BMW oil change lie

[Jazzy]

Bought my car new in Aug 2009. Last year my annual service was late by one and half months and now I'm being told I will only get three oil changes because after I do it in sept this year my warranty will be up Aug and not cover the next change. I only put about 5000km per year and they will not do an oil change early. Doesn't this sound like a bit of a scam (they advertise as 4 free oil changes).

[Tom K.]

Originally Posted by Jazzy

Bought my car new in Aug 2009. Last year my annual service was late by one and half months and now I'm being told I will only get three oil changes because after I do it in sept this year my warranty will be up Aug and not cover the next change. I only put about 5000km per year and they will not do an oil change early. Doesn't this sound like a bit of a scam (they advertise as 4 free oil changes).

Nope - no scam. BMW clearly specs oil changes at CBS mileage intervals or annually, whichever comes first. Since you were late on one change, you will lose out on one freebie oil service. BTW, in the US, many dealers now offer coupons for an $80 oil change so its really not that big of a deal.

But now that you know, I hope you had the brake fluid flushed in Aug., 2011 so you will be eligible for the second free one just before your warranty expires 2 years later.

Tom

[tankus]

Talking about the break fluid flush I I had NTB put two new tires on my car this weekend. They did a fluid check and my break fluid was dark purple. they are telling me it needs changing. It just went out of warranty and they were supposed to have flushed it in Jan when it went in for service. Thats about 7K miles ago.. What color is BMWs break fluid?

[BimmerEnthusiast99]

A scam and a lie? That's rather harsh when you admitted that you didn't hold up your part of the bargain, which in this case means to simply show up at a few given points-in-time.

[Pangloss]

I only drove 3300 miles over the last 11 months. So if I don't get my annual service on the precise date I purchased my car I'm gonna miss out one one oil change? That seems a bit harsh.

[bmw1racer]

Originally Posted by tankus

Talking about the break fluid flush I I had NTB put two new tires on my car this weekend. They did a fluid check and my break fluid was dark purple. they are telling me it needs changing. It just went out of warranty and they were supposed to have flushed it in Jan when it went in for service. Thats about 7K miles ago.. What color is BMWs break fluid?

I'm pretty sure the brake fluid is clear... Check your reservoir.

[BimmerEnthusiast99]

Originally Posted by Pangloss

I only drove 3300 miles over the last 11 months. So if I don't get my annual service on the precise date I purchased my car I'm gonna miss out one one oil change? That seems a bit harsh.

C'mon...make it an apples-to-apples case scenario:

The "exact day" or anniversary of your purchase date, and 45 days later in the OP's case are two different things. If your dealer didn't grace you a few days, maybe even a week or so, then yes, I'd find that harsh or rather nitpicky on their part.

The point is, if you fail to live up to your side of the bargain, you can be mad that they are being sticklers on dates, but don't say it's a lie or scam.

[Pig Farmer]

The BMW brake fluid i purchased from the dealer was yellow. When I flushed the original/factory brake fluid it was also yellow, but closer to yellow tan after 20k miles.

[Pangloss]

Originally Posted by BimmerEnthusiast99

C'mon...make it an apples-to-apples case scenario:

The "exact day" or anniversary of your purchase date, and 45 days later in the OP's case are two different things. If your dealer didn't grace you a few days, maybe even a week or so, then yes, I'd find that harsh or rather nitpicky on their part.

The point is, if you fail to live up to your side of the bargain, you can be mad that they are being sticklers on dates, but don't say it's a lie or scam.

I'm just asking because it seems like sometimes things like this ARE that specific. 45 days is not a long period of time when you're not spending a couple of hours a day sitting in a daily driver. I've already gone and set myself a calendar alarm on this so I don't forget, but it makes me nervous to think what would have happened if I had waited a few weeks before thinking about it.

90 days I could see that. Not 45.

[aerobod]

In Calgary, the dealers will take the car +/- one month or 1,000km from the indicated time or kilometres and consider it on-time or distance. Not sure if this is the same for other dealers in Canada.

[Jazzy]

Just to be clear on the timing, i called about two weeks late to schedule and then the first available slot was three weeks out. When I called today, the first available slot is two weeks away.

[BimmerEnthusiast99]

In that case Jazzy, your service advisor(s) are being jackasses if they don't grace you. When you go in, I'd explain difficulty in scheduling, then ask them to honor four oil changes.

If not, I'd bet it'll only take one letter to the powers-that-be to guarantee a 4th.