Montreal Mini / BMW Dealer is a REAL @rse
 

I almost didn't purchase a JCW (2016 JCW Chili/Chili), were it not for an out of province / state dealer.

I went to two dealers in Montreal, and purchased my JCW from a dealer in Ottawa.

I sort of decided at time of delivery (our roads are the worst in North America... we have pot holes on our Highways I kid you not) to get the Mini Cooper Tire and Wheel Warranty. It cost about a G-Note, but was discounted for me along with some other mumbo jumbo free accessories.

Anyways, before putting my car away for the winter (October 2016) my wife was driving the JCW (I was following her) and long story short... damaged the right front, right rear 17" black wheels.
Long story short, my JCW rests on four jack stands so I have the two damaged rims with me. I called my dealer in Ottawa (2hr drive away) and He suggested I get him the rims in advance, because warranty repair or exchange usually takes 3 days. I opted to instead, take the rims and tires to the local Montreal Mini Dealer instead (15min away).

They said flat out NO, they needed to have the car on the premise to do the work (I am not putting the car on a flat bed to bring them the JCW with the two damaged rims). I told them that the car is sitting in storage, and even if it was summer I wouldn't drive it on the two damaged rims. Whatever, right? So I said, let me Call Mini BMW Financial Services (the one's who offer the Extended warranties) and asked if (it has been 6 months, have never used any kind of warranty or work) I could cancel the warranties. They took a keen interest as to why, and then offered to call the Same dealer and look into the matter.

Great news, Mini Financial Services called me back telling me that Mini Montreal would do it and make an exception in my case because they "didn't know" it was the REAL Mini BMW warranty. The "Other" warranties they handle requires a photo of the vehicle on one of there lifts (Shut the Front Door) in order for the insurance plan to cover it. :roll:

Anyways, the Mini Financial Service Agent was great, he set up the request, and file number for me and asked that I call back the person who said No to me to book an appointment and to drop off the two rims and tires. Awesome, right? :thumbsup:

UUUUH, NO!!!! :mad: I called back, and after saying YES to Mini Financial Services, they changed there word and said NO to me. :no: @rses, right? :nod:

It further validates the seriously poor service and after sales service practice by dealers in, and around the Montreal area. It is NO wonder most people choose a brand of vehicle based on the Ownership Group (many Dealers are owned by One Owner or Group, who happens to have many other manufacturers of different brands).

I bought a Mercedes as my daily driver, not because I REALLY wanted a Mercedes, but because the dealer that services my car is Great.

Crazy, huh?

I plan on purchasing another SUV (coming from a Lexus RX Hybrid), and We/I really like the Jaguar F - Pace but you know what, I will probably get a Mercedes SUV. Just to be Safe. Who needs the dealer Abuse :cool:

My RANT... Cheers!
:eek:

Put the rims back on the car, tell the Montreal dealer the car in not driveable and you need them to send (and pay for) a flatbed to transport it there. Then they can take the picture, replace the rims, etc. They have to pay for the transport trust me.

Ah yes. The "you didn't buy the car from us, so we're going to make this as difficult as possible for you" shuffle.


Maybe try another of the Montreal area MINI dealerships? I believe there are three? That might help?

And I am K!CK!NG myself to boot!!!
 

I had a M5 2006, that I used to get serviced at a BMW dealer in the suburbs. For 6 years, I had fantastic service from them. Twice I had it serviced to them for the complete BMW Brake overhaul (new discs, pads and sensors). It's a 1000$ bill and the car leaves the dealership LIKE new.
I drove the car, like a M5 was meant to be driven.

The dealership was revoked, not for bad service, but because BMW Canada wanted to have it's own dealership in the same vicinity... and hence, did not renew the dealership agreement. Hence, the dealership folded for all the wrong reasons.

The closest dealership at the time was the very same BMW dealership where I called to request my MINI rims be serviced. At the time, I took it in to get once again the complete brake overhaul (new discs and pad for the 3rd time in it's life span). I drove the car 500km and did what I do every year, store it in a heated garage. When I took the M5 out the following spring, the vehicle brakes were completely shot. The brake pads left a stain on the brake disc and left a visible hue. In a nut shell the M5 would brake with severe shimmy and shaking.

I called the Montreal BMW dealership (the very same one that is MINI BMW Montreal) and was told the brakes were under warranty for 12 months or 12,000km. Hence I took it in only to be told, BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR your out of luck since you let the vehicle sit in storage for 6 months :eek2:

What a crock! $1000, for a 500km brake job, and would offer me a 10% to redo the brakes for my error. Shut the Front Door, I said. I took my M5 to my mechanic who services my out of warranty cars and left him the keys. He called me in the afternoon and said why would I put Jobber Parts on a M5?

You believe that? That very same dealership shafted me, and charged me full retail for jobber parts, sold at the service counter and denied everything (I was discussing with the mechanic, that his assumption was completely wrong, because I have stored and serviced the M5 this very same way for the past 6 years without an issue).

AND yet, I went back for the abuse. My bad for being blind to the @rses who screwed me once before.

