Dealer Experiences

DanH · Post by **DanH** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 10:22 pm

Let's share our dealer experiences here, weather good or bad.

i recently went to Denville BMW (use to be Gearhart) to get my high OBC replaced (a BMWNA case-by-case "recall"). I pay for 1 hour of labor and BMWNA picks up for the part.

EDIT: i just got a call from Jim and we did get off on the wrong foot. Let me add this to my post. Jim was nice enough to call me and apologize what happened. i, inturn, apologized about this post (which he was informed of; i'm actually very glad to see that a dealer like Denville actually check and cares about posts on forums unlike most dealers weather be MB, Infiniti, etc..) I was being a little hyper sensative about people's expression i guess and that is a problem i have; i read way too much into any little action from eye contact to shoe size... jk on the shoe size (big shoes, big feet.... big disappointment ). But now I think Denville has definately sold me. I just hope i didn't hurt their feelings past repair. Sorry to Jim, water under the bridge?

taxwoman · Post by **taxwoman** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 6:16 am

I went to the Princeton dealer to get an "in between" oil change - my 330 has 7500 miles on it, I asked them for the BMW club discount. The price was $90 some. The service person made a point of showing me that they gave me a $4 discount on the oil. I noticed however that they topped off the windshield fuel (without my asking for it) and charged me $4 for that. What do you guys think? Am I stupid?

mderienzo · Post by **mderienzo** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 9:45 am

I don't take my cars to dealers (or anywhere else for that matter) for service as the cars are older than your typical service tech. Besides, I simply don't trust anyone else to touch my cars...its a problem that I should probably seek treatment for!

The parts department at Flemington BMW never seems to have anything in stock. I had to special order M20 oil filters.

They also told me that I really had no business working on a BMW myself. Goodbye.

Princeton does not give a BMW CCA membership discount for anything and I won't go back there since a 17-year old with his hat on backwards insisted on valet parking my '88 528e.

And I barely let my wife to drive the car... No, thank you.

I have always had a excellent experiences with the Parts and Service departments at Hunterdon, JMK & Paul Miller. Their folks are always helpful and willing spend time chatting about troubleshooting a problem, chasing down a part, etc. Is it a coincidence that these dealers are also the top 3 in terms of support for the NJ Chapter and its' activities?

Badgtho · Post by **Badgtho** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 12:50 pm

I am not from New Jersey, but i am purchasing a pre owned E36 M3 in new jersey and scheduled an appointment at wide world of cars (where the car was originally purchased new) to have a quick evaluation done. $130 dollars later i was told that the thermosts housing and one steering line leaked.. no big deal i thought, i'll fix that. However 3 times during the conversation the advisor offered to have a pre owned sales person call me to advise me on why its better to buy one from them.. No thanks.. unproffesional in my book. Parke Ave wanted me to wait 2 weeks for an appointment, and it took 3 calls to get to speak to a human, not the service writer's machine.

Idz21 · Post by **Idz21** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 9:03 pm

Just to throw in a short comment. I bought my car at Prestige BMW.

The people there are really nice, but DON'T and I repeat DON'T let them wash your car. They sanded down the paint on my 2 week old M3 and put scratches on my CSL rims.

Service is top notch however, so I would recommend it for that. The parts store gives a 10% disocunt for the BMWCCA.

E30Andy · Post by **E30Andy** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 10:10 pm

I'd like to second what mark said by saying Flemington BMW never has anything in stock. The guys at the parts counter are less than eager to help you, and a few weeks back I i took my brothers VW to get an oil change while he attends college, and they didnt put the oil cap back on. Thats when I pretty much decided i wasn't going to be back.

I've had a lot of good experiences at Hunterdon BMW, and I've already used the saturday discount for new M3 control arms for my E30.

mmarvuglio · Post by **mmarvuglio** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 9:00 am

I can't really knock Flemington. My salesman and service guys have been very good to me. Parts counter with the audi/vw/porsche/service etc etc.... however have not impressed me. But hopefully that will change when they move into their new (and seperate) building.

m20power · Post by **m20power** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 7:38 pm

We don't have experience with many of the NJ dealers, and for good reason. For over ten years, we have used Hunterdon BMW almost exclusively. The quality of service from the shop, parts and sales people has been nothing short of incredible. A few examples:

Called me after opening up a failed diff in my E28 and invited me in to inspect the damage. They suggested that they close it up, and I limp home and repair myself. This saved me huge $, and the diagnosis wasn't charged.

