[macncheese]

I'll start by sourcing my prior problems via links.


Mini Princeton, NJ

Gettin my MINI serviced in NJ

Wet Seatbelt?

Trying to love this car but I'm truly dissapointed.

Whats wrong with this picture?

Does your Lapis Blue look like this?

I apologize I accidently deleted some of the visuals in those links.

I've really been trying to keep this civil and voice my problems in a professional manner. This is really getting out of hand. Last week I made an appointment to have my coolant tank replaced for the third time and my windshield replaced for the second, as well as having my coolant flushed for second time and having a slow start problem examined. I've given up on having the sunroof rattle and the interior leak fixed.
My appointment was for today. I arrived at the dealer and waited patiently for my turn to speak to the one service guy. When it was my turn, i filled out some paperwork and then asked where I picked up my rental car. He said they didnt have a rental for me. I said "i made an appointment" he went and talked to someone else and then came back and called enterprise. He then informed me that enterprise had no cars to rent so I was pretty much stuck. I said "but I made an appt with Jim" and I was then informed that Jim is no longer with the company... like that is somehow my problem. I politely asked for my keys back and left. So needless to say, Princeton BMW let me walk out of their dealership without getting my car serviced because THEY screwed up. Its ok, no big deal, it was only an hour each way of my time, gas, and mileage. I've really got nothing better to do with my time then try to make appointments and hope the service my car. This is the second time this has happened to me at a MINI dealer. THIS IS NOT THE WAY CUSTOMERS SHOULD BE TREATED. MINI USA, are you listening?

[olerud400]

Have you tried other dealers? I remember seeing your seats (I think) at Rogue Engineering last summer and while I haven't had your laundry list of problems I have had good service from Morristown Mini. The only thing that I haven't tried forcing an issue on has been the rental car. I know they don't have loaners nor do I know their policy on payment as my only warranty issues (coolant and cracked winshield) were dealt with during normal servicing (coolant) and hail damage repairs (windshield).

Adam

Adam

[macncheese]

I've tried Morristown and they were no help. I was willing to PAY for the rental, they just never reserved one for me as I was told they would when i made the appointment.

--
Dave

[paulgraz]

As I've psoted before, I work right down the street from Princeton MINI. I tried to buy a car there, but the waiting list was too long - so I bought from Habberstad in LI, NY instead.

I just brought the car into Princeton MINI for the first scheduled service. I'll admit I was nervous about this, given the negative reports I've seen posted here.

I had no problems making the appointment - "Jim" was friendly and got me in on the day I wanted.

When I dropped it off, they gave me a ride to work - and picked me up in the afternoon and brought me back to the dealer. As far as I can see, all work was done that I asked and I can report no problems or issues. I checked the car pretty thoroughly as I was worried about damage - but I can find none. The staff there was courteous and professional to me, I left they treated me the same as any of the BMW customers that were there that day.

I'm not sticking up for Princeton for any problems reported in the past - I'm just reporting what happened to me on my first service visit there. I can only hope that each time I'm there it goes as smoothly as this visit.

[macncheese]

bump.

[SugarBelly]

MacnCheese,

That sounds rough. That treatment would definitely have gotten me a bit red.

A few Q's...

1) Have you approached MINI USA about your MINI's problems and Princeton BMW's subsequent treatment?

2) Did you inquire for a loaner car? (Believe me, I'm on your side. I would've asked for a moment to yell at whoever it was the one maintenance guy left to talk with.) Surely they could've given you a MINI to drive/borrow in lieu of a rental. Damn, an hour each way? I would've offered to cat several other car rental agencies myself, right there & then, - starting with the one they allegedly called.

3) Why not write "Princeton BMW" on those vinyl magnetic lemons or offer lemonade with "Princeton BMW Service" on the side of the cups (no sugar added!)?
-obviously the entire MINI brand are not lemons

4) Why not offer your car up for sale at the Carlisle Compact Car Nationals?
-- A great place to see many folks interested in small cars, - & amazed by the MINI MCS! Then you could start over.

-sb

[RUKnight]

So I should have been picking up my new MCS from Princeton Mini this week instead I'm getting a 20thAE GTI instead.

So 6 weeks ago they had told me that my GTI would be worth round 12k as a trade in. Well I went into the dealer on Friday to finish up all the paper work and confirm the trade in value. So after about 40 minutes of just sitting there, Alex Hilgretag was nice enough to grace us with his precense and give me a price on the car. Well they came back with 10k. I thought it was a joke...and I wanted to speak with Alex immediatly. Well after about another 15-20 minutes Aelx made his way over to talk with us. He had no clue who we were, seemed to care less that I had a car coming in and would not work with me at all with the trade in price. His suggestions was to buy out my lease and get rid of it that way to the tune of 3500 plus fees from VW. Well needless to say I was not happy at the way I was treated nor at the fact that I was told 12k and now it was 10k. So I went over to the VW dealer who actually took time to sit with me and go over exactly what I owed and they offered me 13k for my car. I pick up my new VW on thursday.

