The prospect of owning a MINI was always good. Purchasing one and owning one also good for the most part.

My problem is with after purcahse customer care and service.

Customer service begin disappearing as my arrival day approached. By delivery date they were unprofessional to say it nicely.

Now taking my car in to get serviced is hellish. I had to wait a week to get my car in the shop for the fans not working and for my temp gauge not working. I noticed how the BMW's got priority over the MINIs.... interesting.

Just a bit ago took in my MINI again for the flat tire light, DSC light, and another light all coming on at the same time...

They seems to think it was a hassle for them to look at mere lights. The mechanics I was told were busy and couldn't glance at it right now and to just "call back later and we can schedule you in sometime to see what the problem is." What??? leave and call back later? Are you serious??? This is the kind of service I can expect to get in the future??

It feels like they just want to sell the car and don't care much about it later when things go wrong with it. I used to love the SLC, UT dealership... then I just sort of liked them... and now I simply hate them.

 

Did you show up without an appointment or something??? I used to work for a service department and trust me, if they are any good, they are busy. No offense, but I don't think you can expect to show up un announced and get a tech right away every time. They have to give priority to those that called ahead and made appointments.

Now on the other side of the argument, for something that may concern the saftey of the vehicle, I would expect that you could at least call ahead and let them know you just want someone to give it a quick glance. They should at least be able to do that the same day.

I really do hope the dealer doesn't start putting BMW owners in a different class of customer service. That would suck.

 

That's really odd. I'm sorry to say my service visits have been wonderful at Rasmussen MINI in Portland OR.

The first time I called to make an appointment the service woman said they were looking at about a 1-2 week wait. I replied with something to the order of, "Wow! Brand new car and you've already filled up the service bays?!" She then replied, "oh! You are a MINI owner!! I'm so sorry, our BMW service techs are booked, but we can get you in tomorrow for MINI work." At least at my dealer, the MINI people are seperate from the BMW people. Techs and all. Sounds like SLC has the same techs for MINI and BMW work. Sorry bud!

I feel so guilty. I called in yesterday again because I've got a rattle coming from my dash. They gladly got me in today for the rattle fix, plus they are going to install the new seat cover and sunroof seal (ordered a while ago under warranty) as well as program several features for me. They always sound like they've got the best job in the world, too!

Really sorry SLC sucks.

R

 

High Anxiety,

Sorry to hear about your experience. I know I have absolutely no patience for bad customer service either, especially when you spend $25k on a car! You just want to go in there and stuff that car up their #@%&! Don't know if this tempers it any but my wife experiences the same kind of long waiting times with her Audi A4. She has to schedule oil changes 1-2 weeks in advance. One time she even had to wait 2 months for a new stereo. The dealership she goes to is a Porsche/Audi dealership and she sometimes wondered if Porsche owners get priority. Highly doubtful, but the thought has crossed her mind. Plain and simple fact is that there are a very limited number of German car dealerships (ie, Audi, BMW, Mercedes, MIni). I know when I owned a Chevy I could almost always get an appointement the next morning but that's because there are a million Chevy dealerships around.

Good luck and hang in there.

 

My wife's vehicle is a Lexus RX300, and the local dealer is a BMW dealer too, unfortunately, not a MINI dealer!!!! Anyway, I can't speak for the BMW service(separate from Lexus), but the Lexus dealer support and service have been simply wonderful. They do everything well and they really go to the extra little thing. She always gets a new Lexus for the day to drive, they wash and vacuum the car before she picks it up. They send out service reviews on all their work and give you plenty of oppurtunity to make sure whatever detail they fixed was handled completely to your satisfaction. This is why she wants a Lexus SC430 and not a MINI. I think I can find something else to do with the 40K difference in price.

 

You catch more flies with honey

Until cars are built in heaven not all will be perfect

Think about it - the only time the servive people come in contact with you is when you need SERVICE. As was stated call before you show up,smile when talking on the phone may help even when you are upset.

I tip my service advisor for the good service I receive,I never have a problem getting in.

 

One should also remember that the average car dealership makes 25% of its profit in new car sales, 25% in used, and 50% from service and after-market products. It would be good for dealerships to think about this when it comes to service at sale.