Beem me up, sweetie
I almost let something come between me and my beloved Mini Cooper.
I've been feeling for a while like the Cooper just isn't making sense anymore. I'd like something with four doors. Maybe someplace to put something. Driving it around lately has made me feel like a kid. Another problem is the service department at the dealership -- they don't treat their customers very well.
Let me take you back to the first week I had the car. We were tooling around town in the fashionably cute Cooper when I hear some knocking. Sounded like something was loose under the car. We made it home and called the people who sold it to us. They suggested that we call roadside assistance to have it brought back to the dealer in case there was a huge problem. That was like noon or 1 p.m. The condensed version of the story is this: We called roadside told them we needed a rollback. (The car is not supposed to be pulled, it has to be carried.) They show up about two hours later without a rollback. They finally get to our house around 9 p.m. or something -- I remember it was dark and it was summer. So off the car goes. We called the dealer the next morning to see if the car had in fact made it there. Because, you know, it took them at least 8 hours to come and get it. Thank GOD I wasn't stranded on the side of the road. Only no one would answer the phone at the dealer's service department. We called about four times. Finally we just went over there and yes, I made a scene. But GOD. I was so mad I told them I really wanted to just give back the car. But I took her home. There wasn't anything seriously wrong, just something a little loose. I forget what now.
Then there was the too-hot seat situation. Which still isn't right. It's still too hot.
Anyway. The car... the car is great. It's fun to drive and it has all kinds of gadgets in it. And at night, the lights glow a really pretty orange. And then there's the sunroof. I love the sunroof. And the fog lights. I don't know why, but wow, I love em.
The flip side is the dealer. They SUK. (Here's the story on SUK. There's a guy who works for the same company as I do and I see his white Mini Cooper in the garage a lot. His plate is SUVS SUK.) That first time has been very representative of what we deal with them. It's a good thing they're the only Mini dealer in the area because if they had competition, they'd be in t-rouble, baby. (Hey, career scheme #905?)
Last week, I was leaving work and my "check engine soon" light came on. I checked the owner's manual. It said it's probably an emissions problem and that the car is still functional, but call the dealer as soon as possible. That was a Wednesday night. David called the dealer Thursday morning and the woman told us they couldn't look at it until the next Thursday. Er, OK. Am I supposed to drive it with the light on?! "Oh it's fine. We had a person drive it to Florida with the light on!"
Sigh. Fine. She said if nothing else feels wrong on the car, then it's probably fine. Probably.
Monday, I was driving to work and three more lights came on. Nice. Tire pressure, ABS and the stability control system light. (I told you -- fancy gadgets on this car.) It's still driving fine, so I continue on to work. I just slow down some because who knows if the brakes are working. I get there and call them. I told the receptionist (it's always the same one. always.) what was happening and that I had an appointment on Thursday. She couldn't find the appointment. She kept asking me if I was Kathryn. NO. I'M NOT KATHRYN AND MY MINI COOPER IS NOT YELLOW. She asked if we'd talked to a service guy to make the appointment. I wanted to say NO! IT WAS YOU!!!! But I said no, it was a woman, and I was standing right there when my husband made the appointment. ARGH. So she either found it or entered it into the computer again then asked me what was happening again. I asked her what I should do and she said I could talk to a Mini tech guy. So I did. They got one on the phone, miracle of miracles. I had to go through the whole schpiel (i'm so not looking that up to see if it's spelled right) again and asked him what I should do. Should I drop it off?
"Well, I can't tell what's happening until I run the diagnotic on it. And you could bring it in, but I won't look at it until Thursday." Nice. Thanks for nothing. It was MONDAY. So am I supposed to keep driving it? "As long as the car is operating OK, then it's probably fine to drive."
There's that "probably" again. So the check engine light has been on for more than a week and the other three lights come on occassionally and then go off eventually.
I was really, really tired of dealing with those people. And for kicks one day, I told David I wanted to go look at real BMWs. As we stood on the lot looking at some of the cars and laughing at the prices... I mean, $50K? Come on now. And it gets what kind of gas mileage? HAHAH. No thanks. The salesman suggested we look at some "pre-owned" models. So I drove a couple. A manual 2000 328i (silver) and an automatic 2003 330i (dark blue). Both were very nice. Powerful, smooth-driving cars. And oh god. It's a BMW. I mean, I love them. Puuuurdy.
I took the 328i home with me overnight. They looked at the Cooper as a trade-in.
