Quote:
Originally Posted by mike3000fl
price may or may not be bullshit based on dealer and area. certainly not outside the realm of possibility. regardless though, dealer prices are insane for work like brakes.
you can buy bmw brake pads, rotors, and the sensor online for cheap and pretty much any mechanic could do the job without special tools and for much less.
HERES the real question... DID the car need both done now? the odds of both being as bad as the dealer made it out are low. also how come the CBS countdown didnt indicate this. there is also a sensor that wears down that will trigger a light.
our cars are pretty advanced and so is the system they use to read our key when we drop the car off. if she sat down with the SA while dropping off the car, and he read the key, he should have known that the cars computer was calling for new brakes before she even left the dealership.
i would ask to see the records from when she dropped it off, what info was on the key about the CBS status and what the car was asking for.
i would also look at the paper work and see if they actually quoted any thicknesses for the remaining material on the pads and rotors. the sensor wears down at a certain point (its is clipped in the pad) and if the car didnt show the sensor how was the pad actually that worn down. then i would be on the phone with BMWNA asking how a pad can wear down to the thickness quoted on the paperwork without the sensor going off. Then arrange to meet with the the BMWNA rep for your area.
If they did this to you, they have done it to others, he can look at records and find a trend and go after their ass.
Remind your SA that you cannot give them all 5's if you aren't satisfied.
When i get pissed at my dealer, i walk in with a red folder full of car records, ask them to print out my cars history, i make sure i have BMWNA written on the folder real big with a sharpie and the phone number underneath. It gets their attention.
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This ^^ I couldn't have said it better myself. I've been a mechanic for 25 years, and have always maintained my own vehicles; my current E90 included. When I got the first brake pad warning on the dash, it was for the frnot pads, and the rears shortly after. I physically removed the wheels from the car, and checked to see how much pad I had left, since @that moment I was unemployed. I needed to know how much time I had left on the pads before doing any damage to the rotors. I was very surprised to see at least 1/3 of the pads were still remaining when the sensor tripped. That's easily another 6-8k miles before they are totally shot, and I drove it almost all of that before I changed out the pads.
The SA absolutely should have known right then and there that your brakes needed to be replaced via your key, but he probably figured it would be an easier sell by calling with some BS life threatening condition. Remember, SA's get a percentage of the total bill for the work they generate, then being a woman going in alone without her man (no disrespect meant), she was an easy target. Probably saw her coming a mile away. Being a mechanic myself, I cant tell you how many girlfriends of mine either ask me to come with them when they take their car in for service, or have me look over the repair order to make sure it's legit. It's disgusting how people prey on those that aren't mechanically inclined, and it happens all the f'n time. So much in fact, that it's become comon practice to rip people off if they don't know about cars. Total BS, and totally unacceptable.
I'd be doing everything this guy said. Ask for the records showing the pad indicators were tripped. Ask for the thickness of you rotors, and ask what the minimum thickness allowed is. I'm almost positive that a car with that low of miles has probably never had those rotors turned, so to just up and replace them is down right fraud!!! Get tough, and get some answers. Also, like he said, tell them straight out that if you are not satisfied with the answers they give you, tell them straight out that you will mark them as low as you can on the service feedback. That's a huge deal to them, and I personally have seen the GM of sandia BMW in NM jump through many hoops for me because I gave them a bad rating when they left the entire plastic underneath cover piece hanging by one bolt after some work being done.
Stick to your guns, demand proof, and show them that you are to not be fucked with, and I bet theyll be lining up to kiss your ass, and you should have some money coming back your way if they cannot prove that certain components required to be changed. Good luck, and please let us know how this turns out. I'm really interested in what the conclusion will be!!
