I bought my last 2 Mini's from Princeton but the latest incident of holding my money hostage was the last straw. In April of 2012 I traded my 08 for a 12 S, and did Mini Finance for short period. I was talked into GAP insurance knowing I would pay car off way early, but accepted the coverage anyhow. Car was paid off in August with title in hand in Sept. I personally took title to Princeton Mini ( first Sat in Sept) to finance manager so I could get my refund check of $679.00.
I waited a month (October) no check, made several calls, no response. November I called 3 times a week for 4 weeks to finance manager at both Mini and BMW with no response. I might also add that emails were also sent with no replies. No return calls, nothing!!!
The first week in Dec I finally received call back from Princeton Finance guy who gave me the number to BMW financial to see where check was. They were out of the loop since car was paid off and title sent. They sent me to GAP insurance writer who said they were out of the loop and check had been sent 29 Sept to Princeton Mini.
I called Princeton Finance again with no reply, however the Internet salesman picked up and let me vent. He advised me to send email and cc BMW General Manager of my situation, which I did. I included my new "temp" address, email and cell phone number in email. Four days later I get an email from Princeton Mini that my check has been forwarded to BMW Financial. (Who has nothing to do with transaction!) I fired off another email explaining it was dealer check and was suppose to be sent to my new address which they had from previous email.
Princeton Mini logic, 1) send it to BMW Financial 2) they send it whenever to NJ address 3) NJ forwards it to new work address out of state 4) I receive it! Fed up I call and reach BMW General Manager @ Princeton and voice my displeasure, who says he'll take care of it. Dec 7 I finally receive check that was mailed and issued 29 Sept. Unbelievable customer service all around. Proof that not all dealerships give service after the sale.
You will never hear a positive come from my mouth about that dealership. I'm sure they could careless but they lost a repeat customer from this circus act! I didn't use any names but the key players at Princeton Mini know who they are, hope it was worth losing a customer!

 

Easiest thing to do next time they are giving you the run around, you contact mini personally, not the dealership. Manufacturers do not want to hear this type of stuff, and certainly would of gotten you in touch with a division rep, you would,d of had that thing in your hand the next day, especially if they knew you owned two previous minis, which means you are a regular, and common customer.

 

If you were going to pay the car off in 4 months, why would you even get GAP?

The check you were trying to get, is the the cost of the GAP policy? Not too sure why you would be getting money back...sorry not quite following yet.

 

Because in that 4 months if the car is totaled, I get a new car instead of depreciated value of my 2012.

Gap insurance covers the value of your car for the length of your payments, the longer you take to pay off the loan, the smaller the refund. I paid $65 over 4 months to assure that I would get a new car if something totaled this one, small price to pay in my mind.

Google gap insurance and it will explain it all in detail.

 

You are correct, except there will not be a next time with Princeton. I thought we could handle this at the lowest level, I was wrong. The service after the sale was a non-player, I just know my 3rd Mini won't come out of that dealership. It's too bad because my MA, sales manager and service rep were all great people. Maybe in the future they'll realize what value a repeat customer brings to their dealership.

 

I was under the impression that Gap Insurance is where you are covered for any balance that was left over from what your insurance company is giving for totaling out the car. So if you owe 20k on the loan.. and the insurance is only willing to cover 15k of that... the Gap Insurance would cover the remaining 5k. Doesn't necessarily mean you get a new car if the other one is totaled out.

Another question is this.. I've always gotten Gap Insurance on the last 3 cars I've gotten (Including the Mini). First car I had for 2.75 years.. and Second car I had for a lil more than 2 years. Never received a refund for any of those. Never used the insurance or anything. I'm sure its to late to do anything about it now... but whats the limit on getting a refund on Gap Insurance.

 

DRoc7822,

That's what I meant I just typed it wrong. If I totaled a new car, I would go out and buy a new one to replace it. It would be like I rented for 4 months.

The good thing about GAP insurance is if it was paid off early you write the Gap rider for the refund. There are know time limits or lapses on the refund. You just need your Gap policy number and Vin from the policy for the refund. Most people blow it off and it's money that you are entitled to.

 

Hmmm I traded my Subaru in back in August so if I can find the paper work from that, all I need to do is go back to where I bought the Subaru and tell them I want to cancel the gap insurance on it and have them fill out some paper work? Then wait a few weeks for a check?

 

You don't have to go to the dealership, should be phone number or address on Gap policy. They should verify the payoff and title is clear and send the check. When I did all the legwork to see where my refund was it was phone calls. The GAP rider will be able to tell you the amount of refund over the phone.

