Expectations too high for BMW?

[BabyBM]

Hi All,

I have a 2013 F20 116i. This car has been plagued with small problems since day 1.

Recently I noticed the electronic oil reader no longer gave a reading. The car was due for a service so I took it in and mentioned the problem to them. After three phone calls from BMW saying that my car doesn't have a electronic oil level sensor and I should be using the dipstick, the bright spark tech finally conceded that I am not a complete noob and I do have an electronic indicator, but the sensor is broken.

I go in to pick up my car. Normal service work is done, but they didn't touch the oil level sensor as it could be a 5 day fix. Fair enough. So after discussing when I can bring the car in again to be fixed, it comes to light that BMW feels I should leave my car there for a week without a courtesy car. I said that's ridiculous as the car is still under motorplan and they should offer a courtesy car if they want to keep my car for repairs over 24 hours. So the lady helping me asks the year of the car and when I say 2013 she replies, "Sorry the warranty ends when the car is older than 3 years, so we don't need to provide a courtesy car for you." Is this complete BS?

Anyway, she finally says the best they can do is take my car for 24hours, call a BMWSA technician in to check/ authorize repairs on the car, and when that is done they can maybe give me a courtesy car for the remaining repair time, depending if BMWSA allows it. I can foresee what will happen with this attitude. They will open up the car, then phone me and say they need it for the week, and BMWSA says I can't have a courtesy car. Good luck.

Am I expecting too much from the dealership demanding a courtesy car? Are they just giving me the run around by making claims on BMWSA's behalf? Why is the dealership being so hardarsed about it. Surely if the car is under motorplan they do the repair work and any costs (including the courtesy car) are paid by back by BMWSA? Is this not how it works?

 

[Sabretooth tiger]

I'm rather not going to say much here.
Which dealership is it?

 

[BabyBM]

I'm rather not going to say much here.
Which dealership is it?

Melrose Arch

 

[Ralf*]

maybe give John at Leo Haese a message, seeing as he is an advertiser here on the forums
he could either confirm or dispell the experience you are having

 

[Deren]

What they are telling you is the "Ugly truth" I have also been told the same story by another dealership when I had my E90 in for repairs. If the vehicle is out of the warranty period BMWSA has to approve a courtesy car and a PUMA case needs to be logged. This is utter BS as you dont expect that kind of service from a premium brand and it is one of the reasons I almost never wanted to buy a BMW again.

Lucky for me I started throwing my toys and told the dealership that I will never support their brand again and that I will inform all my work colleagues (who I know support the brand and the said dealership) of the terrible service I am receiving and I was then given a demo 320d F30 to use for a week with a full tank of fuel and to my surprise whenever I visit the dealership to have my vehicle booked in I get VIP treatment and whenever they needed to keep the vehicle I was given a courtesy car :rollsmile:

 

[ChrisBrand]

Thread moved to correct section

 

[akash]

So im going to make the truth even uglier.

My father in law has always owned BMW's and has always owned premium end version since the 90's.

No matter how old his current car that he had at the time was, he was always given a courtesy car if the repair took more than a day.

There are double standards at some places unfortunately.

 

[Fuzz@tinyNET]

You should go to Sandton Auto - Melrose Arch is a small dealer and the workshop is just really designed for express services, and smaller stuff like brakes, etc.

You can also go to JSN Motors.


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[TurboLlew]

JSN also can't always help with a courtesy car most of the time, but they do their best to shuttle you around and have always communicated when there are issues in getting things done within a day. Attitude has been good in my experience which is what makes the difference a lot of the time.

Bear in mind we are actually a bit spoiled with this service. When I had a Honda, they wouldn't take me to work since it was 'too far away'... I had to either use a dealership that had never seen an S2000 before let alone worked on one, OR be happy for them to shuttle me home (and this was a virtually new car at the time)

One of my mates with a Renault RS ended up in a shouting match at a dealer (Bryanston) and when it escalated, Renault SA themselves said that there is no obligation to get you to work no matter what arrangement you claim has been made.

Mercedes Benz doesn't do a great job to the extent that colleagues also complain - I've had to collect one in particular many times yet the dealer is less than 3km from work. They also set up a service for her when the car was at 119000km. She told them specifically that the mileage would be a bit higher when it was in based on that date. They then call her with a quote of R12K because her Mobilo what-what expired at 120000km and the car was on 120060km.

