I got my Clubman S almost a month ago. All went well during the delivery, with the exception of the car being not-so-clean. I didn't really say anything during the delivery process because I was in a bit of a rush. When my salesperson called me a few days after to see how i'm doing, I said something to her about it. Overall, the exterior was clean, except in the corners and crevices, it was very dirty, as if the car got caught in a sandstorm while sitting out in storage. Granted Im not that picky witht his stuff, but it seemed as if the car wasn't rinsed and cleaned, rather it was just wiped down. The interior of the car was dusty as well, with the trim (Piano Black) looking as if it had dusty water spots along the entire length of the trim on both doors, including the rear seat area. When she offered to have the car detailed I told her it wasn't necessary, as I will do it myself (I am also not in the mood to drive out 45 mins to the dealer to do this). The only other issue I have are the wipers-they suck. They are very streaky in it's operation, but I never said anything to them about this. I'll either go to a local dealer to address this, or just change them myself.

Anywho to get to the topic, I received an e-mail to take a survey that would be sent to the dealer and MINI about my experience. I promised my salesperson that she'd get a perfect survey, but when filling it out, I gave her top scores for everything, except in the question that asked about the car being clean, I checked off "prefer not to answer".

For me to have answered by "preferring not to answer" that question, did I affect her survey score?

Anyone?

 

Yes, you probably did affect her score. An answer of "prefer not to answer" is, in survey analysis, as bad as poor or lower.
It is after all, the dealer's job to be sure the car being delivered is in the best possible condition. She may not have been directly responsible for cleaning the car, but the "team' was and she is part of the "team".
If she gets a bad mark because of your reply, she most likely won't loose any money or her job, but she might be more likely to ensure that future cars are properly prepared for delivery. Because, if there are enough complaints, her compensation might be affected and "it is all about the money".

 

Attention to "detail" is the basis for any sucessful business. And when spending 35K - this is not the way to initiate a good business relationship.

You did the right thing.

 

I still have a Survey that I have not filled out after Molly's last service. I was not happy with the SA that I dealt with, it was not my usual one. How do I tell the dealership that I only want to deal with one SA??

This was for her Annual Service and as I requested they did not fill out the Maintenance Record Book, I laid it on the Front Passenger Seat, they also did not rotate the tires, they only gave me the condiition of the tire and the remaining Tread Depth, which I asked about.

Thanfully my dealer is quite close and is a very nice atmosphere, small waiting area, I suspect they like you to walk around and check out the MINI's and Bimmers while you are there. You do get Free Soda, Coffee, Tea and Water.

 

What surprised me the most was the fact that they swapped the car in on a Monday, and on Tuesday whan they confirmed the car was in I told them I would want to set up delivery for Friday morning. They had 3 days to arrange and have the car cleaned, so it's not like it was a last second thing either, Oh well..

 

I have not received the survy from MINIUSA yet after my purchase of a 2008 MCS on June 30th. How long did you guys usually receive the survey after purchase?

Another thing is that I am very happy with the sales manager, he gave me a great deal. However the SA doesn't seem to know much about mini, I think he mainly deal with the BMW side. The thing that annoy me is that the SA keeps on hinting that I should give him all 5s or perfect answers on the survey. The other thing is I think the Finance person lied to me because he told me I will not be able to get the extended warranty if I don't do it at the time of purchase. According to the forums, I think most ppl have the opportunity to extend the warranty before the first 3 year expires.

But overall I think my buying experience is pretty positive, I just don't like being pressured or told to give them all perfect scores... I mean there should always be room for improvement. They will never know what to do better if they pressure every customer into giving them all 5's.

Anybody have the same experience or feel the same way?

 

Such arrogance and desperation they have resorted to asking for the high marks and yet largely undeserved ?

Maybe it is just a sign of the times. They were probably taught that in school these days. No more red marks with a pen on school papers, and they always get an A on projects no matter what merely because they "tried".

The delicate geniuses of this country are putting us right into the crapper.

 

My car had two dents in the roof and one small one in the quarter along with scuff marks in some of the plastic. I was told they would repair it and I found out the car was a mall display. Well they gave me a discount on the car so no stress as long as they fixed it. On the survey I only wrote that since the car had been a display would it not make more sense to repair it before it was sold instead of after. Well you would have thought I had killed their dog the way they reacted. Then on the first service to repair the dings they missed one. The car has 400 miles now is 3 weeks old and is going in for the 3rd time today. So far a bad battery, map lights that wont turn off ( parts back ordered ), a high pitched whistling sound that they claim is " normal " a passenger side window that sticks and windshield wipers that died. I am worried if I hit them on the survey I will be put on the " list " and it isnt like you can go down the street to another dealer...and yeah I got the begging for perfect marks too. I am going to keep this thing for a couple more months but if I have another issue with it I am done. This was not at all what I expected this car to be. And I cant get into the whole " thats just a MINI " crap. It either functions correctly and is reliable or it isnt.

 

I never answer MINI surveys, and I asked MINI to put me on their "no survey" list. One less thing to worry about.

 

I wonder how their survey's really work and affect them. I brought my car because it was making the "Chewbacca noise" and I hated how the guy I dealt with kept stressing the importance of giving all 5's on the survey I will be getting. He even said something along the lines of, "Even though I'm not the one who personally washes your car, it reflects on me if I don't get a 5 on that." Another thing that really annoyed me was how they were unable to replicate the noise so they won't be able to fix it. My warranty is up next month and I asked around how much would it cost to replace the clutch after that. He said he's not sure, but that one customer who brought their car in all the time and always gave all 5's the survey's, they were able to hook up and pay for half the cost on his clutch when it went bad for reasons not related to any noise. Umm...shouldn't these survey's be anonymous? He's making it sound like if I scratch his back, he'll scratch mine. Also, when I did get my car back, they didn't even wash it.

 

I wouldn't worry about the survey even if you did get them. There are plenty more important things to worry about IMO.

 

You don't want them to wash it anyway. It just screws up your paint. Swirl marks to beat the band. I specify anytime my car goes to the dealer. DO NOT WASH.

Too bad your having so man problems. Zero with ours.

Pat