Excellent!

 

Glad it got resolved. Just read the whole thread.

For anyone in the future, if you are going through a problem like this, and you have been continuously back to the dealership, quit dealing with anyone at the dealership.

Call the bank who gave you the loan and tell them your situation and that you no longer want the car. That it is a lemon and will not be making a single payment on it. Let the dealer know, hell, do it in front of the manager. You would be surprised how much you can get accomplished when you are telling the bank about this. What you went through is complete crap. I would have gone this route on the second trip back. You are a much more patient person than I. The bank will be much more helpful, because they don't want to finance a car that their client is just going to have issues with. THEY ARE THE ONES THAT GAVE MINI THE MONEY, not you. So, not only are you MINI's client, the bank/credit union/financer is MINI's client as well.

I would have made 0 payments, until it is resolved. You have rights as a consumer, and you got completely dicked around. I sell homes, we will bend over backwards in any way we can to make sure a client is happy. Especially if there is a defect.

 

Some people that sell houses are unscrupulous just like car dealers. A 200K or 300K home comes with a 1 year bumper to bumper warranty and then only the main structure is covered after that. Pretty cheesy warranty if you ask me.

Builders will crook the costumer every chance they get and nickel and dime them as well. I know been there done that. Banks, hummmm I don't know. Ask thousands of people in this country what they thing about banks.

So YOU may be honest and ethical (and I applaud that) but every business including real estate as a whole has crooks and robbers in it just like a lot of other businesses.

 

And what about car dealers? How is there reputation?

They didn't want to lose the car. The reason the guy kept asking "what do you want us to do?" is because the customer service's no.1 responsibility is to watch out for the best interest of MINI, not the consumer. So if he can get away with just fixing the problem and giving a car cover or a key chain, because that's what the consumer is going to blurt out. The last thing they are going to do is let him order a new car, or give him a refund. So, unless they know how serious OP was, which it never sounded like he got that serious, then why should they keep trying to guess what he wanted. He is demands sounded so vague.

Look, the banks are not going to try to eff you over once you have the vehicle in your possession. They have already done everything they can to do that with the interest rate. If you call your bank and tell them you believe the vehicle that they financed you on is a POS, then it's documented. They have the power to cancel the check on that car, if you're not happy with it. I've seen it go down first hand. A friend of mine was getting dicked around by a dealership, he called his bank and said he's having problems with the dealership, and the vehicle is not the quality he expected. Hadn't had it a week. He said if dealership can't resolve it, he's going to drop the car off and for them to cancel the check.

He called back his sales agent, and the agent said, "Why don't you call the people you bought your warranty through" (it was a 3rd party warranty). He said, "if this isn't handled right now, I'm calling the bank, and they will cancel the check the moment I say go. So fix it now, or take the car back. Your choice."

What do you know, it was fixed.

Yeah, I get it, banks have a terrible reputation. I hate dealing with them, but they have services and people that can help in situations like this. Especially when you're getting nowhere with the dealership.

 

I'm sure each situation is different, but I don't think you can expect the bank to go to bat to solve a car problem in most cases. A car loan is not like a credit card where you can dispute a charge and have it charged back. The contract you have with the bank says you're going to repay the money regardless of whether the car works or not.

In most cases, the bank will demand their money and if you stop making payments, they'll screw your credit rating and eventually repossess the car. I don't see the bank as the solver of problems like this.

- Mark

 

I agree with you. There are BAD dealers and GOOD dealers.
I have never tried what you suggested and it could work but I have to think it has to be pretty quick. Once the transaction is complete in todays world the money only takes hours to change hands. The money is in the dealerships hands and bank account by electronic means in some cases. In other cases it may be a paper check but still that happens quickly. I don't see that the bank has any leverage at all once the money has changed hands. In fact banks court dealerships all the time for their business. In fact in many cases banks compete with each other for dealers' business. It is not in the banks best interest to tick off the dealer. The dealer can send far more business to a bank than any individual car buyer. I think the bank probably has more loyalty to the dealer than to the borrower.

But I suppose if you are in this type of situation you have to try all available avenues that's for sure.

But I also think in this case the dealership was trying to fix the problem in good faith. I do not think they were trying to jack him around. I truly believe that they just couldn't find the problem. Seems to me it may have been handled a little better but hindsight is 20/20.

 

Bingo. I think you hit the nail on the head Mark.

