Yet another bad dealer experience... (archive)

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I finally quit going to Bert Smith after the refinished wheels started delaminating this year. The service writer there told me the delamination was my fault - that I'd scraped curbs with all four wheels, causing the clear to break off. I never asked, but I doubt they would be able to explain, how the finsh could be peeling off around the hubs. Did I smack the center of the wheels on curbs?
I walked out and never went back, choosing to try Reeves Import Motorcars in Tampa Florida. Everyone I know had great experiences there.

When I called to set up my appointment, I was told that they normally don't provide loaner cars for people who didn't buy their cars from Reeves, but since I bought my car out of state they would make an exception. (I think this is a terrible policy, since a satisfied out of state customer will purchase a new BMW from their new local dealer, provided the service experience goes well. The loaner car is part of that.) The service writer told me the reason is that they have to charge the new car department for the loaner car.
Excuse me? Does Reeves rent BMW's out to people? Did the service dept get a bill from the new car dept that says, "Program car rental, 1 day, $75"??
Well, the service writer agreed to provide me with a loaner. Of course, when I get the loaner, is it a 325 or 330 like Bert Smith used to give me?
No, it's a damn VW Cabrio.
Driving this thing to work, I felt like I had rainbow stickers all over the thing.
Among my service requests, I asked them to replace the lower air deflector/pan, which had fallen off partways on a high speed drive. I was told that I had run over a curb, which was why the thing came down. Not warranty. And they want $390 to replace three pieces of plastic.
I didn't think of it at the time, but I still have the center section of the three piece air deflector, and there are absolutely no curb marks on it, nor even any stone chips. The other two pieces are still on the car.

I asked them to check on why the drivers window would go back down after traveling halfway up. They replaced the driver side window regulator/motor. But when I get home with the car, I realize that the window hits the body of the car when closing the door. Pissed, I have to call in to the service dept and ask them to make it right.

The writer tells me to come in at 7:30am and they'll fix it in time for me to be gone at 8, so I can make it to work at 8:40. So I come in at 7:30 with my car, and they promise to get it done so I can make it to work. I reiterate that I need to be out of there by 8 so I can get to Clearwater by 8:40. The writer assures me it can be done, give or take a few minutes. 8am comes and goes, no word from service. At 8:15, I go to the writer and ask him what's going on. He tells me it should be a few more minutes only.

At 8:30 I'm on the phone with my boss, apologizing in advance for not making it to work on time. He just bought a car from Reeves the day before and can't believe I'm having such a bad time.

At 8:50 I'm blazing angry and I confront the service writer, who tells me they found out that the mechanics discovered the new regulator was defective and they had to put a new unit in. It should only be a few more minutes.

At 9am I call work again and tell them I'm completely pissed. No one has offered me a loaner car, or a shuttle ride. They just went ahead and screwed me over.

About five minutes later, the writer comes out to tell me my car is ready. He takes me outside, away from the eagerly watching other customers who listened in to my phone calls and my anger. He apologizes for the delay but tells me the mechanics went ahead and started the repair without telling him, and they did it within the book time, which was as fast as anyone could do it.

I finally get out of there and punch in for work at 9:36am, nearly an hour late.

Lest anyone think this is no big deal... I'm not some briefcase toting yuppie that can roll in to work at 11am and go, "Wow, what a rough morning. Any calls for me?"
I'm a UPS driver. This kind of thing does not make me near and dear to my manager's heart.

Reeves' satisfaction girl called me a few hours later with the canned, "We'd just like to make sure you had a great experience spiel." I told her to sit down and buckle up. I unloaded on her, in a nice way. She was very sympathetic. Yet to this day almost two weeks later, I have heard nothing from them about my trouble. I will be contacting them tomorrow.

The final blow came a few days ago, when I looked at my drivers side window, and found a gouge in the window tint.

So, I have two dealers left within an hour or two drive: Ferman in Palm Harbor, and Southpointe in Sarasota. Both would be excruciating drives in rush hour traffic.

I am at a loss what to do here. How can I continue to purchase BMW's, when I can't get quality service?

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