Experience with Calgary BMW Gallery / Mini Crowfoot

[halibut]

I was/am going to buy a Mini from Mini Crowfoot. A friend / co-worker just bought a 2007 BMW 328i from them and has nothing but made up stories from the dealership about why this component or that service wasn't performed on time or at all. Now I am leery about buying a vehicle from them.

Anyone else gone through them recently and had a good or bad experience?

Also, I heard that both BMW dealerships in Calgary are owned by the same individual, is the Edmonton one owned by the same guy too?

[Ironhorse]

nm. Will post later.

[HOOT]

Go to the states!

Mini Cooper S:

$30,600 - Canada
$21,200 - USA

I know the warranty wont carry over by that is $9000 difference!!!

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by HOOT

Go to the states!

Mini Cooper S:

$30,600 - Canada
$21,200 - USA

I know the warranty wont carry over by that is $9000 difference!!!

MINI / BMW US dealers have been instructed to stop selling to non-residents last week...

And the Canadian MINI Cooper S comes with a lot more goodies in standard trim. The difference is a lot less than that.

[arsenal]

Originally Posted by HOOT

Go to the states!

Mini Cooper S:

$30,600 - Canada
$21,200 - USA

I know the warranty wont carry over by that is $9000 difference!!!

Will they sell to canadian customers? That's the question. Also, boarder states are starting to not sell to canadian customers. You would have to go farther south. Then the economics change, and it becomes less worth it.

Plus you have to factor in GST, Duty, etc.. that $9000 savings, becomes less and less.

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by halibut

I was/am going to buy a Mini from Mini Crowfoot. A friend / co-worker just bought a 2007 BMW 328i from them and has nothing but made up stories from the dealership about why this component or that service wasn't performed on time or at all. Now I am leery about buying a vehicle from them.

Anyone else gone through them recently and had a good or bad experience?

Also, I heard that both BMW dealerships in Calgary are owned by the same individual, is the Edmonton one owned by the same guy too?

Yeah the 2 in Calgary are owned by the same guy. Not sure about Edmonton.

I just bought a 2008 BMW 328xi yesterday from Calgary BMW (Automall), their sales department was great, but as far as service goes, they let me know ahead of time that they are quite busy and they book roughly 3 weeks in advance, so I knew that going in. I think the Gallery books about 6 weeks in advance, but he can take it to either one. Tell him to just start going to there if the Gallery is giving him a hard time.

I haven't had any service done yet (obviously), but I'll let you know when I do. I think my sales rep also said that when you take it into get service, BMW Canada will issue a survey about your experience, and I believe these do matter a great deal. So tell him to fill that out.

[HOOT]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

MINI / BMW US dealers have been instructed to stop selling to non-residents last week...

And the Canadian MINI Cooper S comes with a lot more goodies in standard trim. The difference is a lot less than that.

Why dont they become a little more competitive in their pricing?

I hate the car pricing, just as much as book pricing. I dont mind paying a little more because it may cost the more to get it up here and so on, but $9000 MSRP difference is huge. I know you can talk down the sales guy a little but you can do the same down in the states...

[arsenal]

Originally Posted by HOOT

Why dont they become a little more competitive in their pricing?

I hate the car pricing, just as much as book pricing. I dont mind paying a little more because it may cost the more to get it up here and so on, but $9000 MSRP difference is huge. I know you can talk down the sales guy a little but you can do the same down in the states...

Why would they? If US dealerships stop selling to canadian customers, canadian customers are then forced to purchase vehicles from canadian dealerships at the inflated price. Which means more profit for the car company.

Which is why the canadian gov't is looking at forcing retailers at reducing prices for some goods.

[Ironhorse]

MINI Crowfoot / BMW Gallery / BMW Gallery are indeed owned by a group that also owns a number of other dealerships in Calgary and on the prairies.

I will not lie to you and say that things not busy at Crowfoot. The techs & shop have to support both BMW and MINI, and, like the rest of Calgary, the shop is feeling the labour crunch. Add to that the record number of Bimmers and to some extent MINIs that are being sold due to our affluent city of 1 million+, and you have the makings of a bit of a bottleneck in that there are only two service departments servicing that ever growing fleet. I have heard rumors of another BMW dealership being built in the near future.

It can take multiple weeks to get a service appointment, but the work done on my MINI has always been top notch once I got in.

Also, see all of this thread: http://www.mini2.com/forum/canada/99...-dealer-3.html

Feel free to join us, its mostly Calgarians in there.

PS November eh?

[TheyCallMeBruce]

About a year or so ago i was looking at buying a 330ci. The sales guy was great and I was getting pretty serious in buying one. That is until I started asking my friends who bought from both BMW dealerships. out of 8 guys I asked, 6 said they hated the service and will never buy another BMW from them.

[browna]

I wonder if the service issue is in part because of the labour crunch and more BMW's on the road in town, and, because of the included 3 (or is it 4?) year complete, complimentry maintenence package, namely, oil changes?

When the oil changes are free, people are more likely to get it every perscribed number of months as per the maintenence schedule, at the dealer for that time period. With it not free, some people stretch them out to 4 or 5 months (makes no sense to put your investment (or lease I guess) at any risk, no matter how new the cars, but it happens a lot) as people are laxy or don't want to pay the 50$.