 

You're not threatening the bank. You're getting them on your side and getting things documented. You're also showing the dealer that no matter what you're not getting screwed over. MINI has less interest in keeping the client happy and is more concerned about their bottom line.

 

This is why you get your financing in order before you use the dealerships financing.

 

And a bank isn't? Heck their more cutthroat than a dealer in my estimation. They can't go after the dealer. Once the dealer gets his money the leverage for the bank is kapoot. The contract is the with the buyer.

But I still agree that it's worth exploring all options at your disposal when it comes to getting satisfaction for something that is not right. That includes all parties involved including the bank.

But I have to disagree with you a little because dealers are concerned about keeping customers. One bad experience can cause that customer to talk to 50, 100, 500 different people and bad mouth the company. This website is a good example of that. I think it is in the dealers best interest to satisfy the customer. And they know that but I also think that for something like this, a light on but the car ran perfectly, is kind of a tough call to do a buy back on. It just is. All car companies work like that. A buy back is the very last, last step a car maker wants to take.

 

I agree that each company has a bottom line to worry about, but OP was having problems within a week. This isn't a year later. The ink was still wet on the check and OP's car was already back at the dealership twice. I doubt the check the bank cut was cleared next day. It's gonna take some time, probably a minimum of 10 days, and by then OP was already having second thoughts.

He waited 11 weeks to get his order. And then another almost 6 weeks to resolve his problem. Over 4 months to have a brand new car that finally works.... That's completely unacceptable. I've seen houses built quicker. My point is that MINI is not your only ones to help and that there are other avenues to explore besides just the dealership. The dealership sounded pretty incompetent throughout the whole ordeal. Maybe friendly, but incompetent.

 

OK I give. You can have the last word.

 

I'll give it another go.

Strictly on the mechanics of this, I can guarantee you that the transfer of money between the bank and the dealer typically occurs with a business day or so, often a matter of hours after the deal is signed.

I'm doubt the bank would be able to recall funds even if you walked into the bank ten minutes after you signed the contract. The contracts don't typically provide for a cooling-off period between any of the three parties - bank, dealer, and buyer. Notwithstanding some kind of fraud or other illegal activity, when you sign the sales contract and loan papers, the bank is going to pay the dealer and the buyer is on the hook for the payments. I doubt the contracts provide any mechanism to stop this process.

- Mark

 

Tim, long time no hear from. How is your Coupe treating you of late? Anything new to report? I hope it continues to be clear sailing for you.

Pat

 

Interesting thread, just found it. If it had happened to me the way it happened to tcassa, I would have ordered a new car. After all, the "extended" warranty isn't much more than the original warranty.

Having said that, I can tell you that mine has been remarkably well-mannered in the 5 years since I picked it up on February 21, 2007. With 81,200 miles on it as of this week, the most exciting problem I can remember was some stumbling and coughing under hard acceleration. Dealer said "replace plugs, replace #2 coil, and shell-blast the valves." I opted for having hubby do the electrical items, and sure enough, that's all it took. That was about 8,000 miles ago (including a trip to Florida and 2 to Arkansas). Total cost $250, including parts and the original dealer diagnosis.

It's easy to see threads like this and get concerned. Far harder to find out how many satisfied buyers there are who never write in! My car is one of the first in the country, and I might not have bought it had there been a lot of owners like tcassa, who have had to deal with recalcitrant cars, uncaring and possibly incompetent service departments, and the inability to foretell the future. Fortunately I haven't had those issues. I live near a good dealer, and have visited them more socially in connection with club issues than anything else (I'm a past president). I noticed the question about whether having a local club helps, and I can say it does. In Houston, the club offers dealer discounts with membership, and there's no question that members who have had problems (of whatever sort) have the dealers on notice, however subtly, if they don't perform. By the same token, good service is great advertising! It's a community with close ties, and we all recognize so-and-so's car in the service line, and chances are we know why it's there, too. We certainly know if the job's done right.

Enjoy your car tcassa, and form a club. Happy driving! Just my

 

@Pat,
My coupe has been running beautifully since the final service visit. It is now at 1500+ miles and no CEL knock on wood. Now if the spring and summer would just hurry up and get here so I can take it on some twisty canyon roads....

 

Woohooo!!!

 

Super, glad to hear it! After the 2009 MITM, Hubby and I spent some time in far, far western Colorado, up against the Utah border. Gorgeous, and lots of fun driving!

 

Good news Tim. I'm very happy to hear that.

Thanks for the update I appreciate it.

Pat