[ah_gel]

This whole getting a mini experience was really not great. I ordered back in June and the car arrived in August with cosmetic damages on the rear bumper. I was told that it was unavoidable for damages during transportation. But they say they will fix it. 3 weeks later a time was setup on a saturday to drop off my car at the dealership and a courtesy car will be there. I went there and I was told that there's no appointment setup, no courtesy car and they don't do repair on weekends because they need to make an appointment with the bodyshop and body shop doesnt open on the weekend. Okay... so it definitely sounds like the repair will not be done by mini but some 3rd party shop. The following monday the agent who initially arrange the time with me said there was some sort of miscommunication and told me to go again the following sat. Given that I know there's another mini service and parts centre on my way to work, I request to get my case transferred there. She said they are different companies so she wont be able to arrange a courtesy car for me. but they can have someone to drive a courtesy car to my workplace and swap the cars. I dont want my car to be driven by a stranger all the way from my workplace to the service place so I told her To forget about the courtesy car and just forward my case to the other service center. And now comes the problem which makes me think if my car was really damaged during the transportation or if they are the person whom had done the damage. She said it is the dealership who is paying for the cost to repair so it must be done through them. And she stressed that I only have 2 options, either go in myself or swap the car at my workplace. I am extremely pissed off by the way how things were handled. It doesnt make sense that the repair must happen at their place. A mini dealership is part of the mini group no matter who the owner is. Any inputs?

 

[siriuszero]

It doesnt make sense that the repair must happen at their place. A mini dealership is part of the mini group no matter who the owner is. Any inputs?

It is true that sometimes the car will sustain damage during transport to the dealer or it could have been damaged by the dealer themselves. You'll probably never know, but the important thing is that they fixing it.

MINI dealers are exactly that - dealers, and just because they both have the MINI logo on the outside, does not mean they play nicely together nor does it mean they share costs. Getting your car fixed will come out of the selling dealer's budget set aside for stuff like that. It's very rare another dealer will be willing to foot the cost for physical damage if it was bought from another dealer. Why would they? You didn't give them your business and there's a cost to them to fix it as MINI corporate will not cover physical damage once it leaves the port to the dealer. That's between the dealer and the transport company if it was damaged in transit and it's all on the dealer if it was damaged after it arrived.

I'm not saying this to be facetious, just to point out the reality that just because you have two MINI dealers, it does NOT mean they are under some MINI umbrella where everything is covered no matter where you go. That's just not how car dealerships work. Just the MINI factory stuff like warranties, maintenance plan, etc because the dealer will get reimbursed through MINI.

Sounds like the original dealer needs to step up their service for sure though. I know how frustrating that can be to show up for no reason.

 

[02fanatic]

Just keep the pressure on your dealer to make it right "on your terms"...it's your car, you paid for a non-damaged car, so they need to step up to the plate! You can be nice but FIRM ...deal with the top person at the dealership also...demand to see the principal owner! That will get their attention....if not, they don't deserve to be in business!

They should not only repair the damage, it should be done quickly & right, and they should offer you something for your trouble, like a free set of floor mats, etc.

Good luck!

 

[G0G0BIG]

I had a similar experience with MINi Crowfoot owned by Dilawri Group.

Badly installed non factory stripes on a 50K new car.

Broken mirror switch on delivery (after a week of prep) as their mechanic stole it off my already fully paid for vehicle to repair another customer vehicle in for service.

I got the factory stripes delivered and took the car to a private detailer and paid $800 to remove the street vendor stripes and redo the 3 M (also a botched job that I paid $1200 for ) and the detailer also installed the factory stripes correctly.

MINI is a great car. MINI Crowfoot - Dilawri Group - the worst dealership experience I have ever had. I will never buy from Dilawri again.

 

[G0G0BIG]

Dilawri Group own 50 dealerships in Canada and represent nearly all makes of vehicle - a great business model in that they are often only competing against themselves as they own three or four dealerships in each city. Go Honda, MINI, BMW, GMC, Fiat or Land Rover and chances are you still bought a car from the same privately owned family group of dealerships. Good luck getting service or a great price or making the dealerships compete because they might not be inclined to - since anywhere you turn they got you!!!

 

[Jelster]

ah_gel, just contact the supplying dealer and teall them:

"Put what damage YOU did right, and provide me a *suitable loan vehicle for the duration or I will be forced to take it elsewhere, get it repaired and provide you with the invoice for doing so."

I couldn't be more straightforward, and just make sure you have this conversation with the Sales Manager, the Business Manager & the Dealer Principle.

Personally I would have rejected the car there and then and would have asked for my deposit back.


*suitable means equivalent or better.

 

[ah_gel]

Thanks for all the replies.

I replied to the service rep and cc the service manager and expressed my frustration and displeasure on how things were handled.
It's interesting how they always replied with cookie-cutter messages like "I sincerely apologies" and "provide premium service to you". And there's no compensation or offer of any sort. I was once again told my 2 options. Take the car there yourself or use their "premium valet service".

Oh and have I told you I was instructed to leave good ratings and comments about the service on google and the mini survey?

 

[JPslov]

Thanks for all the replies.

I replied to the service rep and cc the service manager and expressed my frustration and displeasure on how things were handled.
It's interesting how they always replied with cookie-cutter messages like "I sincerely apologies" and "provide premium service to you". And there's no compensation or offer of any sort. I was once again told my 2 options. Take the car there yourself or use their "premium valet service".

Oh and have I told you I was instructed to leave good ratings and comments about the service on google and the mini survey?

Wow that absolutely sucks. No idea why there are dealerships who think that this is an appropriate business model. You mentioned that there is another MINI dealership around. I would do any of your future business (after this is sorted out) with them and let the both the service manager and the service rep at this dealership know that they will not be getting any future business from you.

I love MINI and I think that despite there sometimes questionable decisions that they are a good company. I think the brand loyalty to MINI is sometimes abused by dealerships though. They know that when people come to a MINI dealership they are usually already sold on the car (few cars compare IMO). This tends to end up as a "take or leave it" attitude from the dealers since they don't have to really go "above and beyond" for the brand as dealerships from other brands may have to.

Best of luck ah_gel!

 

[Eddiee]

Buying a used car from dealership or online, there is hidden issues which most of the driver failed to notice. You can't conclude the vehicle with no damage. It is always safe to check the car category using the car checker to avoid the expenses in future.