Mini is broke.. but another issue.. Dealer Service!!

West

West

West

Soldato
Joined
22 Dec 2004
Posts
9,173
Location
Rugeley, Staffs
Something i've always wondered today got answered dealers and curtousey cars!!!
The saga begins in Lichfield, I notice a fair bit of steam coming from the ol' engine bay, so I think, best get it to BMW, as there was a lot of steam coming from the expansion tank and a rather strong smell.. now the dealer is near enough 20 miles away from me, so off I tot and arrive and open the bonnet again.

Oh dear, the car has emptied the whole tank... and that god awful smell has gotten worse. Low and behold the dealer comes back to me an hour later, the gear linkage has been rubbing against the pipes from the coolant and left me with coolant all over the shop. Great.

So... I say to the service lady, I presume the mechanic said the car isn't drivable, she said yes and she was looking as if she was going to walk off so I said, so are you going to give me a replacement to use?

haha, this is where it gets complicated, she goes on to say to me, well we have to book them all out 2 weeks in advance, so we havn't got any available, and we don't keep any for emergencies... I was thinking: what??

So I explain to her where I live.. "oh, i'll have to go have a word with my manager.." and back she comes, well we can juggle it about and we can give you one at 18:30.. so a wait begins I thought.. but then in comes my inside man at Knights, he's very kindly lent me his Company Cooper Clubby, and he's gonna drop my coutousy car tonight.

Now my main question, why the hell do dealers not keep 'emergency' curtousey cars for situations like this, considering the ammount I paid for the thing, you would think for the time in it's warrenty, they would bend over backwards to sort you out :(
 
Tesla said:
I imagine they would just lend out the dealer demo model in a true emergency.
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Well they weren't even willing to do that.. luckily beacause I knew this chap at the dealers, he has sorted me out with his.. still I honestly think it's rather **** that they don't designate a car on the forecourt for this purpose..
 
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West said:
Well they weren't even willing to do that.. luckily beacause I knew this chap at the dealers, he has sorted me out with his.. still I honestly think it's rather **** that they don't designate a car on the forecourt for this purpous..
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Because if it was designated just for that purpose it would sit there doing nothing but cost them money most of the time. Then when you turn up and need it, sods law says someone else turned up just before you and had it.
 
Dogbreath said:
Because if it was designated just for that purpose it would sit there doing nothing but cost them money most of the time. Then when you turn up and need it, sods law says someone else turned up just before you and had it.
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Well aren't they doing that most of the time anyway? you get my meaning?
 
I know how you feel, but you've got to think from their point of view. The courtesy cars are provided by the dealers and by having that car as a loan they are not selling it. Sounds like you got a good dealer that will juggle things about though after a bit of pressure.

I had the same problem so i can see where you came from. For the first 2 days after my car broke down i had a hire car provided by the AA and then was without a car for 4 days.
I was livid considering my car was under warranty and they wouldn't give me a replacement car, even after speaking with Fiat CS they would only give me a car (hire) if it had been over 7 days off the road.
 
Your answer; most do, but you're dealing with a BMW dealer here.

Alfa Romeo dealers are required by Alfa to keep x cars on site, if it can't be fixed that day, you must be give one. Once the repair has started, they're not allowed to give the car back and ask you to come back another day to have the work finished. They have also made a bunch of other requirements. Alfa are taking this seriously enough to boot every dealer inside the M25 for refusing. Hopefully we see the dealers improve soon.
 
Wicksta said:
Why didn't you call BMW assist?
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Didn't actually spring to mind beacause the car hadn't actually broken down.. but they said I got it to them just in time..

BMW assist offer curtousey cars (Or the Mini Emergency Services as they are called for us) but you have to be over 21 :rolleyes:

The last time this happened, they offered me 'bus fare' LOL

That said, my mates company car isn't exactly shabby...
WMWML32000TN47238_01_DL_171008_1_FineGround_miniegasif4kc3zoi4q3jphhd_FGN_V01.jpg
 
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Am I the only one who wouldnd attempt to drive 20 miles if my car started steaming from the engine? If you saw it coming from the expansion tank was it boiling in there?
 
Defcon5 said:
Am I the only one who wouldnd attempt to drive 20 miles if my car started steaming from the engine? If you saw it coming from the expansion tank was it boiling in there?
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Not really, the level was just dropping but there was still a sizable ammount, in hindsight, it probably was a silly idea :)
 
Wicksta said:
Why didn't you call BMW assist?
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Exactly. This is what BMW Assist is for. Pull over to side of road (Not drive 20 miles with no coolant, duh), BMW Assist come out, recover the car if required and provide you with a hire car.

It's unreasonable to expect the dealer to have zero notice loan cars.

You have BMW Assist, use it and stop whining. You don't need to be over 21 either, but if you are under 25 you wont get a like for like car (Although as you've got a small hatch you'd end up with a like for like car anyway).
 
[TW]Fox;12832212 said:
Exactly. This is what BMW Assist is for. Pull over to side of road (Not drive 20 miles with no coolant, duh), BMW Assist come out, recover the car if required and provide you with a hire car.

It's unreasonable to expect the dealer to have zero notice loan cars.

You have BMW Assist, use it and stop whining.
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That's the problem though Fox, they wouldn't of provided me one beacause i'm too young, so you see the problem :)
 
West said:
Not really, the level was just dropping but there was still a sizable ammount, in hindsight, it probably was a silly idea :)
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If the engine is leaking coolant, you stop. You only go again if the leak is small enough, or you have fixed/bodged it.

You usually can't rely on your temperature gauge/warning light to tell you if it's overheating at this point, because it most likely displays coolant temperature.
 
BigglesPiP said:
If the engine is leaking coolant, you stop. You only go again if the leak is small enough, or you have fixed/bodged it.

You usually can't rely on your temperature gauge/warning light to tell you if it's overheating at this point, because it most likely displays coolant temperature.
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The actual coolant alarm hadn't come on either, beacause it normally brings a warning up on the hud..
 
Clubmans are disgusting cars. Absolutely horrid.

Better than nothing, however.

I don't think I'd have driven 20miles with the engine steaming heavily either! Pull over and call recovery methinks (or have a look to see if it's something obvious I can do at the roadside myself, loose cap or the like)
 
Hxc said:
Clubmans are disgusting cars. Absolutely horrid.

Better than nothing, however.

I don't think I'd have driven 20miles with the engine steaming heavily either! Pull over and call recovery methinks (or have a look to see if it's something obvious I can do at the roadside myself, loose cap or the like)
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It wasn't steaming heavily, I only noticed when I pulled over in Lichfield and it wasn't plumes.. but a noticeable ammount, and at that point there was still plenty of coolant in there.
 
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