Where do I stand legally?

You should be able to use any MINI dealer then. Like Sytner or Soper etc.

Personally... Not heard of Marshall in the bmw/mini scene before...

Shows how much I know, I always thought they were an official dealer, they do a very good job of looking official then, sell brand new cars too. I just typed their address in at mini.co.uk and they don't come up so it looks like I screwed up there too. Not that I had much choice mind, we bought this car right as lockdown hit so choices were rather limited.
 
Shows how much I know, I always thought they were an official dealer, they do a very good job of looking official then, sell brand new cars too. I just typed their address in at mini.co.uk and they don't come up so it looks like I screwed up there too. Not that I had much choice mind, we bought this car right as lockdown hit so choices were rather limited.
Yeah they do look official on first glance. Too much of this deceiving/fakery going on these days.
 
Marshall dealerships in Salisbury, Bournemouth and Hook all appear on both the Mini and BMW websites for me, not sure where the implication comes from that they're deceitfully passing themselves off as an official dealership when they're not?
 
Marshall dealerships in Salisbury, Bournemouth and Hook all appear on both the Mini and BMW websites for me, not sure where the implication comes from that they're deceitfully passing themselves off as an official dealership when they're not?
From the post above mine where his dealership couldn't found?
 
They are a real BMW centre, I also didn't have the best experience at that branch, and although I did manage to get my issues resolved (not as easily as it should have been), it left me going elsewhere so I didn't have any repeat performances.

It's understandable that sometimes mistakes are made, but it's how they are dealt with that makes the most difference.
 
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You should be able to use any MINI dealer then. Like Sytner or Soper etc.

Personally... Not heard of Marshall in the bmw/mini scene before...
That's never been the case for me. I was able to get a 530i from Sytner Nottingham stock and purchase it at Sytner High Wycombe, but I couldn't get a car from Stratstone BMW (RIP) in a similar fashion. They are all individual franchises/groups, not one big BMW UK network where cars can usually be interchanged, bought and sold between them.

Marshall are a legit franchised dealer as others have mentioned:
 
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That's never been the case for me. I was able to get a 530i from Sytner Nottingham stock and purchase it at Sytner High Wycombe, but I couldn't get a car from Stratstone BMW (RIP) in a similar fashion. They are all individual franchises/groups, not one big BMW UK network where cars can usually be interchanged, bought and sold between them

He already owns the car, the discussion is about repairs. An official Mini or BMW warranty product is valid at any authorized BMW or Mini workshop.
 
They are one of the largest BMW and Mini franchised dealer groups in the UK.
That's fine. Just not one I'm familiar with. I took Diddums word that they weren't part of the network.

That's never been the case for me. I was able to get a 530i from Sytner Nottingham stock and purchase it at Sytner High Wycombe, but I couldn't get a car from Stratstone BMW (RIP) in a similar fashion. They are all individual franchises/groups, not one big BMW UK network where cars can usually be interchanged, bought and sold between them.


Yes you can't deliver a car between different franchises... but thats not what we're discussing. I'm referring to warranty work. This can be done on any dealer franchise on the network... regardless of the one you bought from.
 
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was their inability to look at the car within a month, or less, already a breach of warranty terms ?
perhaps given significance of problem (presumably water not pouring into car when it rained) you had given them some grace, but, you can remind them of that,

(sounds like they've already admitted enough culpability - so no risk they might say roof problem is a maintenance issue)
 
I was locked in to their warranty scheme so just used another branch, which is Bournemouth.

This is what put us off when my dad was buying a new AUC last year. They very much try to paint the picture that you get a warranty with your AUC car, and that they are a Volvo main dealer, so most people think that it'll be a manufacturers warranty. Nope - you get a Marshall's own brand warranty, which I had absolutely no confidence in.

So we went elsewhere and bought a car from a main dealer that came with a Volvo warranty.
 
I'm referring to warranty work. This can be done on any dealer franchise on the network... regardless of the one you bought from.

I suspect the issue here is that the car was bought in 2021, so probably not dealing with manufacturer AUC warranty anymore but whatever extended franchise product was also sold with the car.
 
I think it would be helpful if we could find out what the car is, what year the car is and whether he extended the manufacturer warranty on it or bought a third party one.
 
I used Marshall’s in Leicester when it was a Vauxhall dealership with no issues.

It’s now a KFC.

(looked after the RAF TriStar and Hercules when they were in service…)
 
I think it would be helpful if we could find out what the car is, what year the car is and whether he extended the manufacturer warranty on it or bought a third party one.

Definitely. A lot of the big dealers (like Marshall) are now selling their own warranty products which usually start after the AUC warranty period ends.

These dealer warranties are pretty much the same as an RAC type warranty you’d get on an older car - hit and miss…

You’ve also got to watch out as some dealers are using their ‘proper’ showroom to sell non-manufacturer approved cars. Sytner are a good example of this - they often have a ‘Sytner Select’ area on the main premises - these cars are not manufacturer approved.

Also, I’ve come across quite a few main dealers offering cars with what is officially part service history, but glossing over it. Not BMW though, thankfully…

I went to look at an approved used Range Rover at a Sytner Land Rover main dealer, it was a 2018, and had only just been serviced at 38k miles in 2022. No prior services. And it was at an independent! They said it doesn’t matter as they’ll do a major service now which will “bring it up to date”. I said do you understand the concept of servicing? It’s to reduce wear - which will have already happened… I was slightly shocked (but not really). You always have to be vigilant these days.
 
I stand by my deceiving/fakery comment after that above. You have to go in with both eyes open.
 
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I really don't like the idea of buying a car that isn't on a manufacturer approved scheme from a dealer that holds a franchise with that manufacturer. I can't think of a reason why it isn't being sold as an approved used car that I'd be happy with.

If the group doesn't have a franchise with the brand that's a different story as they are often good cars they have got in part exchange.
 
Bit of an update then.

Picked the car up on Monday. They replaced the sunroof under warranty but as you'd expect they still managed to screw it up. The new sunroof has a lighter tint and the rails are now bare aluminium, whereas they were powdercoated before. Probably some cheapo China replacement. They also left greasy fingerprints all over the headliner so I made them clean it before accepting the car. Had to do it twice.

Whilst there I had a slow puncture in a rear tyre repaired and the wipers replaced, £75. Any decent dealer would've gone "we won't charge you for labour" at an absolute minimum but then this company has done very little to make me think that they give a toss about repeat business.

To be fair, the chap at Bournemouth (Jamie) was actually quite helpful, the booking centre actually booked the car in to the wrong dealer so he stepped up and made it right as best he could with the very obviously uninterested staff he has.

So that was £56 for a train ticket home, £60 for a train ticket there, £20 in cabs and two wasted days of annual leave because Marshalls are a dumpster fire of a company. Not sure whether I can be arsed chasing the train money tbh. Just glad it's over, and I'll spend the rest of my days advising anyone who asks to stay as far away from Marshalls as possible.

Just waiting for a nice big shower to see if/where the roof leaks so I can continue this incessant saga of incompetence with them.
 
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