My terrible experience at BMW of Las Vegas

[RX7ames]

Hi all. I'm a new member here. I recently purchased my first BMW. After selling BMWs in Oregon I decided I needed to represemt my brand and make my first BMW purchase. I decide a Z3M would be for me and fell in love with one with white paint and red/black interior. It was at a random used car lot in Las Vegas. At the time I was finishing up a National Guard deployment overseas so seeing the car in person was not an option. No big deal. The salesman was willing to drop it off at BMW of Las Vegas for a pre-purchase inspection.

The inspection can back with a long list of problems, like I expected, which I will list here.

1. Power seats inoperable.
2. Power mirrors inoperable.
3. No heat (diag 197).
4. Power convertible top inoperable (diag 197)
5. Exhaust system rusted and falling out. (recommended full replacement price n/a)
6. Front struts leaking ($2,800 replacement)
7. Lower control arm bushings replaced ($950)
8. Replace wipers ($97)
9. 4 wheel alignment ($226)
10. Rear dif fluid leak (diag $97)

I decided the price was low enough that with these problems I would buy the car anyway. I contacted the used car lot and questioned them about the issues in the PPI. They were confused. Later on I would be too. They immediately reported the following:

1. The power seats mostly worked. The passenger side seat did not go up or down, but did slide back and forth. No big deal, but totally misrepresented by the BMW dealer.

2. Both power mirrors worked fine.

3. The heat gets so hot it will burn you out of the car. It heats up very quickly too.

4. The power top was low on fluid. Obviously a fluid leak somewhere. But the BMW dealer reported that there was no sound from the motor. This was not true. The motor moved the top and made noise. It just didn't fully lift it. This was misrepresented as well.

When I went to pick up the car I was pretty upset. Why would the BMW dealership misrepresent the car so badly. Was clear that I would not be paying them for any repairs. I was planning on flying into LAS and driving home to Oregon. I needed to make sure the car would make it to Oregon, and would make any needed repairs there.

I ended up going to BMW of Las Vegas before I started my drive home. I told the service manager that the PPI was grossly misrepresented and I was given false information. I shouldnt have to pay for a false report. He said he didn't believe me and wanted to do a reinspection. I agreed and they put the car back on the lift. The service manager invited me to the shop to see the reinspection. This is what we found:

1. The tech never said the seats didn't work at all. The service writer misunderstood him and they gave me wrong information.

2. There was a scratch on the mirror. The service writer interpreted that as inoperable.

3. The heat didn't work for the technician. No excuse here. Maybe he didn't start the car.

4. He said the top didn't make any sound. He obviously did not understand how to operate the top.

5. The exhaust system has surface rust. This is every exhaust system ever. Actually you could tell the cats were almost brand new. Other than the sloppt welds, there was no rust on the cats and they were shiny. Also because of poor fitment, the exhaust hung a little low and you could tell it scrapped the ground a few times. Also the muffler mounts didn't quite sit in the exhaust hangers. But the system was firml mounted and had no leaks. It is a solid system. But they recommended full replacement and reported that it was falling out. Down right lie.

6. The front struts were leaking. And the back shocks. I would die before I paid $2,800 for a repair though.

7. The lower control arm bushings were fine. They looked pretty new actually. There are no cracks and they are not dry. The technician just made up that they need to be replaced...for $950. Give me a break. I had them re-insoected at Les Schwab, and asked for a quote to replace them. They would not give me a quote because they confirmed they were fine.

8. The wipers were fine. They clear the water with no problem. Again just a rip off.

9. There is no such thing as a 4 wheel alignment on a stock Z3, so why am I getting quoted for a 4 wheel alignment? Mayne that's normal though.

10. The dif was actually leaking. Out of the entire inspection this is the only thing they got right.

So, all in all, there was no harm done. But I am insulted that they would charge me for such a fraudulent inspection. After I called them out for every single infraction they just blew me off. I work at a BMW dealership in Oregon, and I would be totally shocked if any of our techs were this incompetent.

I'm not sure why I sharing this, but I feel like I just have to vent. Maybe try a I dependant shop before you waste your valuable time at BMW of Las Vegas. In the meantime, I will be enjoying my Z3M which is in much better condition than they reported.

[jclausen]

The dealer service advisor is probably on 100% commission and the dealer is the worse place to take it really, find a good independent bmw shop, the dealers just suck, I used to work at one, they just suck

[ZEKTI]

Dang that's pretty brutal. I've gotten 4 wheel alignment quotes on my 318Ti before, in which there is 1 thing to adjust, the tierod. But sadly this just shows that it's typical at the dealer and people that don't know better just pay it. I've been unimpressed at many BMW dealers, but I'm not their clientele I guess.

[jclausen]

It’s funny because the dealers should have all the business but since everything is over priced and there attitude sucks and they can never stray from repair procedures, they suck some body should make a sit com called the dealership and write it like how they wrote the office

[RX7ames]

The thing I just don't get is that I told them I was buying the car in Vegas and driving home to Oregon. I was not having any work done there. I just needed the inspection to know what was wrong with it. They were absolutely terrible.

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[jclausen]

It just comes down to people and there actions and if they don’t really want to help then they can be dicks

[jbourne99]

If they don't refund you for the bogus inspection perhaps a nicely worded letter to BMW NA would help. At least the corporate office should know that such poor service is being provided.

[RX7ames]

That's not a bad idea.

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[dano1200r]

Did you pay for the inspection by credit card? Is it within the 60 days? If so, do an online dispute, reason 1 is 'service not received /partly received'.
Add from there and good luck.

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