I've not posted much but I picked up my 12 Countryman S ALL4 on 9/24/12 in FL. I'll not say the dealer name on here as I have not read all policies. Its in Clearwater area on highway 19.
I recently hit 10,800 miles and today I went in for my first oil change. Upon entering, a lady comes out and asks why I am here, I tell her I have no apt. but was told over the phone it was fine. She goes to the service writer and he oks it, good thing, Ive driven over 50 miles to get there. Once inside, the service writer insists I go home as I have no need for an oil change before 14,000 miles. I explain that my obc tells me I'm -5xx miles on the counter. He tells me I'll have to pay. I explain that I should not as it is new/under warranty and whatnot. He walks away and brings someone in who tells me the story of 20,000 miles, then switches to once annually. I ask them to turn on my cooper to see the screen, they refuse, I ask for someone I know and he tells them its "As needed per OBC" they plug my key into this thing beside the SW's PC and low and behold I'm 600 miles past due. Quickly I get 2 lectures of how driving habits can harm oil and fuel consumption is the true calculator for oil change intervals. They take my info and my key. They tell me I am also to get my tires rotated every 5k and that will cost 70$. I refuse the tire rotation. I am told no more than an hour. 3 hours and 56 minutes pass before a different man walks into the waiting area and announces "the owner of a countryman with a toy on the keychain, youre done" then puts the key not in my hand, but on a table across the waiting area. Its mine, Boba Fett lego minifig on the key. I take my key and look for my car. It is not under the over hang but in the front lot in the pouring rain. Thanks... I can not find my service writer until I am in my car and he tells me to pull under the over hang. I pull in and have to go and sign a sheet and I can go.
Overall I would rate the service at a D-. Slow service and a complete undeserved attitude on 3 peoples part. I was nice, patient and calm.
The parts Dept also has infuriated me. Ive tried ordering numerous accessories and they have either ordered them wrong or been unavailable. My favorite is being told to "come on down, your parts are here" I get there and they are wrong.
Can I get my freebie warranty covered work done at another dealer? There is one in Wesley Chapel and in Orlando. I do not wish to conduct any sort of business here again.

 

Boy! What a terrible experience! I haven't had to have my countryman serviced yet but, typically, I've always been able to get warranty service at any dealer for my other cars in the past so I would presume that it is the same with MINI. You're right to stop giving them your business. Unfortunately, not all dealers are the same and you and your car deserve to be treated respectfully and you'll really pore image finding the right one. Good luck!

 

Damn autocorrect! It's supposed to be "you'll really APPRECIATE finding the right one".

 

derek,

sorry to hear your experience was so bad, not all dealers are like that

you can go to any dealer for the included services and/or warranty work

try another dealer!

my dealer, knauz mini in the north chicago burbs, has been wonderful, they are friendly, professional, know their job and know the minis

when i picked up my car, the salesman took me over to the service area to introduce me to the service writer, then off to the parts counter to introduce me to them

as for the parts dept, they have met or beat the best web price i could find on accessories
example ... i am buying oil filters from my dealer for $8.53 + tax if i buy 3 or more at a time
example ... i bought rearview and exterior mirror covers for less than the best price i found online AND they were in stock

my dealer offers free car washes every saturday

$25 to rotate the tires (but i do it myself)

scott

 

There are some bad dealers and excellent dealers and everything in between. We have had no issue getting warranty service from a dealer different then we bought the car from.

This has been my experience with mini as well as other brands. I have never run into a car dealer that seemed anything but happy to cover warranty work. They are reimbursed by the manufacturer for warranty work, although it's not as profitable as non-warranty work. My guess is that the typical dealer assumes that warranty work might lead to non-warranty work in the future, plus the potential of selling the customer another car in the future.

 

wow, thats a horrible 1st experience. I also had my 1st ervice yesterday & it was quite opposite.
I had an appointment, I pulled into the garage, My oil change was at 8000mi I was just over due to holiday scheduling. They didnt not have an avail. loaner & had 2 cars ahead of me but offered to shuttle me. My wife & I went to breakfast & came back in a few hrs.
When I returned, we spoke about my clutch, any other concerns/issues & I signed off. No rotation, etc. No mention of my aftermarket wheels of Hella's. They pulled my CM right outside the door & it was washed/vacuumed. Quite a surprise(it needed it badly too).

back to your service...
Again, what a contrast. Not just a bad day from 1 person either, sounds like everyone there was an ***.
First off I would make a formal complaint in writing to the dealership, the service manager & also to MINI USA. It's a dealership, it's a franchise... a basic level of quality/service is expected.

They are obviously wrong about the service interval.
You can go to any MINI dealer as well. I would not go back there again.
Although a tire rotation is recommended, its not a mandatory 'dealer service'.
Most 'service' is not 'dealer mandatory'!
If properly documented you can have your car serviced(out of pocket) anywhere you please. (this does not void warranty(for basic service(not engine/trans repair, etc) as long at its A Registered Repair Facility, has ASE certified Techs, use factory approved/OEM parts, etc. (ie You can rotate your own tires for free, Walmart can do it if you'd like(*although I do not recommend that lol, you can change your own oil(dated receipt of approved oil & filter).
the dealership likes brainwash the public with the 'We must service your vehicle or it will void warranty' garbage. It's just not true.
Parts Dept idiots- Most of these tools no nothing about the cars, they just know computer procedure & cant even think outside the box.
Not having everything in stock is understandable, having to wait 2 days is normal, having to drive back kinda sucks but thats the deal, when you get there & it's either not right or not there as they say, thats just frustrating. That;s when a discount should be given for your wasted time.
Hopefully the other dealer respects the customer..

