Disgusted by Calgary BMW

[CalgaryAndUK]

My brand new $92,000 2015 X5 that I bought from Calgary BMW developed a fault in its engine on my second day of owning it. I live 2 hours from the dealership. I took it in, they kept it for SIX days while they gave me a base-spec 3-Series as a loaner, and I finally got my car back today, hoping it is fixed. I spoke with four members of staff during the six days to tell all of them how angry and upset I was, including the DEALERSHIP MANAGER. When I picked up the car today, they even charged me a $26.20 "mobility fee" for the loaner to replace my dud car. How absolutely disgusting. What would any of you do in my place? Feel I have been wronged and relatively helpless to do anything about it. I have bene inconvenienced the whole way through, through NO FAULT of mine, and I have even had to pay for it. Shameful.

[opasha]

Originally Posted by CalgaryAndUK

My brand new $92,000 2015 X5 that I bought from Calgary BMW developed a fault in its engine on my second day of owning it. I live 2 hours from the dealership. I took it in, they kept it for SIX days while they gave me a base-spec 3-Series as a loaner, and I finally got my car back today, hoping it is fixed. I spoke with four members of staff during the six days to tell all of them how angry and upset I was, including the DEALERSHIP MANAGER. When I picked up the car today, they even charged me a $26.20 "mobility fee" for the loaner to replace my dud car. How absolutely disgusting. What would any of you do in my place? Feel I have been wronged and relatively helpless to do anything about it. I have bene inconvenienced the whole way through, through NO FAULT of mine, and I have even had to pay for it. Shameful.

That's messed up. We don't get charged a dime here in the US when something goes wrong and we take them in for service. The only thing they take into account is our credit card on file in case we DAMAGE their loaner. No hidden fees or anything at all. Sorry for your troubles...shame on that dealer .

As other have stated, threaten in a respectful manner to contact BMWNA about this. I'm sure you're not the first that got taken advantage of like this. Many just don't know any better, and this dealership should be made an example of if they do this on a repeated basis to make money.

[jlstyle]

That is terrible.
You should contact BMWNA and let them aware of this.
Once they assign a service agent on your case, she/he will follow up every so often to show their attention.

[F15GorDe]

Am interested in any follow-up on this.
Plan on traveling in that area in the future.

[42pilot]

I agree - call BMW NA and lodge a complaint.

Then, I would write them a letter explaining your position and why you feel you should get your money back (it's the principle of the thing). Keep the letter professional and with facts. Ask them to refund the money within 14 days or you will forward the letter to BMW NA, publish the letter on all BMW forums that you frequent (name them for emphasis), and send a copy to the owner of the dealership (personally).

I did this with a year-long disputed hospital bill and the hospital made it disappear in 48 hours.

[Wobbles]

Gosh. I'm so sorry to hear about this CalgaryAndUK - and I thought our Singapore stealership was bad. I agree with what the others have said. Make your displeasure known - both to BMW NA as well as to your contact person @ the dealership. Ensure that they are aware you have every intention to escalate this to the top - and insist that they give you the contact of their superior if they're not empowered/utterly emasculated and unable to help resolve your concern.

Let us know how things turn out. $26.20 is chump change in the grand context of a $92,000 car, but it's the PRINCIPLE that matters!

Good luck!

[MattBianco]

Mobility fee my a@@. It is not the money, it is the principle. I know Benz and BMW don't charge in the US. I had a loaner for 4 weeks at one stretch. Find out if that is the practice (especially as you have a two hour trip to the dealer) in Canada, and shower them with shame with BMW. These are all franchises and BMW wants to know who is upholding the brand reputation.

[richard313]

I've been told by local Vancouver dealership that the fee is mandatory if you want a courtesy vehicle under any circumstances. It was implemented nationwide a year or two ago.

Complete bs in my opinion, not to mention when my car was brought in overnight, it was a recall....

[tkila]

There's nothing you can do. I service my X5 elsewhere. Calgary BMW and BMW Gallery are the worst places to fix your BMW. They charge a high fee and sometimes insist on fixing stuff that ain't broken. They will try to make a big deal out of your problem when it is probably a easy problem to fix. I remember several years ago they try to charge me $7000 for fixing my suspension. Thank God I was smart enough get the problem fixed for $50 as it was one of suspension bolts that needed tightening. A couple weeks ago, the wipers on my X5 did not work smoothly, creating a screeching sound when used. I went to BMW Gallery and they examined my wipers and said I need to schedule a "big appointment" to fix my wipers. Yeah right! Instead, I went to a local body shop and they said my wipers only needed lubrication. DO NOT TRUST CALGARY BMW OR BMW GALLERY! Save your money and precious time and get your X5 serviced by a certified BMW technician elsewhere.

[opasha]

Originally Posted by richard313

I've been told by local Vancouver dealership that the fee is mandatory if you want a courtesy vehicle under any circumstances. It was implemented nationwide a year or two ago.

Complete bs in my opinion, not to mention when my car was brought in overnight, it was a recall....

Did you ask for their "nationwide bs" documentation to prove it? I would. That's not cool at all on their part. It just affirms the notion of "stealerships."

Originally Posted by tkila

There's nothing you can do. I service my X5 elsewhere. Calgary BMW and BMW Gallery are the worst places to fix your BMW. They charge a high fee and sometimes insist on fixing stuff that ain't broken. They will try to make a big deal out of your problem when it is probably a easy problem to fix. I remember several years ago they try to charge me $7000 for fixing my suspension. Thank God I was smart enough get the problem fixed for $50 as it was one of suspension bolts that needed tightening. A couple weeks ago, the wipers on my X5 did not work smoothly, creating a screeching sound when used. I went to BMW Gallery and they examined my wipers and said I need to schedule a "big appointment" to fix my wipers. Instead, I went to a local body shop and said my wipers only needed lubrication. DO NOT TRUST CALGARY BMW OR BMW GALLERY! Save your money and precious time and get your X5 serviced by certified BMW technician elsewhere.

