Bad experience

I had a free 30 point inspection of my car performed by Seattle Mini and I must say this was one of the worst experiences of bad business practices I have ever heard of or went thru.  These people tried stating that my car needed over $2600.00 worth of repairs.  They tried saying my oil and coolant was in poor condition and contaminated.  I asked the female service writer how they could tell my oil was contaminated and she had some piss poor answer and when I called her on it she tried hiding behind "we checked your records on your car in our data base and we see it hasnt been in for an oil change and it hasnt been in for a coolant flush for the last 4 years so you need it to be changed.  I asked her how they test oil and she said they really dont. i then asked how can you determine that its contaminated and she had no answer.  She did say the tech tested the coolant and said it was alright but since BMW recommends you get your coolant flushed every 4 years.  I asked her why do you guys even do a test of fluids when all you base your findings on our the service records in your data base?  She again had no answer that contained simple common sense.  I finally talked to the main service manager expressing my concerns with the results to the inspection.  The service manager did confirm that their program has some problems and the way the results read would lead customers to believe that they need to fix all items that are in poor condition when in reality the results are flawed or not true.  I expressed my disgust with the selling tactics Seattle Mini is using and I asked him how many people received these phone calls from Seattle Mini offering them a free inspections to get them in to their location and then LIE to them about work that needs to be performed on their cars from the results to these socalled inspections.  Not all of the things they stated that I needed to be fixed were lies but a good 50% of them were and I know because I just had my coolant flushed and oil changed 1 month ago.  Shame on you Seattle Mini!!!!!!!  No money left my pocket during this experience but it makes me sick to wonder how many people fall for this Free Inspection and get worked over for things that really dont need to be fixed.  I will be informing the owner of Seattle Mini that the BBB, Jesse Jones, and the Attorney General will be receiving letters of my experienced with his company.

NW MINI has some issues also. I have had an "oil leak" or "seepage" around the rear main seal that they want to fix for almost $2000. They have reported it ever since my warranty ran out. I use the recommended oil change interval from the on board computer and watch my oil level in between. As far as I can tell in 15K miles I don't lose any oil. But every time I come in I get the "you should fix that" lecture. 

What I found interesting is that the key fob data was NOT put on a MINI/BMW data base so when I went to get my MINI Serviced at NW MINI, after purchasing it from Seattle MINI (owned by the same person) they had no record of it!

All Dealerships have their up & downs and it takes politely vocal people to point out to Management how they felt about Service.  Perhaps written comment send to the Dealership in question with  a CC to Corporate...



Edited by SMOG - October/28/11 at 3:57am

WOW FIZGIG! I've had very favorable experiences with Seattle Mini. Particularly Rachael and Jeff the service manager and Kyle the previous service manager.

Oh man, i love to read this

Zahntech in Redmond. They did my swing arm bushings. People have had good luck with them and they give a PSMINI discount. 

Edited by garumph - October/28/11 at 1:32pm

Thanks all. Setup to have Zahntech look at it.

Yet, there are many of us here who have had nothing but positive experiences with Seattle MINI - Sales, Parts. and Service... 

Edited by CINIMIN - October/29/11 at 4:08am

General warning: If your MINI is out of it's free service and you don't have an extended service contract then you must be smarter then the dealership or they will pull this crap.

I've had very good dealings with Seattle MINI but all of my repairs and maintenance were under warranty. Seems if BMW is picking up the tab they do the right thing. If you are picking up the tab then everything needs to be replaced.

This is why independent shops can be so valuable. Which, now that I'm past my 3 years I'm starting to look for one.

Broad Stroke Associates is also a great shop located in Clearview, right behind Mill Creek.  

If you were a member of PSMINI you would have been eligible for the Member Discount plus being a supporter of the club...

Maybe someone should approach management and let them know that the way this tool is being used and explained is not working like I think it was intended.  I know I've had several folk end up working on their car in my garage because of shocking estimates for what is really pretty simple work. 

The dealer needs to be reminded that there a lot of folk who own and love Mini's but need to keep things economical.  Perception counts for a lot, and negative ones come from lack of understanding on the part of what is going on.  One of my new friends was told $4,000 for a brake job.  Well, there were a lot of other things going on, but what she heard and remembered was shocking. 

For folk like most of us, maybe a little bit more time spent discussing what is on the list, how urgent, how they found the problem and maybe some options would go a long way in terms of accepting the recommendations.

One item I saw in the "yellow" category was tires.  $1,700.  Well, dang it - that is for some expensive run flats.  The tires were still at 4/32nd (hence the yellow category), so she had some time to explore options.

We all know what the dealer is doing - profit is important to keep the fancy real estate going, to pay for the expensive BMW required equipment and tools.  But when our members come away with sticker shock and anger/resentment about how the info was presented - well, not good. 

I'm thinking we have an opportunity to help the dealer review this sales tool and how it is being deployed.

My $.02

Pat, I like your approach of trying to work with the dealer to make sure that the service department is held to the highest ethical and technical standards.  We have some leverage as a club and overall an excelent relationship with Seattle MINI.  If we can help the dealer with the way recommended repairs and service are presented, and if we can educate our members on what repair and services actually require it should improve the service experience for everyone.  I would be more than willing to be involved -

I like to remind myself that most of the stories you read on here are only HALF the story.

bobbyd wrote: I like to remind myself that most of the stories you read on here are only HALF the story. its always interesting to hear the other half.

Couldn't agree more!! I've had upstanding service from Seattle Mini, where as my complaints would be for one of the shops referenced earlier.