Reddit: You broke my heart, BMW

[jkoral]

https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/commen..._my_heart_bmw/

Curious if the author of this is on this forum... He writes about his 2012 Le Mans Blue 135i DCT.

[Tommm]

Similar to what Mazda pulled with me almost 30 years ago.

[captain slowly]

pretty crappy experience.... wish he mentioned dealer #3 since they were decent so I know where to take my car

[Broken]

Originally Posted by jkoral

https://www.reddit.com/r/cars/commen..._my_heart_bmw/

Curious if the author of this is on this forum... He writes about his 2012 Le Mans Blue 135i DCT.

I am now.

Originally Posted by captain slowly

pretty crappy experience.... wish he mentioned dealer #3 since they were decent so I know where to take my car

I did originally have the names of all the dealers, but the rules on /r/cars preclude naming not just individual people but individual businesses (manufacturers not withstanding).

They were, in order:

* BMW of Greenwich/Mamaroneck's combined service center in Port Chester, NY
* Ray Catena BMW of Westchester, White Plains, NY
* BMW of Ridgefield, Ridgefield, CT

I had my car serviced/repaired at BMW of Ridgefield for the first year I owned it, and they generally did a good job. They did bilk me one time though: the car was in for a new wheel and tire after running over an animal; they marked up the wheel and a few of the labor charges above what they originally quoted me "because that's for insurance to cover anyway." And then refused to submit a supplemental to my insurance for the difference.

I'd trust them not to jerk you around for warranty work, but use an indy otherwise.

[captain slowly]

Originally Posted by Broken

I am now.



I did originally have the names of all the dealers, but the rules on /r/cars preclude naming not just individual people but individual businesses (manufacturers not withstanding).

They were, in order:

* BMW of Greenwich/Mamaroneck's combined service center in Port Chester, NY
* Ray Catena BMW of Westchester, White Plains, NY
* BMW of Ridgefield, Ridgefield, CT

I had my car serviced/repaired at BMW of Ridgefield for the first year I owned it, and they generally did a good job. They did bilk me one time though: the car was in for a new wheel and tire after running over an animal; they marked up the wheel and a few of the labor charges above what they originally quoted me "because that's for insurance to cover anyway." And then refused to submit a supplemental to my insurance for the difference.

I'd trust them not to jerk you around for warranty work, but use an indy otherwise.

I see. They're all out of the way for me. We'll see how good (or not) Rallye is when the time comes.

[swunder]

I'm surprised they would be so bad service wise -- they are obsessed with customer satisfaction at corporate right now. Maybe as a result of issues like this a few years ago...

Besides being a fortune of course (I just got a $180 oil change at BMW of Ramsey NJ), I'd expect them to definitely cater to you.

Regardless, can you use CPO warranty on non-dealerships? I think trust any of the well rated independent performance auto shops more, especially if you were getting burned by dealers.

[Converted1]

I’ve had really good experiences w Westchester so far.

[10"]

LOL at NYC dealers. Universally terrible. Sounds like that guy didn't do his homework about how bad they are. They are so bad that I drive 50 miles away to get service...never in nyc.

[10"]

Originally Posted by captain slowly

I see. They're all out of the way for me. We'll see how good (or not) Rallye is when the time comes.

Rallye and Competition are both decent...I've been using Competition for years however last time they left a clamp unclamped which really disturbed me so am switching to Rallye.

[captain slowly]

Originally Posted by 10"

Rallye and Competition are both decent...I've been using Competition for years however last time they left a clamp unclamped which really disturbed me so am switching to Rallye.

Rallye is right down the block for me, so its nice to see people like them.

[Broken]

Originally Posted by 10"

LOL at NYC dealers. Universally terrible. Sounds like that guy didn't do his homework about how bad they are. They are so bad that I drive 50 miles away to get service...never in nyc.

It wasn't in NYC proper. It was BMW Greenwich/Mamaroneck, BMW Westchester, and BMW Ridgefield. I originally had that all in the Reddit post, but had to remove that after the fact as the rules on the /r/cars sub prohibit naming names.

BMWNA did reach actually reach out to me. It was a formality though, rather than any true attempt to revisit the situation.

This isn't 100% word for word accurate as I didn't record the conversation, but the call I just had a few minutes ago went like this...

BMWNA rep: I hear your frustrations. Dealers are independently owned, so any issues are ultimately between you and the dealer.

Me: The maintenance and warranty plans are via BMWNA; does the responsibility for fulfilling those terms not ultimately lie with BMWNA?

BMWNA rep: I hear your frustrations. Dealers are franchised and independently owned. If there were any issues with the service received, we can relay to the dealer that there was an issue, but it's between you and the dealer to resolve.

Me: And what happens when multiple dealers across multiple service visits fail to diagnose and repair the car? The warranty is via BMWNA; where does the buck stop, who is the warrantor, if not BMWNA?

And What happens for maintenance items that were due, that we can clearly see were due by doing nothing more than cross referencing the service history against the service manual, that were not done? There's no equivocation with those, and those are things I already paid BMWNA for.

BMWNA rep: I hear your frustrations. Dealers are franchised and independently owned, so it's between you and the dealer. I'm not going to give you the run around: as far as BMW covering this, that's never going to happen. Based on a number of factors, from brand loyalty to dealer loyalty, the regional manager made the determination not to cover anything in July. The 10% you received was from the dealer [BMW Ridgefield]. As nothing has changed since then, that offer stands.

Me: So it's not BMWNA's responsibility as warrantor to fulfill the term of the warranty? The proverbial buck doesn't stop with BMWNA? It'd be like if I ordered a pizza from Dominos, prepaid for it, had it never show, had the individual store tell me "too bad, so sad," and then had Dominos corporate tell me they "hear my frustrations" and promptly do nothing. At minimum, you have no responsibility as owner and franchisor of the brand to force resolutions?

And unlike the pizza scenario, I didn't purchase the "pizza," or rather the warranty and service plans, from an independent dealer. They were purchased and warranted/guaranteed by BMWNA. Given that, how does BMWNA as guarantor/warrantor not bear some burden in fulfilling the terms?

BMWNA rep: I hear your frustrations. It would actually be like that. Why would it be a corporate issue if your Dominos order never got delivered? The dealers are independently owned and operated franchises...

And so on and so forth.

[captain slowly]

very sad to hear that this is BMWNA's attitude... its stories like this that give me pause every time I even think about getting another BMW. The good news is MB makes compelling cars, and I know thru personal experience they stand behind their product. Might be worth it to spend a few extra bucks.

[Gangplank]

This BMW was my last try with the brand. My e60 was so unreliable I got fed up. My X5 was ok but had its issues. The 135i has been great so far. My wife's mini even better.

I don't go to the dealer unless it's a warranty or recall issue but that's no different from any other car or motorcycle I've owned.