Sometime in September I noticed in the tachometer a red service indicator and below, the text "09/2007." I assumed it was reminding me to come to the dealership for an oil change in September. Since I changed the oil last summer and was very busy, I neglected to get the service until Friday 10/12/07 around 8-9am.

I brought the car to Irvine Mini and told the gentleman who checks the cars in for service and he said it wasn't an oil change light, but some other problem with the car.

At 6PM I was told to come back to the dealership because the car was examined and the problem was poor gas that triggered the alert. I got to the dealership at a few minutes before 7PM and was happy to be reunited with my car. I drove off, and in a moment of reality realized I should check the work. At the stoplight not more than 100 yeards outside the dealership I turned off the car and turned it back on. SAME SERVICE INDICATOR. Date was still September. I was livid. They had the car the entire day, diagnosed the problem but failed to reset the indicator. The dealership is not particularly close to my home, and my wife has to follow me back and forth to give me a ride home.

So, I had the dealership on my cell phone a minute before 7, when the service people close up for the night. Being a Friday I wasn't suprised to find the service manager had left. I explained that I was very upset that the problem still existed and left a request for a callback first thing on Saturday morning. THEY NEVER CALLED. Thanks for the support Irvine Mini.

I brought the car in Saturday morning and was handled by the shop foreman who after maybe 10 minutes informed me that the problem was a periodic service interval alert was triggered. He said in some states a car needs to be inspected periodically and that was the reason for the service indicator. I had never heard this mentioned here or anywhere on the net, so I thought I would throw it out for comment. In any case, the red service indicator is gone and the car isn't going back there anytime soon, if ever.

I love going to Mini dealerships. ( sarcasm ) It's not usually the Mini people, but the BMW people that seem to thrive on looking down their noses. The funny thing is I can afford any car on their lot, but chose not to spend my money that way. Chronically irritated is how I would describe them.

Now my experience is not the same with Nick Alexander. It is in a more humble neighborhood and the employees there seem proportionately more humble as well.

Well time to tie a knot in my longest ever post / rant. If you made it this far congrats.

Paul

 

Irvine BMW sales were totally rude to my sister in law and her husband when they were in the market for a new BMW, they accused them of just coming to joyride/testdrive cars. Needless to say they bought from Crevier.

Sales or Service I have heard more bad than good about Irvine Mini/BMW

Try Long Beach Mini or Crevier in the future.

 

Paul-

I had similar bad experiences with Irvine MINI. You should read the experiences from others on the SCMM message board. I now go to Crevier, it's night and day in terms of customer service.

We bought two MINIs from Irvine MINI and they still couldn't care less.

Best of luck!

 

You guys are right. A few extra miles and Crevier is in my sights. I do have to mention that James, the man who identified himself as the head mechanic at Irvine BMW was very easy to deal with. It was he who ultimately reset the service indicator. Now why it takes the head guy to reset an indicator is another story all together.

Paul

 

Irvine BMW / Mini parts department is great , they've helped me many times dont let the sales and service dept. scare you away from the parts dept. there the best! I did drive the extra 20 min. to buy at Crevier ,Irvine had about $5000. extras tagged on the sticker price at the time they said they would negotiate but all I would stand for is MSRP.Crevier also had high mark up but when I told them I was going up to LA to get MSRP they gave me the deal .

 

Irvine MINI was quite rude to us when we went to buy our very first MINI form them way back in 2004. We quickly left and went over to Crevier instead. Three years and four MINIs later, we're still buying from Crevier and couldn't be happier. Thanks Irvine MINI!

 

The funny thing is the sales guy at Irvine told me they have to mark up the cars because they dont sell many . Duh !

 

I guess things have changed! I bought from Irvine this summer. . .no markup, straight MSRP. Turnover at dealerships is REALLY fast for the most part. The bad folks have probably moved on 20 times since 2004!!

 

Agreed, but they pushed us over to Crevier back then and as a result they lost a repeat customer for life out those "bad folks". Bad for them, but good for Crevier I guess. Just goes to show that they should treat folks right the first time around as they never know what type of customer they're pushing away.

BTW, Irvine MINI is just down the street from our house and so it would of been nice to have bought our cars from them instead. However, I can honestly say that I won't ever go back to that dealership (not even for parts) because of the way they treated us back then.

Crevier has been absolutely stellar to us over the years, and one of the things I like most about them is that we get loaner 3-series BMWs and MINIs from them during service whereas Irvine MINI gives you low budget American rent-a-wrecks. Also, Crevier gives you free car washes for the life of your car when you buy from them. Simply drop the car off anytime and they wash it for you for free no questions ask. A really nice perk if you live close to the dealership.

 

I paid MSRP at Irvine Mini this Aug, 07. No mark up (when mention Long Beach Mini) and smooth transcation.

Crevier was trying to play the mark up game even though I mention Long Beach, South Bay..etc. were selling sticker.

Sales come and go all the time. Just my $.02.

