Car been off road for 3 months and counting

[ori]

So apologies for the long post.

My car is a g29 m40i in its fastest version of blue.

Oct last year the car was booking in to have the drivers side seat frame replaced as it was moving. Long story short it also needs new leathers and again no problem as part should arrive within a week.
Then the part gets delayed until mid December…..then end of December. Then 10th Jan and now it’s delayed until March…….when it will probably be delayed again and again and again.

They gave me a 3 series estate plug in hybrid for the majority of the time and last week changed it to a 320 diesel!

BMW customer services while friendly haven’t actually helped other than saying that they can’t calculate good will until the car is repaired. This is a circular argument as the repaired keeps delayed! Who knows how long for?

I looked at selling mine and buying a brand new one, but that isn’t an option as no one will buy my car as is and even if they did, it’s not road worthy.

My losses are as follows:

Monthly payments
Deposit of split over 48 months
Road tax
BMW Flex insurance

Total monthly £805.10
Plus I reckon new tyres as the car would have been standing for 6 months. (Assuming part actually arrives in march)

Plus the following which I can’t calculate:

Loss of service inclusive.
Loss of gap insurance
Loss of cosmetic repair cover.
Loss of value on car.
Loss of manufacturer warranty.

What are my options?

 

[Neil CR]

Speak to the car ombudsman

 

[ori]

Speak to the car ombudsman

Didn’t realise that was a thing! Again won’t they ask for it to be fixed first before making a ruling?

 

[Pondy]

Total monthly £805.10

You pay THAT a MONTH for a car?
That's more than all my monthly outgoings put together (and I've got Netflix! ).
I am clearly out of touch....I never paid that much a month towards a mortgage for a house!

 

[Neil CR]

Speak to the car ombudsman

Didn’t realise that was a thing! Again won’t they ask for it to be fixed first before making a ruling?

Yes still a thing (I know as they are about to fight my corner) it’s worth filling the online form out if you’ve had no joy with BMW and see what response you get

 

[enuff_zed]

Total monthly £805.10

You pay THAT a MONTH for a car?
That's more than all my monthly outgoings put together (and I've got Netflix! ).
I am clearly out of touch....I never paid that much a month towards a mortgage for a house!

Very helpful. Thank you.

 

[r2uzenblot]

Wow that sucks but look at the bright side. You've had a courtesy car to use on the crap winter roads during the crap winter weather. My Z4 was reversed into whilst parked at work (see my recent post) and during the crappiest weather of the year I've had to use a courtesy car and rack up 1200 miles over the Xmas break. Some clouds do have a silver lining......

Must admit though your issue does seem in need of 'elevation' to someone!

 

[ori]

Total monthly £805.10

You pay THAT a MONTH for a car?
That's more than all my monthly outgoings put together (and I've got Netflix! ).
I am clearly out of touch....I never paid that much a month towards a mortgage for a house!

No that’s not what I pay a month. Nowhere near. It’s what I calculated the reality of the cost is of insurance, deposit, road tax and monthly payments work out at. Insurance alone is £100 a month.

It’s an expensive car!

 

[ori]

Speak to the car ombudsman

Didn’t realise that was a thing! Again won’t they ask for it to be fixed first before making a ruling?

Yes still a thing (I know as they are about to fight my corner) it’s worth filling the online form out if you’ve had no joy with BMW and see what response you get

What’s the corner they fighting? I’ll have a look.

 

[deltasierra]

At least you have a car for winter driving, saving the wear and tear on the G29, they at least will pay you goodwill when it is fixed. All brands have parts supply issues, anything outside the Just in Time system takes ages to source. Because the G29 is built by Magna makes it worse.

The worst I’ve heard is Jaguar who have thousands of cars waiting for parts and if you are lucky enough to have a courtesy car it will be a Kia.

Be nice to the dealer parts shortage is not their fault, they are not BMW.

 

[ori]

Oh I agree. I don’t blame the dealer. It’s bmw logistics that is the problem. They have a duty to have replacement parts available within a reasonable time.

