Anyone have any experiences with their service department? Any recommendations on who to deal with? Or anyone you would definitely not deal with?

Thanks.

 

They took care of my timing chain (cold morning rattle issues) right away under warranty.
Considering that Mini of Sterling drag their feet for a month for a simple oil change, I was very pleased with Mini of Alexandria.
The service rep that took care of it is David Rockwell - Red Team service manager.

 

I have dealt with David Rockwell for maintenance and a warranty issue on the used 2008 MCS I bought and he was excellent to work with to resolve the issues. The first owner had wired in aftermarket XM that may or may not have screwed up the radio, he got me a new radio under warranty and charged about $120 to remove the aftermarket XM wires that were hard wired in behind the dash to the radio and also blocked the air vent diverter flap in the dash from moving! They have a nice rebuilt to Mini specs facility on the site of a former Chrysler dealer and a few of their techs are veterans of Mini of Sterling. It is also only 10 minutes from my house!

 

Thanks for the replies. I will keep David in mind, its nice to get recommendations.

 

I bought my 2009 MCS from them before they were officially badged as Mini. Nice people. I've had her in for a few incidentals, etc. They're looking at my passenger window to figure out why it's auto-reversing at the moment.

I've had good experiences, and getting an appointment is pretty simple. They had 7:30 Monday morning available online Saturday afternoon, which is nice.

If you're in the DC area, I'd recommend them over heading to Annapolis (have had good and bad experiences) or Sterling (haven't been, but have heard negative things).

The drive up garage door is a nice feature, I wish they didn't have the waiting area in the middle of the show room, but it's ok. They have a shuttle to metro which is also nice.

 

I too would recommend David Rockwell. Takes serious interest in your problem and follow-up to make sure it is fixed.

 

Any one have experience with their attitude towards mods that are not ecu related?

 

I don't want to say anything negative yet, since my MINI is still at Passport. But, it has been there for two days now, and it is very hard for me to get information from them, and they don't seem to care for getting suggestions on what you think might be the problem.

When I called yesterday to try and find out what was going on with my MINI, because I thought I would actually get it back that day, I was transferred to a voicemail account for my SA. I never got a call back, so I called again and finally got through to my SA and was just told that it was still having diagnostics performed on it, and I should plan on waiting till the next day to get my car back. I then hear nothing else back from him even till now.

So, I sent an email this morning to my MA who sold me the car, I just got a reply back from him telling me that my SA had to send out my digital motor electronics to have it reprogrammed, and is not expected to be back until Monday.

That I understand isn't anyone's fault, but I am so far disappointed at the lack of communication. I have had vacation time this past week, which I was going to use to get to know my new MINI. I am more angry that the yesterday and today, I just sat bored in my apartment so that if they called I could go straight there and get my car immediately. It's just been a waste of my time off.

Like I said in another thread, I was a bit wary by how young the SA's seem. Not that younger guys can't do a good job, especially with everything being so based on computers, mechanics don't seem to matter as much anymore. But I would feel a bit more comfortable seeing someone there that looks a bit more "experienced."

I don't really want to mention my SA's name until this is all resolved because I don't want to give him a bad reputation unless it's completely deserved.

I'm sorry for this sounding like a big rant, but I am just a little irritated about having a brand new vehicle and not even being able to have it or any info on it.

 

What was your original issue?

 

Well, if you check out this thread https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...nd-dies-2.html

I was having the same problem the OP of that thread had. Which I was thinking was HPFP, then thanks to poster windypointmini, who was also having the exact same problem but actually got the correct fix, I knew that that had to be what was wrong with my MINI. I suggested this to the SA and he just told me websites like these usually just point people in the wrong direction.

After sitting in the waiting area for three hours( not their fault, I was the one who chose to wait around, in hopes I could take home my MINI that day) They saw the problem but didn't know what was causing it.

And it ends up being the exact thing that windypointmini had done. I understand checking other possibilities, but why not check what is most likely the problem first? Unless it takes two days to find that out when only checking for that DME problem. Then I apologize.

 

Im hesitant to take mine there, i put on a nm CAI and intercooler pipes. i dont want them trying to void my warranty for that... i also dont want to have to take em off before i take it in every time.

 

In my mind, there's zero excuse for such poor communications on the part of your SA. Regardless of when/how the situation is finally resolved, I'd be thinking of kicking this whole situation up to the GM or owner. If he/she doesn't bite on your SA's butt, I'd be then looking for another dealer for service.

 

So freaking far today I have had NO word on what is going on with my MINI

It is only 11:00AM here, so I will give them till the end of the day, if I STILL haven't heard anything from my SA, who I am now feeling ok with naming as David Rockwell, I will go to the GM. I am getting EXTREMELY angry at not being told anything about my car. I no longer am feeling sympathy about them possibly being busy. They have a lot of people working there, he could just tell one person, any person, "hey, can you give my client a call and let them know what's going on? I'm pretty swamped here." Would that be so hard?

I am afraid to call to the GM or anyone else, because of the fear of sending food back in a restaurant. That someone would purposefully mess something up on my MINI. So I am afraid to complain.

But seriously, I picked up my MINI on 7/10/10, I took my MINI in for service on 7/14/10. They have had it since. I know the loaner MC they gave me better than my own $26,000 BRAND NEW vehicle. I feel I have been extremely patient, I understand things can take time to fix, but it is getting ridiculous(plus, I also feel like if he would have taken what I said seriously when I dropped off my MINI, instead of telling me that websites like these just lead people in the wrong direction, when infact what I was told by my MA that was wrong with it, was exactly what I was trying to say to my SA was wrong.) So they could have listened to me and maybe have found the problem the same day I dropped the car off, instead of not even sending my DME off to be reprogrammed or whatever till friday. Maybe I am wrong and even knowing exactly what the problem was they wouldn't have been able to diagnose it so fast but it seems like it shouldn't have taken 3 days to find it. [/end rant]
Oh and also, they did see what my car was doing, so it wasn't that they had to try and replicate it or anything. before they sent me on my way that day he said that they saw what it was doing.

