List of problems.. Back from dealership with more problems..

JDM

Senior member
So I'm experiencing one or two issues with the new car..

Below is a copy of the email I have sent to the supplying dealer last Monday

Hi ******,
 
Just to let you know I haven’t forgotten about booking the car in to get the faulty items sorted.
 
Since last speaking there are a number of other faults that have arisen with the car. I have listed below all of the faulty items that need looking at. The ones in red you are not aware of.
 
·         Rear view mirror to be replaced due to scratches
·         Aluminium dash trim to be replaced due to chips and scratches
·         Walnut leather trim below the key fob docking area and under the steering wheel to be replaced due to split leather
·         Drivers door mirror motor sometimes squeaks when folding
·         Water ingress around the seals / mirrors / tweeters when raining or washing the car
·         When opening the doors, on occasion the windows will drop ¾ of the way down instead of the inch or so that is required
·         Sometimes the passenger mirror doesn’t dip when engaging reverse. The mirror selector is always in the rhs position as I know this feature doesn’t work if it’s in the lhs position
·         Very annoying rattle/buzz has developed under the dash board. Sounds like its coming from the passenger air bag area
·         Annoying rattle / buzz from the passenger door when you turn the sound system up.
·         The sound system is disappointing to say it is a £900 option. There seems to be very little control over adjustment and the rear speakers are very quiet.
·         On a few separate occasions the car will seem to struggle on tick over and the RPM drops and flutters. On one occasion it has stalled itself. This is not the Auto start stop as it does it when first starting the car before moving off.

 
As you are aware for me to come to Warrington is around a 2hr trip. I am reluctant to book it in as I fear that that all of the above won’t be sorted whilst I wait or even within a day if I were to borrow a car from your service department. After all I have already made one special trip at my own expense to get the rear wheel replaced as it was found to be chipped on collection of the vehicle.
 
I would have thought that the chipped wheel and the first 3 items would have been picked up as part of the PDI inspection prior to handing the car over?
 
To be honest, the above problems have taken the sweetness and good feeling away which you should get when purchasing a brand new BMW worth nearly £40K. My father purchased a brand new VW at less than half the price of my car and he has not had one problem with the vehicle.
 
I also feel that I was very amenable when finding out that the car didn’t come with hill start assist as advertised in the brochure and online. As you are aware this was a very important feature for me but after consideration I took the Garmin sat nav as means of compensation when I was aware of others taking replacement automatic cars to the same specification free of charge and others taking nearly £3000 in compensation from BMW for the same issue.
 
I would appreciate it if you were to look into the above and come back to me in due course.
 
I apologise if it seems I am taking this out on you *****. I understand that it is not your fault directly but you are my only means of contact.
 
I am available on my mobile at any time.

Thank you.



To this date, I haven't had a reply so I sent this email earlier this afternoon...

Hi *****,
 
I have not had a reply to the email below which I sent last Monday, to which I am still experiencing the same problems. The car has stalled itself 4 separate times over the last week and the rattles are getting worse.

I appreciate that you must be busy, but would you be kind enough to reply in due course.
 
In addition to the email below, I feel that I shouldn’t be expected to travel 2 hours to Warrington, hang about for a day and then travel 2 hours back, to have things put right which should have been right in the first place. On top of this I would also be required to book a day off work as you cannot accommodate the work being undertaken at weekends.
 
I have already made one special trip at my own expense of fuel and putting mileage on the car to have the damaged wheel changed. I cannot be expected to incur costs again for items which should have been right before the vehicle was collected.
 
A near £40k brand new BMW should be perfect in every way.
 
I feel that Halliwell Jones and / or BMW should be looking into some form of compensation for the inconvenience caused as listed above and in my previous email below.
 
I feel that I have been accommodating in having other issues addressed as mentioned in my previous email and don’t want these issues to bitter what I think of as a good customer / dealership relationship.
 
Thanks for your time and efforts in addressing this *****.
 
Hope to hear from you soon.
 