Chrissy's dad, now known as Uncle Tom, happened to be in town and he used to own some dealerships, so I stopped by her place and had him look at it yesterday morning. He said it's a nice car, but a lot of miles and a lot of pricey. I was returning the car that morning and was nervous about going. David was at to work, so I was entering used-car land alone. Tom offered to go with me. Oh yeah, baby. Now it's ON.
We walked in, the sales guy greeted us. I introduced my Uncle Tom, who immediately started spouting jargon. The look on the salesman's face changed.
"I used to own six dealerships," Tom said.
"Oh. Oh yeah, well it's nice to talk to someone else in the business. I knew you had to be because you're using all the words." He stepped away to "go get his finance guy."
That's right, buddy. You're not taking me for a ride. MWA HAHAHA.
He told them he knew where they probably got the car (he was right) and what they paid for it (right again). So they knew he wasn't playing around.
Words were thrown around and I hadn't a clue what they meant. Words like cash difference. Wha? Aroo?
Tom said he got me the best deal on the car that I would get. It was a $4500 cash difference, which I now know means if they paid me for the Cooper and I was taking the 328i, I would still owe them $4500. Which in terms of monthly payments means about $100 more a month than I pay for my Cooper. For an older car with more miles.
Tom suggested I take a breather, David and I talk about it over night and give them our decision the next morning (today). So I agonized about it all day, asking everyone what their opinions were (everyone said WHY would you do that!?) until about 6:30 when the sales guy called me at work asking what I thought. I surprised myself by saying it's a really nice car, but I'm going to pass.
And so far, that's the end of the story. So long, you purdy 328i. Maybe someday.
I'm wondering though if the guy thought I was just trying to get him down even lower. Tom got the price of the car down by about $3500. And bumped up what they would have given me for the Cooper by about $1000. Which... I could never have done on my own.
We'll see if he calls me again today. But I'm pretty sure I'm keeping my car. Which as we speak is at the dealer. David called a while ago saying it was an ABS thing that had kicked on all the lights. Whatever that means. Now they're looking at a rattle in the dashboard that drives me insane.
I'm off to buy my Uncle Tom a bottle of wine.
I've been feeling for a while like the Cooper just isn't making sense anymore. I'd like something with four doors. Maybe someplace to put something. Driving it around lately has made me feel like a kid. Another problem is the service department at the dealership -- they don't treat their customers very well.
Let me take you back to the first week I had the car. We were tooling around town in the fashionably cute Cooper when I hear some knocking. Sounded like something was loose under the car. We made it home and called the people who sold it to us. They suggested that we call roadside assistance to have it brought back to the dealer in case there was a huge problem. That was like noon or 1 p.m. The condensed version of the story is this: We called roadside told them we needed a rollback. (The car is not supposed to be pulled, it has to be carried.) They show up about two hours later without a rollback. They finally get to our house around 9 p.m. or something -- I remember it was dark and it was summer. So off the car goes. We called the dealer the next morning to see if the car had in fact made it there. Because, you know, it took them at least 8 hours to come and get it. Thank GOD I wasn't stranded on the side of the road. Only no one would answer the phone at the dealer's service department. We called about four times. Finally we just went over there and yes, I made a scene. But GOD. I was so mad I told them I really wanted to just give back the car. But I took her home. There wasn't anything seriously wrong, just something a little loose. I forget what now.
Then there was the too-hot seat situation. Which still isn't right. It's still too hot.
Anyway. The car... the car is great. It's fun to drive and it has all kinds of gadgets in it. And at night, the lights glow a really pretty orange. And then there's the sunroof. I love the sunroof. And the fog lights. I don't know why, but wow, I love em.
The flip side is the dealer. They SUK. (Here's the story on SUK. There's a guy who works for the same company as I do and I see his white Mini Cooper in the garage a lot. His plate is SUVS SUK.) That first time has been very representative of what we deal with them. It's a good thing they're the only Mini dealer in the area because if they had competition, they'd be in t-rouble, baby. (Hey, career scheme #905?)
Last week, I was leaving work and my "check engine soon" light came on. I checked the owner's manual. It said it's probably an emissions problem and that the car is still functional, but call the dealer as soon as possible. That was a Wednesday night. David called the dealer Thursday morning and the woman told us they couldn't look at it until the next Thursday. Er, OK. Am I supposed to drive it with the light on?! "Oh it's fine. We had a person drive it to Florida with the light on!"
Sigh. Fine. She said if nothing else feels wrong on the car, then it's probably fine. Probably.