I really apologize for going off like this, but I am just extremely disappointed with the customer service, especially that so far it seems like the only problem with my mcs is the DME. So the problem is with the service advisor, not the car, for me.

(that's just how I am feeling)

 

Many dealers are like this with communications. I dropped mine off to fix a rattle and they ended up keeping it a week. I told them no hurry because I could drive my old Explorer and wanted it fixed. I too got intermitent contact from Rockwell and got in the habit of calling him around 4 every afternoon for an update. Call his direct number. He got better at contacting me after a few calls. They are a very busy dealer. When we spoke he was always good at explaining the situation. At least you have a loaner.

If in the first 18 months it is out of service 30 days or they cannot fix something in 3 attempts, or fix a serious safety related item in one attempt, you can bring suit under the Virginia Lemon Law for them to buy back the car.

However, if they shipped a part off on Friday it will not get anywhere until Monday or Tuesday and depending on turnaround, installation in your car and testing, they may have your car until the end of this week.

 

I completely understand that, and am ok with it. But that is also why I am angry, I took my MINI in on Wednesday, told them exactly what it was doing and had printed off windypointmini's write up that windys shop foreman had done explaining everything. So I feel like instead of just telling me that websites like these just lead a person in the wrong direction, let your ego go for a bit and check that out then put me in my place if that is not the problem. But that what I said I thought was the problem got completely ignored it seems, then to find out that that was in fact the problem. So I guess what i'm saying, if he would have taken me seriously, they could have found the problem and had it sent out on wednesday instead of only finding it at the problem on Friday, and nothing being done all weekend with the reprogramming.

I am not trying to say I know more than the actual service advisors at all, I KNOW I don't. But, I like to do a lot of research, so I have some sort of idea as to what's going on so, that I can understand what those with more knowledge are actually saying.

I would really hate to have my MINI lemon'd in the end. I'm just disappointed in the service department. Like I said before I get that they are really busy, they should hire a secretary that they use as a communicator between the SA's and the customers since they are too busy to do so on their own.

I guess I am just frustrated. :/ sorry.

And like my husband says, it just seems like in their mind they made the sale, so now they don't really care about what happens.

 

I like Passport MINI, got mine there. Sales process was a smooth experience, but have never dealt with the service department.

 

luthientier,
they could probably buy back your MINI and sell you an MCS that is problem free.

 

so you have a cai also?

 

Yes, i have a CAI made by WayMotorWorks

 

I wonder how things will play out during service, when are you due?

makes me nervous... i dont mind taking it all off because itll take 30 min to get back to stock w inter. pipes and cai but it is such a hassle

 

I finally got my MINI back yesterday.

Are the surveys MINI send you after buying, and having service work done, I don't want to say anonymous, but does my particular MA or SA know that I am the one who filled it out?

Or does the manager just look at it and then act accordingly?

I'm not going to be a jerk, I'm happy with everything except for the lack of communication. My MA told me I shouldn't be mean in the survey because that would make David unhappy. So, am I just expected to give all tens in order to "build a good relationship with my SA?" Seems silly to me.

Besides, as long as I don't have any more issues in the next couple of months, I will be moving away from here and will probably never be back. So why not be honest?

 

the manager will appreciate your honesty because it will help him/her improve.

 

The manager would appreciate a call, prior to filing our your survey, explaining the issues you are having with the service department. You should calmly explain the various issues/concerns. If you fill out a negative survey you will probably receive a call from the dealership trying to address your concerns (this is true for any auto dealer not just Mini).

 

Be honest and be specific. Where it was a bad experience mark it so and tell them why and where it was a good expereince mark it so and tell them why. As someone who has worked in places that place a lot of emphasis on CSI and customer service scores the only ones that annoyed me were the ones where people just gave bad marks without a reason. Bad marks with a reason give us something to work on.

The service manager does care about the scores but I don't think they should get full marks without providing an excellent experience. Nothing annoys me more than a dealer that pushes you to "talk to the manager" if you had a bad experience and still give them 10s on the survey.

Now if you talk to the manager first they may offer something to make up for the experience in order to EARN their 10s. That is different.

 

Since my issue is pretty much only related to communication. So it is not going to be extremely negative. If that survey will be set up the same as the survey you take after buying a new MINI, there is plenty of room for comments. Plus, there is going to be some good things to, like how they did fix the problem, how David got me a sales loaner since they were out of other loaners, instead of a rental car.

So, I'm not going out and just trying to be mean since I wasn't happy with how hard I had to work to find out what was going on with my MINI. I'm just going to be honest. I'm not going to give all tens when I feel like they don't deserve them, especially when everyone who works there tells/begs you over and over to please give all tens in the survey.

I believe in giving credit where credit is due, but I am also not going to just give good marks when they are not deserved just because I don't want to hurt anyones feelings.

Sometimes the only way people will ever learn that they can't get by by just doing the bare minimum, is when it either affects their pocket book, or it is in writing so that management can see if there is a pattern or if a person just stops caring. So there is documentation. Slaps on the wrist typically don't work long. (I'm not saying this is what anyone at Passport is doing, just an example from being in charge of people who have to work with the public)

But like I said, I'm not just going to flame him, there will be good things as well. And even the bad things won't be done in an exaggerated way.