HA does charge the $399 doc fee & would not waive it but as to the $500 dealer prep fee when they handed me my paperwork I said "the reason I came to Hank Aaron to purchase my Mini is because Global is known for charging the $500 dealer prep fee & Hank Aaron is not". My MA immediately removed the $500 off my invoice. (thank goodness cause I am horrible at haggling )

 

I have had some good dealings with Global Imports and I have always felt treated fairly.
When I first started on the road to buy a Mini, I stopped by Hank Arron, (I go within a mile of their shop on my way to ATL) to check one out a test drive. I didn't have an appointment, (it was a Tuesday Morning in Febuary).
I was allowed to check one out in the showroom but when I asked to test drive one, you would have thought that I had slapped someone's mamma.

I called up Global and they said come up any time to test drive. I went up on a Friday early in the afternoon. Had a great drive, got lots of information and went on my way.
When It came time to odrer the car, I asked my wife if she wanted to go with me, and we made a great day of it with the SA. The entire transaction went off without a hitch. No surprises. My wife had just bought a 04 Prius and it took us over 4 hours to wade throught the paperwork and other BS. Not so with Global. I knew what I wanted, the SA offered suggestions and we were on our way within an hour.

When I took delivery:
Within 45 minutes of walking through the door, I had Sting and was on my way home. No hard sell for this or that, no surprises, (they even beat the APR I had with my bank).

Since then, the service has been great and they have really helped out with some "issues" that they did not have to work with us on.

The staff can seem a little "Stand-Offish" but they have always been upfront and helpful with me. I understand they are in the business to make money and they are not really my "friends". They are there to help.

 

If you buy from Global, beware Dealer packs, e.g., etching, my chief beef. Bought my car before Christmas and I'm still waiting for my Tag. Not favorably impressed so far.

 

Unless you can be a little more specific about the tag issue, I wouldn't blame Global for the tag issue. The tags come from the government, Global just does the initial paper work for the tag which is completed as you set there signing the papers. Once mailed it's out of their hands.

It took me all of two weeks to have a tag and title for both my MINIS

 

Vanity tag can take 12+ weeks, so if you ordered a special tag it takes much longer.
Annette

 

OK in all fairness I must update my opinion of the Global service department.

I just went in today because my convertible top is stuck closed. I had been told to ask for "Thomas" by a Mini owner in our local group so I called last week & scheduled with him. I told him I never wanted to talk to the other SA again because he was a stark raving idiot but I wanted to give Global one more try. I must say he actually had some knowledge of the Mini (which the other SA there does not). He got me in & out quickly & answered questions I had about replacing my cracked windshield even though I told him I was going non-OEM w/the replacement glass. As usual they didn't have the parts in stock to fix my top (something needs to be done about the low inventory of parts these Mini service departments keep) but he did make an arrangement with me that will help me not have to miss another whole day from work when the parts come in as it is a 326 mile round trip from me to Global.

If you gotta go to Global for work ask for Thomas (not the other guy who will remain nameless )

 

Yep, Thomas Freeman is a good guy and will take care of you.
Just mention my name. Seriously.

 

No, it isn't covered or recommended by MINI at all. However, their reasoning is BS. I think it isn't recommended simply because that prevents them from having to do it at the annual service visits.

Rotate the tires yourself and your tires will last longer.

 

Well at this moment I must disagree. El Kabong has been there since Wednesday morning. When I dropped it off he said he probably wouldn't look at it that day, more likely it would be Thursday morning. I called Thomas Thursday afternoon a couple of times (up until closing) to see if any diagnosis was reached. Never heard back. I called a few times this morning (Friday) to see what was up, and couldn't get him. I finally called the sales dept to see about finding someone who could give me a clue. Finally heard from Thomas that he hadn't had a chance to look at the car yet, this was around 10am. He said he'd look and let me know. I asked if any part had been ordered (since this is a repeat of a previous issue, I asked prior to bringing the car in if there was a way to avoid being without the car for 5 days like the last time) Of course no part ordered since problem not diagnosed(geez how long to diagnose a prob that has been an issue only 3 months ago, just order the part and return it if you don't use it!!!) Since the issue is a "common" TSB I'm sure the part would be needed in the near future. I still need to hear from someone that the car has been looked at. Meanwhile I'm stuck with a POS Ford Focus, and am pretty sure I won't get the car back for the weekend. Thomas is very pleasant and nice, but I'm guessing over-extended. Possibly not his fault, but at this point I don't care, I just want some indication that my car isn't just sitting around for no reason and would be absolutely floored if someone at Global actually initiated a call to me instead of me constantly trying to get someone on the phone. Considering I've only owned the car for 4 months and will have been without it for 10+ days, not very impressed on that level.
Annette