Bad service is everywhere, yet JSN drives me all the way down Will Nic in traffic and then down the highway to Roodepoort when I have my car booked in. I say switch dealers to Sandton Auto or JSN. I never had good luck going to the dealership you mention before it was called Melrose Arch Auto either.

 

[peanut125i]

My car was older than 3 years and autobahn gave me car to use. Was for 6 weeks though. Not sure if it's different depending on how long the car is going to be in for.

 

[zippy320]

I know dealerships generally dont give you a car to use if its out of its warranty , that I know , but it also depends on your relationship with the dealership .

My E46 was around 4 years old , since new I complained about a funny noise and vibration from the car to SMG Durban and they never sorted out the issues saying it was normal , I wasn't convinced , I had Forsdicks Pinetown look at it , they booked it in and said they need it for two days while the guy from BMW came over to look at it .

I said fine , so I was without a car for two days , the guy looked at it and told them , replace the head , after that they called me and said the car will need to stay over for longer , I asked if they couldn't not lend me a car , and they gave me use of a 320d for two months! it took long because they ordered the wrong head from germany twice . I guess it depends on your relationship with the dealership .
They sometimes give you a car , maybe one of the approved or demo cars or trade ins to use .

 

[msm]

Lexus gave me a courtesy car, regardless of warranty period having expired whenever my car went in for work which was going to be more than one day.

If less than one day, not only did they offer to drop me off, I once had the guys come drop off the car with me and have another driver take them back so I don't have to be inconvenienced with collecting the car during peak traffic at 5PM.

 

[Irfaan Ismail]

Hi All,

I have a 2013 F20 116i. This car has been plagued with small problems since day 1.

Recently I noticed the electronic oil reader no longer gave a reading. The car was due for a service so I took it in and mentioned the problem to them. After three phone calls from BMW saying that my car doesn't have a electronic oil level sensor and I should be using the dipstick, the bright spark tech finally conceded that I am not a complete noob and I do have an electronic indicator, but the sensor is broken.

I go in to pick up my car. Normal service work is done, but they didn't touch the oil level sensor as it could be a 5 day fix. Fair enough. So after discussing when I can bring the car in again to be fixed, it comes to light that BMW feels I should leave my car there for a week without a courtesy car. I said that's ridiculous as the car is still under motorplan and they should offer a courtesy car if they want to keep my car for repairs over 24 hours. So the lady helping me asks the year of the car and when I say 2013 she replies, "Sorry the warranty ends when the car is older than 3 years, so we don't need to provide a courtesy car for you." Is this complete BS?

Anyway, she finally says the best they can do is take my car for 24hours, call a BMWSA technician in to check/ authorize repairs on the car, and when that is done they can maybe give me a courtesy car for the remaining repair time, depending if BMWSA allows it. I can foresee what will happen with this attitude. They will open up the car, then phone me and say they need it for the week, and BMWSA says I can't have a courtesy car. Good luck.

Am I expecting too much from the dealership demanding a courtesy car? Are they just giving me the run around by making claims on BMWSA's behalf? Why is the dealership being so hardarsed about it. Surely if the car is under motorplan they do the repair work and any costs (including the courtesy car) are paid by back by BMWSA? Is this not how it works?

That dealer is just messing around with you. With out BMW'S that we've had, sometimes even a 10 year old car, we used to get a courtesy vehicle even if it was just for 5 hours. My recommendation is try complain to that dealers management or just go to another dealer

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[Gizmo]

I think people expect too much from SA dealerships in regards to courtesy vehicles, don't forget this is a 3rd world country, we are not in Europe where any trip to the dealer would entitle you to a courtesy car.
Hell, even I have been asked to supply a courtesy car when a customer dropped his off for maintenance, when I told him I have no such service he asked to borrow one of my own cars for a few days, I couldn't help but laugh at him.:crazylaugh:

 

[Iceman007]

Oil level sensor pn E90 took about 3hours for the re-programex the whole car also. Why so long for a 116i I ask myself. Take it to another dealer and give them the info and you would like them to assist

 

[Naruto]

Sorry bro.....

My 2c worth.
The F20 116i is a $#it car!!!
We also have this car in the family and it's what we call "the cursed child". Oil usage is super high...fuel consumption is insane.... and now we can't even sell it :blueCry:.

Hope your car gets sorted.