Also, for reasons that they have fully paid maintenence, the mindset is more vigilinat in tha case then those who have to pay for oil changes, with warranty work. At the same time bringing the car in every 3rd month, people are going to complain about that minor creak or rattling at the time, something they may put off until the oil change (that they stretch out an extra 2 months) or just wait there's something else that arises that needs attention. In my experience at GM dealers, anything more then the usual maintnence takes an extra 1/4 or 1/2 a day, meaning 2/3 or 3/4 of a day to get something looked at along with regular maintenence.

When you have a larger % of people bringing thier cars in every 3 months, and more people needing little things looked at, by shop techs who have to be certified to a supposed higher standard (not the guys that do the oil changes) then the majority of the industry at BMW, I can see how things back up in a hurry...that backlog is likely to make people annoyed and be upset at the service depatment...doubly more if something isn't done correctly (which happens at all dealers on a daily basis..in Calgary and everywhere).

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by browna

I wonder if the service issue is in part because of the labour crunch and more BMW's on the road in town, and, because of the included 3 (or is it 4?) year complete, complimentry maintenence package, namely, oil changes?

[snip]

When you have a larger % of people bringing thier cars in every 3 months, and more people needing little things looked at, by shop techs who have to be certified to a supposed higher standard (not the guys that do the oil changes) then the majority of the industry at BMW, I can see how things back up in a hurry...that backlog is likely to make people annoyed and be upset at the service depatment...doubly more if something isn't done correctly (which happens at all dealers on a daily basis..in Calgary and everywhere).

Oil changes on BMW & MINIs are normally once a year / 20K, but you're right, the rapidly and ever expanding fleet of BMWs & MINIs still needs feeding & watering.

I've only had pleasant experiences with the MINI staff. Not too familiar with the BMW ones.

Don't even get me started on what passes for service when I visit the Ford service department...

[The Bug]

BMW's are very complicated machines.

At one time I used to think that they were bullet proof but the products from the mid 90's to date are nothing short of crap for the most part.

Way to much tech with to few trained mechanics that really know how to track down and fix all of the little nagging problems. The drive trains seem solid but it's EVERYTHING else that will really start to get to you.

If you are going to get involved with any Beemer product (including Mini), get the shortest lease possible, keep turning the cars over if you can and be prepared to spend some time at the dealer(s) for service.

[Byrns]

The ones in Edmonton are owned by different people. (I know the service manager at Bavaria quite well)

[KevanGuy]

There is an anti-Calgary BMW website out there somewhere. Im sure it will come up quick with Google. My old man has had a BMW since the mid 70's and refuses to go to Calgary BMW after some fiasco years ago. He takes his to a guy on Mcleod Trail around umm...45th ave? The guy specializes in imports. I can find out the name of the place if you are interested.

[halibut]

The friend just bought the vehicle and the stories the dealership have been telling him have not been from the service work, it was from the beginning. Here are some examples:

1. He wanted to buy a 2005 used one. They said they were getting one with the specs he wanted in for him for two weeks, he finally goes in and see they have 3 - 5 on the lot. None they said were his, but all were for sale.

2. His wife says that she likes the 2007 ones better, so they buy a new one. Then they said that it will be a week to clean and get all the options in to the vehicle. They pick it up in a week and nothing has been done.

3. They take it back after the rock chip film is peeling. It again is sent in for the day and nothing is done so they have to leave it for the night. The service person told him some story that was far from the truth.

4. The alarm system install that was supposed to be done during that first week before he got it, was just installed and they said that it will take 12 hours to program it. That must be a very specialize alarm system that takes that long to program it.

This is in the first two weeks of ownership. If it were me I would just say that they are overloaded and they will get to the vehicle. He loves the car but to me this doesn't sound like a dealership that I want to deal with.

[halibut]

Originally Posted by Byrns

The ones in Edmonton are owned by different people. (I know the service manager at Bavaria quite well)

you should talk to him and his manager about opening a better quality dealership down in Calgary area

[hah]

Originally Posted by TheyCallMeBruce

About a year or so ago i was looking at buying a 330ci. The sales guy was great and I was getting pretty serious in buying one. That is until I started asking my friends who bought from both BMW dealerships. out of 8 guys I asked, 6 said they hated the service and will never buy another BMW from them.

Bought my BMW at Calgary BMW about 13 years ago, once it was off warranty I had nothing but problems with the car and Calgary BMW.

I did live in Edmonton for a period while the vehicle was under warranty and had it serviced at Bavaria, Paol Green was the service manager at the time.

I would not be in a rush to buy another BMW.
however my time period for owning was 94 to 2001.

[SportsJunky]

Originally Posted by halibut

2. Then they said that it will be a week to clean and get all the options in to the vehicle. They pick it up in a week and nothing has been done.

Calgary BMW did this to me earlier this year as well. These guys have been very difficult to deal with on the service end of things and I'm not sure that if I had the chance that I'd do it (buy from them) all over again. I love my car though.

[Flames in 07]

Went into the BMW store once, sales people treated us like bums, clearly not thinking we were serious about buying a X3, walked out, went to Acura and got an MDX.

I'll never go into their dealerships again.