1 series service - rip off main dealer!!!!
1 series service - rip off main dealer!!!!
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dasherdiablo1

Original Poster:

4,454 posts

251 months

Thursday 22nd October 2009
quotequote all
Dropped my 120d off at the local stealers today. As i'm sure you're well aware service details are done off the key so left it with them. Got a phone call tonight saying it needs oil, brake fluid and micro filter change. I reminded him the filter was done last time. So for oil & brake fluid they've quoted £340!!!!!!!! Apparently £245 just for the oil change!

Needless to say I gave him some rather strong words and said I'll come and collect the car once the brake fluid change is done in the morning if they can't be more competitive on the oil. I expect a phone call early tomorrow with a revised oil price!

I mentioned to him it was no wonder the car park was empty!

I wonder how much an oil & filter would be?


Edited by dasherdiablo1 on Friday 23 October 10:11

DSM2

3,624 posts

230 months

Thursday 22nd October 2009
quotequote all
Incredible! I have never paid more than £120 for an oil change service at my main dealer for my 320D. £180 with BF chnage.

davel*

311 posts

211 months

Thursday 22nd October 2009
quotequote all
WHAT THE fk!!

Thats so much money for such a little amount of work!

dasherdiablo1

Original Poster:

4,454 posts

251 months

Thursday 22nd October 2009
quotequote all
I must admit I was disgusted. Problem is with this new key system you don't know what service is needed until you drop it off! They've played a very clever game in making it difficult to compare prices between stealers.

Anyone recommend a decent one in or around London? Does anyone know what I should consider as a good price?

Vee

3,109 posts

264 months

Thursday 22nd October 2009
quotequote all
HR Owen in London quoted me £177 for an oil service today (on a 335d). £245 sounds a lot for a 120d.

Edited by Vee on Thursday 22 October 21:06

northandy

3,540 posts

251 months

Thursday 22nd October 2009
quotequote all
dasherdiablo1 said:
I must admit I was disgusted. Problem is with this new key system you don't know what service is needed until you drop it off! They've played a very clever game in making it difficult to compare prices between stealers.

Anyone recommend a decent one in or around London? Does anyone know what I should consider as a good price?
I might be missing something here (sorry if I am), but you can scroll through the menu and see what needs doing. I think the only one that isnt obvious is the 3rd oil change includes intake and fuel filter, IIRC I paid about £250 for that last time.


DSM2

3,624 posts

230 months

Thursday 22nd October 2009
quotequote all
dasherdiablo1 said:
I must admit I was disgusted. Problem is with this new key system you don't know what service is needed until you drop it off! They've played a very clever game in making it difficult to compare prices between stealers.

Anyone recommend a decent one in or around London? Does anyone know what I should consider as a good price?
Again, I can go into my dealer anytime and they will give me a printout of what the key says will need doing and when.

Any item at all needing doing will trigger the 'service now' indicator so as long as you can see the 1000s to service warning, you should be able to get a printout at your convenience.

For instance my indicator says 9000 miles to service. I know that this refers to the front brake pads, the next oil change being some 17/18K away.


christer

2,804 posts

281 months

Friday 23rd October 2009
quotequote all
I paid £231 for an oil service on my 550 in May this year.

dasherdiablo1

Original Poster:

4,454 posts

251 months

Friday 23rd October 2009
quotequote all
I left a voicemail message last night to say not to do the work. Called them at 8.02 this morning (open at 8am) and they've said they've already done the brakes. I spoken to the service manager and he has said because I agreed to the brake fluid over the phone I have to pay for it to get my car back....even though I left a voicemail instructing them not to carry out any work!!!!

I don't know what to do now....I've had BMWs for the last 7 years and have used them for the majority of servicing and warrranty work. I don't know what to do....

Ranger 6

7,699 posts

279 months

Friday 23rd October 2009
quotequote all
What's the mileage? At or about 50k they change the breather as well which isn't cheap. My X3 has a similar engine and at 54k I had an oil service done which cost just over £400. They changed oil and air filters as well as the breather and a brake fluid change.
The breather needs to be done to keep the engine, particularly the turbo, healthy and if you have the older foam breather it really should be changed for the vortex type.

dasherdiablo1

Original Poster:

4,454 posts

251 months

Friday 23rd October 2009
quotequote all
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I left the car with them 15mins before they close. I left the message at 10.40pm!

hman

7,497 posts

224 months

Friday 23rd October 2009
quotequote all
mechanics have been known to work overtime on bonus jobs ....


to make you feel slightly better, I took my car to a main dealer for an oil change, whilst it was there they noticed that the CV boot on the left was torn and that the number plates were so damaged that they were unreadable.

