Why I Don't Let Nobody Touch my Car - They're Trying to Kill Me !!

swanicyouth- Glad you spotted that....heh heh, note that I was bugging you on that other maintenance thread about not taking your wheels off more frequently ^_^

IMO this is a perfect example of why people need to keep the "out of sight" areas as well-detailed as the rest of the car- more likely to spot stuff before it becomes serious.

As for the shop's other customers being so satisfied...maybe they just don't know [jack] about what's really going on with their cars. "Gee, I have 100bhp more than you do! but I don't know whether my undercarriage is OK because I'm not into stuff that I can't brag about...." I mean, I *love* BBK upgrades, but given your experience, would you trust that shop to install an aftermarket brake package?

[INSERT my usual praise for the guys who work on my Audis and the Crown Vic here...]
 
So I have an appointment with the shop on Wed to get the car re-aligned. Obviously, I tightened the jamb nut so I don't die driving to this place. Sent the shop own the pics I posted. I didn't attack them like an a-hole in my email - I just said I noticed this issue and need to get it fixed.

The funny thing is performance type BMW mod dudes stroke this shop to no end. Maybe this is just an isolated screw up? Maybe you gotta get a super charger with an Alpha-n tune / catless headers and a Brembo BBK for them to get it all right.
let us know how it goes !
 
I only found one shop in CT that could do a decent alignment (read not screw things up) outside of the dealership. Same type of thing. Went to a shop that was suggested by the bmw cc. I shudda figured out it was a sponsor not really a good shop.
 
I am so sorry this had to happen and glad that nothing bad happened to you and your family..

Perhaps what we have to now do, before we pay any money, maybe even before we go down there to get the car, is to talk to the Service Manager and ask him if he personally Inspected the work, and vouched for its accuracy..

There was a time when people actually understood what Quality Control Inspection meant and did just that..

We may need to demand that such an Inspection is done to our car before we pick it up or we will not ever be repeat clients..

What was done to your Bimmer - well what was Not done to your Bimmer is just absolutely Unacceptable..

Sorry this had to happen, and too bad for this place. .Hope they dont end up getting someone injured due to their gross negligence.. It cannot ever happen - even one time -
Dan F
 
Well, I had to change the appointment because it's raining. I don't drive this car in the rain if I can help it - and it's nice, clean, and shiny in my garage - I'm not slopping it up because of this.

So, after reading the weather yesterday, I emailed the owner and told him I'd have to change it to the next day (Thurs). Originally he said either Wed or Thurs was fine. He never got back to me - so I guess I'm just showing up. We will see how it goes.

As an aside, I got this text message from a friend who just bought a new car that is making a noise (Soobie). Dealer is jerking him around as well. Haven't talked to him yet about it yet:


"Can I tell you I hate car dealerships and service departments. Well we brought the car in for the noise and they said it was normal so i questioned it then was accused of giving them a hard time about everything. Anyway I recorded the noise and showed the service writer today, the same one who told me I give them a hard time, he said that doesn't sound normal then proceeded to say I may need a new engine and was pissed because I'm bringing it to him to get fixed not even considering how I feel about the situation. Give me a call when you get a chance. I have to work at 0530 so I'm going to bed at 9:30"

Lol. Bad luck all around.
 
Oh jeeze. Is that your buddy who got the blue WRX over the summer? My wife's 2012 Subie is in the shop today because we noticed water stains on the head liner developing around the rear hatch. They couldn't be nicer at our local dealership.
 
Oh jeeze. Is that your buddy who got the blue WRX over the summer? My wife's 2012 Subie is in the shop today because we noticed water stains on the head liner developing around the rear hatch. They couldn't be nicer at our local dealership.

Yeah. But he bought yet another Soobie. This one is a Forrestor and is making some type of engine noise he couldn't duplicate for me. Now he has 3.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Huh, interesting about that Subaru....thought I was the only guy who got bad ones (two in a row that spent as much time in the shop as they did on the road, stacks of warranty claims about stuff that never got fixed).
 
Swanicyouth- I don't think I'd just show up a day later without getting some confirmation from them that the rescheduling is OK. I'd be all paranoid about being their least favorite customer as it is, so I'd try to avoid situations where they could further [mess] with me.
 
I think one reason for poor work is because most people expect things to be done quickly. I work at a BMW dealer as a service valet and it's part of our job to do basic things when customers come in like check tire pressure, top off oil, coolant, etc.

Anyway, when people come in when their TPM light comes on, they expect to be in and out in 2 minutes, but instead they complain when it takes 20 minutes. We take their car into the shop, put it on a lift, check and correct tire pressures, inspect all tires and valve stems for leaks or nails, etc. Then we reset the TPM system and drive around the lot to make sure it is reset and all is good.

People would rather be in and out then wait and make sure the techs take their time and check their work. We're not like that where I work and we just let customers know that things take time, but I could see it as a reason why some shops rush and forget simple things like to tighten nuts and bolts.
 
Well to close this thread, I went back and had the car aligned today at the "Bimmer" place. No apology or anything. I think the owner was trying to avoid me to be honest. It was a small place and he seemed to be scarce when I was there. Won't be going back there again.

I guess I'm spoiled as I've always dealt with Ottos BMW and those people can't seem to do enough for me. I don't know why I decided to try this place... I wasn't trying to save money; just thought this "performance" BMW shop might be kind of cool or what not.

As an aside, most of the aftermarket "performance parts" places like this install just look like a bunch of garbage to me. I'm not real keen on aftermarket parts or a big believer most of them go through the engineering, testing, or vehicle compatibility of the manufacturer's factory part.
 
Well to close this thread, I went back and had the car aligned today at the "Bimmer" place. No apology or anything. I think the owner was trying to avoid me to be honest. It was a small place and he seemed to be scarce when I was there. Won't be going back there again.

I guess I'm spoiled as I've always dealt with Ottos BMW and those people can't seem to do enough for me. I don't know why I decided to try this place... I wasn't trying to save money; just thought this "performance" BMW shop might be kind of cool or what not.

As an aside, most of the aftermarket "performance parts" places like this install just look like a bunch of garbage to me. I'm not real keen on aftermarket parts or a big believer most of them go through the engineering, testing, or vehicle compatibility of the manufacturer's factory part.

Probably embarrassed or worried what you'd say
 
Any Owner, Manager, Foreman, Front Desk, and Mechanic worth their salt, should have the desire to want to come meet you and apologize for the mistake/s made in their shop.

It's called taking Responsibility - something that this world in general is trying to not do any longer..

I am so sad that this man or however many people it is, could not have the common decency to come out, apologize for all the crap they put you through, and thank you for not suing them at the least..

I would never go back to anyone that seems to be in Denial of common business courtesy, at the very least...

We are living in a time when everything Right is now Wrong, and everything Wrong is now Right...

I hope you have time to post up on that Site that recommended these people and let them know your experiences there..

Hope their ReWork turned out ok -geez !!!
Dan F
 
Swanicyouth- No real surprise that they were so lousy about the whole thing, but I'm sorry to hear it anyhow. At least you have Otto's.

Hope that Otto's stays in business; when my indie shop (EuroCar Service) quit working on cars to focus on their mailorder tuning company (I ECS Tuning) I ended up selling off a bunch of my vehicles!
 
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