Quote:
Originally Posted by ard
Tactical mistake. By saying the word "lemon" he MIGHT begin to circle the wagons...If he wants he can say "car operates normally at this time" and tell you to pick it up tomorrow. You will counter 'it pulls'...he will say 'all roads are crowned'... and there you have it, you have NOTHING.
The best way to get a lemon resolved is to have the BMW dealers actually document the faults...By threatening him, he may back down.
Just saying... be nice as pie until it is too late.
Second, who cares about new parts and replacement parts? Non issue IMO. You come off as irrational.
You could have made a bit more mileage with the "SA Thing" by saying, "Look, I know you cannot have highly qualified mechanics at the front line of your shop- and indeed I am no expert- but when SAs fabricate stories it undermines any sense of trust. I'd appreciate it if we could proceed honestly from now on. If you or he doesn't know, say that- dont make stuff up"
Finally BMW likely publishes a very detailed specification on the precise dimensions of the body structure- this is used to repair cars with major damage. (Think clamping the car into a 'frame machine' to straighten it.) You may need to check the frame to see if there was a defect that prevents proper alignment/operation.
And did they do a complete alignment with this new part? Specs/printout?
GL
A
PS So far you have brought this car in ONCE for this 'defect', correct??? "lemon" talk is premature. IMO
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I hear what you are saying, but in Texas the lemon laws are very good (in favor of the consumer). Believe it or not, the car only has to be in ONCE to file a lemon law claim - the key is the duration. I believe it's 20 or 30 days. I need to look again.
I plan to make more of the SA thing when I talk to him, but I don't want to bash his staff to the point that he gets defensive.
Also, he has already acknowledged (and so has his SA in an e-mail) that the car is not operating normally, so I don't have any concern about him telling me to pick it up tomorrow. Additionally, if he does that, I have a backup plan. I have a good SA (someone recommended on Bimmerfest) willing to take the car who has acknowledged something is very wrong. That will count as incident #2 in any possible lemon claim also... However, the other SA has told me to let them try to fix it first, as that's the right thing to do. I agree...
They did a full alignment with the new part, and I have requested the printout. They told me they will give me all the printouts when I get the car back and not before.
On the replacement parts issue, I'm not trying to be irrational... You used a medical analogy once before, so I'll use one now. I equate unnecessary repairs to unnecessary surgery. Why have a surgery if you don't need to? It is an unnecessary risk... Likewise, why replace working parts on a car, unless you know they are defective? The way I see it, no good can come from this, and it's one more thing for the dealer to screw up. Perhaps it is slightly irrational, but hopefully you get my point. I wouldn't let a doctor cut me open and replace organs to see if it makes me feel better, so why would I let a service tech do that on my brand new car?
I agree the lemon talk is premature... I just want the guy to know that I know the law and that I'm not going to be blown off with inaccurate info and excuses.
I'll keep you posted on what happens next. Hopefully my thought process behind the e-mail makes a little more sense now. Let me know if you have any additional thoughts.