 

[Boyo]

I suspect before the Ombudsman will look at it, you will need to have gone down the formal complaint route with BMW and only if you can't reach settlement with them then you can refer the case to the Ombudsman. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Neil CR]

Didn’t realise that was a thing! Again won’t they ask for it to be fixed first before making a ruling?

Yes still a thing (I know as they are about to fight my corner) it’s worth filling the online form out if you’ve had no joy with BMW and see what response you get

What’s the corner they fighting? I’ll have a look.

Very long story, bmw main dealer fitted parts without my say so and charged me even tho those parts didn’t fix the original problem
Fingers crossed I get a good result

 

[Sladester100]

I’d be doing exactly what you are currently doing, totalling a cost, tallying it all up and keeping records.

Maybe particular events you were going to use your premium vehicle for that you haven’t been able to do so, and bike a case for the final ruling…

In the interim I would be asking the dealer principle for a demo vehicle that is the same premium and distinct as yours is, in “specialness” (definitely a word), cost, performance etc - maybe a nice M4 convertible to use for a bit

 

[tiglon]

Total monthly £805.10

You pay THAT a MONTH for a car?
That's more than all my monthly outgoings put together (and I've got Netflix! ).
I am clearly out of touch....I never paid that much a month towards a mortgage for a house!

That's because you're not from a generation for whom a mortgage on a modest 3 bed semi is £2,200 a month for 30 years, unless your parents gave you a big deposit...

 

[Pondy]

Total monthly £805.10

You pay THAT a MONTH for a car?
That's more than all my monthly outgoings put together (and I've got Netflix! ).
I am clearly out of touch....I never paid that much a month towards a mortgage for a house!

That's because you're not from a generation for whom a mortgage on a modest 3 bed semi is £2,200 a month for 30 years, unless your parents gave you a big deposit...

I ain't that old, and I grew up and bought several houses in the Home Counties!
My parents never gave me f'all, apart from the advice to work hard and pay as little interest as possible. Not sure if it worked TBH!

 

[ori]

Quick update to say there is no update.

I’ve asked for a confirmed delivery date for the part and can’t get one. I also asked them to insure my son on the bmw car, but they said he is too young. I replied that’s not my problem as I would be able to insure him on my car for a cost.

 

[r2uzenblot]

Could you SORN the car? That would save around £45 a month.

I do detect a theme here though. Looking at what's available on the market it doesn't look like there are G29's coming through the system so I don't think they are currently buiding any. Now...... having worked both as a designer at two European motor manufacturers and then for component companies I do understand the system a bit. All (as far I know) manufacturers have a Vehicle Off Road (VOR) system which basically means that if your vehicle is off the road it should receive the utmost priority, with the parts division having an almost daily update on VOR parts . The seats and frames are not made by BMW so the bottom line is that this is both a BMW and a supplier issue. Seat manufacturers do have issues with so many versions of seats and if BMW are not making G29's at the moment then to do a one off seat would be a pain for them. BUT your vehicle is a VOR and it should be fixed.

Currently JLR (not a good example of spare part efficiency) have over 10,000 cars off the road awaiting parts and according to autocar there is a europe wide shortage from all manufacturers which is fuelling the rise in thefts of cars. Part of this is being fuelled by the fact that components are much more reliable these days which makes the cost of producing spare parts much more expensive (think about reconfiguring a spares production line to produce six widgets rather than 600) and component suppliers and manufacturers have issues with the costs of producing spare parts. All we can do is hope that parts don't fail on our cars unless they really are common things like a windscreen, tyre or brake pad.

There is no easy answer to any of this.

 

[ori]

Thanks for that. It’s actually detailed and helpful response.

I am currently contemplating issuing a small claims court against bmw. Yes they have kept me mobile with lesser vehicles, but that’s like ordering a steak a restaurant and getting fish (which you hate……I got a diesel) and expecting you to pay for it! Yes you’ve been fed, but it’s not what you ordered or paid for.

 

[r2uzenblot]

No consolation to you but insurance companies are starting to write off cars that can be repaired because the cost of hiring a replacement car whilst waiting for parts is uneconomical. What a green world we live in......... :?