Short story: This is now a service experience should work!! They truly earned 5's all around today!

Long story: As a couple of you know, my MINI was having a bit of trouble. For those that don't, I had a loose front left tie rod, and my alignment was completely out-of-whack.

Since I've been reading about the massive backlogs in Sterling and Tate (and I really don't want to bring my car to Tate anyway... ), I called Towson for an appointment. They told me no appointment necessary, just bring it in. Okaaaay, a little skeptical, but I made the hour or so drive at 9 AM. The drive actually took a bit longer, as I was in the tail end of rush hour traffic.

So I pull in, and glance over at (I think it was) Carl, one of the SAs. He motions me into the office, and tells me to pull in. I do so, and he meets me outside my car. I give him a quick run-down, and he brings me into his office. He asks if I was going to wait, and I reply if it'll be done today, sure! He says that the work will definitely be completed today, but it may be a good amount of time. I'm ok with that and willing to wait, but then before I can tell him that, he offers me a loaner for the day! (And keep in mind, I didn't buy my car through them, and he doesn't know that I'm affiliated with DCMM!) He fills out the appropriate paperwork, passes it off to get processed, and points me to the bagel, muffin, and coffee spread that they have set up! I help myself to breakfast, and in a few minutes I'm given the keys to a beautiful '06 pepper white convertible with all the trimmings! Of course, even before I pull out, the top is down! I got a couple of strange looks since it was a not-so-warm 60-and-change degrees outside, but hey, it had seat warmers!

So I get directions to the Towson Town Center, and meander for a bit. Within an hour of dropping off the car, I get a call with an estimate, and a request for authorization to do the work. I give my blessing, and wander around the mall for a bit more. I got bored fairly quickly, and hey, I got keys to a convertible, so I left and drove aimlessly for a while. And of course, with a big grin on my face! I even got comments about the car and asked various questions, and that hasn't happened with my MINI for a long while!

So, after stopping at a bookstore, Starbucks, etc, I get a call about 3 PM-ish that my MINI is done. I head back and give back the keys. Carl is there waiting with the paperwork and explains what was done, I pay for the work, and in about 5 minutes total, I'm on my way home!

As I said above, this was about as perfect as a service appointment could get, and what every dealership should strive for! From here on out, Towson is going to be my service dealership, period. I think that this was the first time that I walked away from a service dept. without even a shred of feeling like BMWs' red-headed step-child, and I truly felt that I being treated with the same respect as a 7-series owner!

Job well done!


-Paul!

Edit: Oh yeah, there was one negative. I asked to trade my MINI for the loaner that I drove, and they refused! Why wouldn't they want to trade a perfectly (ab)used '04 with 74K miles for an '06 convertible with 5K miles?! Go figure!

 

BMWs red-headed step-child, you don't know how many times I have heard this. But great news for Towson!

 

glad to hear that my local dealership showed you love, even though you didnt buy from them. (because im in the same boat)

 

always gotten great loaners at Mini of Towson, Once I got a BMW X3, once a BMW 3 Series, and once a Mini Cooper Convertible S Automatic. 2 out of 3 of those I'll never be able to afford.

 

I think you forgot one of the best things about Towson. The women working behind the counters are very easy on the eyes.

 

Well, yeah, there was that too!

....very easy on the eyes....


-Paul!

 

I kept telling everyone ... Towson service rocks.

Show up another time, they will remember your name by your face. By far, its the best service dept locally.

 

glad to hear about the service dept of Towson. so i have no worries goin there when i need some service. maybe i will go see if i can get some service from a few of those women.

 

+1 on Towson's service dept!

 

Any of you DCMM folks have any dealings with MoT's body shop ? Any pros or cons a person should know about before taking their beloved MINI there for body work ?

 

Last I heard the body shop work was handled by Collision Craft CarStar in Baltimore. I had a run in with them after someone backed into my car. I had to have my rear bumper skirt replaced. They did a very good job and because it was just the bumper skirt they could order the part and have it painted ahead of time. That way all I had to do was go down and they could install it. They weren't exactly the cheapest solution, but they know what they are doing.

