Unhappy with dealer.
- Thread starter z4peter
- Start date
Pleased you got it sorted 
z4peter said:
You can only but ask. When I had an issue with my previous car and the fact they kept getting the roof alignment wrong they actually offered me compensation for it all. Almost fell over as that's not something you hear BMW dealers doing without being asked.
I don't think that's too much to ask for, it's a little bit extra peace of mind however seals are not covered under extended warranty but if it's all sorted then hopefully no more worry on that issue.
Dunk said:I'd of asked for an extra years warranty before leaving
Good news that its all fixed now and imagine how much worse it could have been if you'd not bought
it from BMW
Sorry no offence, but I would have to disagree with the last statement, in my experience Main Dealers are worse than everyone else out there. Main Agents claim cars go through a million than one checks etc. But the reality is the same as many car supermarkets etc they just unload them off a transporter and place it on the forecourt. The OP car is a classic example of the vehicle not being checked Maybe the water leak could have been missed (shouldnt be really) but the lights should certainly have been picked up on and not getting it right first time when a simple road test would have clearly shown them to still be faulty. Level sensors are easy to check and there really was no excuse for this, so it really does need someone screwing up to replace the wrong one. Water leaks are trickier and usually its much easier as a two man job to find, one to wet the vehicle while the others inside looking to identify where the water is getting in. But again when it went in the first time they should have found it and doubled checked they had found it, but main dealers don't like have two guys working on one car so the tech was probably struggling on his own try to wet the vehicle then jump in and find the leak while the water was still running through the vehicle.
I am willing to bet that any decent indy, not even a BMW specialist would have fixed these faults first time and not put OP through this trauma! Very poor from the dealer but pretty much the norm!
MACK said:Dunk said:I'd of asked for an extra years warranty before leaving
Good news that its all fixed now and imagine how much worse it could have been if you'd not bought
it from BMW
Sorry no offence, but I would have to disagree with the last statement, in my experience Main Dealers are worse than everyone else out there. Main Agents claim cars go through a million than one checks etc. But the reality is the same as many car supermarkets etc they just unload them off a transporter and place it on the forecourt. The OP car is a classic example of the vehicle not being checked Maybe the water leak could have been missed (shouldnt be really) but the lights should certainly have been picked up on and not getting it right first time when a simple road test would have clearly shown them to still be faulty. Level sensors are easy to check and there really was no excuse for this, so it really does need someone screwing up to replace the wrong one. Water leaks are trickier and usually its much easier as a two man job to find, one to wet the vehicle while the others inside looking to identify where the water is getting in. But again when it went in the first time they should have found it and doubled checked they had found it, but main dealers don't like have two guys working on one car so the tech was probably struggling on his own try to wet the vehicle then jump in and find the leak while the water was still running through the vehicle.
I am willing to bet that any decent indy, not even a BMW specialist would have fixed these faults first time and not put OP through this trauma! Very poor from the dealer but pretty much the norm!
I meant if he'd bought the car from a general trader, I agree that the car should not of had these faults and do know how the system works but if it had gone wrong you would have BMW UK to fall back on unlike buying from a non approved outlet
Dunk said:MACK said:Dunk said:I'd of asked for an extra years warranty before leaving
Good news that its all fixed now and imagine how much worse it could have been if you'd not bought
it from BMW
Sorry no offence, but I would have to disagree with the last statement, in my experience Main Dealers are worse than everyone else out there. Main Agents claim cars go through a million than one checks etc. But the reality is the same as many car supermarkets etc they just unload them off a transporter and place it on the forecourt. The OP car is a classic example of the vehicle not being checked Maybe the water leak could have been missed (shouldnt be really) but the lights should certainly have been picked up on and not getting it right first time when a simple road test would have clearly shown them to still be faulty. Level sensors are easy to check and there really was no excuse for this, so it really does need someone screwing up to replace the wrong one. Water leaks are trickier and usually its much easier as a two man job to find, one to wet the vehicle while the others inside looking to identify where the water is getting in. But again when it went in the first time they should have found it and doubled checked they had found it, but main dealers don't like have two guys working on one car so the tech was probably struggling on his own try to wet the vehicle then jump in and find the leak while the water was still running through the vehicle.
I am willing to bet that any decent Indy, not even a BMW specialist would have fixed these faults first time and not put OP through this trauma! Very poor from the dealer but pretty much the norm!
I meant if he'd bought the car from a general trader, I agree that the car should not of had these faults and do know how the system works but if it had gone wrong you would have BMW UK to fall back on unlike buying from a non approved outlet
I do hear what you are saying and ideally you would think/hope that was the case, however from personal experience with my wife's car that went badly wrong not long after purchase. Williams were useless/bad enough but when I got BMW UK involved they couldn't get there act together either and we ended up rejecting the car and returning to them. The thing was the whole thing was entirely avoidable, there's was a couple of well documented common faults with the vehicle that any half decent Indy would have sorted really easily, yet the setup at BMW somehow prevented them from managing this themselves.
Of the 9 new cars I've had in my life, mainly company cars, 4 went wrong at delivery or very soon after all 4 were a nightmare to sort out even though the faults weren't that complicated and i was a member of the companies fleet department.
1 Rover, 2 Audi's and 1 BMW. All four dealers were completely useless and it took many repeated attempts to get them fixed. You can't help but feel if main dealers let customers (especially knowledgeable customers) actually talk to the techs themselves things would get sorted much quicker rather than put some half wit service adviser as an interface, who in most cases doesnt know a spark plug from an oil filter, the message never gets through.