 

That is AWESOME!! Hope I get something back.. that'd be great! I found my paperwork and everything. Says I need to contact the dealership, in writing... buuuut I will call tomorrow to see what they say. I'm glad I clicked on this thread cause you sir may have just got me some money! Thanks!!

 

Having been that route with two cars. One where it was totalled but we got more than the payoff and the other where we traded in the car. We had to go to the dealer to get them to cancel the policy then they get a check and then send it to you. In both cases it took almost two months. Blaming it on the dealership may not be fair. You might want to rethink it as it very well might be the issuer of the GAP policy. I am dealing with an insurance company right now and they don't like to pay out anything.

 

Maybe you should know your facts before writing a post about my situation. If you read my post the check was mailed on Sept 29 to the dealership who did nothing with it. I did all the legwork and phone calls to get the money owed to me, the dealership dropped the ball and I have all the emails to prove it. So move along and comment on post you know something about.

Merry Christmas!

 

My apologies, I missed the 29 Sept part. Not looking for excuses but they Princeton MINI needs to get their act together. They did not communicate in the past and were too lax in getting back to you. I had an issue with service, I made several calls because I had a couple of concerns and no response. Then they changed management, and things seemed to have changed. Still not enamored with them. Yes they did something stupid by pissing you off. No excuses on this period. RR you are just in your feelings.

 

Shame to hear about such shitty service at Princeton.

I bought two cars from them back in the day (04 MCS and an 08 MCS) and never had any problems, apart from them not seriously looking into a couple of service issues I had until I really pressed them.

Shame on them. Glad to hear you were able to get it resolved. Definitely talk to MINIUSA the next time you have a problem.

 

I bought a CPO'd 128i from Princeton MINI/BMW. They bent over backwards to fix all issues with the car. I think they did because I found out 4 months after purchase that the whole driver's side of the car was poorly repainted (peeling paint around door handle/window trim.) I had them repaint the car free of charge, but I was still unhappy about spending 28K on a repainted car. :( It was traded in on my 1st MINI at MINI of Mt. Laurel, who has been fantastic on all counts.

 

Unfortunately, this isn't the first time we've heard some negative things about this dealership. In all honesty, no dealer is really going to get great press all of the time and dissatisfied people are usually the ones who post their issues, but this dealership has just had so many problems, it is hard to ignore. I originally wanted to buy my MINI from them and had a poor experience (the price of the MINI I wanted to order had continually changed between speaking with my MA and then the Manager, then my trade-in value kept changing as well). Their service hasn't been very good either; I figured I'd give it a shot since it's so close to my office and when I went to pick the car up I was told that the tech did not actually get to look into any of the issues that I had asked about and then suggested that I make another appointment to come back in (after adding some nice swirl marks during the car wash that I had requested not be done). Despite the convenience factor of Princeton MINI, I'll be heading back to Prestige (where I bought my car) or frankly, another of the other dealers nearby. Very fortunate to have Manhattan, Prestige, and Monmouth close enough to pick up the slack. I haven't been to Morristown, so I can't speak to their service.

 

I bought my car from here in June 2011 and get it serviced up in Ramsey (Prestige) because they didn't do the needed work on my car when I had an issue, made me buy the tire/wheel protection plan, i had a blowout, and they wouldn't cover it (that REALLY got me pissed off) and completely overcharged on early oil changes. Just recently, I got both an E-Mail and phone call from them saying i was WAY overdue on maintence since the last time I've been there was January 2012 for my cold start issue that they "couldn't find" but oddly, Prestige did! My next MINI will be from Prestige, i just go by Princeton, just to look at their inventory every once in a while.

~Clinton

 

I must say that the service at Princeton has gotten better. (you just couldn't get any worse) We originally went to Mt Laurel to look at the CM back when they converted over from a Saturn Dealership. At that time we couldn't get someone to assist us and when the finally sent someone over I knew more about the product than he did. Swore I'd never go back. My 15k service was done at Mt Laurel and about a week later they followed up with a phone call to ask me to bring it in for the thermostat recall. Quite impressed. They have improved ten fold and the MA's are the best I have ever dealt with. This was because I was working temporarily in Cherry Hill Now I work in the other direction and thinking of scheduling my next service at Main Line. I have no idea what they will be like. We are getting ready for our second MINI and have to figure out where to order it from. We had no problem with Princeton on the orderring process and our MA is great. Maybe I will give them another chance.

 

My thinking is with so many MINI dealerships in the tri-state area, competition should be at a premium amongst the dealerships for customers. Best prices, great service, and customer satisfaction would be my goals. What better advertisement than word of mouth and repeat customers. I guess I'm old school and don't relate how business is really run at the MINI dealerships. I'm just one fish in the sea, but I know where my money will never be spent at in the future.