I have found North Scottsdale BMW to be completely irreputable. Beware. For me they did not back up their work, nor did they represent the true amount of work my car needed at the onset, when they did the original diagnostic I asked for.
I brought an old BMW in and asked for a diagnostic to see if it was worth the price of fixing, as it was not running, had been sitting for years, but I wanted to sell it.
I was advised by them that it would the car would get more money running (obviously). But as the car was only worth $1 or $2 thousand, I did not want to get into massive bills. I told them if it was something SMALL, I would get it fixed. (It's an old 633csi)
I had it towed there and they did diagnostics -- then stated: "With a new fuel pump and fuel filter -- you're good to go." I paid the $1,400 thinking I was "good to go" -- only to drive it out of the lot and within 10 minutes I was broke down on the side of the road. In the next 2 months, the car was towed back to them 5 times!
They told me, as the car had been sittiing for 2 years before going into them, the gas was as thick as varnish so it also needed new fuel injectors for several thousand dollars more. I said "WHAT? I brought it to you to see the total amount needed to fix it and was given a price of $1,400 TOTAL" They said, "Well, we don't have a crystal ball how did we know the fuel injectors would need work." Huh?
Any reliable, educated shop would have already known that the fuel injectors, fuel pump and fuel filter were all tied in. If the "varnish like" old gas was enough to destroy the fuel pump and system, the injectors had to be affected. Ahh, but the geniuses at BMW just didn't know that!
I would never have paid the $1,400 if they told me the REAL expense I was looking at. And as far as them saying: "We don't have a crystal ball and how could we know the fuel injectors could be affected" -- give me a break! It's not like my tire was flat andIi was trying to relate that to the bad gas situation -- there was NO QUESTION, by any educated mechanic, that the bad gas would foul the injectors as well as ruining the fuel pump and fuel filter.
Yet, North Scottsdale BMW would not give my money back even though my car was towed back to them again and again for months. It was finally towed out of their "service" department, back home, not running, in the exact same condition it was before I foolishly thought I could trust North Scottsdale BMW.
Had they been honest with me from the beginning - about the full amount of money and work needed -- i would not have stayed and paid -- but then they woudla lost the $1,400 which I guess is all they were interested in, cause it sure wasn't customer service.
Moral to the story: Run, don't walk, from North Scoattsalde BMW.
PS. When I told the manager that they had an irreputable service dept., he balked and said they stand up to their work and since my car was running when it first left their shop, they had done their work. (Remember, my car ran for 10 mijnutes before I was already stuck on the side of the road - it was also towed back to them five times, but that -- TO THEM -- is good service.)
Buyer beware! And keep this service problem in mind if you're buying a BMW -- run don't walk from North Scottsdale BMW. I shoulda gone to Chapman BMW myself.
Ronny g
North hollywood,#2Consumer Comment
Thu, September 23, 2010
I have purchased a few vehicles over the years that sat for extended periods. I have dropped the tank in the morning and sent it out for steaming...under 100 bucks..less if I could have done it myself.
While the tank was off being steamed..I blow out the lines and clean the injectors. Tank is back by lunch time and I re hang it with a new filter installed. Granted it is a messy job and there is gas fumes to deal with...this is the PROPER cost and procedure when dealing with a vehicle after it has been sitting for years and the fuel is a thick varnish like substance.
Or..you can do what this dealer did and charge $2000.00 for everything it did not need..then after you realize this did not fix the bad fuel issue...quote $800.00 more to do what should have been done in the first place. I normally choose to do what will fix the problem FIRST, not misdiagnose at other peoples expense.
Ronny g
North hollywood,#3Consumer Comment
Thu, September 23, 2010
..tech1..here, I will quote it...
"...was a tank draining and steaming..blow out the lines, replace the filter and clean the pump...maybe clean the injectors..."
Add up the parts and time. You feel $800.00 is not enough? I guess you work for a dealership?