 

Yeah, Mini of Towson is a great place.

A friend of mine is one of the head honchos of the parts department, he's a really cool guy. He has been bugging me to get a job there with him for a while now.

Gilman.

 

Thanks, Matt and Gilman.

Yeah, I know dealerships can be expensive, especially for body work. But since the accident wasn't my fault, the expense is not a consideration for me. I just want the car to look perfect, like it did before this morning.

I've heard good things about MoT, just nothing about the body shop. Thanks again !

 

Aww! What happened? Not too bad, I hope!


-Paul!

 

Nah, not TOO bad, Paul. See the "Driving Courtesies" thread where I gave details. Pretty much your basic "guy took his eyes off the road, rear ended me" accident.

 

Paul, I have a question. What day of the week did you go?

Edit: I'm now in 5th gear

 

Erm, I'm almost positive it was a Monday, as I wanted to get it taken care of ASAP.

I'll check the paperwork when I get home. If it was otherwise, I'll make a post!


-Paul!

 

well since I needed to take my MINI in for service to get the proper belt put into her. I called up towson on tuesday, and they asked me when I could come in, I told them I could be in on wednesday morning. They also asked me on the phone if I would need a loaner, and I said yes that I would. I told them everything that was goin on. I had a few minor issues as well other than the belt I needed taken care of.

I brought her in on wed. I had forgotten the name of the SA that i spoke with. I pulled into the bay, and an SA came out to me. Asked me my name, and pulled up my account. They had everything and knew everything that needed to be done. They just went over everything to make sure it was all correct. They set me up with a loaner. They even asked me if I preferred manual over auto. Of course I went manual. After that he pointed me to breakfast while I waited for the loaner.

Carl called me by noon, and left a message saying they were able to fix all the minor things, but they had to order the jcw belt I needed which they were gettin overnite. He said it would be done the next day, and to keep the loaner another day.

Carl called me up today saying she was done and ready to pick up.
went in and I was immediately greeted by the loaner car people. I pulled all of my stuff out, and carl greeted me outside whom I still haven't met yet. He explained just to wait to get the paper from the loaner car girl and take it to the cashier. He said to leave my stuff in his office while I waited. I finished the paperwork, and they pulled Sylvia out. Carl said I was good with the proper belt and I was ready to go. He wished me farewell, and I was off into the rush hour towson traffic.

Great service all around. This is my first service visit that I've had.

 

Very nice! Despite all of the problems that some people have had at Sterling and at Tate, Towson seems to get the best service feedback of the three.

I'll admit freely that if I lived mid-way between Sterling & Towson, I'd definitely give it a try... but despite the problems I've had at Sterling, I will continue to go there because the others are just too far. And besides, Sterling has done a lot of good things too - it's not a perfect record, but I'm not scared away yet.

Many kudos to MINI of Towson for giving the other two something to strive for! It gives me all the more hope that Chuck Joffe can do the same now that he's at MINI of Sterling.

 

I think I might make the trek up to Towson and try them. I haven't had my first service yet but it sounds like it might be worth a day trip.

 

Noted some comments about MINI of Sterling - can anyone elaborate, good or bad? We'll be taking delivery of our MCSa from them within the next couple of weeks. Thanks

 

It's probably best that you do a search to get a balanced set of posts. There are some positive and negative stories about MoS (about other dealers as well).

Most of the negative stories revolve around long wait times, and poor communication with the service advisors. Because they are primarily a BMW dealer, there are only a few MINI service bays and this leads to backups for appointments, and a somewhat chaotic experience as they try and keep up.

 

Thanks Mike - good suggestion.

 

There is also a MoS thread on here somewhere. Just do a search.

 

Thanks JustJay - if our initial impression is any indication it should be a good relationship. I understand MOS hired away the service manager from Towson.