[Ascendant]

My dealer's service department rearly screwed me over, what do you guys think is the best way to handle it.

Long story short. I took my 2006 330i, 120k miles, in for an oil change a month ago. Everything is fine, fluids good, tires good, etc.

Warning light pops up a week later, I take it in a week after that.

They tell me that some pump has shorted, needs replacing, $600. Also a transmission leak, $1600 to fix. I'm told that if I delay the tranny leak fix I could have the entire tranny go which would cost a fortune, as the fluid levels could already be way down. Everything else about the car is fine.

I call my BMW guy (trained, certified, has the diagnostic stuff, costs half as much) I describe what the dealer told me, he says it will cost about half as much to fix all that.

I take it to him. (Dealer charged 150 for the evaluation) He calls me up and tells me
A) He fixed the pump, it was shorted like they said.

B) There IS NO TRANNY LEAK TO WORRY ABOUT. He says the connector is just slightly damp, happens all the time, nothing at all to worry about. Even checks the fluid levels, says they are perfect, and not to waste my money (although jokes he could use the money,lol)

C) He is AMAZED that the dealer didn't tell me, in two visits, that my tires desperately need replacing. In fact I have a nail in one, and one rear tire is visibly splitting. He can't get the tires, so tells me to go get them replaced immediately. I do so, the Big-0 tire guy is also amazed at my tires.

So needless to say I am more than a little pissed off at my dealer. Overcharging is one thing, but telling me my tranny will die unless I get $1600
in pointless work done, and missing, in two visits, tires that are on the verge of blowing! And yes, both receipts say they checked the tires and they were fine.

Debating whether to call my Service Manager and ream him.
Call the head of service at the dealership
or just call BMW customer service, since they emailed me asking me to rate my visit, lol.

What do you guys think?

P.S. Pictures of tires included. I knew they were probably getting due to be replaced, but dealer kept tellng me they were fine (I get my oil changed every 10,000 miles) So took their word for it.

[Express]

besides not telling you that you needed tires, they really didn't DO anything wrong.

don't waste your time and energy. they wont do anything for you.

[SomeRandomer123]

F**king hell!!!!! Pardon my French! How retarded and pathetic can a dealer get?! My little ginger terrier could spot that a mile off!! Goodness sake, what is this world coming to? Profit, profit, profit. And thats fair enough, but at the potential cost of a life and the definite cost of a customer not returning? Yeah, you'll get profit but only in the short term. Operating like that is not sustainable and is how and why many firms fail - working off paper with figures.

Glad you had the nouse and contacts to avoid being ripped off!
I would issue a formal letter of complaint with attatched pictures and all the facts you list above. I would pursue and pursue it until visible changes are made, the service guys bollocked and warned if not sacked for gross neglegence. They should be apologising profusely and doing everything in their power to make you happy again. That is how I would operate it anyway...
Rant over.

[Beemw335]

Theyre all crooks, just looking to make money, I mean it is a business we cant forget that, but you should always check your own tires.

[cmyk]

Glad you didn't get ripped off. Like others said above, dealerships are businesses, and they have to make money to stay in business (some are more ethical than others). If I had a dollar for every time a dealership service department told me I needed a repair that wasn't necessary, or tried to overcharge me for a basic repair, or attempted to "scare" me into performing a relatively minor (yet expensive) repair that wasn't actually needed, I'd have my car paid off in no time.

That said -- and I'm not trying to rip on you -- how on God's green earth did you not notice those tires? Do you never see your car in the daylight? I do a quick inspection every time I get gas. Just make it a habit, and you can catch these issues before they become emergencies. Judging from that wear pattern, you might want to get your alignment checked (or stop taking corners at 85mph )

[Ascendant]

Heh, I might take corners a little quickly. Just a touch, there is a reason I bought a BMW

And I'll admit I hadn't really checked the tires in awhile. I DID know that they were about ready to be replaced, but the dealer kept telling me they were fine, I rather stupidly deferred to their opinion.

[Eko]

Originally Posted by SomeRandomer123

F**king hell!!!!! Pardon my French! How retarded and pathetic can a dealer get?! My little ginger terrier could spot that a mile off!!
Rant over.

so the OP could have spotted it too :P

to the OP: you should just answer the BMW customer Server survey the way you find most suitable. i think they take those things very seriously. good thing you got a second opinion on those problems. Nothing will change how dealers work, just gotta be careful.

[bbbuzzy]

Most of what you described is on the dealer and it's unfortunate that your dealer appears to be trying to take advantage of you (though no one hear will be surprised). It's good you have another option. Stay with that and learn how to check your own tires. Those appear quite worn and I'd say you were negligeble for letting those wear down so far. You didn't notice?

[Clifton]

"Reaming" the Service Manager or BMW customer service will be a waist of your time. Write a polite letter to the dealership's GM and share your experience with his service department. Also, inform him that you will be taking your aging BMW and your benjamins to an independent service center. Your work is done.

Worth noting - the BMW surveys are worthless. If you don't give a dealership all 5's on the survey, the dealer can and may refuse to service your car in the future, stating that you are impossible to please. Since you can't be honest nor offer constructive feedback it is a waist of your time.

[ERdiesel]

Originally Posted by Ascendant

Debating whether to call my Service Manager and ream him.
Call the head of service at the dealership
or just call BMW customer service, since they emailed me asking me to rate my visit, lol.

What do you guys think?

I think you need to grow up.

"Reaming" the service manager because one of his techs provided a recommendation that may have been in error? Reaming the service manager with what purpose in mind? As others have suggested, if you want to provide "useful" feedback, than do it in a manner that befits your age (i'm assuming you're an adult) and befits how you would want to be treated if you ever made a mistake and got called out on it. Go at them with the perspective of just "reaming" for the sake of "reaming" and any of your feedback as valid as it may be will just get lost in the ensuing "noise".

[Kolyan2k]

http://www.dealerrater.com/

sucks they misdiagnosed tranny and didnt tell you about tires. just dont take it to them anymore. i had same shit with my tires on my first car....was driving 130 mph too. didnt have knowledge back then and you cant really see the inside of a tire.

[ChuckBMW3]

Originally Posted by ERdiesel

I think you need to grow up.

"Reaming" the service manager because one of his techs provided a recommendation that may have been in error? Reaming the service manager with what purpose in mind? As others have suggested, if you want to provide "useful" feedback, than do it in a manner that befits your age (i'm assuming you're an adult) and befits how you would want to be treated if you ever made a mistake and got called out on it. Go at them with the perspective of just "reaming" for the sake of "reaming" and any of your feedback as valid as it may be will just get lost in the ensuing "noise".

OP's first mistake was taking an out of warranty BMW to the dealership, which doesn't quite make sense as he insinuated he all ready had an indy "BMW guy."