Does anyone know if I bought my MINI at my local dealer in the US is there any reason that I can't take it to a different dealer, in Canada, for service?

There is a Canadian dealer about 1 1/2 hours from me, and my local dealer (10 minutes from my house, if I hit EVERY light) has completely tried every ounce of my patience.
On Monday they will have had my MINI for 12 days trying to diagnose the fan relay problem and they have been trying to install the relay since Wednesday (June 23). The excuse I received on Friday after I had to call them was that the directions from BMW were not real clear and they were having trouble figuring them out.
I really dont know what to do, they seem to have a "its no big deal" attitude.
Thank in advance for any input.
Sue

 

Don't know if MINICanada would honor the warranty. In theory I would think they should... I'd call the Canadian dealer and get it directly from them however.

 

Not sure bit MINI CA. does not seem to know what MINI USA is doing .Nor the other way .Give it a try.I live in a small BMW selling area,likewise MINI,but my dealer/service is great.I'm sorry to hear about the service that some folk have to put up with in bigger centers

 

Sue

Is your dealer providing you with a loaner car? Sometimes you get a service problem that is a first-time event and no-one at the dealership has ever had to fix it. This certainly can delay things. But how you are treated is ususally a function of the sales staff - not the service dept. BMW dealers (which most Mini dealer are as well) are used to dealing with upscale, demanding customers, who do not want to be inconvenienced, and whose time is valuable. Make sure that the person you bought the car from knows that you are dissatisfied, and insist on an equal type car as a loaner. The thought of you bad-mouthing HIM all over town is more likely to get action than anything you say to the service department.

 

Before pulling your car out of that dealership and driving 90 minutes to another country, why don't you call Mini Corporate in New Jersey tell them what is going on and see what they say. At a minimum at this point I would definately push for a loaner car from the dealership. In the meantime why don't you write up a complaint and post it on NAM, I believe we have a section where you can rate dealers and let the dealership know (after the problem has been resolved one way or another).

 

You obviously have yet to deal with a MINI dealer for service....

Loaner cars are at the discretion of the dealer, and there are many dealers that treat their MINI customers MUCH differently than their BMW customers. I would be that Sue's dealer is one of those dealers. Regardless of whether or not you go to complain to your salesperson. There are some dealer's who treat all their customer's equally. Some dealer's are stellar, some suck, given the problem's Sue is having, I'm lean towards the latter about her dealer. Sadly there are several dealer's with the attitude of "Well we're the only MINI dealer for miles," and I've caught one dealer on several occasions saying those very words to upset MINI customers.

Some dealers will provide you with a BMW loaner, some a MINI, others an Enterprise car, some with nothing. Some will give you the loaner for the time your car is in the shop, others will make you pay if the repair takes longer than 24 hours. Yet they may treat their BMW customers very differently.

Complaining to your BMW sales person might do something, especially if you are in an area with multiple BMW dealers within a 30 minutes drive. MINI's are a different story, MINI dealer's are not as common as BMW dealers, plus MINI's are VERY hot sellers. Combine that with that fact that once the convertible comes out, waits for ALL MINI models will go up again, (remember to produce the convertible will consume 1/3 of the Oxford plant's production capacity) and most MINI salespeople aren't going to be too concerned with you post-sales.

Sure if you have a bad pre-sales experience you can always talk to Classic or MINI of the Hamptons, but trust me the number of sales either of those two get from your local dealer isn't enough to concern them.

My advice is before you go trudging 90 minutes away from your home you do two things... One discuss the situation with MINIUSA, and if that doesn't resolve it, contact the dealer in Canada you are considering dealing with. Get it directly from them if they will honor the warranty on your car.

There's a possibility that MINICa won't reimburse the Canadian dealer for warranty work on your car and that instead they need to persue it through MINIUSA. Depending on how much of a hassle that is for them is probably whether or not they are going to want to work on the car.

 

Thanks for all the input guys. Yes, I am driving a loaner MINI. I do have to say that they were pretty accommodating with a loaner car, usually you get a Hyundai, but when my MINI went in the first time for this problem (June 13th) and this time (on the 18th) they have given me a MINI.
I would talk to my salesperson but she left the dealership about 5 months after I took delivery of the car. My husband has called the general manager of the MINI dealership and even though he told him that he would call him back to keep him informed, he has not. My fustration has really come from the lame answers that I/we keep getting from everyone at the dealership, and the lack of their concern to get it fixed in a timely fashion.
One thing that I dont understand is I have read in posts here that other people have had similar problem and their dealers have gotten the car back to them in one day.
My original question was more for the info not to pull my car out of that dealership and take it across the border for this problem but for future service concerns.
What I really really want at this point is to have my car fixed and returned to me...
Thanks again
Sue