Hey everyone, new to the forum here. I found this site while looking for some information on a local dealer. Wish I would have seen this earlier, but I guess 3 yrs is not too late!
Wanted to hear some opinions -
Heres the story – I bought my 06 MCS new from the local dealership, have had all services there (including inspection stickers!) and even bought the extended maintenance agreement. My wife and I bought this car for two reasons – one because the car is just about the best thing out there and two it would allow us or me to not have to continually fix it with the warranty and what not. So, I have always had it at the dealership. Over the weekend I noticed some excessive valve noise, so I popped the hood to check the oil level. I had already made an appt for this morning, so I wasnt too concerned. The level was low, but while I was in there I noticed the bolts that hold the intercooler were missing. I wasnt too pleased with that, but continued to look around. Then I noticed a large dent in my ac condenser at the bottom. This made me pretty upset. There is no damage to the grill directly in front of it, and it is not broken. I tried pushing on it to see if something could have gotten through, but I dont see how anything could have made its way passed the grill without extensively damaging it to hit the radiator in that location. There is some damage below on the lower lip, but that is below the level of the damage on the condenser.
A little more history. A while ago I had noticed the lower splash guard below the motor was missing. I looked under the car and didnt see any evidence that it was torn off, so I took it to the dealer. They swore up and down that it had been ripped off, but then on the tech note it states "found gravel guard and reinstalled". How do they find something that was ripped off and laying in the street somewhere????

Given this, I expected them to at least replace the missing parts around the intercooler. Well, the service manager has told me he is not interested in helping me with either complaint and states the prior occurence is not relevant. He tells me this after the last time I spoke with him and he said he wanted to keep me as a customer given my long history with them.

I think Im I fairly reasonable person, but this really makes me upset. How am I supposed to sit back and say yeah, youre right, the fact that you guys did not put something back on my car before has no bearing on my similar complaint today. Also, how do you explain a damaged condenser with no damage to the grill 4 inches in front of it???? I know this kind almost boils down to a he said she said deal, but it seems like they have no interest in maintaining this three year plus relationship. I am going to speak with the service manager's boss tomorrow, then possibly the general manager.

I hope we can reach some kind of agreement, but I wanted to know what others thought of the situation.

Like I said before, this looks like a great group. Hopefully I will be able to have better news to report in the future.

 

make sure you give MINIUSA a call.

 

I have called them and logged an official complaint. The guy on the phone said he would try and call the dealership on my behalf and that the complaint would go through their internal review. However, he also told me that since all dealerships are independently owned and operated, Mini USA has no oversight when it comes to discrepancies between the two parties not directly related to a warranty issue.
I told them that when I purchase a Mini, I, as a consumer, am not purchasing from any particular dealership, rather I am purchasing from Mini, or their parent company BMW. I also told them that their support in this issue is appreciated as it seems almost as though the dealership could do anything and then claim it was not their fault. Unfortunately there is very little recourse and Im not sure Mini USA will add much clout to my side.

 

its was worth a try
thats what they say their there for
good luck!

 

that doesnt make any sense if you ask me.. first off sorry you have missing screws but if it takes me replacing 4 screws to further a "relationship" with a customer at the dealership consider you the proud owner of 4 new screws..
Just my opinion....