 

[VictorMike]

We also have this car in the family and it's what we call "the cursed child". Oil usage is super high...fuel consumption is insane.... and now we can't even sell it :blueCry:.

Maybe you should have called it Temari or Tsunade

 

[Naruto]

We also have this car in the family and it's what we call "the cursed child". Oil usage is super high...fuel consumption is insane.... and now we can't even sell it :blueCry:.

Maybe you should have called it Temari or Tsunade

I thought giving such a sweet name "Hinata" it would be sweet, but it's a learning curve. :rollsmile:

 

[JohnLod]

Hi guys,

sorry only just saw this thread.
Here are the guide lines that are given by BMW to dealers to follow in a very small nutshell, some of the info given above (previous thread) is correct but I must agree that some of it sounds like BS, MY OPINION SO DON'T QUOTE me please.
If a vehicle is in warranty (first 2 years) and it breaks down and cannot be driven then the dealer would usually request car hire from BMW for a car for the client if the client requires as vehicle. The dealer has the guide lines so this isn't to difficult. (This also depends on availability of a mobility vehicle at the dealership.)
If a part is on back order (needs to come from Germany) and the vehicle is less than 3 years old and cannot be driven then they can also request car hire from BMW.
In most of the other cases if you require a vehicle it would be a COUrTESY vehicle which once again would be dependant on availability. Yes a lot of clients would like a vehicle when they book in their vehicle for a service but the reality is that if one is assisting 30 - 40 clients a day and half the clients would like a loan vehicle then you can think what size fleet the dealer would require in order to assist every one. Remember that all these vehicles need to be paid for by the dealership. I know that you can ask if you can rent a vehicle from the dealership and book in advance, but not always the case.
One must also then look at the other cases where parts may need to come from Germany, so that would require even more vehicles to carry in the fleet and more costs (you all know what BMW's cost). If you start adding this up you quickly end up with a fleet of 25- 35 "loan/courtesy" cars.
We do have a couple of cars were we try assist clients were we can by booking them for a particular day, this helps a bit.
Some clients have built up good relationships with their salesperson and they may lend them their company car for a couple of hours while their vehicles are being serviced.
The next option is that if you only require a service is that you book it in for a F1 "WAITING", generally you should be in and out between 1-2 hours depending on what is required. If you do the maths, it is quicker, if you calculate the time you spend driving up and down to the dealership to drop off your vehicle and the return your vehicle.
The next case is the terms and conditions were the client insists on a vehicle but does not want to take responsibility in the case of any damage, the insurance is high on these types of vehicles and the excess is stiff, is that fair?
It also now happens where the client is expecting the vehicle to be full of fuel for them to drive out while their vehicle is in for a repair, is this fair?
Another problem that also happens is in some cases a client may bring in a older vehicle, get a brand new loan model and when they need to collect their vehicles they don't answer the phone( this usually happens on Thursdays and Fridays as they want to use it for the weekend.) They other favourite is "I am out of town" even though you can see on the tracking they are in the area. We have had were it took 3 weeks to get our vehicle back.
We lost a car last year due to a client lending our loan vehicle to his son who the wrote it off (450k gone) Each claim has impact on your rates so in many cases the dealers have to take the knock on smaller repairs in order to be able to still be insured in the big claims, this all cost money. even when the vehicle is damaged by a third party we need to get it repaired and then start the legal process, time and money.

As for your case of them telling you 5 days for the oil level sensor "no comment". if it is a case of replacing it/programming it, it shouldn't take more than a day or two, depending on stock and in the case of programming whether or not the programming failed or not.
If we find that the sensor is faulty and we don't have stock,we would offer the client the option either leaving the vehicle or keep it mobile and then ask the client o return when the part has arrived. This way they client can stay mobile. If the vehicle is dangerous to drive then would try make another plan (depending on if a loan vehicle is available.

We do try and help were we can but it isn't always possible to keep everyone happy.

 

[Sabretooth tiger]

When I had the first fiasco with Leo Haese Centurion, I ended up going to Club Motors Fountains. Never looked at another dealership after that day.
Car was under two years old and got a courtesy vehicle. Then with the second fiasco, also due to the idiots at Leo Haese Centurion, I took the car in to Club motors fountains, after the DP at Fountains stepped in to save the situation. (by this time I had build a good relationship with the DP) Even though the car was in for a few hours, I was given a brand new F30 320d Msport to use.