I am approaching my first service and I have a few questions about people's experiences at MINI of Sterling. I bought my car at Princeton MINI in NJ so I'm not sure if I should take it up there for service (my parents live in that area) or go to MoS. So here are my questions, how far in advance should I make an appointment? How many miles within the countdown should the car be? Do you think it will make a difference in the level of service if I didn't purchase my car at MoS? Will I get a loaner car and what kinds of loaner cars do they have?(I would love to try out a new R56 or BMW) Have you typically had a good experience at MoS?

Any responses would be greatly appreciated!

 

Hopefully they are better than Princeton MINI.

 

Lately, MoS doesn't need more than a day or two advance notice. You should try to have the car within a few hundred miles of the countdown, ideally. Their official loaner policy is indeed less generous for those who didn't buy the car there, however I think they will at least give you a 1 day loaner. They have 2006 MCcvt and MCSa loaner cars (mostly MCcvt) right now, no R56s as loaners yet. They do have BMW loaners, but they tend to reserve them for BMW owners. If they don't have a company car for you, they use Enterprise, which is based right there on-site. The Enterprise cars are usually not MINIs or BMWs.

People's experiences in general at MoS have been mixed since I got my car over 2 years ago. My own experience has been good though... and in the last 6 months, their service has improved tremendously, by most people's accounts.

 

Glad to hear this Edge.

 

Why do you say that? Have you had an experience with Princeton or do you just like MoS?

 

official limit on miles until service is 500

 

Don't know about MoS yet. Bought a used 2004 MCS from Princeton. SAs never returned calls. Even though I had appointments, took at least an hour to drop off the car. Had two problems: Reverse light didn't work and car would sometimes not start, even though clutch was fully depressed. Both times they claimed the found no problem. In the case of the back up light, the bulb was burned out. Yet, they claimed it worked fine.

 

I agree with Edge. I got an appointment in a few days and had 900+ miles left until the next service. I've had generally good service with MoS, other than annoying brake noise issues with the JCW brakes MoS installed (which is one of the reasons for my latest appointment). For the handful of service visits I've had there I've never had a MINI or BMW loaner -- they've all been Enterprise loaners (Buicks, KIAs, and Mazdas). MINI of Towson, on the other hand, always gives me MINI loaners.

 

I really like the service appointment feature on MoS's website. It worked really well for me a few months back when they were booked about a month out. I would defintely suggest scheduling your appointment this way.

(of course, I order my pizza and just about everything else online, too....)

 

MoS's website says they will pick-up and deliver your car on a flatbed truck, if you want. Has anyone used that service???

 

MoS Update. I picked up my MINI on Sat. 4/21. Since I ordered on-line, I had never been to the dealer. Judging from posts on NAM and my contacts with my MA (she is new and learning, but tries to be helpful), I was expecting chaos. Surprise! Giles, the finance manager (and a Lymie, too), took car of the paperwork in about 3 minutes. He didn't even make me pay the 2 cent shortage on my credit union check. The dealership was calm and clean and, despite having 10 pick-ups scheduled, everything was ready. My MA went over the car, taking her time and skipping stuff I told her to. The only glitch was that I was the first to pick up an 07 with the navigation and she tried to put the dvd into the cd slot. I looked into the service bay, which seemed clean, organized and calm. I haven't actually used the service department yet. But, they are dealng with Momma MINI back in MOE to address the issue with not being able to adjust headlight auto-on sensiivity. They called me to let me know that there would be a delay in getting the answer, since they were waiting to hear back from England. Their guess (and mine) is that you can no longer do the adjustment on US spec cars. Anyway, so far, I like what I see at MoS.

 

MoS won't give you a loaner or a rental unless you either bought the car there OR you have relocated and they are now your primary dealer. I bought mine in Westchester NY and had trouble getting loaners/rentals at MoS in the begining. Not their fault - just policy. When you call for the appointment I'd ask about a loaner too so that they can hold one for you...

 

Yeah. I did buy there, so no problem. A lot of car dealers have that loaner car policy and I really can't blame them. There's only so many loaners they can have, even using Enterprise for the overflow. Unlike some other dealers, MoS will loan you a car if they become your primary dealer for service. I once moved and the local Chrysler dealer would not give me loaners because I didn't buy the car from them, even though I lived 300 miles away when I bought it.