Payback for MINI of Sterling (long)

[src]

I know, I know: I am not the first to post a message about this incredible dealer or its remarkable sales staff -- Crystal, John, and Keith. They have been the BEST! My wait has been agonizing, made tolerable in part because of the help they were.

I called early last Autumn to get my name on the waiting list (I was 36th for an MCS) I wanted a fairly loaded version -- HK stereo and rain sensitive wipers -- which meant a wait. When I was in for my 2nd test drive in June, I mentioned that I would be willing to sacrifice these options. Boom, John took my order right then and there:

MCS DS/W Premium, Sport, Cold Weather, Nav, Leather.

The order was placed on June 28. Several times I thought about modifying my order, and Crystal and John never made me feel like it was a bother. In the end, I never changed the order; I just had to go through the process several times to be sure I had made the right decision.

Originally, production was scheduled for the week of August 3. Ultimately, after three disappointing date changes, it was an 8/23 build. Amazingly, it made the boat (HUAL Triton) on 8/25 (the one fast part of the process). Arrived in New Jersey on 9/3, a fairly quick passage across the pond. Then, what seemed to be an interminable wait began. First, it took two days to move the few hundred yards from the dock to the VPC (ughhh!). Then, the VPC black hole.

After a week, and too many conversations with the congenial AskMINI staff, the work order for processing my MINI was printed on 9/12. Then nothing, nothing, nothing. 10 days later after gnashing my teeth many times, I called MINI of Sterling. Crystal was on it. She was meeting with the BMW regional director who called the VPC. It seems, although this is not entirely certain, that my car was one of those that was selected for a thorough inspection, part of quality control for the factory. The VPC finished on 9/20 and sent it to transportation for trucking to the dealer. Again, a wait. It took until Tuesday for it to arrive. But John and Crystal helped get it prepped quickly and by late Tuesday afternoon, it was mine.

John ran me through every system and made sure I understood everything. Crystal was great in expediting everything and arranged for their stripe guy to put on some "Rogue-like" stripes yesterday. Boy does it look great!!!! and boy does it vroom, vroom, vroooooom!!!!

In the few days I have had it, I have noticed no faults! Keeping my fingers crossed. Only one problem, the remote key will open the doors and turn on the lights, but the engine will not turn over. If you ever wondered whether those chips in the keys make a difference, let me assure you they do. Another is on order.

Anyway, the bottom line is that Crystal and John were the best. They put up with someone who occasionally, I am sure, was a pain in the ass. They were always helpful, friendly, supportive. Oh, and I got MSRP with no hassles about anything. Would I do it again, or recommend others do it. You bet I would.

Thanks to the gang at MINI of Sterling

[DaCrema]

I would like to let those that about to purchase a new MINI that MINI of Sterling (located in northern VA, USA) is a top notch dealership. The prior post states things better than I can. I picked up my car on 28 Oct at 4:00 pm (EDT, 2000 GMT). Though I did not actually enjoy paying for the car, some things must be done and the dealership made the process painless as possible. I would recommend this dealership to anyone looking for a MINI Cooper or MCS.

SG/Black, Sport, Premium, Chrome, SS+, Anthracite, Blk/blk leatherette interior.

Thanks to the SG/Blk owners on this site. Your pictures helped with my choice of color (colour). Hope you do not mind a copy cat too much. I can not say I’m sorry though.

[Grinder]

I, too, got my MCS from MINI of Sterling (#7 on the list ) and have been incredibly happy with my interactions with Christal and everyone. The one person who i DO have a complaint with is Steve, the head of service.

This summer my climate controls stopped working and i started experienceing the cold start problem. We called Steve and took in the MINI fairly quickly (that part was good.) He told us that the ECU needed to be reprogrammed and that they'd have to send it away which would take a few weeks, and that the chip that controls the heat / A/C was on backorder, so we'd just have to make-do. I was a little upset, but what could i do?
A few week or so later i get my MINI back (i had been on vacation, so it worked nicely), and no more cold start problem, but still no AC as expected. But he promised he'd tell us as soon as it was fixable. This was back in late *June* or *July* sometime (three FULL months ago).
Periodically i'd call steve and he'd always be buisy or would have to go check and never return the call. Not even one.
Well, last week my MCS went in to #1) get mini-madness shadow stripes put on (very cool!) #2) get the ECU reprogrammed yet again, as the cold start problems were back #3) get the damn AC/Heat fixed finally and #4)fix the squeaky seat . I delivered it to them on thursday or friday and Steve said i could pick it up on Monday. It seemed excessive as all *they* had to do was install a new fan for the climate control, reprogram the ECU and slap some grease on the seat. Well, around came Monday and no call from Steve, despite his promise. Well, i call him and he tells me that the earliest it can be ready is tuesday evening.
Tuesday i call him (i didn't bother to wait for his call) and he says that they were done with their part, but they were still waiting for the stripe guy to put on my stripes. Now, i had visited my car on saturday and the stripes were already on it then, so my guess is he still hadn't done anything on my car, and just didn't want to admit it!
Well i drive down there to pick up my car, only to find that it STILL has the cold start problem and the seat squeaks just as much as ever.

I really dont like the way Steve is taking care of things because, well he ISN"T taking care of things.... Ok, there! i said my peace!! Sorry for taking so long, i'm just frustrated with him because he never seems to do anything right. The other MINI people there are the best staff i could ever ask for!!