Complaint Review: Advantage BMW Clear Lake

Don’t waste your time at this dealership. They will not stand behind their product! I bought a 2009 750LI at this dealership and it has turned out to be a total mess. Salesman was Josh R. It’s funny how when they are trying to sell you a car you get responses to emails and texts even on their day off. As soon as they get your money all communication ceases. This is the case here, no response to emails/texts, total silence. I was told and have in email that this car was a previous CPO and was covered under the BMW warranty. I was assured that all the kinks/bugs had been worked out as it was covered by the BMW warranty. I was also told more than once by two different salesmen that the dealership only keeps the cream of the crop and trade in’s that don’t pass inspection are sent to auction and end up on second hand lots.

 I specifically inquired about the valve stem seals as I had read about oil leaks on these cars. I bought the highest warranty (platinum) they offered for almost $5,000. I asked about valve seals to make sure it was covered by the warranty the dealership was selling me. I was assured they were covered and the warranty is good nationwide.

 During the test drive I found out that the side cameras didn’t work, windshield was cracked, and oil change was due. I had all of these worked into the purchase to have repaired. I did not test the CD player and it still does not work to this day. The dealership refuses to repair it even though it hasn’t worked from day one. (I have plenty of documentation to support this) In hindsight I should have taken the car elsewhere for a pre-purchase inspection and these items would have more than likely been caught. I trusted the dealership and thought I was buying a quality used car.

Picked up the car on 3/30/17 and the side cameras still did not work texted Josh, Got me in touch with Chip C. in service. Dropped the car off and they had it for two full days. Said they repaired it, picked it up and two days later, same malfunction. Take car back to dealer again and this time it’s three days. I am told they have to order new cameras. I am not sure why it wasn’t fixed right the first time but I was without a car for these five days.

On 4/5/17 I am driving home from Katy and I get a malfunction stating that the car is low on oil and to add a quart immediately. I text the salesman and he states that if I bring it by the dealership they will top it off for free. I don’t want free oil I want to know why a car with a fresh oil change is already low on oil. This also happens again on 4/27/17, 5/9/17, 6/9/17 and 6/29/17 at least a quart low each time. I have to stop what I am doing and go buy synthetic oil at $9.99 a bottle. 

I take the car in on 5/1/17 and on 5/3/17 they diagnose an oil leak at the turbos, upper oil pan, lower oil pan, and valve guide seals. I am told that they will have to work with the warranty company and it will take two weeks. Still no answer on 6/12/17. I kept contacting Chip weekly and kept hearing “We are still working on it” come to find out the warranty company denied the claim because it is a pre-existing condition. I assume the warranty company knows that the seals didn’t fail in my first month of ownership.

I took a trip encompassing 2,000 miles the week before and didn’t realize the front tires that were on the car when I bought it were bald and had tread showing. When I took the car in on 6/12/17 Chip said have you seen the front tires on your car? And I said they are the same ones that were on it when your dealership sold it to me. Pictures are below. The main question is why wasn’t this caught upon trade in before being put on the lot?

I then meet with Timothy Nguyen, the service manager, and I am told that the car needs $15,000 worth of work. Long story short I am told that my portion will be over $5,000. Keep in mind I haven’t had this car more than two months. I ask for a detailed estimate and he tells me he won’t have one for a couple of days. I wait two days and when I finally get a response (cut and pasted from email) this is what I get:

Total Parts $7,502.87

Total Labor $ 6,265.00

Alignment $219.95

Sublet $1300

Tax $571.82

Two months later and I still haven’t received a detailed estimate of what needs to be done. I keep asking and the closest I have received is what is pictured below.

 I ask why this wasn’t caught when inspected upon trade in and I was told it is a safety check and that is all. Naturally, I was not happy that they sold me a car that needed this much work. Timothy proceeds to tell me that I bought the car as-is and it’s my problem. I told him no, that I bought the extended warranty to cover items like this and specifically inquired about it with my salesman.

I am told over and over that the BMW spec is one quart of oil is to be burned every 750 miles. If this is the case all BMW’s on the road that don’t burn a quart of oil every 750 miles are out of spec. What is being done to bring those vehicles into spec and make them burn oil?  Timothy has the worst customer service skills I have encountered in a long time. He has an inability to return phone calls, answer phone calls, or respond to emails. I am not sure why he is in the position he is in but he is in the wrong field. This brings us to the rest of the crew.

In 50+ emails I have yet to get a response from Brian Smith (General sales manager) and David Richards (Pre-owned manager) they have been on every email and I guess they just sit on the sidelines and watch all of this. I didn’t receive a response from Randy Stine (General Manager) until June 19^th. Although he was copied in on all of the emails from the beginning he chose to sit and watch all of the emails fly by and not get involved. In all fairness to Randy he was on vacation for 1.5 weeks out of the two plus months this has been going on. Chip (service advisor) and Josh (salesman) have been completely muted. If I am able to get a response out of Timothy, it is one sentence and at the most two.

I did have a meeting on June 22^nd with Randy, Timothy, David, Fidel (shop foreman), and myself. I was pretty much told that it was my issue and that if they would have put any money into the car they would have had to price it out of a competitive price range. Pretty much same as before that I would still have to pay out of pocket if I wanted the car repaired.

I finally contacted Group1 which owns this dealership and got a hold of Linda. She was genuinely concerned and said for me to send all the emails and she would forward it on to someone there and hope for a resolution. I was contacted by Pat, he actually seemed concerned and listened to what I had to say. This was on Tuesday 6/27/17 and I heard back from him again on Friday 6/30/17. The options are:

1. I pay $2,000 of the $16,000 to have car repaired.

2. Sell the car back to them and walk -$2,000 of what I paid.

3. Do nothing, get a lawyer, and fight them more. (I am pretty sure group1 has a pretty good legal team so this is not an option for me)

In the short time I have owned this car I have replaced all 4 tires, alignment done, brake fluid changed, oil changed, and 5 quarts of oil at $9.99 a quart.

The customer service at this dealership is lacking from the top of the management chain on down. I thought I was moving up in the world getting away from Acura and switching to BMW. So far it has been nothing but a constant battle.