 

I completely understand those here wanting to use a specific person. I had to cancel my appointment for tomorrow and will wait until mid April until Hank at Mini of Nashville works another Saturday. After my last experience. He will be the only person to work on my car at that dealership. And from what I understand. Global is owned by the same company as Nashville. Nashville doesn't keep many parts in stock either. Though it did pay off once when I got a very nice leather shifter boot when my regular one had a small hole in it.

 

I would guess Thomas is over-extended because if you ever get stuck with the other guy you will refuse to ever ever ever let him help you again & since there are only two SAs Thomas is probably quite busy. I have learned that if I call & leave a message on Thomas' cell phone he calls back better than leaving him a message on the landline. Also if you had left your Mini at Hank Aaron you would be without a car for the 5 days as they only supply loaners to their BMW customers. Hank Aaron doesn't consider the Mini to be a BMW nor do they consider Mini owners important enough to provide them with any alternative transportation.

p.s...for those of us who don't wish to do our own maintenance work or pay the ridiculous BMW prices, I got my tires rotated at Good Year Wednesday for $15. It took 5 minutes

 

I wonder why there are only 2 SAs? Based on the crowd in there the other day, they could easily keep another 1 or 2 busy.
Like I said, I don't think it is Thomas' fault, just the way the service dept is manned or managed. I think the biggest issue is the lack of parts on hand, from what I've heard that is the biggest hold up. You would think it would be in their own interest to keep stuff on hand in order to get cars in and out.
I've never run a car service dept, so I am completely speculating. Since I'm home on a weekend with no MINI, what else am I supposed to do?
Annette

 

Global just shelled out a couple million for a brand new parking deck for new car inventory - they can't afford to hire new SAs right now.

Just kidding. The margins on MINIs are probably so small that they want to keep their MINI sales/service staff to a bare minimum.

 

Small? Selling at MSRP and adding bogus charges and you're thinking their margins are thin? You're too kind!

 

All maufacturers add the bogus doc fee/clean up charges. I bet Minis don't have a big profit margin, even selling at MSRP, I think our little cars cost alot more to make than most autos selling in our price range.

I agree 100% that something MUST be done about the whole not-stockings parts issue. Hank Aaron doesn't stock parts either. I commented on it & was told that the Mini has so many parts that they just can't stock them all blahblahblah . My old Chevy had alotta parts too but they dealer always had them in stock. Maybe, if possible, we should always make special negative mention of this issue when we do our service reviews

 

Decided to weight back in on this thread after watching it for a while and trying to think through what most of the posts are trying to say.

Look, we can say a lot of things about the dealership to which we take our MINIS...good and bad. It seems they're mixed experiences here with Global and HA...that's a given because each has it's own perspective.

Might I suggest for thought two points:
1) This car is not made in the USA so guess where most of the repair parts are located
2) Don't get caught up in having sympathy with the dealership...empathy yes, but not sympathy. When you sympathize in a relationship you legitamize the problem and it becomes harder to have the proper perspective. With empathy you may recognize there is a problem but you find it unacceptable. Someone has to change in the relationship for the problem to go away or at less mitigate. The customer and the situation change easiest but maybe it's the dealership that needs to change.

Million dollar businesses have a business model before they even move an inch, their investors call it due diligence. The Mini dealerships are making money, that's what they are supposed to do. And they will continue to make their money the same way unless and until they realize the present model no longer works. Mini's present business model does not depend on repeat business so much as it does on new business. They are set up to only make so many cars and that's it. As long as the demand is high enough from new owners they could care less about making you happy after the sale. At this point they will only do what they just have to do, period. If you get anything else, count it as gravy, luck or whatever.

