I'm just curious.. we all know car dealers don't give a flying crap about
customers' cars. What was your WORST experience?
let's talk it out, we are in the same boat you know?


my 01 bmw, after about 20,000 miles of dealer service, I went under the car
and find out the 8 bolts for the plastic engine cover is missing 6 screws:
only held by 1 on each side. i guess the mechanic was in a hurry? lol

my 06 mini, first dealer service cuz of rat damage in my engine bay.
they opens the hood, takes a look at it, and tells me the warranty won't cover it since it's done by rats. then they quote me 2000 dollars for some electrical job. request to get it towed to my mechanic, they charge me $120 for an "inspection fee" (inspect what? you just opened the effing hood) then i find out they made 4 door dings.
btw, i got it fixed for 300 bucks at my mechanic's place.

 

Not sure why you posted this in Off Topic -- it probably belongs in General MINI Talk or OT : Autos.

All my prior-to-purchasing-my-MINIs were my worst dealership experience(s). Buying the MINIs was amazing and surprisingly enjoyable.

 

Mmm. Must keep self from yelling... *deep breaths*

Took Clara in for thumping sound coming from steering column when turning sharply (into parking spots, etc). SA notes my STRPs and comments they are a "great upgrade".

SA calls me back 2 hours later. Thumping sound is apparently my fault - STRP bolts are loose (WTF...they weren't when I dropped the car off) and the loose struts are making the thump, not the steering column. Invoice has a note of "one-time courtesy service due to customer error".

Okay, so I'm not a mechanic, but I'm also not a complete $%*#ing idiot. STRP installation is not exactly rocket science. But whatever...feeling like a dolt, I head home. Turn into garage...

*thump*

Took it to dealer across town, steering column replaced.

 

Universal City MINI. Absolute worst dealer experience of my life.

I brought my car to them due to issues with the temp sensor. They couldn't find the problem after I brought it to them repeatedly, and after a short time the engine failed. After they had it for a month, UC Mini tried to blame the engine failure on me and refused to diagnose it without me ponying up $3k...on a car with 5k miles (approx).

Needless to say I gladly paid $120 out of pocket to have it towed to another dealer (Nick Alexander), where they promptly got to work on it, and confirmed that the engine failure was due to a faulty temp sensor and a defective cylinder head.

 

Baron Mini in KC

 

Working for one (not a MINI dealer) that had every department being run by a jackass.

 

my worst experience? Do you really want to know? Ok, then look in my gallery. My car was sabotaged by the dealer here in Annapolis. Long story short, I (or someone else) could've been killed or seriously injured, but since there are no malfeasance laws in the auto industry, I had no recourse.

 

Well....Ive had one or two but Im not gonna flame. Mini and BMW North Scottsdale is da shizzle. They gave me all of their synthetic Mini wall posters...

 

I'd have to agree...working w/ my local dealership has been a pleasure. Now on my second MINI.

 

Don't waste your time at Keeler Mini in Upstate NY! Or, if you go there, choose your MA wisely! This is a wicked long story so I'll try to be brief ...

My first Mini experience was awful thanks to one fine "MA" who decided to laugh me out of the showroom! When I gave him my specs, he made a big production out of the fact that I had built a "race car." When I asked him about NAM, he said, "the people on there have way too much time on their hands." Because the dealership is only 20 min. from us, we ordered the Mini, only to be screwed six days later. The MA called saying the car was built and that some changes we had made were too late. (He had told my hubby on 2 separate occasions that the changes were fine-no problem) We caught him in a lie and he accepted no responsibility. He offered to order a new car, but instead of giving Keeler the business, we canceled the deposit check and walked. It was a horrible, "no-love" experience!

Instead, we drove 2.5 hours to Westchester Mini and had a fantastic experience with an MA who is a complete Mini enthusiast! (And, he has no problem with NAM!) Now, we wait for our baby to be born!

 

They crashed my car, before it left the drop off bay.

That was probably the saddest, I've had other visits get me angry though.

 

i dont have any problems with the local mini garage but the dealer i bought herman from......WOW. They made so many major errors tha i have had them reported to the licence auth. as well as the dealer service auth. I wouldnt take it back to them to wash bird @*#&@ off the car. ( which by the ay when they preped the car to look pretty for pick up..screwed that up HUGE ) i could go on but

 

My worst was with a local chevrolet service dept. on my SSR. Just about every dealership in my area almost always broke the prop rod every oil change, guaranteed! Last time I took it in and told them the ignition switch was bad and it would not get in or out of gear and you could not get the key out. They replaced one of the sensors on the tranny. I was going on a long trip and told them to check it out thouroughly which they supposedly did. Five hours into my trip,the check engine light comes on. Pluged it into a friends diagnostic in Maggie Valley and sure enough, sensor on the tranny was out. Had a friend who is a great GM Tech for 30 yrs. put a new ignition switch in and bam, problem gone. sold the car and when the new person got to their destination, the ignition switch would not allow him to get the key out! He had a new ignition switch put in (this was the third one since ownership). Switch is made in Mexico! Guess quality control is lacking there. My wife has had such good things with her mini over the last five years I went out and bought the clubmanS and am incredibly impressed with everything, dealership, fit and finish, etc.

