[dondada]

MFC,

I wish I had the pleasure of working with you because based on your response I'm sure I would've had a great experience during this process.

Please understand that my message is no way in attempt to bash 90% of the sales people out there in the Mini car business. In fact Brian and Darrin from Tate Mine were wonderful people and I would work/buy car from them any day of the week again. But in all honesty it only takes one bad apple to ruin the reputation of all out there.

What I was trying to accomplish in my message was the fact that how a manager like RICK could be placed in a position like the position he is in? In my honest opinion, keep in my this is my own opinion based on my experience on sat., how could a person like Rick get a job in management.

At the end of the day, $75 is no big deal to me. I make more than that in one hour at my job. This has nothing to do with money.

I really don't appreciate someone telling me that I have no idea what I'm talking about when I have 2 witnesses who can repeat every word RICK made state to me.

Therefore I will take whatever it takes to make sure that Tate Mini gets what they deserve. I know more than enough people in the DC Metro are to make a big influence.

And YES I take what happened on Sat very personally.

In fact, tonight I was able to sell the car to one person who was thinking about buying a Mini but were not too sure. After I told them what a wonderful car it is, they are sold on buying a Mini. When they asked me where I bought the car from, I informed them that don't ever buy anything from Tate and I forwarded them reference to Sterling and Towson Mini with names of sales people I've dealt with at both dealerships.

My next steps, after I get the work that needs to be done on the car, I'll write a letter to Tate Corp. with C.C. to Mini Corp of USA and I'll make it my personal mission to post my experience on every Mini web site and forum that I can find out in the free world.

On the positive side, I had the pleasure of driving the Mini around D.C. tonight and let me tell you, it was the most fun I had in a long time. I LOVE this car. It's so much fun to drive. I only wish I bought it lot sooner.

Thanks for being understanding of my situation.

BTW, I'm not sure if I'm missing something or not but Tate Mini never game me an owner's Manual. When I came home to program the Garage Door opener, I had no idea what to do because I had no instructions. I guess I'll have to do some research on what buttons to push and how long to hold each button to figure it out.

Regards,
dondada

[BMW.MINI.RR]

I picked up my 05 Cooper and was pleased w/ Tate. Brian was an excellent salesman and i recommend Tate to everyone.

[dondada]

Glad you were pleased....but I still say that Tate is crap and I would NOT recommend them to anyone....

[BMW.MINI.RR]

dondada-

I didn't get an owner's manual either! How weird is that? Are they stockpiling them over there? But i went back to pick one up with no problems. In retrospect I noticed Tate is not as professional in their approach as a BMW/MINI dealership should be. Just Brian was such a nice guy that he made the whole buying experience great. Just make sure you get an owner's manual!

[FireRSX]

Can I get a recent update on Tate Mini Service. Not so much the sales but any servicing you've had Tate Mini do for you.

I know this thread is old, but I figured it was still on topic.

[sailnavy]

Took my 2003 MCS in for service yesterday 10 Sept 2005. I needed to have my steering wheel replaced under warrantee. I also mentioned the rough idling I'd been experiencing intermittently,and some strange rattling from what I thought might be the throwout bearing, and there was a recall for the crank case breather tube.

The steering wheel was replaced without a problem. The service tech even put it on straight, something that I've had screwed up before on a different make car.

The engine software was upgraded to remedy the stuttering/idling problem. (It would down idle, and run rough as if it was going to stall, but it never actually stalled). Seems to have worked so far, but it was a couple time a month event, so will only be able to tell over time. Overall, I'd say I like the sound and response of software version 42 significantly better than version 38 that was installed previously. It sounds more "throaty" and seems to have a little less throttle lag but this could just be my imaginiation, and the fact that it was a beautiful day to drive.

The tech said he agreed with my assessment of the throwout bearing and I would need to bring it back to have that assessed further. He mentioned that it could also be the input shaft for the transmission, either way it needed to be looked at, but wasn't an immediate safety issue.

The service tech let me know that he noticed a slight clicking or resistance in the bearings for the steeringwheel. He said I should keep an eye on it, and if I notice any significant resistance that I should make an appt for that.