Tech1
Laurel,#4Consumer Comment
Wed, September 22, 2010
Ronny,
What cheep butcher parts are you using I just did this job on a VW and I was paid 5 hours and the parts came to about $850 ( our cost on the parts just to buy them was about 500). The vehicle ran good after wards but that is $1200 He also had his battery replaced by us under that price his car sat for three years.
o and he received a coolant flush, brake flush, and an oil changeRonny g
North hollywood,#5Consumer Comment
Wed, September 22, 2010
..did you bring a BMW worth a few hundred dollars to a BMW dealership? If anyone tried to charge me $1400 for a fuel pump and filter..I would have told them where to put the pump and filter..and it ain't pretty.
If this dealer did not notice anything wrong with the fuel while replacing the fuel filter...then they did not do any diagnosis at all.
What is more suspect, is that the dealer knew this car sat for two years...and didn't consider that all it probably needed...was a tank draining and steaming..blow out the lines, replace the filter and clean the pump...maybe clean the injectors...it should have ran fine after that.
I would have gladly done that for around $800.00 and still made out quite handsomely, and your bimmer in all certainty would have ran like new.
With all this said...they will not give your money back. They do not care that they mis diagnosed the problem and charged you through the butt for unnecessary repairs, diagnosis and replacement of parts...all they care about is that their excuse may fly..and they got your money.
They don't call dealerships, "stealerships" for no reason..they earned it.
KT
Paradise Valley,,#6Author of original report
Wed, September 22, 2010
BMW is writing a rebuttle to my Rip-Off post regarding the many problems I had after they "repaired" my 1983 BMW.
DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THEIR OFFER. The only respectable offer they can make is return my wasted $1,400 -- yet they refuse as they would "lose money" -- so instead they want me to "lose money" even though THEY did not do their job. To add insult to injury, they want me to spend $700 more to fix the problem. Their offer is that they will do this new work (new fuel injectors) at their cost. Or, I can apply my $1400 spent, to a complete revamp of my entire fuel system. Just thousands in work need on my $500 30 year old car. This is a car I brought to them for a diagnosis, so I could make an educated decision whether to get it running again. Had they told me the truth -- which they knew when I brought the car in -- that the fuel was bad and I was looking at replacing possibly tons of items -- no way I would have invested in the car, which I was going to sell or donate. Again, DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THEIR OFFER. They are having their lawyers write the rebuttle, so it should sound really snazzy, like they're the good guys. Impressed, right? Their only JOB was to tell me what kind of work my car needed. I PAID them to do that job, to diagnose the car. They did not tell me the truth, or divulge all information. After I paid the money for the new fuel pump and filter (Yes, $1400? Stop laughing.) the car spent the next 2 months being towed back to them. It spent the summer in their lot and on tow trucks. In the end it was towed back to my house, from BMW, NOT RUNNING. But at least now I know the list of items that need to be repaired. Ya know -- the list I should have gotten when it was first diagnoed. The list that tells me "this is what you might need when your car has bad fuel in it." Yep, THAT list, the one I wish I had before sinking a penny into the car. Instead, 6 tows, $1400 spent, another $700 needed, and my car is NOT RUNNING. I will have to decline their generous offer of spending another $700 at their dealership. (They seriously think this is a good offer! That's the scary part. I even offered them to give me half of my wasted money -- but they declined -- remember, they don't want "lose money." So actually, I AM the one with the generious offer! Which I am recinding right now.) THE GOOD NEWS: I already won this battle. This experience has been priceless to all my friends who buy Beemers -- if nothing else -- I have just saved them a lot of time, expense, and the hassle of buying at North Scottsdale BMW. If only they knew what this piddly $1400 will cost them. BTW -- this struggle is not about the $1400, it's about what is right and what is wrong. A shop can tell you anything, or in this case tell you nothing, and you have to trust them. This is about messing with people's trust in you. I feel hoodwinked and taken advantage of. Merci!