I dropped the same car off for an oilpan gasket one evening. We had an icestorm that night and, when I picked up the car the following day, I noticed that the bill had no labor charge, just the gasket. When I questioned, I was told "most of the repairs didn't show-up because of the storm and we were bored - this one's on us."

The help and knowledge of the parts guys is terrrific, and they give a 20-25% discount to us members. Parts returns are accepted without question, most items are stocked, and they have, a couple of times, offered to deliver to my house.

Same goes for the sales people - the list goes on. BUT, the amazing thing, is that we never bought a car from Hunterdon until very recently (we buy used).

Any organization that treats a customer in this manner will always get my business, and they should get yours. It's worth the drive.

Bob

kbsilver · Post by **kbsilver** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 8:36 pm

I'll second the Hunterdon Experience. I did by my car new from them. Always helpful, all repairs were done correctly, the first time. They mailed parts to my house that had to be ordered.

I also brought in a car we did not purchase from them (CPO) under warrenty with the coil problem. No appointment, brought it to them at noon, they had it fixed by 5.

They are definately on my top 2 list. They really are cramped for space but I understand they will be moving in about a year to larger quarters in Bridgewater.

Idz21 · Post by **Idz21** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 9:07 pm

kbsilver wrote:I'll second the Hunterdon Experience. I did by my car new from them. Always helpful, all repairs were done correctly, the first time. They mailed parts to my house that had to be ordered.

I also brought in a car we did not purchase from them (CPO) under warrenty with the coil problem. No appointment, brought it to them at noon, they had it fixed by 5.

They are definately on my top 2 list. They really are cramped for space but I understand they will be moving in about a year to larger quarters in Bridgewater.

This is excellent news! I work in Bridgewater so it'd be a perfect place for me to service the car.

DanH · Post by **DanH** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 9:43 pm

damn, i have a long drive to get to Hunterdon BMW.

Anyone can comment on JMK? good, bad, so-so... ? JMK is so much closer to me. the closest one is Park Ave but i wouldn't bring a tricycle to have them fix it.

Idz21 · Post by **Idz21** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 9:49 pm

DanH wrote:damn, i have a long drive to get to Hunterdon BMW. Denville didn't sell me at all.

Anyone can comment on JMK? good, bad, so-so... ? JMK is so much closer to me. the closest one is Park Ave but i wouldn't bring a tricycle to have them fix it.

There's Prestige BMW right up the road from Park Ave. You could try them, just remember not to let them wash your car

DanH · Post by **DanH** » Fri Feb 25, 2005 10:34 pm

Idz21 wrote:
DanH wrote:damn, i have a long drive to get to Hunterdon BMW. Denville didn't sell me at all.

Anyone can comment on JMK? good, bad, so-so... ? JMK is so much closer to me. the closest one is Park Ave but i wouldn't bring a tricycle to have them fix it.
There's Prestige BMW right up the road from Park Ave. You could try them, just remember not to let them wash your car

too many mixed reviews about them. would like to bring my 5 to a solid performing dealer.

kbsilver · Post by **kbsilver** » Sat Feb 26, 2005 8:10 am

JMK is high on the list, you shouiild have a good experience there. They support the club (Next months tech night is there) and at least one of the service writers are active/participating club members.

larryengel328 · Post by **larryengel328** » Sat Feb 26, 2005 9:01 am

I've always had a great experience at JMK. Great people to work with in sales, parts, and service.

Service department has always been very efficient and explained all of the diagnosis and repairs (on the rare occasion I've had a problem with the car.) Most important, I've neverfelt like I was being taken advantage of.

I wouldn't hesitate to use JMK - they're the best dealer I've ever dealt with in every way. (Admittedly, they're the only BMW dealer I've used.)

Larry

New Jersey BMW CCA

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