Can you trust a dealer 100%

[M3west]

Quick question....when a dealer says something was replaced under motor plan can you be confident that it was actually replaced? And if it was replaced do you always get new parts??? How tight is the system and can dealers fiddle it?

I have my suspicions....car is at a different dealer on the 24th and I want them to check all is in order.

 

[zaleonardz]

Well...

if you consider the serious $$$ the dealers pay for that license to display the BMW logo, these guys do not take any chances.

If motorplan says that they replaced X, they would be too shit scared that it be discovered that they did not, and can loose their license, therefore by association, if its on the piece of paper, it actually happened...

Now what is called into question is, what it really required to replace the part in the first place, and.... WHAT HAPPENED to the old one.

This suspision I have had for a while, and not limited to dealers...

My view on the trade in general...

 

[moranor@axis]

no you cant trust them 100% ive seen recently serviced cars with old air filters in... thats just something you can see easily...

 

[zama]

I think guys sometimes do take chances, for example they might take your car for a joyride, after all it is a 4 pipe :idea:

 

[calypso]

Well...

if you consider the serious $$$ the dealers pay for that license to display the BMW logo, these guys do not take any chances.

If motorplan says that they replaced X, they would be too shit scared that it be discovered that they did not, and can loose their license, therefore by association, if its on the piece of paper, it actually happened...

Now what is called into question is, what it really required to replace the part in the first place, and.... WHAT HAPPENED to the old one.

This suspision I have had for a while, and not limited to dealers...

My view on the trade in general...

Big stuff like engines they need to ship back to headoffice. Where its destroyed. So im told.

 

[zaleonardz]

But things like CAM sensors, slave cylinders, onboard kitten holders....

 

[M3west]

Thanks guys....appreciate the feedback.

You might have seen in other posts I have had an issue with my Harmon Kardon audio. After replacing the head twice it's now sorted. Issue I have us first head unit took two weeks, the second was replaced same day. Looking closely at the volume knob it does not look new.....so now I'm suspicious....what else could have been swapped rather than replaced with new...and where is the new part???

 

[Karthik]

I think when they say its replaced , it has been replaced . At BMW while under motorplan . I know because a friend of mine works at the service desk at BMW .

 

[Nastaliq]

Hi,

I am sure that if you get enough guys to actually read this thread, you will be horrified to find out how many guys have found that used parts have been fitted in their cars, all in the name of Motorplan. While this isnt the case everytime, it is the case sometimes.

There are also plenty threads (i think try Dealership praise/horror stories) which detail sloppy repairs performed by BMW technicians. Guys find oil rags in their engine bays, cable ties replacing missing screws/clips and superglue used to repair cracked coolant tanks.

Having a job-card with part numbers written down on, which you sign when collecting your car, means absolutely nothing. Well, not some of the time any way.

As for what happens to the parts thereafter. I know of a dealership in DBN that had some crooked technicians who were selling the removed parts privately. They were all fired, including the workshop foreman.
These guys were caught, but I would ponder a guess that it happens elsewhere more covertly.

There was a story some years ago, maybe 2010 or 2009, where guys in Germany were stealing parts from the factory and selling them online. You could basically email the guy what you wanted, he stole it from the factory, and sold it to you for like 1/8th the OEM price.

BMW eventually got wise to this gig and fired quite a few guys, and then instituted legal proceedings against them for losses and damages.

This is all what we KNOW. What about all the cases that we DONT KNOW of.

 

[zaleonardz]

Nastaliq,

I agree with you on the parts theft bud, I can also see this to be a big problem.

I also agree with the sloppy work, many times, if a dealer or more correctly the technician gets allocated a job, and he/she breaks something, he has to pay for it, so "hidden" mistakes I am sure are part of the day to day.

However, as everything is tracked system wise, I am fairly sure that if motorplan issues a new part, that the part is replaced, simply because everything is documentented.

The part, the time, the order by them, the dispatch out of stock, the issue to production, with the technicians name on it including the time, and that tech can have his balls handed to him in the form of a criminal case if found doing unethical things, and even worse the dealer will be bitchslapped if his stock is not correct

So from that viewpoint, I am sure that if it says new, you got new.

But again, what happens to old, was old really old... there I am sure things get... interesting..

Then again, cash clients thats not under motorplan, where is there is no record, lord only knows what happens there, there its a free for all.

And I am sure at your smaller non BMW dealerships its even way worse...

 

[Hellas]

I have been searching for the waste bins outside the BMW dealership for some time now. I gave up and filed that unknown location search together with my search for things like the street address of Bigfoot and the postal code of Narnia.