 

When I got my car, the HID's were acting up so I made a phone call to the 2 local dealers to see if I had any warranty left. There's Main Line in Philly and there's Otto's in West Chester. The people at Main Line were horrible. I recieved no help and basically was told "Bring it here and we'll fix it. Don't try it yourself. It could cost from $400-900". I hung up right after I stopped laughing. I called Otto's and it was worlds apart. They told me what the possible problems are, what the possible fixes are and prices on parts and service. I know if I ever go to buy another or need parts, where I'm going.

 

University Honda chapel hill.

I spend all day into the night bargaining down
from the 40% markup back to MSRP.

I leave with MSRP, no floor mats, and a big
hole where the radio should be.

I still remember clearly what I had to go through
to get MSRP. The one and only Honda I bought.
Great cars, stink dealers.

 

Where's a moderator when you need one. . . . ..?

 

Good question, smarty-pants!

 

Molle Scion in KC (the sponsor for my scion club unfortunately) They tried to put my car on a lift without even looking where the put the arms for the lift at under my car. Hasn't been back since. (Not that I need to. I can do an oil change myself)

 

Sorry, I don't have a cape, so it took me a while

Mark

 

Got a minute?

Cliff notes version: VW dealer waffled on price. Skip to next post.

Slightly longer version. . .


Mine was at a VW dealership about five years ago. I was checking around with a few dealerships. I got a good price nailed down and called a third dealership to see what they could do. Sales person promised she could beat the price from Dealer X by $200 right off the bat, no problem. I worked my tail off all day at work, skipped lunch, sped home, picked up my checkbook and a friend to drive my truck home. Get to VW all hot, tired and dirty and her price is about $1000 more than the other dealerships. It was the last day of the 1.9% finance rate and (I assume) they figured I would cave in and pay more to secure that rate.

She says, "But we have the color you want."

Wrong! You have my second choice color. And I'm paying more for it.

"But today is the last day of the special finance rate."

Yep, but it will come back. I can wait until then.

Then she tried to say it was only a $500 difference. I tried to explain it was $1000 dollars. Back and forth. Neither of us budging. Finally I grab a pen and drew a long line on the paper. "This is invoice." Then I drew a dash above the line. "This is $500 over invoice." Then I drew a dash below the line. "This is $500 below invoice. From here (top dash) to here (bottom dash) is a thousand."

We continued back and forth until after closing. She wasn't budging an inch and I sure as heck wasn't gonna budge. Needless to say I walked. I was polite but oh man did I want to scream. I'm surprised my truck didn't have fingerprints embedded in the wheel and a bent shifter by the time I got home.

 

I had two terrible experiences, the first at a Honda dealership. I drove the car and hammered out a deal with a salesman. He gives me the paperwork and I show up the next day with a bank check ready to drive my new car home. They take the plates off my trade and put them on my new car.

Then the sales manager informs me that he was not privy to the deal, cannot authorize it and I need to either come up with a few hundred more dollars or have an option removed from the car.

I said it was even simpler than that ...put my plate back on my old car, because I am out of here. He tried desperately to save the sale and I did not give an inch ....with my voice getting louder and louder all the while ...on a Saturday when the place was packed.

I got my way, but it wasn't pretty.

The second bad experience was at a Toyota dealership in Westport, CT, that is known to be a very high-pressure shop. Sure enough, they were. They were trying to close the sale before we even drove the car. Once back at the shop they wouldn't let us go ...they had manager after manger hammer us for a deal. It was the single most unpleasant non-buying experience in my life.

I know this is not the thread for this, but my best buying experience ever was when we bought my wife's Lexus RX-330. The 350 had just come out and we were searching for a leftover 330 without navigation. We found one, let the salesman know we were just there to drive the car and took it for a ride.

When we got back he very politely asked if we'd like to try to make a deal, just for the heck of it. I let him know we were unprepared, but would entertain the idea. We went inside and I asked him to go get his best number. He came back with a number that was very, very good. I offered $1,000.00 less and told him that was it. Take it or leave it.

He returned with a dozen roses for my wife, two bottles of water and some snacks to tide us over while we did the paperwork. I reiterated that we were unprepared and could not pay for the car that day. He said he would swipe our credit card and give us 48 hours to come back with a check ...AND we could drive the car home.

Lexus knows how to make you feel good about buying a car.

Dean.

 

My MINI is my first new car...had one MA offer me "$1" for my trade-in, then $100, then he said maybe $1,000. Ended up being $100, and when asked if he cared about making the sale, his response was no.

Got a new MA, sold my car privately, and all was well until delivery. My MINI was not detailed, was missing floormats, and was missing bonnet stripes. It was also covered in pollen from sitting outside.

I haven't required any service yet...I'm not looking forward to that...

 

Out of curiosity, what was the trade-in?

 

 

Nothing that bad but the mini is my first even relatively new car.
My windshield cracked and the useless Gieco rep incorrectly told me I don't have glass coverage and windshield replacement fell under a $500 deductible. I call around to glass shops and get quotes from $250-$400
I call my dealer New Country Mini of Hartford.
(not exact quotes)
me: How much will it cost to get my windshield replaced?
dealer: Do you have insurance?
me: Yes but this falls under a $500 deductible so it will be out of pocket.
dealer: (starts laughing) oh this will cost well over $500.
They finally quoted $800+
I took it to Safelite ($300). they Broke a number of trim clip and gave it back with the chrome trim popping off. I called them on it they fixed it for at no extra cost and gave me the leftover clips.