Trust me, they are not going to change until you change...dealerships...and I'm not talking about another Mini dealership either. Most are owned by mega dealerships.

I've owned 5 MINIS and am down to 1, my cabrio, which I'll keep forever. I just changed dealerships though with my lastest purchase...strangely enough a GM product, a Solstice. Believe me, GM is hungry and they are getting more hungry. Some day BMW's MINI division will get hungry and it's then I might, note I said might, look at their products, again.

 

So someone didn't get a better deal, and that makes the dealership bad?

Excellent.

Herbert

FYI, more money is to be saved when buying a Scion xB or a Mazda 3

 

I just got a phone call asking if there was any reason I couldn't rank my Friday service visit to Global a 5. I said I couldn't rank it a 5 because they didn't have the parts in stock that I needed & they never have parts in stock. The lady said she would pass that along. The whole conversation made me think since I said that I wouldn't rank them a 5, my responses will never make it to Mini (kinda like that was the dealership calling to prescreen on whether or not they would mail me a survey)

 

Their people misfiled my paperwork for ten weeks. I checked with the tag office. It was not filed until I bugged them three times in as many months

 

I already had the vanity tag. It took less than ten days once they filed the paperwork.

 

Margins on MINIs are not small after JCW + dealer packs.

 

Just saw this thread, so I am a little late to the party. . . . .

Global Imports is the worst dealership I have ever had the displeasure to conduct business with.

Here is a brief (but not comprehensive) list of some of my experiences

1) Incompetent to even change the oil:

Incorrectly installed oil filter, leaving me with a slow leak. Returned to them and they said nothing was wrong and sent me on my way. I later removed the canister to find that the o-ring had been broken. Obviously they did not even do the simplest bit of diagnosis despite the fact that I sat in their dealership for 6 hours and drove 150 miles for my appointment.

2) Outright lies and deceit:

A) When I had a stress fractured windshield in early 2003, the service advisor did the "pen test" in my presence. He ran his pen up and down the stress crack and was unable to find a chip to prove that it was not their responsibility. After several passes over the crack, he pressed very hard into the glass until he created a chip and then refused to fix it under warranty. My insurance company and I had to split the bill.

B) After incorrectly diagnosing a rear brake problem in 2004, they replaced my pads and rotors rather than fixing/replacing the defective caliper that the unusual wear pattern suggested was the actual problem. When the identical problem occurred a year later andthe vehicle needed a proper fix, they told me that my car was not warranteed because I "drove it in the mountains". It took over a month and many heated phone calls to MINI-USA and some help from the BMW-GODS before the true problem was correctly fixed under warranty. Despite all of this, they sent me on my way without properly bleeding the brake system in a MINI covered in bird poop. Again, I had to fix it myself

I'd add more to this list, but my blood pressure is rising. . .

Although I do not have a local dealership in Birmingham, I do have a choice when I seek service, and I will NEVER go to Global again for any reason whatsoever. Other people have had better experiences than I have, so maybe it is hit or miss, but it has always been miss with me at Global.

Interestingly, I NEVER received a follow-up call from MINI concerning my last service. Makes me wonder exactly what phone number they gave MINI to call me for the survey????

 

For what it's worth, evaluation calls are "random" in nature. You don't always get one. That having been said, I have noticed that I tend to get them when I get good service and not get them when I get bad service. The way I dealt with that was to indicate that observation on a call after good service and review the bad service engagement as well.

 

Umm...didn't it take you a little long to realize that's not a place to take your car to? I would have stopped going there after 2A.

"Wow, it hurts when I hit my head with a hammer. I wonder what will happen if I do it again?"

Paul

 

When I was shopping for a MINI the first stop was at Global. They did not have anything in inventory that I was interested in and nothing ordered that I HAD to have. I got them to give me a price on one in transit with my trade in. I told them no deal and they just looked at me like I had turned on my cloaking device. Drove straight to Hank Aaron and struck up a deal on a car they had in stock (they actually had a few). Picked it up a week later.
Hank Aaron was great to deal with on the sale but the only service experience I have had there was very unpleasant (leaky water pump).