There are many of us who do not live near a MINI dealer but do live near a BMW dealer. It makes sense for MINI to authorize BMW dealers to do routine service. The reason that BMW and MINI offer free service, in the first place, is to provide an incentive to people who lease their cars to actually get the maintanence work done. Otherwise the work got ignored and BMW wound up with cars likely to need warranty work done within the five years. I can understand why BMW/MINI doesn't want non-dealers to do warranty work but what's the big deal about servicing? We should send MINIUSA a letter expressing our concerns.

 

For people that live in areas far away from MINI dealerships, having nearby BMW dealers perform basic service and warranty repair procedures makes a lot of sense.

In my case, I have 5 MINI dealers in a 80 mile radius, so obviously I have no problems getting access to service, but for folks having to make 100, 200, 400+ mile drives to get an oil change is really insane.

 

Where I live, the BMW dealership is about 5 minutes away from the MINI dealership. I see a lot of BMWs in the service centers of the MINI dealership. So I suspect the opposite probably happens also.

 

I don't see this practice changing.

If anything MINIUSA appears to be moving in the opposite direction, by requesting that MINI dealerships become separate from the BMW dealership (sales, service, & service waiting area). Some dealerships are already setup that way, either from the start, or after conversion and/or relocation to newer facilities. Thus, the push underway now makes it less and less likely that MINI customers will interact with the BMW side at all during a service visit.

 

What makes sense to me is to license independent shops to perform service in addition to BMW dealerships.

 

I could definitely be wrong about this, but...

I'm pretty sure that if you get the work done (and I assume you must also be able to document it), your warranty must remain in effect.

As I said, I'm not positive this is right. But I'm pretty sure. Maybe it's another provision of the Magnusson-Moss (?) Act or something like that. Get the work done on time - even if it's by a local independent garage - and MINI can't cancel your warranty.

As far as the free part of the service goes, that's a different story. I doubt that there would be any way you could convince MINI or BMW to reimburse you for what you paid Joe's Garage to change your oil. But if you're worried about your warranty, I think you'd be covered.

Does anyone have more info on this?

 

Write all the letters you want. BMW doesn't care a hoot about customers. Especially while Mini dealers are delivering sales ad nauseum...

 

Ahh...the negativity. I always love reading your posts, 911fan.

Actually, it's likely more of a contractural matter. You see, your local MINI delaer paid a bunch of money to buy the MINI franchise...included in the MINI franchise is service and parts income. To make an appropriate Return-on-Investment argument, the MINI dealer also needs to factor in this service and parts income.

If MINIUSA authorized BMW centers to also service MINIs and stock parts for MINIs, that would be a breach of contract. You see, your local independent BMW shop can't buy and stock parts from BMW...they buy them from a local dealer for a small wholesale profit to the dealership.

The reality is that a MINI franchise isn't all it's cracked up to be. Many smaller MINI dealers haven't even earned back there initial investment yet. That's mostly due to volume. MINI can't make enough cars to really make the MINI sales department a hugely profitable enterprise. That's not to say they aren't making money, but not as much as some might think. Your local MINI dealer needs the service, parts and accessory income to help earn back that investment and make the franchise pay off in the long term.

Take that away, and the independent dealer will likely seek legal remedy from the manufacturer for diluting there business.

What is more likely going to happen, is you will see some MINI dealers begin to rent space at an affiliated BMW shop once or twice or month to service some of their out of town clients. This can be a great way for your local dealer to provide an extra level of service to out of town clients.

This gets tricky for many reasons, not the least of which is parts availability. Here's how. Let's say your local MINI dealer decided to rent shop space from ABC BMW right around the corner from where you live. Let's then say that they are going to send a certified MINI technician to that location one or two Saturdays per month depending on volume.

They would have to set up appointments with any clients well in advance to account for parts needed, tech time, etc. This couldn't be a drop in and get your car serviced situation.