I had the oil change done, the cv gaitor changed and 3 plates (I'm buying a trailer soon).

Total Price £80 all in.


Helps if you know the service manager huh!.

Edited by hman on Friday 23 October 12:54

DSM2

3,624 posts

230 months

Friday 23rd October 2009
quotequote all
dasherdiablo1 said:
I don't know what to do now....I've had BMWs for the last 7 years and have used them for the majority of servicing and warrranty work. I don't know what to do....
It's not the car - it's your dealer who's bent. Find a reputable one.

dasherdiablo1

Original Poster:

4,454 posts

251 months

Friday 23rd October 2009
quotequote all
The story gets worse:

I refused to pay for the brake fluid as it stood unless they could match the oil and brake from the other dealer. After many threats they buckled and I got it down to 250. I still wasn't happy but at least it's cut their profit.

So they call tonight to tell me it's done and ready for collection. So I asked if they can pick me up from the station and they said "no sorry we can't do that for you sir". They always have done so again they've got my back up. I then had to walk/run the 3 miles to get to the dealership. At 5.50 I called to say I'd be 5mins late and get there at 6.05 and guess what....yep they wouldn't wait for me. I've now had to walk all the way home and will have to get the car tomorrow.

I'm so f***ing annoyed but there's absolutely nothing I can do about it.

I really want to name and shame these b*st*rds....

I hope they treat all their customers this way cos it means they will go t1ts up and lose their jobs...which given their gross incompetence is all they deserve. There are some businesses out there that offer excellent customer service and they are going to the wall which is such a pity when there are b*st*rds still surviving...

< FORZA WEST

1,038 posts

239 months

Friday 23rd October 2009
quotequote all
dasherdiablo1 said:
The story gets worse:

I refused to pay for the brake fluid as it stood unless they could match the oil and brake from the other dealer. After many threats they buckled and I got it down to 250. I still wasn't happy but at least it's cut their profit.

So they call tonight to tell me it's done and ready for collection. So I asked if they can pick me up from the station and they said "no sorry we can't do that for you sir". They always have done so again they've got my back up. I then had to walk/run the 3 miles to get to the dealership. At 5.50 I called to say I'd be 5mins late and get there at 6.05 and guess what....yep they wouldn't wait for me. I've now had to walk all the way home and will have to get the car tomorrow.

I'm so f***ing annoyed but there's absolutely nothing I can do about it.

I really want to name and shame these b*st*rds....




I hope they treat all their customers this way cos it means they will go t1ts up and lose their jobs...which given their gross incompetence is all they deserve. There are some businesses out there that offer excellent customer service and they are going to the wall which is such a pity when there are b*st*rds still surviving...
Thats a mear £100 more than a specialist who uses the same parts and oils...well most specialists

Edited by < FORZA WEST on Friday 23 October 20:15

4rephill

5,168 posts

208 months

Friday 23rd October 2009
quotequote all
dasherdiablo1 said:
The story gets worse:

I refused to pay for the brake fluid as it stood unless they could match the oil and brake from the other dealer. After many threats they buckled and I got it down to 250. I still wasn't happy but at least it's cut their profit.

So they call tonight to tell me it's done and ready for collection. So I asked if they can pick me up from the station and they said "no sorry we can't do that for you sir". They always have done so again they've got my back up. I then had to walk/run the 3 miles to get to the dealership. At 5.50 I called to say I'd be 5mins late and get there at 6.05 and guess what....yep they wouldn't wait for me. I've now had to walk all the way home and will have to get the car tomorrow.

I'm so f***ing annoyed but there's absolutely nothing I can do about it.

I really want to name and shame these b*st*rds....

I hope they treat all their customers this way cos it means they will go t1ts up and lose their jobs...which given their gross incompetence is all they deserve. There are some businesses out there that offer excellent customer service and they are going to the wall which is such a pity when there are b*st*rds still surviving...
Sounds like their treating you like scensoredt and are bang out of order. If I was you I'd ask to have a word with the dealership principal to air your complaints and if this doesn't happen then write to BMW UK headquarters at Bracknell and complain (if enough people complain, they should investigate and offer some sort of apology).

One thing I would say however in regards to hoping they all lose their jobs though, is that it's not everyone at the dealership treating you this way, it's a couple of tcensoredts with no idea of good customer care. I'll bet there are plenty of good people working as mechanics, as parts people, sales people etc, who don't deserve to be unemployed because of a couple of tcensoredts with an attitude problem.

Remember to keep your cool when you go to pick up the car (not easy I know!). Good luck with it.

