Hello everyone! I recently have had some very odd and slightly sketchy experience with my local dealer and I thought I would share my experience on here for anyone who may be experiencing the same problem.

I live in San Francisco and purchased my new 2014 MC from Mini of San Francisco in Early August. The buying experience was pretty bad and the car has been in for service now 4 times for random issues, but for some reason I am still completely in love with my Orange Mini :-)

However, while driving to work the other day I heard a loud thumping when driving on the highway. The sound went away as I slowed down. When I got to work I checked my tires and noticed that my passenger front tire had an egg shaped growth on the tire wall. Never having run flats before I called the dealership and they told me to bring it in right away. I went immediately after work and to my surprise after I got to the service center a second tire had now done the same thing. The dealership told me I must have hit a large pothole and ruined the tires. Failing to remember anything larger than normal road conditions, I argued and told them I didn't. They told me that it was not covered under warranty (because they weren't manufactured by Mini) and that it would cost $502 PER TIRE to fix. I argued and argued because I know that I didn't hit anything and it was an obvious issue with the tire itself. One service manager even went as far to say they see this a few times a week. I must have a car for work, so I told them they could proceed. I knew that they couldn't get a tire until next week, so I knew I had a little time to research. After very little searching, I found that Perelli actually offers a warranty to BMW and MINI for all of their tires. I contacted Perelli's customer service department (amazing customer service) and the rep told me that dealers are able to trade in tires with these defects and actually earn a credit to the purchase of replacements! So then I asked why am I paying $502 per tire?!?!

Of course I then called my service manager at Mini and he told me my tires were not covered and I would need to pay in order to get new ones. I went back to Perelli and the customer service person sent me the public technical bulletin (attached) which informs tire owners that they ARE indeed covered. I sent this to my service manager and heard nothing. This morning I received a call from someone else in the service department and he told me they "had decided" to cover the cost of my tires...

Although I am thankful to not have to pay $1000 for 2 tires, I am still very concerned that I almost paid Mini of San Francisco so they could receive a credit that was intended for me. In hopes that someone else with a similar issue will benefit from this knowledge, I decided to post it here as well. I know dealerships are known for ripping off customers, but I think this is much closer to steeling than the traditional price gouging.

Please let me know if you have experienced anything similar.

 

Aside from this horrible experience, how could they charge $502/tire, REPAIRED, when a new tire probably would cost ~$150-$170 tops? They were dishonest and price gouging. I would carry this farther on up to the dealership owners. You have information in writing....this needs to be addressed..........

 

I would love to, and have tried. I can't however figure out the name of the owner or get any contact information. I am wondering if opening an issue with BMW NA customer service would do anything?

 

Contacting BMW NA customer service will get a reaction. They do not want dishonest dealers....if they take from the consumer,.....what are they taking from the company? The dealership will be reprimanded, and perhaps you may be the straw that brakes the camels back in a long line of compliants. If it goes unreported, than the dishonest behavior is enabled and therefore will continue.

 

Sorry, but I do not agree your dealer is "sketchy" in this tire issue.

Tires have never been covered by the car manufacturer (see http://www.cars.com/go/advice/Story....bject=warranty).

Some dealers may as a courtesy be a go between between you and a tire manufacturer during the car warranty time period, but they are under no obligation to do so.

As to the price they wanted for a new tire, they are welcome to ask whatever price they want. And you can either accept, or go elsewhere to purchase.

 

I agree also.
Sketchy was not really a right word to describe this dealer. They were just being a typical dealer.

 

I would carry this up to mini usa and file a complaint. It's obsurd to charge that muchomeu for a tire that I know for a facts runs about 150 a tire.

He'll I just bought a new set of hankook ventus v12 non run flat summer tires for 450 bucks. Sounds like this place is really taking advantage of their customers.

 

I was expecting to pay for a new tire at this dealership. What I was describing as "sketchy" was that they dealer made NO mention of the 1 year warranty from Pirelli and the fact they receive a credit for my tires because of this. Seems like stealing to me. Maybe I should have used the word unethical?

 

And for those of you outside that warranty...Dont buy your tires from a dealership

 

You can't expect the dealer to know about a tire manufactures warranty. Cars come in with various brands of tires. Few brands have a road hazard, You're lucky this tire had one.

You either buy a third party tire warranty (here in SoCal you can go to Discount Tire with your new car and buy a road hazard agreement for a relatively low fee), or buy one from the dealer, or go without coverage.

I still believe it's wrong to even use the word unethical about them not knowing any tire manufacture warranty.

The only valid comment that can be made is "the dealer new tire price was crazy -- no way I would buy a tire from them!".

 

I guess we are going to need to agree to disagree.
Hundreds of Thousands of individuals go to car dealerships for that very reason; they are okay paying a premium for superior knowledge about the car from bumper to bumper.

 

I used to live in San Francisco and wouldn't have anything to do with the dealership there. Bought my 2002 MCS from East Bay MINI in Pleasanton and always took my car there for problems.

 

$500 a tire is USERY!

 

+1 to Perelli for offering a road hazard warranty of 1 year or 2/32'nds on the run flats. I don't know of many tire manufactures that offer this.