Now let's say you call and make your appointment. You have a nice list ready of all the things you'd like to have done for your MINI. The day comes for your appointment and between the time you made your appointment and the time you arrive, two additional items have been added to your to-do list.

Oops...what do you mean you don't have that part? It's a lose-lose in some ways, because Murphy's law tells that no matter what parts that Tech loads up in whatever vehicle he uses to arrive ABC BMW, you will need something he had no way of knowing you'd need, and now you have to wait another month...or maybe more if their booked up, to get back into ABC BMW when the MINI tech will be there to address this secondary issue. Now you're not happy, and the dealership's customer satisfaction index just took a dive.

Now, under most circumstances, this wouldn't happen. But, I would bet that at least one customer per trip would come up with a problem that the tech didn't know about in advance, and doesn't have the part he needs to fix the issue.

I know a lot of people think BMW/MINI doesn't understand or care about the gaps in regional coverage for service. I don't think this is true. I think that they are actually doing the best they can under difficult circumstances.

They have a product that is wildly popular, wonderfully unique, and in short supply. There are only 80 dealers in the entire country and the largest of these still sells less than 750 cars in an entire year. To help pay for the facilities, marketing materials, sales and service staffing, etc, they need to keep as much of the service business of their customer base as possible.

I hope the above scenario plays out actually. I would love to see MINI dealers farm out some service business to BMW centers for their out-of-town clients, but it won't be easy, it won't be cheap, and they have to hope that these clients will be patient and understanding when they pop up with a surprise they can't immediately handle.

Have a great day.

 

MINIGUY99, I find your posts to be a great source of information and very insightful. Do you happen to work for BMWNA or MINIUSA?

Don't worry, you don't have to respond here, I'll take the answer off the air....

 

A lot of them will lose service business from those past the "free maintenance" period because they charge too much for labor

 

I don't think you're understanding the actual complaint.

The issue isn't non-warranty service here. People are upset about having to trek several hours and in some cases several hundred miles to the nearest MINI dealer for warranty work.

Yes you can have any mechanic perform a repair on your MINI, but if it's something that SHOULD be covered by your warranty (especially if it is an expensive repair) why should you take your car to a mechanic and pay for it....

 

MINI dealerships are paid by MINIUSA for performing warranty work. Being able to take your MINI to any BMW dealership for such work would take money out of the pockets of MINI dealerships.

 

Too funny.....I think it would better said that Mini/BMW doesnt care (and justifiable so) about owners who buy cars from their dealerships with limited market coverage and then complain about the distance they have to travel for free or even warranty service after the fact.

Its kinda like the folks who buy homes near airports and then complain about the noise.......duh

I cant help but laugh when Im at the one of only two dealers here in the PNW, and see folks who drove in from Idaho to get their oil changed and ***** the whole time at the service counter. They had to travel into the state to buy the car and then some how never put the "Im going to have to drive back here to get work done" thought process in to play before buying. BMW and Mini are owned by the same holding company but are completely seperate brands and are operated as such. You dont keep all your eggs in tghe same basket or so the story goes.....

 

heh heh... we must have been there at the same time. Either that, or it is an all too frequent complaint at NWMINI. I don't mind the drive (at least I'm driving a MINI down there and back) but I would like it if they had some weekend service hours. I hate having to take time off of work to get service.

 

Thanks!

 

I don't believe that we will ever be able to get warranty work done at a BMW dealership. Car makers work hard to maintain seperation between the different brands sold by one maker. Just as you can't take your Cadillac to a Chevrolet dealer for warranty work, you will not be able to take your MINI to a BMW Dealereship. As suggested above, convenience of a servicing dealer should be part of the buying decision. The other poster is correct, as long as maintenance is performed and documented, your warranty will remain in place. The work does not have to be performed by a MINI dealership. However, it must be done by a MINI delership in order for the factory to pay for it. If you get it done elsewhere, you wil be expected to pay.

