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RE: bmw quality problems (a bit long)
Aaron,
Like Ryan said, it was just that particular dealer.
As another data point, I had exactly the same recall done on my '89 325i in
'96. I knew nothing of the recall. The only dealer in town (Crown BMW)
brought it up during an unrelated service appointment. When I came to pick
up the car they informed me that they also replaced all the coolant hoses
gratis after cutting into one they deemed them to be too worn up. All of
that covered by BMW. Not bad for the only dealer in town who could have
easily bent me over since the next closest BMW dealer was 100 miles away!
Oh, and this was at a dual BMW-Mazda dealership to boot, exactly the sort
of a dealership if which the BMW NA has been blaming for low customer
satisfaction #s.
Since then I've moved to the DFW area served by four separate BMW
dealerships. Each one of them is BMW NA's wet dream come true - they are
all stand alone franchises of larger chains. From the customer perspective,
I would only voluntarily deal with one parts department. They do overcharge
a bit, but almost always have the right part in stock. I would not trust
any of their service departments. Two experienced (10+ years of wrenching
on BMWs) mechanics who had worked on the '98 328i under warranty over the
last year and a half have either left or been fired. And based on my and
local club members' experience would rather have my teeth drilled without
novocaine then try to purchase another BMW from three of the four. The
forth is 60 miles from my house/work place.
What does BMW NA think about all this? I don't believe they give a rat's
ass.
I had been interviewed at least three times and each and every time a had a
different lousy service story. My favorite was when the dealer had left off
a caliper clip off the E36 and refused to replace it at the next visit
since I could prove to them that it was they who lost it. But they did
offer to give me a brake and replace it for free if I were to give them
$650 to swap the front rear brake pads/rotors. The pads/rotors were and
still are less than 1/4 worn (it's my wife' car). Than there is a story of
how I was offered $350 replacement battery (price included 1 hour of labor
to install it)....
One issue where I don't agree with you guys is that of free loaner cars. It
would be nice if the dealer offered me one each time I came in for service,
but I do not feel they _owe_ me one. The policy of all four local dealers
(equally coincidentally their parts prices are typically within 5% of each
other '-) is to give free loaner cars only IFF the customer bought the car
from that particular dealer. If you haven't, you are welcome to either rent
a car on the dealer's premises, or pay a $500 'ultimate experience' fee to
get free loaner cars from that point on.
I think that's reasonably fair. Loaner cars cost money to the dealer. If
the customer hasn't bent over and contributed to the LCF (loaner car fund),
the DVF (Dealer Vocation Fund) and the DRF (Dealer Retirement Fund) during
new/used car purchase, why should he/she expect a freebie?
There ain't no free lunch. I would rather contribute MY cash to MY personal
TCF (Third Car Fund) and have MY loaner car parked in front MY my house.
alex f
'89 325i
'95 M3
'98 328i
"Aaron Ness"
<aaron@makuta To: "'Ryan P Echlin'" <rechlin@domain.elided>, <bmw-digest@domain.elided>
.com> cc:
Sent by: Subject: RE: bmw quality problems (a bit long)
owner-bmw@dig
est.net
11/07/01
08:21 AM
Please
respond to
aaron
A closed recall?!? People on the Scirocco list are still having their fuel
tanks replaced free of charge due to a recall, and the newest Scirocco even
sold in the US is an '88 model. I think the recall applies to '86-'88 cars
or some such thing. Of course, the dealer probably isn't overjoyed to do
the work, but they don't say the recall is closed.
Parts of poor design or poor quality don't just get better over time, and
if
safety is concerned, they don't get any less dangerous over time either.
Aaron
'87 528e
'82 Scirocco
'70 Beetle
'82 GPz550
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-bmw@domain.elided [mailto:owner-bmw@domain.elided]On Behalf Of
> Ryan P Echlin
> Sent: Wednesday, November 07, 2001 8:38 AM
> To: bmw-digest@domain.elided
> Subject: Re: bmw quality problems (a bit long)
> A similar problem occurred to me with my 325e. After rupturing a
> radiator hose (worn hose, not BMW's fault), I noticed that a recall
> that prevents the heater core from spraying hot coolant on the
> driver's legs had not been performed on the car. I called my local
> dealer (Erhard BMW, in Bloomfield MI), and explained the problem.
> They told me that the recall as "closed" (yes, closed). I asked how
> a recall for something so dangerous as a coolant leak on my leg
> could be "closed." They didn't seem to have an answer. To be fair,
> other dealers said they would perform the recall, but as I am at
> school, and only have one car, it's going to be a while before I
> get in on that one, cause no loaner cars are available for this kind
> of work.
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