Indies and specialists usually talk to you direct, it makes things so much easier and things usually get sorted quicker
MACK said:Dunk said:I'd of asked for an extra years warranty before leaving
Good news that its all fixed now and imagine how much worse it could have been if you'd not bought
it from BMW
Sorry no offence, but I would have to disagree with the last statement, in my experience Main Dealers are worse than everyone else out there. Main Agents claim cars go through a million than one checks etc. But the reality is the same as many car supermarkets etc they just unload them off a transporter and place it on the forecourt.
I am willing to bet that any decent indy, not even a BMW specialist would have fixed these faults first time and not put OP through this trauma! Very poor from the dealer but pretty much the norm!
Sorry to hear of your experience with 'Main Dealers' - always better to quote who they are so that 'we' can avoid them. I personally have an excellent main dealer who has sold and serviced 4 BMWs including my Zed over the lat 11 years. Problems and faults quickly rectified and service at reasonable prices - so in my case NOT 'pretty much the norm.....'
AlanJ said:MACK said:Dunk said:I'd of asked for an extra years warranty before leaving
Good news that its all fixed now and imagine how much worse it could have been if you'd not bought
it from BMW
Sorry no offence, but I would have to disagree with the last statement, in my experience Main Dealers are worse than everyone else out there. Main Agents claim cars go through a million than one checks etc. But the reality is the same as many car supermarkets etc they just unload them off a transporter and place it on the forecourt.
I am willing to bet that any decent indy, not even a BMW specialist would have fixed these faults first time and not put OP through this trauma! Very poor from the dealer but pretty much the norm!
Sorry to hear of your experience with 'Main Dealers' - always better to quote who they are so that 'we' can avoid them. I personally have an excellent main dealer who has sold and serviced 4 BMWs including my Zed over the lat 11 years. Problems and faults quickly rectified and service at reasonable prices - so in my case NOT 'pretty much the norm.....'
Glad you found someone your happy with, they are rare I'd definitely stick with them.
The worst to deal with in my personal experience were Williams Group, particularly Manchester but also Liverpool. Porsche Bolton were really bad. Audi Stockport were terrible as well.
In fairness there have been a few good ones, Porsche Sheffield were excellent and Mini Blackpool but they have now changed hands so I not sure this is still true.
However the vast majority of my experience comes from my work as a fleet manager. Basically I believe you only find out how good a dealer is when they have a tricky/difficult situation to deal with. As a fleet manager that would normally be where the company car drivers would get us involved as they were drawing a blank with the dealer. I could be here all day talking about the bad experiences I've had trying to get vehicles fixed with tricky and some obvious faults up and down the land with various main dealers. Indies and specialists just seem to care more and be more interested in the customer and retention.
south yorkshire
Glad it's sorted, I ask for a second years auc warranty (not extended). I had this on my x5 and it only cost £100 at point of sale so I'd be asking for that on ur car but for free!
Arrghh I can't believe it!
Finished work early tonight so decided to go for a bit of a drive, car running beautifully.
Stop off for a cuppa at my mums, by this time it's dark, set off for home only to watch the lights slowly lower themselves down to the floor, could only see a few feet in front of the bonnet. Still pointing down when I arrive home I turn the car on and off and they return back to normal position.
Where do I go from here?
Finished work early tonight so decided to go for a bit of a drive, car running beautifully.
Stop off for a cuppa at my mums, by this time it's dark, set off for home only to watch the lights slowly lower themselves down to the floor, could only see a few feet in front of the bonnet. Still pointing down when I arrive home I turn the car on and off and they return back to normal position.
Where do I go from here?
Back to the dealer. I would be demanding two brand new headlights are fitted and they need to ensure that its all codes correctly and there is no gremlins. Not sure if the wiring loom for the lights could effect them but if it does, they want to check that too.
It's really not good. I think you need to go in, be calm and ask to speak with both the service manager and dealer principle. You need to tell them your not happy and what you want them to do. Make them aware your not afraid to involve BMW UK and invoke your consumer rights.
It's really not good. I think you need to go in, be calm and ask to speak with both the service manager and dealer principle. You need to tell them your not happy and what you want them to do. Make them aware your not afraid to involve BMW UK and invoke your consumer rights.
Thanks, I really don't think I can accept them having yet another go at fixing this - 15 days in the workshop and three separate visits. They have experienced the problem themselves so they do know it's there. Initially they said they replaced a sensor (presumably rear) then the last time they said there was a fault logged for the front sensor so they replaced that. There is clearly more to it.
z4peter said:
Well I think the only option you can do is have a look online at the AUC network and see if there is another car that suits your requirements. Advise your rejecting the car and advise on the car you want to replace it. Otherwise just ask for your money back.
Nothing else that can be done to be honest.
As a side note, has anyone any idea what could be wrong with the lights? The BMW dealer clearly doesn't.
I have an agreement that if any of the faults weren't rectified in the final visit they would change the car.
I've been on the auc site and 3.0's are rare as. I don't really want to step down to a 2.3 so wondered what the 2.8 four cylinder is like in comparison to the six?
I have an agreement that if any of the faults weren't rectified in the final visit they would change the car.
I've been on the auc site and 3.0's are rare as. I don't really want to step down to a 2.3 so wondered what the 2.8 four cylinder is like in comparison to the six?
z4peter said:
Personally I would never take a 4 over a 6 in a sports car
Very sorry to hear about your car sounds like the dealer is clueless. Are there any other BMW dealers you could take it to? Tell them you have no faith in them looking at the car again just a thought if you don't want to part with it.
I think you would find it hard dropping to the four cylinder models. I test drove a 2.0 before getting my 23i 2.5. It was a lovely car but I felt disappointed not having the noise and smoothness of the straight six that I had got used to.
I think you would find it hard dropping to the four cylinder models. I test drove a 2.0 before getting my 23i 2.5. It was a lovely car but I felt disappointed not having the noise and smoothness of the straight six that I had got used to.