 

Actually you may be able to take a Cadillac to a Chevy dealer, I'm not 100% sure about that. But I do know that you CAN take a GMC to your nearest Chevy dealer for warranty work... Back when I used to own a GMC I spoke to Chevy about this, Chevy dealers will work on a GMC provided that there is no GMC dealership anywhere nearby. I honestly don't remember what the exact number is, but it's quite far, so far that there are very few areas in the US where this would actually apply.

But there is a key difference here, the GMC Yukon and Chevy Suburban are virtually identical vehicles (yes I do know there are some differences beyond the name) so it's not much of a stretch for a Chevy dealer to service a GMC. However, while MINIs share many components with BMW's there is nothing in the BMW lineup that compares with a MINI.

 

Cooper4us,

Thanks for the kind words. I work for a retailer and deal with these issues fairly regularly. I understand both sides of the argument, but mostly the ROI end of the business.

Many people have the misconception that MINI dealers are raking in huge profits. Although profitable, a large FORD store would likely make more money on the bottom line than most, if not all, MINI dealerships.

Have a great day.

 

I can understand why MIMI won't allow BMW Dealers to do warranty work. But routine servicing is a different matter. It is offered free for three years for a reason. That reason is NOT to gain customers. That reason is because most cars are leased for three years and the people leasing the cars didn't want to pay for service on a car they were going to return so they didn't have them serviced. Then BMW/MINI got stuck paying for warranty work during the next two years that the car is under warranty. It makes more sense for a BMW dealer to do the service than some independent mechanic (from MINIs view, as I see it).

I live 2+ hours away from a MINI dealer. 2 miles away from a BMW dealer who will do the service work (and charge me for it). I'll take it to my local mechanic and pay less and get better work and only drive the 2+ hours to get serious warranty work done, at one time. But MINI doesn't know what kind of work my mechanic can do.

 

Hi Lefty,

Your service work is not free. MINI pays the dealer to do these services. So the same ROI argument applies. Your local BMW dealer will not be paid by MINI to do the maintenance services because they do not have a MINI Franchise Agreement.

When you bought your car, you knew how far you had to drive to get it. If you want the free maintenance, you will have to make the drive again. Since the various maintenance services are spread out at fairly large mileage intervals, this should only come up once or twice a year on average.

By the way. The vast majority of MINI owners purchase their cars, not lease them.

Have a great day!

 

I thought ALL MINI dealerships are franchised through existing BMW dealerships. In Florida, Ferman owns BMW d/s in Tampa and Orlando and has both MINI dealerships.

I think the frustration is: since they don't have independent dealers in the real sense of the word, albeit on paper as mentioned, it is still a huge disservice.

But then you knew that going in...

I drop my MINI off and walk to work ...and on the flipside, I have very little curvy roads with character close by to drive on

 

I think some Mini dealers here in CA are making up for the lower volume and raking in considerable, if not "huge," profits, given that they are getting a $1500-2500 mark up over MSRP and are charging as much as $150/hour for labor.

 

When MINI launched in the U.S. BMW Dealerships were asked to submit applications for a dealership...this was done because launching a new brand dealership from scratch is hugely expensive.

Being able to lean on an already existing dealership infrastructure helps defray some of the costs of launching a new brand.

MINI sales and service personnel are, for the most part, completely separate from the BMW side of the business.

Each tech has to be sent to school specifically for the MINI.

 

I understand all that...however, part of the sales package Downtown MINI offered me was free car washes during the warranty period jprovided I take it to the BMW dealership on Saturdays (not gonna happen). I have a Ferman club card as part of my "BMW family package"

all of this is pure discussion since MINI probably won't change anyway...

from a customer loyalty perspective: what about Scion? or Acura? aren't these serviced by the parent companies? certainly it's not hurting them

 

Wouldn't it be great if you could have your MINI's oil changed at any BMW dealer? I'm just talking about oil changes.

That alone would make life a lot easier for me, where the nearest MINI dealership is 140 miles away.