I have a couple of issues I cannot figure out, and although I have not had great luck at the dealer, I have this nagging feeling, that they should be able to figure out electrical issues better than other places for service due to the mini/bmw specific scan tools. In this current case, my climate control is not automatically adjusting itself (Bentley manual suggests using specific scan tools). It gets the interior up to temperature, then keeps blowing hot air until I manually turn the fan speed and temperature down. For the longest time I loved how I never touched the climate buttons at all. So, I am planning on taking into dealer, but I am wondering how to not get totally raked over the coals. How do they come up with their charges? Can they be negotiated?

 

good luck, just tell them to fix it , cross your fingers that it gets fixed , something else doesn't go weird or get worse and don't look at the bill as you charge it. The service situation with computerized cars is horrible Its just a "shrug of the shoulders" in most cases

 

The only sure fire way not to get ripped off at the stealership is not to set foot in there to begin with. Why not try an independent mechanic since it sounds like you're out of warranty?

 

Don't go to a dealer!
You will be ripped off!

 

"How do they come up with their charges?"

Good question. They each have their own labor rate of so many dollars per hour. Beyond that, I don't know. Some, many, most, or all may go "by the book" in terms of how long it's supposed to take a trained technician to do a certain job. Or they can just time the job themselves, or make a rough guess. Then it's labor rate X labor time to determine the charges for the job.

The known quantity here is the shop's labor rate. It's set, and frequently posted. The mysterious and "flexible" part is the labor time. I've read about some exaggerated times, such as 1.5 hours to switch brake pads.

 

They have people in the service department that are paid commissions based on how much they charge you.

Do not go to a Dealership unless you absolutely can not find an independent shop that you trust!!!

 

Having worked at a MINI dealership, I know the vast majority of them do not "go by the book" , the book in reference is the Motors or Chilton time guides. Alldata.com also lists Suggested repair times. The problem was that when these cars first came out in 02, there was no Suggested times listed. Therefore the dealers had freedom to charge what they wanted. I know my store used warranty time X2. Industry standard is X1.5. Since then the guides have caught up and posted times yet they are far less than the times they "made up" so dealers ignore the books. Unless its extended warranty companies. They go by book times on everything, so they save money by simply knowing what things pay. I personally found the practice of the dealers to be suicidal, by charging crazy labor times they are running customers off at alarming rates. As you can tell from prior posts people are not fond of the dealers for this reason.

Examples of very common overcharged repairs.
control arm bushings set 5 hours at dealer. 3.3 per alldata
strut mounts front set 4 hours at dealer 2.9 per alldata

at dealer rates of $120+ its very easy to see why the prices are so high.

as a consumer you can ask to see the book and what labor times they are charging you. Do not let them tell you its "menu" pricing , thats short for we made it up. Every dealer has the book for access to book times they cannot call in extended warranty claims without it. Hope this helps some of you save money, or at least catch the dealers in the act.

Also note alldata, motors and chilton only list common repairs. You won't find time for trim work or little things. but most all gaskets and rubber engine/suspension parts are listed

 

It's easy to get a competetive rate on a simple R&R job, but when it comes to electrical or computer diagnostics - you're simply at the mercy of the tech and his experience. However, on a complicated or unusual repair a good dealer tech may actually save you some money by not going down blind alleys looking for the magic pill that fixes your car.

I find the easiest way to not get ripped off at a dealer is to get to know them as the people they are, mostly by using their services regularly. Then when you need their help, they will give it and not rip you a new one.

Another thing you might do is buy a Bentley manual, and even if you can't do the work yourself, at least you can read about it and not be a total dumbazz (not saying you are, but at least you'll have a working knowledge of the system) when you go in for service. Knowledge is power!

 

One other option is to find an Mini dealership mechanic that works "off the clock".

We used to have an Acura certified master tech who I found via their parts dept. I ordered some brake pads and joking asked the parts guy if he knew who could install them (they're easy to do but I just didn't have the time and they were just starting to touch the disc).

He gave me the guy's number and we had a great mechanic that not only worked on the Acura's but other cars and he was half price on the labor charge and worked at a friend's garage where he had full use of the lifts and tools.

There were times that he would just do something for a beer or at some even lower price or nothing at all (if it was a simple fix).

The bad part is he moved about 500 miles away.

 

that works too but Its usually against company policy and results in termination. I have seen a few people get caught and its kinda sad they lost there well paying dealership job over a small amount of sidework money. but if you can find a guy willing to take that risk ,all the better.

 

Maybe consider asking them for a firm price for a diagnosis and take it from there. It should be reasonable.

If they say, "you need a new heat thingy" Make sure you understand exactly what they are telling you and then buy it yourself and install or have someone install it. The total cost should be much less and the end result should be the same. (IF they are correct, solved, if not, try again)