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Old Mar 16th, 2003, 09:46 AM   #1
Sejanus
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Niello Service Dept.

Niello has taken a pretty good thrashing on MINI2 and while I might not be one of the most vehement critics I certainly have been of those who have voiced displeasure at their policies and approach to doing business. So I feel its only fair to report that I had a good experience taking my car to their service dept. I'll admit I took my car there with some reservations, but given the distance to any other dealer and the closeness of Niello to both my residence and especially my place of work, I thought I really needed to give them a try for the sake of my own convenience. I took my car in for its 10,000 mile service and a list of other minor complaints. All the issues I had indicated with one exception seemed to have been fixed. There was only one problem, a dashboard rattle, that they said they couldn't detect. Since it is somewhat heater/temperture related I can understand the difficulty and frankly despite my best efforts to make it reoccur when I picked up the car I couldn't get it to rattle either. In addition, there was another rattle that I had forgotten to mention, but that they noticed and repaired. They kept the car one night and had ready by the next morning, which was pretty reasonable given the length of the list I'd asked them to look into. The customer service was courteous and pleasant. They returned my call promptly, never put me on hold for more than a moment or two and their shuttle service was prompt and convenient. The only problem I encountered was an overcharge on my bill (I had some nonwarranty work done), but when I pointed it out it was corrected immediately with an apology and without any hassle or argument at all. Overall, I'm very satisfied with their service department.

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Old Mar 29th, 2003, 06:39 AM   #2 (permalink)
Juanello
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Great Sejanus...
I've also had a very good experience with Niello Service. I have to thank Rick Johnson, one of Niello's service advisers, who has always been helpful and treated me in a very professional way.

MINI... Like all BMWs is also 'The Ultimate Driving Machine'...
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Old Nov 14th, 2003, 03:52 PM   #3 (permalink)
lotatoys
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I've mentioned my service visits to Neillo on the other Niello thread but I will admit that I've had no real problems with their service department. One fix required a return for a second try that seems to be holding up.
My first srvice visit, however took several return trips to get fixed, but I'l chalk that up to a problem they had never encountered and required Mini USA assistance.
Other than that, they were fine. I didn't say GREAT, just fine. I was treated a little curtly because they know I'm the one who started the main Niello thread and I'm quick to post here.

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Old Feb 15th, 2004, 03:49 AM   #4 (permalink)
McD
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Niello Service

After reading several posts, I decided to take my MCS to Niello to have the oil changed. I did this at about 1600 miles. I figured "couldn't hurt", so I went ahead and paid $69 to have the oil & filter cartridge changed.

After the oil change, I noticed a "leak". There was always a fresh little puddle of oil on the garage floor after I was parked for awhile. I returned to Niello and they found that they had left a puddle of oil on a braket below the oil filter that was gradually dripping onto the ground, so they cleaned it and said "All fixed".

Two days shot for an oil change. Not very pleasant first experience.

On the way home after the second visit, I noticed the rubber boot on the left rear strut was falling off. It wasn't falling off when I dropped the car off. Niello had no explaination as to how the boot got into this position, but they put it back on. I asked for a new one since this one was cracked and torn, but they declined and said the cracked and torn one was good enough.

Guess I'll have to drive to Concord or Pleasanton in the future.
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Old Feb 15th, 2004, 05:49 PM   #5 (permalink)
lotatoys
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McD... I think you're right to take your car elsewhere after the apparent lack of concern by Niello for the problems you mentioned. That's the thing about Niello that bothers me. First off they charge $69 for an oil change that any quick lube service would charge $25 for. Then they don't want to take care of the cracked boot. That's obviously a warranty item that should be addressed, assuming you're still under warranty. I doesn't matter if they caused the crack or not, they should gladly correct the problem and make sure their customer drives away happy and willing to come back for more service. I think they place more emphasis on the almighty $$$ than customer satisfaction or loyalty.
But hey... that's just my opinion.