Kind Regards


What are people's thoughts. Am I just being picky and anal expecting everything to be perfect on a brand new car. The rattles are annoying the hell out of me now. Brand new cars of this quality and pricel should not rattle and buzz!!!

Has anyone else had the same/similar experiences? Have they managed to sort them?

Thanks for your input / thoughts.

John
 
Just a quick one on the windows dropping you can have two settings for the key. I have one key set so one unlock press opens drivers door two opens all. The second key is set so one press opens all doors two preses opens all doors and drops the windows most of the way down when opening....
 
Given the list of faults I wouldn't say you're being unreasonable


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I dont blame you mate-i would expect the same top level of service which should come with purchasing a brand new BMW(or any new car for that matter) :thumbsdown:
 
The faults on this car in my opinion are just not acceptable. why don't you take it to a dealer more local to where you live ... the car will be under warranty so the work can be carried out by any BMW Agent. If you fail to get satisfaction report matter to Trading Standards as the car is not fit for purpose.
 
Sorry to hear about these faults John.

I don't think you're being unreasonable, had i come back to you having bought yours with grumbles, that'd be unreasonable.

you bought a new car, to expect things to be just so is what you expect when paying that premium.

hope you get sorted mate. :(
 
WOW...seems like an lot of issues for a brand new Zed... :thumbsdown:
Hope it get sorted soon to your satisfaction.... :driving:
 
Only thing I really have is a rattle on the drivers side seat belt. Although I think my tweeters may have cut out going over bumpy road but I assume it may have been the song and haven't heard it cut out again.

Your not being unreasonable, it's. 35-40 grand car!
 
I'm really sorry you're having these issues John. There unfortunately seems to be quite a few of you experiencing issues. Perhaps it's just that the silent majority whose cars are running well go unnoticed. It's a shame because the E89 looks great and SHOULD be a fantastic car to own. I don't think your correspondence has been unreasonable at all. I might be inclined to drop a note to Tim Abbott as well with the two previous (unanswered) emails copied in if you get no more joy.

I love BMW's and I love Zed's so it pains me to say this but the new 2012 Boxster is light years ahead. Not even close. The E89 needs a refresh and it needs a halo model worthy of the name. When you think it's got 2-3 years to soldier on against new competition (SLK, Porsche - Boxster or 2013 Cayman) I shudder to think what the sales line will look like.
 
John, gutted to hear about these issues. :(

As said above, if you double-click the open button on the remote it will drop the windows 3/4 of the way down when you open the door.

The one that would really concern me is "On a few separate occasions the car will seem to struggle on tick over and the RPM drops and flutters. On one occasion it has stalled itself. This is not the Auto start stop as it does it when first starting the car before moving off."

I personally can tolerate some minor niggles, but not something with the engine!

Keep us updated and hope you get everything resolved soon. :thumbsup:
 
Not unreasonable, as others have said, and very well worded. A new car is just that - new. A list of faults that long is unacceptable in a car that has only just been built. I think the suggestion of finding a closer dealer who will do the work and possibly cross-charge internally is a good idea. Otherwise I would be pushing for them to collect your car on a transporter, give you a courtesy car, and deliver it back to you when it's done. I really hope you get it sorted quickly / easily JDM :(
 
wow that is a long list....... i cant say i've found one problem so far..... but im not particularly anal and havent gone over it with a fine tooth combe. i just get in it and drive it lol

but yeah, if i had some of those issues, i would certainly make an issue of it
 
Thankyou for all your comments and suggestions so far gents. Much appreciated.

At least I'm not on my own thinking I might be expecting too much from a new car.

As suggested the transporter option maybe a way around it. My supplying dealership in Warrington said that they couldn't have another dealership carry out remedial works as they weren't the supplying dealer snd it caused hassle with payments/warranty etc. As a result they have ordered the new trim and mirror (first three items on the list) and have them in stock ready to fit. So I think it will have to go to them for these bits and guess it makes sense for them to try sort all issues while it's there.