 

Read the post: there was no road hazard event. Two tires were obviously defective on the same car. 2 tires with egg shaped "growths" on the sidewall? That's a helluva road hazard which would probaby damage a rim too. The dealer sold him the tires just like they sold him the car. I'll tell you right now that most dealers would look into tire warranty, and would not charge $500 per, not do the age old "blame the customer" trick to generate some cash, and that's exactly what they did. I'd stay away from that dealer. Many of you are new to Mini, but there have been some pretty scary dealer stories in here. Like guy whose car quit running because of a fuel pump going out. Dealer says they tested the gasoline and "bad gas' was the reason, wanted to charge him like $1500 because it wasn't under warranty. Yeah like people just put "bad gas" in their cars. Dude has car towed across town, fuel pump covered asap. A couple people even got attorneys because of their dealership issues.

 

Absolute load of crap. The dealer should be ashamed of themselves. The first thing they should of done was to call Pirelli and research this problem instead of trying to charge double the retail on a tire.

 

I would try using Mini of Marin. They are absolutely a different type of dealership compared to SF Mini. They are about 10mins from SF. I've had nothing but great service from them. Maybe worth calling them to ask about your tires and their policy.

 

I read the story. Road hazard or not road hazard, tires are not covered by auto manufacture warranty. If a dealer does anything, it is a courtesy.

I would beg to differ that most dealers would handle a tire warranty issue.

As far as a replacement tire cost, depending on tire size, a mounted and balance run flat could easily be $250 to $300 at a tire store. Compare the cost of a Mini dealer brake job vs a good independent brake and suspension shop, and why should you be surprised that a replacement tire would be quoted at $500?

Just don't think either warrant calling a dealer out. Especially in a high cost area such as San Francisco area.

 

May I ask what model Pirelli and what size tire is on your MINI?

Not defending the dealers here, but they sell and service vehicles and are not "tire centers". I know for a fact that most dealers recycle or sell off used/worn/damaged tires and rarely, if ever, return them to the manufacturer for a credit. And to be clear, the tire credit is to the dealer for returning the tire, not intended for the customer. This is so they have a replacement tire for their inventory. It would also involve paperwork, forms and claims, not to mention the shipping/return of the damaged tire. None of which a dealer wants to be involved with.

Is it right for them to charge you $502/tire? Certainly not if that isn't the going rate, but if I understand this limited warranty correctly, they are not necessarily obligated to replace it for a road hazard (such as a tire bubble) either.

And while I agree that it is odd that there were two tire bubbles in your tires, there is nothing in my 30+ years around vehicles that suggests that is a defect. Two on the same side of the vehicle (front and rear, for example), suggests a pothole or road issue/outside influence. I lived in SF for many years and replaced several tires on my vehicles early on simply from the city law/requirement of "curbing your wheels". I would rest the curbed wheel too close to the curb resulting in too much pressure on the sidewall therefore resulting in a impact bubble. After the first couple, I learned to back off from the curb a bit before setting the parking brake.

I agree that what the dealer is charging is excessive, especially if you just bought the vehicle from them. I don't necessarily agree that it is their responsibility to replace the tire under the tire manufacturer's limited warranty. That would probably have been better served at an authorized Pirelli distributor/tire center.

In the end, I am glad that they made good and replaced both tires without charge. I feel VERY confident that they will not profit the slightest from this situation and likely will not even receive said "credit" for those two tires as they will be tossed into a bin in the back and picked up for recycle.

I checked with two local dealers here in Southern California and neither one knew anything about the tire warranty as outlined in the attached bulletin, and simply said the tire would have to be replaced at my cost. Both were pretty clear that tires were not covered unless noticeably defective (separating, warped, etc) within the first 1000 miles.

Are dealers trustworthy? Some. Hopefully more than you would think, but I have found that there are more likely some rather knowledgeable and trustworthy folks that work for dealers ... however they are very few and far between, as they usually would not last under those conditions. Are dealers gouging customers? Likely most. Too much overhead and other costs, I guess. And one local dealer said that they would price match tires with any other vehicle dealer or tire dealer (matching SKU for SKU in writing). They even went so far as to include Tire Rack once local sales tax and shipping were factored in. I think that's pretty fair.

 

My Mini dealer is wise enough to have tires on their website with very competitive pricing..

http://www.shopminiusa.com/MINI-MOTO...CenterId=35485

 

+1 million

 

That is awesome! Every MINI dealer should learn from that.

 

First off, I take my cars to dealers for service. At the ripe old age of 62, I have had some experiences with unscrupulous dealers. In the "olden days"' if a dealer tried to do to you what the SF dealer was trying to pull off, you would write him a check, stop payment and when he calls, its time to talk about reasonable charges for the service. Believe me, they will listen, because what they are trying to pull will not stand stand up in a court.
Today, with American Express, I have the same protection. I had an Audi dealer charge me for fixing a windshield wiper( not just the blade) on a car with less than 500 miles on it. The service manager accused me of fiddling with the mechanism and breaking it. ?????????? They wouldn't let me have my car without paying. I paid, got my car, drove home, and the next day I called the owner's office and told them what happened and that I instructed AMEX to withhold payment. I got a call from the owner's secretary apologizing and they forgave the charge.
To say that the SF dealer is unaware of tire warranties doesn't hold up because they sell replacement tires and are technically a tire dealer. Its too bad that some of these dealers are bad apples, but there are ways to protect yourself from their B.S. when they have you in a vulnerable situation.

 

In that case, "STEALERSHIP" fits better!

 

Dealers are independently owned and operated business.
They can do (almost) whatever they want to do as far as how they run the business. Manufacturers can't do much about it, especially for setting the price of parts (tire in this case) that auto manufacurer did not manufacture.
I hardly ever buy any part from dealers if I can find from other source just for that reason.