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Old Feb 27th, 2004, 01:03 AM   #6 (permalink)
McD
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Drip, Drip, Drip

Nope, I was wrong!

The leak is still there. So much for giving Niello service department a try. Now I think I'll drive all the way to East Bay Mini and see if they can fix the problem that Niello apparently created and couldn't fix.

Anybody else had an oil leak after getting the oil changed?

I've read that a "break in" oil change isn't needed, but I thought, "It can't hurt".

How wrong I was!

Last edited by McD : Feb 27th, 2004 at 01:04 AM. Reason: correcting typo's
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Old Feb 27th, 2004, 02:05 AM   #7 (permalink)
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Sorry to hear about your oil leak.

I've had a couple of oil changes done at East Bay MINI & they charge $75.
San Francisco MINI wants $125!!!!

A buddy of mine has taken his S to Niello a couple of times and has had nothing but good service.

Life is short! Why drive a boring car?!

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Old Feb 28th, 2004, 08:58 AM   #8 (permalink)
Sejanus
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Niello just did my 25,000 mile maintenance. The service was very good, very comprehensive and prompt. Of course, if something drops off tomorrow I'll be sure to tell you guys.

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Old Mar 5th, 2004, 05:15 AM   #9 (permalink)
McD
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Starting to be won over

Quote: Originally Posted by McD
So much for giving Niello service department a try. Now I think I'll drive all the way to East Bay Mini and see if they can fix the problem that Niello apparently created and couldn't fix.

Well, I sent a message to East Bay MINI to make an appointment, but Niello called instead. (I'm assuming Lisa saw my post here or East Bay MINI contacted them)

Lisa left a message on my machine saying she heard that I still had a leak and they wanted to make it right.

This afternoon a driver from Niello came to my house and dropped off a BMW 325i for me to drive and took my MCS with him to Niello.

I'm impressed with their determination to satisfy me. Hopefully the leak will be fixed and they'll have a satisfied customer.

McD

Last edited by McD : Mar 5th, 2004 at 05:34 AM. Reason: additional info
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Old Mar 6th, 2004, 04:07 PM   #10 (permalink)
lotatoys
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Sounds like Niello is keeping tabs on this thread. I hope they fix your leak, McD. Maybe they're starting to actually do what all their radio commercials claim the've been doing for years. Time will tell.
I'm coming due for my first service in the next month or so and I'll be taking my car to Niello. I'll be sure to post comments here (negative and/or positive). Hopefully there won't be any negative!

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Old Mar 9th, 2004, 04:10 PM   #11 (permalink)
McD
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Puddles

Quote: Originally Posted by McD
I'm impressed with their determination to satisfy me. Hopefully the leak will be fixed and they'll have a satisfied customer.


Well, maybe I should just go get a license plate that says "PUDDLES". (Probably already taken)

Niello says the problem was the o-ring on the filter canister.
That was last Friday.
This morning there was the biggest oil puddle yet.
Maybe this is why the service interval is 10000 miles. By the time you've gone that long, you've added 5 quarts anyway.

Maybe next time the loaner will be a Z4.

(My frustration has turned to amusement over the whole situation)
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Old Mar 10th, 2004, 05:25 PM   #12 (permalink)
lotatoys
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Are you saying they found a leak at the o-ring for the filter, corrected it and you still have a leak? I think I'd be asking for a 760iL and also be on the phone to Mini USA about Niello's inability to correct the problem.
Of course, that's why I started the original Niello thread...I just don't like getting jerked around by a company with their attitude.
On a side note...I went looking at Audi's a couple weeks ago and the RS6's at Niello had $8k dealer mark-ups on them. Went to Lasher and they didn't have a mark up on theirs and were willing to deal on the sticker price. Since then I've received several calls from Niello Audi asking me to come back. Not a chance!