I was really impressed with my service tech. The service manager was polite and helpful. The only complaint that I had was that I waited for 3 hours for what I was told would be a 45 minute service call. The car hadn't even moved for the first hour. Granted it was early in the morning, and one of their techs was having problems that morning, but overall I'd say Tate Mini should be concerned about single point failures on Saturday morning service. I wait for Saturday morning service appointments (this one was made a month and a half in advance) so I don't have to miss work. I'd expect other single professionals to do the same. I'd want to take care of my customers with relatively high disposable incomes. The service manager made me aware of the issues, and kept me informed. That is really all I could ask for if they were having problems.

The sales dept had 3-4 mini's on the lot, and two demo cars that were plated. I did think it a bit odd that the salesmen drove VW GTI's. I didn't deal with the salesmen at all, other than to stop in and see the two Mini's on the sales floor. They said hi, I told them I was just waiting for service, and they didn't pressure me.

I talked briefly with a salesman from BMW, across the lot. He was very polite, and again didn't pressure me at all.

During the wait I was tempted to take the car to a different dealer for the next service call, but they won me back. Overall I was impressed. Nice job Tate. I'll definitely be taking my baby back to them and be thinking about upgrading sometime soon.

Thanks Tate,

Jason

[jim_t]

Jason, nice write up. You should read what folks are saying in this forum:

http://www.northamericanmotoring.com...threadid=50321

A little different story, maybe the weekend crew is better than the weekday ?

[qweasd]

I've been continually disappointed with the service at Tate. Has anyone else experienced the same?

The last time I brought my Mini in for service I scheduled my car for service a 7AM drop off time. When I went to pick up the car at 6:00PM on the same day, I was told the car was not ready. The reason given was that they couldn't get to my car until the end of the day and they couldn't finish the work in the time remaining. No one telephoned me to say the car would not be ready. At the time of the appointment, I was told that the work would be completed in less than a day. The service representative acted as if it were a commonplace occurence.

I just brought my Mini in for service again this morning. I spoke with a service representative and confirmed that I would drop the Mini off at 7AM. When I arrived at 7AM, I discovered Tate moved the Mini Service Department away from BMW's and that the Mini Service Department didn't open until 7:30AM. I stood in the rain and watched the service representative do paperwork for 15 minutes until he opened the door at 7:30AM.

While I would buy another Mini in a heartbeat, these experiences don't make me want to purchase another vehicle from Tate.

[Shawnster]

Quote: Originally Posted by qweasd

I've been continually disappointed with the service at Tate. Has anyone else experienced the same?

The last time I brought my Mini in for service I scheduled my car for service a 7AM drop off time. When I went to pick up the car at 6:00PM on the same day, I was told the car was not ready. The reason given was that they couldn't get to my car until the end of the day and they couldn't finish the work in the time remaining. No one telephoned me to say the car would not be ready. At the time of the appointment, I was told that the work would be completed in less than a day. The service representative acted as if it were a commonplace occurence.

I just brought my Mini in for service again this morning. I spoke with a service representative and confirmed that I would drop the Mini off at 7AM. When I arrived at 7AM, I discovered Tate moved the Mini Service Department away from BMW's and that the Mini Service Department didn't open until 7:30AM. I stood in the rain and watched the service representative do paperwork for 15 minutes until he opened the door at 7:30AM.

While I would buy another Mini in a heartbeat, these experiences don't make me want to purchase another vehicle from Tate.

Typical TATE. They are so incompetent. I live 5 mins away , yet I drive my mini all the way to Towson. Where by the way I don't even need an appointment. I always get a loaner car, they have free soda, coffee, a nice lobby with a plasma tv, computers with internet access for customers, and nice, customer friendly people. Towson takes care of it's customers. Why anyone would go to GHETTO TATE, I have no clue. They can't get anything right. Towson is how it should be. Towson runs like a BMW dealership, TATE runs like a Chevy dealership. Don't waist your time at TATE. I tell anyone who will listen to stay away from the entire TATE family of dealerships. I know for a fact I have cost them at least 4 or 5 new car sales by telling friends how TATE operates. That's what happens when you are rude, arrogant, amateur, incapable ba$tards.
So if you are reading this Tate... learn a lesson from Towson and get your $hit together , in the mean time I will drive all the business I can away from you and to other dealers

[jhicks7739]

I comletely agree that Tate has a service problem. I called them on Monday and left a message saying I needed to have my S towed to one of the nearby dealerships and I needed to know how soon they could look at it. I didn't get a call back until Wedensday!!!!! I was hoping they would be better than Sterling but it seems not. I love Towson but they are too far away for emergency service for me.