 

Our experience had nothing to do with the price of the car. They merely treated us like garbage and I didn't car for it. You probably could get a better deal elsewhere (i.e. below MSRP, more goodies thrown in, etc.), but I personally would rather be treated with a little respect and know that the dealership will stand behind me (and the car they sold me) when/if something goes wrong than save a few bucks (within reason anyway).

I'm sure lots of folks have had great experiences at Irvine MINI (and just as many bad at Crevier), but all I know is that Irvine treated us like dirt and so I wouldn't go back.

Just my $0.02...

 

My recent Irvine story ... shopped it one evening, couldn't even get arrested. Walked the whole lot, in & out of the showroom, did not see a soul. Noticed all the 'price enhancers' listed on stickers were on the very high side, even for Minis. Drove away. Then I used some internet quote service (might have been KBB), asked for quotes from Crevier & Irvine. By the time Irvine got back to me a week later, I already had my build spot & a production # from Crevier. I don't know how Irvine Mini justifies it's existence in this market.

 

Since we are talking dealers here, I just want to add that my experience at South Bay mini was fantastic. No problems with markups, no snooty sales people and even the finance guy had a nice think German / Czech accent. It was a wonderful experience!

 

My experiences with SoCal MINI dealers:

Crevier: Generally nice people, was going to order mine from them except they wanted $3600 for the black R105 wheels.

SouthBay: Didn't have much to do with them. When I called them asking for prices they referred me to a gentleman who I could never get a hold of (forgot the name now). He never called me back and when I called the dealer they said that they have no idea who that person was.

Long Beach: Showed me a couple MINIS on their lot, nothing close to what I really wanted. Price of the R105 wheels was around $3500 also.

Nick Alexander: Were very nice when I first stopped by. The only dealer who actually searched other dealer's inventory and managed to find something very close to what I wanted from a dealer in Arizona (MCS, DSC, LSD, Chili Red, black roof, red color line interior). Took them about a week later than they originally said to actually get the car down here, but it was still better than waiting 7-10 weeks it would have taken to order the car in the first place. Ended up getting the car on 10/26 for a couple hundred dollars less than MSRP, plus they threw in floor mats and bonnet stripes for free. Got the R105 wheels for about $3000, although I have to take it back tomorrow to get the tire pressure monitor thing for them. Only problem was that their finance guy was an ***. He 'forgot' to add the $1000 I payed as a deposit for the car to the contract and was SUPER pushy about their extended warranties and lojack. The money is getting refunded to me though, so that's not too big of a deal.

Haven't had to take the car anywhere for any kind of service though, I think I'll go to Crevier for that since it's much closer to my house than Nick Alexander.

Hope that helps.

EDIT: Hopefully when I take the car back into the dealer tomorrow they can look at the hood and bonnet scoop getting too hot, gear shifter falling out of sync and grinding gears (1st-3rd), and the weeping problem the car seems to have developed.

 

I had a very bad experience at my closest dealer, Brecht Mini in Escondido, they were very rude, and they also lied straight to my face. When I first started shopping around for my MINI, I was interested in doing the MINI Select plan, and their are only a few states that do it, CA being one. The MA at Brecht told me that they don't do it, and in fact no dealer in CA does it, she referred me to Texas! Lame. She also tried to get me for all the money I had...I'm talking about pressuring me to tap out all of my credit cards and trade in my car for the down payment...all for a lease, which I wasn't interested in in the first place.

I decided to go and try Irvine Mini in Orange County. From the second I walked in, it was ten times better than Brecht. My MA is really helpful and very nice. She takes her time with me, and never has she put any pressure on me to buy. Irvine MINI is the number one MINI Select dealerships in SoCAL. So Brecht just didn't want to do it. When I finally saved up my down payment, she helped place my order, and it looks like I'll have a turn around time from placing my order to receiving my MINI of about 5 weeks, not too bad. I've only experienced this side of the MINI life, I hope the service dept is as good as the sales, and your experience is just a fluke
Sorry for the long stories

 

OK. Moving east and over the Rockies....went to Ralph Schomp in Littleton (southside of Denver) in January to shop for a Mini. The sales folks were great. Responsive, attentive, objective, not pushy in any way. Spent a couple hours with me and my wife test driving cars. Ended up ordering a 2007 a couple weeks later. Arrived in April. They did a great job of prepping me before I left with it. I miscalculated the mileage for my first service and when I got there the service rep told me it wasn't due yet. He then pleasantly said that since I had driven 160 miles that day to bring it in he would comp the oil and filter change. Had me out and on my way home in an hour. If I lived in Irvine I might make the 1000 mile drive to Ralph Schomp for service. It would probably be worth it.

 

I bouthgt my car at Crevier. They were great, At least the sales dept. I have not had to service the car yet except to get it washed (YES, LIFETIME CAR WASHES). I drive past Crevier everyday to work soooo.... $15 per car wash, $780/yr. If I wash my car for 5 yrs that works out to be $3900. I think that would cover the mark up above MSRP.
But it really the attitude there that I like. They dont have to wash cars but they do. That is thinking about the customer!!!!

 

Take a close look at the paint after a few "free" washes. Those small scratches and swirls are included in the service.

I'll wash it myself, thanks anyway.