 

Hi, I just bought my first 2013 mini. I was surprised to hear the experience some folks are having with the service level they are receiving. I cannot speak to mine yet won't for another 10 months. My question is around Tire Rotation. I thought I read in the mini handout that they don't recommend rotating the tires because the way they wear something about throwing off the performance and that rotation was not recommended. Now, I am a little light on knowlege regarding tire rotation and oil changes (what are those????) Also, what other maintenance can I expect to have to pay for when I go in for service. I bought the extension to 7 years so my expectation was no costs for a couple years other than a battery. Were they BSing me?

 

My dealer always makes a big deal over the fact that I will be receiving a survey from MINI regarding my service and how important it is that I give them a good rating....They always point out that if I'm not going to rate them highly then please tell them now so they can fix the problem now. Hopefully you'll be getting a survey and you can slam them with your whole tale of woe!

 

well said!

 

Sounds like the original poster's dealer is so bad that they know they are wasting their time being concerned about the rating system

 

MINI has changed their language over the years regarding tire rotation from indicating it should not be done to being indifferent and leaving it up to the owner. I ignore that part of their manual and rotate my tires on a regular basis.

As far as cost though, tire rotations are not part of the "included" maintenance package (might be different if you paid for the extended package?), so you would have to pay if you get the dealer to do it.

Other out of pocket maintenance expenses may include spark plugs and carbon cleaning of the intake. You would really have to review the language of your extended maintenance plan to determine whether those are included or not.

 

I see you're from LI - which dealer did you go to?

 

fear not, I have not abandoned this thread I started. j/k
I truly appreciate the advice and support. This is my first vehicle that I bought with a warranty that did oil changes free of charge. My Subaru (last car) was used and my new then '03 S10 came with no maintenance program.
I clearly understand the OBC adjusts oil life as needed, it is pretty simple. I just wasn't expecting the hassle yesterday. As for the tires, I do it myself/have a friend do it.
The sales dept is good while ordering the car, I have no problems contacting them. But this side was bad. I suppose its like many business aspects great website/poor store front or poor shipping practices/great sales reps. We live and learn.
As for the almighty survey, wow they pushed that so much when I ordered Rupert, I received so many emails from financial dept, my salesman, and another person at the dealer telling me all sorts of "please all good scores or we'll fix it" Yesterday at service, no mention of survey at all.
I'll be taking my Countryman to a different dealer for my next oil change.
To those still not due in for service, good luck and hopefully all will be clear sailing. Now I'm off to get my fiance's IS250 service completed. Atleast they tell me "it'll be awhile, lets shuttle you to the mall" Django Unchained while I wait.

 

That's terrible!!! I don't blame you for having to travel so far just to get bad customer service. They would not be allowed to touch my MINI after that!

Correct me If I am wrong... Did you really do 10,800 miles in a little over three months?

 

This has to be another Ferman of Tampa story. As a former rep for BMW of NA, I had to put out a TON of fires those guys created. Their CSI (Customer Service Index) was one of the lowest in the country, sounds like things haven't changed. To the OP, you might want to HAND WRITE a note to the GM of Ferman and give him the complete story. He's not afraid to clean house of dead weight, he's done it before.

 

I have only dealt with Hassel so far. No complaints, but I'm also pretty up front on everything.

 

The mileage is low for me, especially considering the holiday season is just over. My family lives in VA and I in FL so a round trip is 1500 miles and Ive made that trip twice now. I also do 100 miles a day when I work.

In '08 I racked up 85k miles alone on my truck. I was living/working in VA and my fiance was in FL and I visited every weekend + 30 miles a day for work 4 days a week. My fun car racked up an additional 22k.
When I had my 3500 Ram, I clocked over 100k in 9 months. On that, I do miss the fierce nature of the Cummins Diesel but I do not miss parking that beast. MINI wins that battle.

 

You sir/ma'am are correct in your dealer assumption. I carry high expectations of work as I have very stringent regulations on my work, but this was quite pathetic. I know all places are not like this, but for a place where I had been so highly recommended to, I am wondering where other MINI people had been for this to be "a great experience with knowledgeable staff". My only other knowledge of MINI dealers was Orlando which I quickly ran from and Checkered Flag in VA Beach as I had family there.

The sales person at Orlando told me to buy the car with him and have the HIDs put in after market. I asked if it would void the warranty and he told me "only if you screw it up". There was no offer to order one, just do it after market without the projector headlamps... I still wonder the logic there.

 

...and this is why I drove 2+ hours to buy mine from Ft. Myers

 

Frank at mini in vb is great, Ill give you my car if they're bad to you

 

At least those miles are fun miles!

 

I'm also from LI. 5 service managers @ my dealer since I purchased my 1st MINI 8/2009. You can probably figure out the dealer name. Very troubling that a high volume dealer can't retain talent. I followed my original service writer 60 miles east and now he returned as a salesman to the original dealer. My cars have only required annual maintenance and the related recalls and needless to say my service experience has been all over the map. #1 reason I will not buy another MINI from this dealer.

 

Damn, I just reached 4600 and the car says time to change oil already, service manager said bring it in and he will rotate the tires and even take a look at a spot on clear coat that a bird has ruined. Mentioned we might need a loaner and he said he would reserve me a mini, guess we are lucky to have the dealer and more importantly the service manager we do. Sorry to hear about bad dealers.

 

What state are you in ? I hope I have good luck in az

 

There is no reason to be concerned about mentioning your feelings about specific dealers (by name) here, so long as you are factual. This helps other forum members to make educated decisions as to where to buy their cars and have them serviced, And hopefully it motivates BMW and the dealers to provide us with excellent sales and service experiences.

And there is nothing wrong with mentioning positive experiences with those good dealers too

The dealers, as well as BMW, are very well aware of this forum. BMW does monitor this forum. When I voiced my concern here regarding issues I was having, BMW forwarded my posts here to the service manager at the dealership.