Fast foward to today. I went to Princeton to pick up my deposit. Alex says that in my file it said 10k, i said you know what you could have written down whatever you want but you verbally told me 12k. He said it doesn't matter as they are refunding my deposit. He comes back gives me the check and says I hope to never see you in this dealer again, I told him he won't...and I will never recommend them to anyone. They are a bunch of lying, caniving *******s. DO NOT BUY A CAR FROM PRINCETON MINI/BMW...
Mike

[SugarBelly]

Unbelievable treatment, RUKnight!
Holy blank!
I do believe that would certainly have changed my mood!

I dare say, I would've asked kind-challenged Alex to get the Sales Manager & requested he repeat his fine business remarks aloud, - in front of other customers if possible; "I hope to never see you in this dealer again."

I truly feel for your situation here. Those Princeton polywogs are going to make you detest the MINI brand, where this could've happened at various dealerships: VW, ACURA, BMW, MB, Lexus, et cetera.

I'd probably never go back myself, - without the advice of counsel. Are verbal agreements binding in your state? [1 last long shot.]

Please forgive my waning arguments in the other, I'm going to get a VW GTI thread.

But, I do hope you've called the Sales Manager & asked for the Regional manager's name & number immediately following complaints to him/her (followed of course by complaints to MINI-USA).

**If you have spoken with any MINI higher-ups, please post responses as possible, RUKnight!

Best of luck!
-s.b.

[Jimbo_Mini]

Mike,

Funny, I had an excellent experience at Princeton BMW/MINI. I've owned a lot of cars in my day and had a great experience.

I did not have a trade-in, however, if I did, I would have always made sure to have the dealer properly appraise the car and to write down the amount.

Having someone tell you that your trade in would be worth about XX dollars without doing an appraisal seems rather ambiguous to me. Not that I'm trying to pick up for Princeton MINI - it does seem to me that you had some responsibility to request and receive a more thorough appraisal up-front.

As for your waning griping...they did return your money and you got the car you wanted.

-Jim

PS: Shouldn't you be on a GTI forum telling people how great your new car is?

[htrout13]

I was wondering what kind of feedback this dealership had... I originally had planned on purchasing here; and after MANY trips in over the years, I was finally ready to purchase. Now not only was I looking for my mini, but my boyfriend was looking for a newer bmw (guess his 86 was acting up on him...). The people on the BMW side of the building wouldn't even talk to me - I guess I didn't look rich enough - and the Mini people wouldn't take the time to look through their incoming inventory to see if anything close to my specs was coming in. Just leave us a huge deposit, wait at least 3 months and if we feel like it we'll sell you a car.

Right.

So then I called Ottos, another Mini dealer outside of Philly, and they didn't spend much time with me - didn't really try and find anything either... hmmmm

Called Mini Mainline - They spent nearly 1 hour on the phone with me - went through the next 3 months of incoming inventory specing cars - then set up a time for me to come in and order so that I could get what I really wanted. They also had the lowest deposit amount of the 3 dealerships (all had the same wait - 3 months!).

Now, Mainline is actually the closest to my home, however I'm near Princeton all of the time with clients, so it made more sense. I feel that buying a car is building a relationship... you've got to be comfortable with the people there, and if they don't treat you well before the sale, they're not going to treat you well after the sale. Ran into the same thing when I bought my last car (a VW ironically enough) - went to 3 dealers, and the 3rd treated me the best out of all, and we've had a great relationship ever since.

Congrats to those who had good experiences, though... As we know - there's someone for everyone!

[day96]

well i must say my expirence at princeton mini was great. if you really want a good sales person at princeton mini u better get debbie franks. she knows almost everything about minis. she even owns/still drives the old ones. she was really nice anwsered all of my dads questions seeing as i had none because of the 2 years i had been planing my car. service is good also. when my tranny basicly blow up on me and wouldn't let me even move the stick at all this only after 50 miles .they fixed the whole thing free(they said what they did would of costed around 2500$) and in a couple of days. i even went back to the dealership the other day and debbie still knows who i am , even what has happened with my car and still knew my principal for school which she had sold a car to over 9 months ago which is just amazing in my mind. anyway 17 mcs and having way to much fun with crappy nj drivers. man nj roads and drivers s me off.