LocoBlade

7,653 posts

286 months

Friday 23rd October 2009
quotequote all
Leaving you stranded when they know you're only 5 minutes away completely out of order, I'd be speaking to the dealer principal and/or BMW head office to make a complaint.

As for the pricing, I live in the south east and the oil change on my 123d (which uses more expensive oil than yours) was around £180, plus another £50-60 for the micro filter change. £100 of that was supply of the oil itself, so I bought my own Castrol Edge from Opie Oils and supplied it myself, which saved another £55 (so oil change was ~£115). The brake fluid change which it's going in for next week is £90 all in.

wobert

5,579 posts

252 months

Friday 23rd October 2009
quotequote all
[quote=< FORZA WEST]
dasherdiablo1 said:
The story gets worse:

I refused to pay for the brake fluid as it stood unless they could match the oil and brake from the other dealer. After many threats they buckled and I got it down to 250. I still wasn't happy but at least it's cut their profit.

So they call tonight to tell me it's done and ready for collection. So I asked if they can pick me up from the station and they said "no sorry we can't do that for you sir". They always have done so again they've got my back up. I then had to walk/run the 3 miles to get to the dealership. At 5.50 I called to say I'd be 5mins late and get there at 6.05 and guess what....yep they wouldn't wait for me. I've now had to walk all the way home and will have to get the car tomorrow.

I'm so f***ing annoyed but there's absolutely nothing I can do about it.

I really want to name and shame these b*st*rds....




I hope they treat all their customers this way cos it means they will go t1ts up and lose their jobs...which given their gross incompetence is all they deserve. There are some businesses out there that offer excellent customer service and they are going to the wall which is such a pity when there are b*st*rds still surviving...
Thats a mear £100 more than a specialist who uses the same parts and oils...well most specialists

Edited by < FORZA WEST on Friday 23 October 20:15
Only thing is the local BM indie to me, left all my wheel bolts loose on both rear wheels after having the rear pads/discs replaced.

I'd rather pay the extra £100 and have peace of mind that the job had been done properly. (No total guarantee I know, but I'd never had any issues with the work my main dealer had done for me!)

To the OP, I tend to supply my own oil for an oil change service. There's a chap who sells Castrol Edge / SLX on ebay. He can do the requisite 6 litres for c£45 which is half the price the dealer charges. The dealer I used / use just charges for a filter & the 0.5 hr labour so all in inc the oil comes in at around £100, plus I get it collected / delivered & washed / vacuumed too!

Edited by wobert on Friday 23 October 22:32

hman

7,497 posts

224 months

Friday 23rd October 2009
quotequote all
wobert said:
[quote=< FORZA WEST]
dasherdiablo1 said:
Edited by < FORZA WEST on Friday 23 October 20:15
To the OP, I tend to supply my own oil for an oil change service. There's a chap who sells Castrol Edge / SLX on ebay. He can do the requisite 6 litres for c£45 which is half the price the dealer charges.
Edited by wobert on Friday 23 October 22:32
Which you may wish to know costs the dealership £3 a litre. Seriously.




4rephill

5,168 posts

208 months

Saturday 24th October 2009
quotequote all
I'd rather pay the extra £100 and have peace of mind that the job had been done properly. (No total guarantee I know, but I'd never had any issues with the work my main dealer had done for me!)


Not always the case though.

I had the clutch replaced by My BMW main dealership for peace of mind. Picked the car up to drive home and half a mile down the road there was suddenly a horrific scraping noise coming from under the car.

Pulled over and looked underneath, there was a long strengthening bar hanging off the underside, being held on with one bolt at one end. I couldn't get the bolt undone at the roadside so dragged the car very slowly back to BMW.

The service manager came out with a technician to have a look and the technician explains:

"Ah, I see what they've done. They haven't tightened up the other bolt correctly and it's fallen out!".
"That hasn't happened" I reply.
"Yes it has!" .
"Can't have done" I tell him.
"Why can't it have?" he asks.
"Because if you look on the passengers side underneath, the bolts still screwed into the car and there's no way that bar can come off over the top of it. That bar was never refitted, it's just been swung out of the way and left!".

The service manager apologised, they refitted the bar for the time being and ordered a free replacement, offering a full valet as well.

Had the bar fitted, the full valet was done and when i got in to drive home, the carpets were wetter than a sponge in a bucket of water. I went back in to complain, so they took it back and tried to dry the carpets (not very successfully!).

In the end I told them it was getting late, I just wanted to go home and I ended up sorting out the carpets properly myself (took a whole can of Dettol neutra air (good stuff by the way cool ) and a week to get rid of the damp carpet smell!).