Dealership stone-walling

WARNING: San Diego BMW owners, Kearny Mesa BMW is the worst. Why? They did a brake job on our BMW 325i, 1999. Shortly after leaving the parking lot, I hear a thunk from the front passenger side. I barely got to a parking lot at Costco in Marina. The service department admitted the service tech didn't bolt down the brake plate down. Lucky I was not going full speed on the freeway - it would have been way worse. In all the years I have owned cars, this has never happened. This was after numerous other bad experiences with this dealership... I never, ever went back. That '99 BMW eventually lost the tranny at 88K. Dumped the BMW... BTW, we always all over maintenance on that BMW and never raced the car. Lemon? No... but several mechanics said they were not surprised that the 3 series lost the tranny. So it appeared to us, it was not ancetodal.
 
Sergei said:
WARNING: San Diego BMW owners, Kearny Mesa BMW is the worst. Why? They did a brake job on our BMW 325i, 1999. Shortly after leaving the parking lot, I hear a thunk from the front passenger side. I barely got to a parking lot at Costco in Marina. The service department admitted the service tech didn't bolt down the brake plate down. Lucky I was not going full speed on the freeway - it would have been way worse. In all the years I have owned cars, this has never happened. This was after numerous other bad experiences with this dealership... I never, ever went back. That '99 BMW eventually lost the tranny at 88K. Dumped the BMW... BTW, we always all over maintenance on that BMW and never raced the car. Lemon? No... but several mechanics said they were not surprised that the 3 series lost the tranny. So it appeared to us, it was not ancetodal.



Interesting....I traded a few e-mails with someone there over this thread and he said "We are the largest BMW dealer in San Diego, we sell over 3,000 vehicles a year. We certainly know something regarding delivering new vehicles."



Well....McDonald's sells millions upon millions of burgers a year but that doesn't mean they are all that good. :LOLOL
 
Exactly on all accounts. When I first told her about the problem I was very clear to mention that she needs to make it clear to them that they get one chance to make it right or they have to pay the detailer of her choice to make it right. Cause I've been there before with customers - I've seen the dealership re-buff a car as many as three times and still never get it right. I buffed out a fender to see what it would take - it would require a quick three-step buff process or a real thorough two-step process, so I quoted her $250.
 
Scottwax said:
Interesting....I traded a few e-mails with someone there over this thread and he said "We are the largest BMW dealer in San Diego, we sell over 3,000 vehicles a year. We certainly know something regarding delivering new vehicles."



Well....McDonald's sells millions upon millions of burgers a year but that doesn't mean they are all that good. :LOLOL



How did they respond to you?
 
Ive been watching this thread for awhile, im still just beside myself.



E-mail them the pics maybe???
 
Scottwax said:
"We are the largest BMW dealer in San Diego, we sell over 3,000 vehicles a year. We certainly know something regarding delivering new vehicles."



Well....McDonald's sells millions upon millions of burgers a year but that doesn't mean they are all that good. :LOLOL



LOL, that is great! I gotta remember that one for later on in life if I encounter a situation like this one.



I feel for the car and for the owner. so sad :(
 
She has no motive to lie to RAG (unless she is one of those that tend to entangle others in their own issues), but it is none of RAG's business to entangle himself and call dealership on something that is not his own car.
 
ZoranC said:
She has no motive to lie to RAG (unless she is one of those that tend to entangle others in their own issues), but it is none of RAG's business to entangle himself and call dealership on something that is not his own car.



I agree he probably shouldn't call the dealership himself on her behalf. What would be acceptable is to go down with her if their attempts to remove the swirls aren't successful. He could then show them in person that he can correct the problems and she could demand they pay him instead of letting their guys get another crack at it.



I certainly have no problem at all with him exposing this dealership's make-ready department's apparently poor prep job. And the fact the dealership is aware that other people have seen those pictures may make them more likely to take care of the problem and satisfy the customer. I have seen again and again that companies tend to do right when they know others are watching.
 
