointments within 1 week!

In the meantime, you could try Lucky Dog Garage, who know the MINI very well and provide excellent service, but they are in Glenwood, MD - not a close drive for Northern Virginians, and they do not handle warranty coverage.

 

Don't feel bad. I purchaced my MINI at MoS. Within the first week I had the car the left turn signal quit working. I emailed my MA (Jeff) about the problem and he replied that he could get me an appointment in about 4 weeks.

I purchased a new bulb and replaced the one that was there. Fortunately this fixed the problem but I was still very annoyed that he expected me to drive my new MINI for a month without my left turn signal.

 

mini of towson has pretty good service and their service docket seems pretty light compared to sterling.
if it's a relatively small problem, i've had them tell to come by on the day i called.

 

It may be a drive... but MINI of Towson has been good to me so far.
On all ocassions, I had an appointment within the week... and for minor issues, they usually squeeze me in on the same day.
I did purchase my MINI there, so I dont know if that is a factor.

 

Depending on exactly where you are, either Tate MINI (Annapolis) or MINI of Towson should be about an hour drive or so. If you're south of DC, even Crown MINI (Richmond) might be a viable option.

-Paul!

 

Many thanks for your replies. It's a dismal situation. Although I love the Mini and have recommended it often to friends and family since taking the wheel in Dec 2004, I'm unlikely to recommend MINIs in the future. Way too much hassle for basic service and repair. Seems like a funny place for MINIUSA to cut corners, given the high cost in customer relations. Too bad. It's such a fun and BEAUTIFUL car.

By the way, how DOES MoS manage to be ranked #1 in customer service, as they proudly mention during the "on-hold" recorded message?!!


June

 

MoS will not return any of your calls. You are going to have to call/go to another dealership. Just like Edge said, MoS is very back logged and cannot get to you for a long time. I like Tate and I believe they are like 1-2 weeks behind. I believe Towson, Tate, and maybe Crown are starting to get back logged because of MoS being backed logged. Good luck

 

If only our MINIs weren't so darn popular!

 

Dropped mine off at Crown yesterday....easily made the appointment and a loaner...did not even buy it from them.

 

That's gotta be incorrect. Westchester MINI is the #1 dealer for service customer satisfaction (corporate owned, so they better be), while Checkered Flag MINI is the #1 for sales (#2 for service by .1 of a point).

 

I believe that MINI of Sterling's recorded message is referring more to the BMW side of things. I don't think it specifically said MINI.