Cheers,

Sorry to hear your woes. We have three MINI dealers in my city. I have bought new cars and used the service department at all of them. I've bought my last two from the smallest of the three, it's subtle but it seems like the experience is a little more personalized there.
On the other hand, the service departments I've used for BMW, Audi, and Porsche (all multiple local dealers) were always willing to work on cars bought elsewhere. I guess they figure good service might make you buy from them in the future.

What are "Jobber parts"?

AS you are probably well aware...
 

As you probably already know, you can go to a dealer and purchase original equipment parts. For example, brake pads, that were designed and built to a certain standard for the make and model of vehicle.

At the same time, you can go to your local auto parts store and purchase brake pads as well. They usually have all sorts of variation of brake pads, with different prices and quality.

As a rule of thumb, most brake pads are not made BY the manufacturer of the vehicle, but rather, are made to the manufacturers standards. That is NOT always the case with parts you purchase at the auto parts store. You can purchase on price, rather than on knowing what the minimum requirements are.

I know for a fact you can purchase M5 after market rotors and brake pads for all 4 wheels, including shipping and handling and have them at your door for about $250CAD. Do they stop the car, yes. Do they perform like OEM? most likely not.

It is a term used in the aftermarket or garage shop talk.. jobber parts.

So the dealer charged you for OEM pads, used jobber pads on your car? Let's see why would he do that, not TO MAKE MORE MONEY. Right? Seriously I'd never go near that place again. Every now and the someone puts a "bad dealership behavior" story up here. The one I've heard most is the "bad gas" one: car runs bad or won't start. The R56 had a notorious HPFP problem (I had one replaced). But some dealers said they tested the gas in the tank and it had bad stuff in it so it was the owner's fault the pump failed so they have to pay. Customer says "where's the gas Lebowski"? Dealer says we threw it out.

I don't get it...
 

The dealership is compensated by the manufacturer to service the car under warranty. So, why refuse the work, especially in a low period of the year. No, act like totally @sses, and try to engage the customer into some kind of p!ss!ng match. End result, I have to go through another avenue to receive what I am entitled too. Lose Win.

The dealer has to go through the mini service rep to get permission on certain things. Things like a clutch. The service reps are accountable.

And this is the reason why I'm leaving VW after owning their cars since 1998. Besides their material quality decline the past several years, the service treatment is the final cut, especially when I was driving 120 miles, one-way for service and repairs. I live in Louisiana and the closest one was in Bossier City/ Shreveport. I understand exactly what you're going through...trust me. IMHO, the auto industry is the most depressing I can remember in my lifetime.

Good luck

He did... lol
 

The Service Representative was the one who called the Montreal Mini-@rse Dealer to give them authorisation to ahead with the Warranty work. And once the Service Representative said it's ok, to just call back and book the appointment it is then that the Mini Montreal-@rse dealer said no to me when I called to book the appointment.

The Montreal Service Representative was taken aback by the turnaround that he apologized right away and immediately offered to call around for me. I said forget about it (I would just take it back to the dealer who sold me the car) and told him he was not responsible for the actions of one Montreal Mini Mont-@rse stealership. But he insisted this was not in the Mini (or BMW) Canada way of treating there customers, and that a customer can take there car to whatever dealer they choose. I thanked him for his help and am having the service done elsewhere.

Cheers

Report it to CBC's Market Place. They seem to be able to cut out all the bs and get customer satisfaction. At least it will give this dealer a run for their money.

Once I get my service completed
 

Once I get my service completed by "a" dealer where I did not purchase the car, I will call BMW Canada to file a complaint.

Then, I will order a set of Brand New JCW Cross Spoke 18" wheels and tires from the dealer where I purchased my car.

:D

And Mexico's gonna pay for them! :thumbsup:

Damn right! :thumbsup::lol:

Back on Topic...
 

They are actually coming from Germany... 3 weeks or so...

Cheers

got my rims today...
 

Well, good thing this my summer car, because i just got my rims today.

Sheesh...:impatient:

The original rims were kinked (on inside part of rim) and the tires were somewhat deformed. They changed just the rims, added a clip on weight to the inside portion of the rim (non visible side) and some stick on weights to the outside portion (the more visible side). Will only know in about three months if they are good to go.

Got to go and call back the off island dealer and ask them why I did not receive any paper work (just showed up and picked up my rims, signed nothing).

Cheers

Not sure what you mean by "kinked"? I thought you were getting an OEM set of 506's?

My JCW...
 

My JCW came with 17" black spoked rims (the sales order slipped was entered incorrectly) instead of the common standard 18" rims. So, last year before storing the car, I/wife must of hit something on the way or the day of storing the car.

So when I took off the rims to put the car on jack stands (a couple of weeks later) it is then I noticed the rim damage.

Long story short, I wanted the rims repaired prior to the spring summer season. It is THEN when researching the rims, that I noticed that they have almost identical specs as my winter vehicle (I bought a Mercedes Benz B250 as my winter car).

So, I will be running the 17" JCW wheels on my B250 Mercedes as my summer rims (since the factory rims, I had them mounted with full blown RFT Hakapelitta's), and getting the 18" spoke JCW 506 rims for my JCW.

whoop! whoop!