Monday, I was driving to work and three more lights came on. Nice. Tire pressure, ABS and the stability control system light. (I told you -- fancy gadgets on this car.) It's still driving fine, so I continue on to work. I just slow down some because who knows if the brakes are working. I get there and call them. I told the receptionist (it's always the same one. always.) what was happening and that I had an appointment on Thursday. She couldn't find the appointment. She kept asking me if I was Kathryn. NO. I'M NOT KATHRYN AND MY MINI COOPER IS NOT YELLOW. She asked if we'd talked to a service guy to make the appointment. I wanted to say NO! IT WAS YOU!!!! But I said no, it was a woman, and I was standing right there when my husband made the appointment. ARGH. So she either found it or entered it into the computer again then asked me what was happening again. I asked her what I should do and she said I could talk to a Mini tech guy. So I did. They got one on the phone, miracle of miracles. I had to go through the whole schpiel (i'm so not looking that up to see if it's spelled right) again and asked him what I should do. Should I drop it off?
"Well, I can't tell what's happening until I run the diagnotic on it. And you could bring it in, but I won't look at it until Thursday." Nice. Thanks for nothing. It was MONDAY. So am I supposed to keep driving it? "As long as the car is operating OK, then it's probably fine to drive."
There's that "probably" again. So the check engine light has been on for more than a week and the other three lights come on occassionally and then go off eventually.
I was really, really tired of dealing with those people. And for kicks one day, I told David I wanted to go look at real BMWs. As we stood on the lot looking at some of the cars and laughing at the prices... I mean, $50K? Come on now. And it gets what kind of gas mileage? HAHAH. No thanks. The salesman suggested we look at some "pre-owned" models. So I drove a couple. A manual 2000 328i (silver) and an automatic 2003 330i (dark blue). Both were very nice. Powerful, smooth-driving cars. And oh god. It's a BMW. I mean, I love them. Puuuurdy.
I took the 328i home with me overnight. They looked at the Cooper as a trade-in.
Chrissy's dad, now known as Uncle Tom, happened to be in town and he used to own some dealerships, so I stopped by her place and had him look at it yesterday morning. He said it's a nice car, but a lot of miles and a lot of pricey. I was returning the car that morning and was nervous about going. David was at to work, so I was entering used-car land alone. Tom offered to go with me. Oh yeah, baby. Now it's ON.
We walked in, the sales guy greeted us. I introduced my Uncle Tom, who immediately started spouting jargon. The look on the salesman's face changed.
"I used to own six dealerships," Tom said.
"Oh. Oh yeah, well it's nice to talk to someone else in the business. I knew you had to be because you're using all the words." He stepped away to "go get his finance guy."
That's right, buddy. You're not taking me for a ride. MWA HAHAHA.
He told them he knew where they probably got the car (he was right) and what they paid for it (right again). So they knew he wasn't playing around.
Words were thrown around and I hadn't a clue what they meant. Words like cash difference. Wha? Aroo?
Tom said he got me the best deal on the car that I would get. It was a $4500 cash difference, which I now know means if they paid me for the Cooper and I was taking the 328i, I would still owe them $4500. Which in terms of monthly payments means about $100 more a month than I pay for my Cooper. For an older car with more miles.
Tom suggested I take a breather, David and I talk about it over night and give them our decision the next morning (today). So I agonized about it all day, asking everyone what their opinions were (everyone said WHY would you do that!?) until about 6:30 when the sales guy called me at work asking what I thought. I surprised myself by saying it's a really nice car, but I'm going to pass.
And so far, that's the end of the story. So long, you purdy 328i. Maybe someday.
I'm wondering though if the guy thought I was just trying to get him down even lower. Tom got the price of the car down by about $3500. And bumped up what they would have given me for the Cooper by about $1000. Which... I could never have done on my own.
We'll see if he calls me again today. But I'm pretty sure I'm keeping my car. Which as we speak is at the dealer. David called a while ago saying it was an ABS thing that had kicked on all the lights. Whatever that means. Now they're looking at a rattle in the dashboard that drives me insane.
I'm off to buy my Uncle Tom a bottle of wine.
posted by Jasclo at 8/25/2005 09:52:00 AM
1 Comments:
You did the right thing. The Bimmer would have been 10 years old by the time you paid it off.
Check engine lights are Satan. I drove my Jetta around for 3 years with it on. It ran fine, probably the mass airflow sensor or a false reading. If it had been under warranty I probably would have taken it in.
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