Scottwax said:
What would be acceptable is to go down with her if their attempts to remove the swirls aren't successful. He could then show them in person that he can correct the problems and she could demand they pay him instead of letting their guys get another crack at it.

That's still "wrong angle" approach. If I remember right she gave them a chance to correct it and they are ignoring her. Now she should call BMW USA and talk to them about what will be done and negotiate what is acceptable to all parties. He should not get involved with dealership in any way. It's between her and dealership and BMW. Once they all agree then it will depend on what is agreed.
 
If it comes back from the dealer with any improvement at al, I'm willing to lay odds on glaze with heavy fillers. Last time I picked my car up from the body shop I said something about the swirls from compounding and the guy said they could "fix it" with glaze. My car's in the body shop again now and this time I told them not to glaze it at all. I'd prefer to inspect it before they try to hide all their sins. I can always shine it up later.
 
same thing happened to a friend of a friend. she has a 07 accord, i think its an 07 or 06 either one. she got a cat sracth and the dealer she bought it from ran a rotary over the entire car producing the same exact look in direct sunlight as you got there rag.



i told her i could probably fix it. im a little worried about it being a honda though. its black and in pretty bad shape. guess ill just spend plenty of time trouble shooting this one.



this is the same dealer i offered my sevices too a few times. they claimed they were extremely happy with the pro they had on staff already. little do they know im about to expose thier work in the same exact manner as you did here. i saw it today didnt have my camera. ill post pics here and make this the official dealer thread.
 
velobard said:
If it comes back from the dealer with any improvement at al, I'm willing to lay odds on glaze with heavy fillers. Last time I picked my car up from the body shop I said something about the swirls from compounding and the guy said they could "fix it" with glaze. My car's in the body shop again now and this time I told them not to glaze it at all. I'd prefer to inspect it before they try to hide all their sins. I can always shine it up later.



Good luck with having them not glaze it - I'd be shocked if they actually remembered to change their protocol on your vehicle...I don't think many body are well enough organized.
 
I wouldn't worry about the fact that it's a Honda - I've buffed a dozen or so black hondas over the last year or so without issue. Maybe a little soft, but the metallic compensates for this...I've had no problems finishing halogram-free on any of them.



VaSuperShine said:
same thing happened to a friend of a friend. she has a 07 accord, i think its an 07 or 06 either one. she got a cat sracth and the dealer she bought it from ran a rotary over the entire car producing the same exact look in direct sunlight as you got there rag.



i told her i could probably fix it. im a little worried about it being a honda though. its black and in pretty bad shape. guess ill just spend plenty of time trouble shooting this one.



this is the same dealer i offered my sevices too a few times. they claimed they were extremely happy with the pro they had on staff already. little do they know im about to expose thier work in the same exact manner as you did here. i saw it today didnt have my camera. ill post pics here and make this the official dealer thread.
 
You're right. I was thinking I would offer to call them and expain the problem, as she reportedly was having a hard time explaining what the problem was...and they were playing ignorant (or they're actually that stupid, I don't know).



Scottwax said:
I agree he probably shouldn't call the dealership himself on her behalf. What would be acceptable is to go down with her if their attempts to remove the swirls aren't successful. He could then show them in person that he can correct the problems and she could demand they pay him instead of letting their guys get another crack at it.



I certainly have no problem at all with him exposing this dealership's make-ready department's apparently poor prep job. And the fact the dealership is aware that other people have seen those pictures may make them more likely to take care of the problem and satisfy the customer. I have seen again and again that companies tend to do right when they know others are watching.
 
RAG said:
Good luck with having them not glaze it - I'd be shocked if they actually remembered to change their protocol on your vehicle...I don't think many body are well enough organized.

Yeah, I know this is a distinct possibility. It's also likely that they'll "forget" on purpose simply to go ahead and hide stuff anyway. At any rate, I can only do what I can do. I'll be talking to the shop again in a couple days and I'll remind them one more time to skip the glaze, for what good that will do.



The car's been in the shop for 2 full weeks and it might not be finished until the end of this week. They certainly can't accuse me of rushing them.
 
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