Will hopefully hear something tomorrow from my latest email sent today.

On another note, my dad had his golf stolen a few weeks ago. I've been with him tonight to pick up a Mondeo to put him on until everything's sorted. 54 plate with 83k on the clock. £1900 and not a squeak or rattle to be heard. Certainly makes you wonder what BMW are doing wrong.... :?
 
I've not had any problems with my car so feel really lucky. The problems have been caused by the godawful parking sensors my dealer has fit as compensation for the lack of hill assist. We've decided we aren't going to accept what they've done. Like you said, a brand new car costing nearly 40k deserves to be right and, in my case, telling us they are going to fit oem sensors and then not because of cost, is totally unacceptable.
So, no you're not being unreasonable.
 
Ironically I was about to update my "leak" thread, but read yours.

Not meaning to hijack your thread I'll explain, as my experiences are not dis-similar to yours (although I've only got 1 issue)...

My car leaks. Simple. Passenger side when stood in rain for a period of time. Doesn't do it with a hose, unless left on it for 4 hrs. Comes in above tweeter grill and drips onto window switch and floor.

Car has been in 3 times. First 2 times were 1 day each and they couldn't replicate the issue, so it was impossible for them to say they'd fixed it. I can understand fixing intermittent faults is a nightmare, so not concerned.

The last time it went in for 3 days. They replicated the leak with a hose on for 4hrs. Thought they'd diagnosed the fault, repaired it and then tested and dry. Got the car back. No rain for a while but when it did...it leaked again!

Going in tomorrow for the 4th time and they've booked me a loan car till NEXT Friday!

Now then, my issue is - how many times do I let them try and fix it? I mean, they are personally as annoyed at it as I am, but this could go on and on. I'm thinking of saying to them that if they don't fix it on this occasion (i.e. keep the car till its fixed!) that I will want to look into rejecting it and having it replaced with another one.

I also have not made any fuss about the hill start....and seeing the compensation others have got has got me all jealous!

So like you, I've been understanding and accommodating, but how much is enough?

My dealer is only 2 miles away, so not an issue for me, but I thought the warranty was valid at any BMW dealer, so don't see why you should have to take it back to the supplying dealer?

So again, sorry for hijacking, but my questions are similar: when is enough enough (considering a near £40k car before discounts) and what compensation would be appropriate?
 
envy said:
My supplying dealership in Warrington said that they couldn't have another dealership carry out remedial works as they weren't the supplying dealer snd it caused hassle with payments/warranty etc.
Unless there has been some recent change in manufacturer's warranty I don't think this is correct. In recent years I have bought 5 BMW / Mini vehicles under 1 year old dealers 50 - 200 miles from where I live and all have required warranty work which has been carried out by my local dealer 8 miles away and there has never been any issue.
 
tintin52 said:
envy said:
My supplying dealership in Warrington said that they couldn't have another dealership carry out remedial works as they weren't the supplying dealer snd it caused hassle with payments/warranty etc.
Unless there has been some recent change in manufacturer's warranty I don't think this is correct. In recent years I have bought 5 BMW / Mini vehicles under 1 year old dealers 50 - 200 miles from where I live and all have required warranty work which has been carried out by my local dealer 8 miles away and there has never been any issue.

I agree, I don't think thats right at all. I got mine from Halliwell Jones in Chester, and while I took it back there for the odd few things at first, anything after that I had done at Williams Manchester without any issues at all. You have the dealership on Wheatley Hall Road don't you JDM? In that case, perhaps give them a call to see what their take on it is.
 
John, it pays to complain intelligently, and if they won't respond, find out the details of the parent company saying you have gven them the opportunity to respond etc...regretfully you have had to resort to contacting someone higher. I would call Customer Service too, and make them aware, happy to give you details of the guy I deal with, and go from there.....
 
Nick, thanks for the advice. That would be great if you could drop me a PM with the contact.

I will give them until close of play to respond today, if I hear nothing then I will take it further tomorrow.

Cheers
 
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