They still should be reported to BMWNA.

[CalgaryAndUK]

End of the saga - spoke with BMW Canada this morning to fill them in on the whole situation. Their view is that my dealership went BEYOND BMW Canada's policy (because they gave me a loaner vehicle, which isn't required by BMW Canada) and there is absolutely nothing they will do for me now for the 6 days of headaches I have had. Well doesn't that just tell me everything I need to know.... Outrageous.

[Barbja]

Originally Posted by opasha

That's messed up. We don't get charged a dime here in the US when something goes wrong and we take them in for service. The only thing they take into account is our credit card on file in case we DAMAGE their loaner. No hidden fees or anything at all. Sorry for your troubles...shame on that dealer.

Our dealer doesn't even take a credit card. They just copy the license and insurance. Your insurance should cover damage to a rental. Perhaps that's a Texas thing though. Seems that every state has something different about their insurance requirements.

[opasha]

Originally Posted by Barbja

Our dealer doesn't even take a credit card. They just copy the license and insurance. Your insurance should cover damage to a rental. Perhaps that's a Texas thing though. Seems that every state has something different about their insurance requirements.

Actually, I think that's what they take, I just forgot. No credit card needed .

[tkila]

Originally Posted by CalgaryAndUK

Their view is that my dealership went BEYOND BMW Canada's policy (because they gave me a loaner vehicle, which isn't required by BMW Canada)

My friend bought a used 2010 BMW X6 35i with 6 month warranty from Royal Oak Audi a year ago. After driving it for 3 days, the engine warning light came on and he wasn't able to drive the car. Since he bought the car from Royal Oak Audi, they immediately had the car towed away to BMW Gallery, sent an Audi employee to pick him up and drive him home, and gave him a loaner Audi Q5 without question. No charges were given though it took a long time for BMW Gallery to replace the injectors, battery, etc. On the other hand, he asked BMW Gallery for a loaner and they would not give him one. Over the course of several months, the X6 kept having engine failures and was constantly being serviced at BMW Gallery. After going through months of constant headaches that included Royal Oak Audi fighting with BMW Gallery, he was finally given a loaner 3-series and had one of the cylinders in the engine replaced. The ironic thing is that the 3-series diesel developed engine problems though it had only couple thousand KMs on it. Never has he had a problem with his X6 again. I assume BMW Gallery knew what the problem is but figured out it was expensive job to fix under warranty, so they probably wait him out until his warranty expired. Shame on the service they provide to people even with warranty. Royal Oak Audi's service is much better!

[jlstyle]

Originally Posted by CalgaryAndUK

End of the saga - spoke with BMW Canada this morning to fill them in on the whole situation. Their view is that my dealership went BEYOND BMW Canada's policy (because they gave me a loaner vehicle, which isn't required by BMW Canada) and there is absolutely nothing they will do for me now for the 6 days of headaches I have had. Well doesn't that just tell me everything I need to know.... Outrageous.

Sorry to hear. Perhaps my story can lighten things up a bit.
When my Z4 acted like a lemon, I had to contact BMWNA several times to get their opinion. First two tries, their answers were not promising, but I've tried again regardless. Third representative I spoke to was in fact a very different person, her approach to the matter was very different from two previous ones so I took my time again to explain the situation. She ended up in my favorite list in my phone book and she followed up every single week on my vehicle and arranged all necessary steps to have the car serviced at the dealership and in the end, she classified my car as a lemon and got me the full amount in check + compensation for my time (I think it was around $3,000) Even after car was taken in, she still followed up on me until I got my new car. So to make this story short, there are few helpful people in BMWNA so might as well try few more times if you are not satisfied.
Just my 2 cents.

[epiphone3]

Originally Posted by CalgaryAndUK

End of the saga - spoke with BMW Canada this morning to fill them in on the whole situation. Their view is that my dealership went BEYOND BMW Canada's policy (because they gave me a loaner vehicle, which isn't required by BMW Canada) and there is absolutely nothing they will do for me now for the 6 days of headaches I have had. Well doesn't that just tell me everything I need to know.... Outrageous.

I have a different point of view. You got a premium rental vehicle (think of how much National or someone else would charge to rent a 3-series) for 6 days for $26.

Put that one in the 'win' column and move on.

[M3 Chris]

BMW Canada recently changed their policies with free BMW loaners. It's up to the dealership if they want to provide a free BMW loaner. My dealership gives free loaners through a budget rental company. If I want a BMW loaner I have to pay for it just like you. Our Canadian dealerships are privately owned unlike Mercedes dealerships as such they can pretty much do what they like.

[originalgoods13]

The Loaner policy was in effect since January of 2013 unfortunately and it applies to all Canadian dealerships unless they goodwill and loan you a vehicle for free.

I, myself has been disappointed with both dealers from the get-go (I bought my X5 in Edmonton, it was worth it rather than dealing with both Calgary dealerships)

There is nothing we can do at the moment, they operate in the lowest cost in resource as possible based from my observations and provide an OK service.

One dealer managed to improperly washed my X5 even though I stated "NO WASH" when I dropped the vehicle off. At one point, they try to weasel out by stating that the damages were caused by the owner (us).

But after a stern talk in person with the service manager, they assumed responsibility and offered an experienced auto body shop to correct the paint defects on my X5