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Old Mar 11th, 2004, 12:58 AM   #13 (permalink)
McD
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Puddles2

Quote: Originally Posted by lotatoys
Are you saying they found a leak at the o-ring for the filter, corrected it and you still have a leak? I think I'd be asking for a 760iL and also be on the phone to Mini USA about Niello's inability to correct the problem.
Of course, that's why I started the original Niello thread...I just don't like getting jerked around by a company with their attitude.
On a side note...I went looking at Audi's a couple weeks ago and the RS6's at Niello had $8k dealer mark-ups on them. Went to Lasher and they didn't have a mark up on theirs and were willing to deal on the sticker price. Since then I've received several calls from Niello Audi asking me to come back. Not a chance!

Yep, I guess that's what I'm saying. Only now the puddles in the garage are bigger than before.

Heard from Lisa Niello today and I guess I'll give them one more chance to correct it. I'll post here to let you know the results.

I guess until then I'll park on cardboard or something.

As for Niello pricing, I guess there are plenty of people out there willing to pay > MSRP. At least when I shopped there for my MINI they told me where I could go to get it at MSRP, otherwise I might not have found out about East Bay MINI until after I bought one.
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Old Mar 11th, 2004, 01:14 AM   #14 (permalink)
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Concord charged $130 for our non-sched'd. oil change. Mention to them about the threads around oil filter can, maybe cross threaded or stripped when they put it back on? I've read somewhere in here about that happening. good luck!
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Old Apr 2nd, 2004, 02:21 AM   #15 (permalink)
McD
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Dripless day 1

Quote: Originally Posted by SFJAMES
Concord charged $130 for our non-sched'd. oil change. Mention to them about the threads around oil filter can, maybe cross threaded or stripped when they put it back on? I've read somewhere in here about that happening. good luck!

Yep, that's what they said. The oil filter housing "was cross threaded". They replaced it and so far no oil in the garage. But then the last two times it took a couple of days for the leak to show up. Hopefully this will be my last post here about a leak.

As far as Niello's service, I'm sure I'll be going there again. Hopefully this won't happen every time I get an oil change. They did provide me with a loaner, which lowered my anger over the leak. At East Bay MINI they made me sign a form stating that I understood that loaners were not given to MINI owners under "any circumstances". So Niello wins that one. I'm sure I wouldn't normally get a loaner, but it was nice to know that they were willing to go a little extra with this one.
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Old Apr 2nd, 2004, 06:44 AM   #16 (permalink)
Sejanus
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Yeah, they offered me one when my car was in for awhile with an electrical problem they were having trouble tracking down.

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Old Apr 3rd, 2004, 05:01 AM   #17 (permalink)
McD
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Quote: Originally Posted by McD
The oil filter housing "was cross threaded". They replaced it...

Just a clarification. What the invoice actually says was that the "Oil filter housing was warped or improperly machined causing oil filter gasket & cap to seat incorrectly."

So I guess they're saying, "We didn't do anything wrong. The oil filter housing was defective. This only became apparent when we changed your oil."

This seems possible, but we'll never know, will we?
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Old Feb 17th, 2005, 05:39 AM   #18 (permalink)
McD
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Update regarding Neillo Service

Well, I went to Niello a few months ago for my first "scheduled" oil change and everything went fine.

Last Thursday my air bag light came on and stayed on. I called Niello on Friday morning (from work) and was told the service writer was busy and was asked if I could leave a voice mail for him. I did. Then 3 hours later I left another voice mail since he hadn't called me back. Then I left a third message 3 hours after that. He never returned my call.

On Saturday he finally called back. He called my work and left a message for me to call and make an appointment. I wasn't at work Saturday and apparently he had no way of figuring out what my home phone number is. (I've only been in 10 times or so)

I know I'm picky, but I made an appointment to take it to Concord instead. It's a longer drive but at least they answered the phone and made an appointment for me on the first call.
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Old Feb 17th, 2005, 06:51 AM   #19 (permalink)
Sejanus
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Do you know which one it was?

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Old Feb 17th, 2005, 06:52 PM   #20 (permalink)
McD
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Quote: Originally Posted by Sejanus
Do you know which one it was?


No, I never got a name. It was a guy though, not Lisa.
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