BMW doesn't honor my warranty
 

Hey everyone. I bought a 2010 X5 35d in January 2010. I took my car in to the dealer in Feburary 2011 for my first oil change (I don't drive much). when I went to pickup my car at the dealer, Desert BMW of Las Vegas it would not start. They ended up keeping my car for almost 8 weeks. When I got it back I guess they changed all kinds of items in the electrical system.

A couple of months later my X5 would not start again and the rear window was rolled down. It went back to the dealer again for 8 more weeks.

3 weeks ago, the same crap happened again, except this time I smelled and heard electrical noises coming from under the dash. BMW sent the regional service manager out to look at my car. Today I got a call from the dealer stating that it is going to cost $14K to fix the car and it is not covered under warranty. I asked them why, when it has 15K in miles and is not 5 years old yet. They told me my car failed because of an external force. I asked for more of an explination, and was given none. I was told to call BMW customer service.

I called them, and just went in circles with no resolution other then to tell me that I needed to pay the 14K to fix the vehicle as it was not covered under warranty as it was an external force causing the problem. This makes no sense to me as the first time it failed was at the dealer in their possession. The second time it happened they fixed it under warranty, and now it is suddently my issue because of something called an external force and is not "a manufacture defect". How could it not be? Where the other two times a manufacture defect which is now no longer?

I am so pissed of at BMW. This is how they treat a customer who has spent a lot of money on a vehicle. I guess at this point I have to hire a lawyer and sue them as I am not going to give them $14K to fix something they fixed twice before and should be part of my warranty.

Anyone have any other suggestions?

Do you have any aftermarket equipment installed in the car? If not, I cannot see how this is your problem. The car is obviously a lemon, and they should give you a new car.

Nope. Nothing aftermarket, no wires were modified/cut, etc.... It is the same as it came from the factory.

RE: "They told me my car failed because of an external force. I asked for more of an explination, and was given none."

Tell that dlr an 'external force' is gonna come down and wipe out the freakin dealership, and all their families if they don't fix it perfectly,
or lemon your car... :yikes:

JK about that 'external force' line that the dlr used. Check your state lemon laws and get pushing firmly, with datelines, docs, notes to self, etc.
GL, mD

Lawyer up if you need too. The do need to provide you with the cause, not just, "an external force." Tell the dealer and BMWNA that you will be speaking to your lawyer about a lemon buy back and that you need all of the vehicle's documents, (completed work orders, maint, etc.)
Ard, (member on here.) I believe just lemoned an X5 and can probably give you some more advise. But the laws do vary from state to state.

Sounds like you need to Lemon it, call BMW and yes call a l-a-w-y-e-r.

get a lawyer and research lemon law rules in your state.

Sounds like a really shady dealership, or there is something you are not telling us because the story does not make any sense at all.

I agree with all the responses.

The terminology you quote, specifically "external force" is quite strange... is there a language issue here?

There is one "external force" here that might explain this issue: Rodent infestation. If this is the case, your car insurance will likely cover the repair under the "Comprehensive" coverage with often times a lower deductible. If this is true, ask BMW for an estimate that states this so you can submit to insurance and authorize the repairs..they should be OK with this.

If this is not the case, you need to collect up every shred of BMW paperwork and find a lemon law attorney. Try and find one that will minimize the % they take from your settlement- most will say "we only get paid when we win", which is true- BMW often pays the legal fees, but many also take a % off YOUR buyback amount. This varies by state, so LOOK UP NV LAWS using google.

You are getting the run around because once the dealer +BMW has determined the car was abused/modified/changed.etc, BMWNA will NOT overrule that decision. Even harder is a BMW regional rep has stepped in and altered the "independent dealer's finding'...

Who had possession when the problem became apparent is secondary to what the problem IS...and what CAUSED it.

More info needed....

A

Why would the OP not mention this?

http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...tml#post744577

I suspect there's more to this picture than has been reported by him.

My car was fine till I took it to the dealer. The first time I took it, I went ot pick it up and it didn't start at the dealer. If I did something to it, then I would agree maybe I screwed it up. But that is not the case, as it sat in the garage most of the time. After they had it 8 weeks and I got it back it failed a second time within a month. Then they had it for another 8 weeks. They put on the paperwork that the brake switch was not from my vehicle and from a mini cooper. Well what I find stange is that the dealer was the one that told me it had something to do with the brake switch and they had changed it on the first incident, as well as they service mini coopers. Why the heck would I go and put a mini cooper brake switch in my car, when I don't even know where it is actually at or how to change it. When I got it back the second time the interior was dmaaged and it went back several more times to get fixed cosmetically because it was not correct.
This third time of the same issue as it was from the first time. I didn't do anything to my vehicle, I actually really like the X5, but the dealer and BMWNA are not my firends.

As you guys suggested I researched the lemon law and it is 60 days past the first year, so the law doesn't apply in my state (Las Vegas, NV). I guess I will need to start looking for a lawyer and see what I come up with. There has to be some recourse or some law I hope on my side, otherwise I am going to keep making payments on a dead vehicle which doesn't sound very fair to me.

Yeah I would say the dealer is playing the odds that you dont really have 2 lemons in a row. That is if I am understanding this post and the related post haigha added properly.

Based on this, it sounds like Desert BMW may have hacked the car, and is now circling the wagons. They've 'co-opted' the BMW regional rep, by showing him "look at what this owner has done".

Unfortunately, you are not a car mechanic and don't have the expertise to investigate.

"60 days past the first year" would seem to apply to you, no? 8 weeks?


If I was your atty, in prep for the case I'd want to subpoena everyone involved with the first repair- parts, service, mechanic..and determine the local stock AT THE DEALERSHIP for the part that was replaced, AND the part that they SAID was replaced (ie if the paperwork showed they put in a BMW switch, their parts stock documents had better show that in stock....) Sadly, to get to this point will costs tens of thousands.

The real trick is to quickly come up with a legal argument that you can support, AND get this in front of someone at Desert that can make a decision. This is not sounding like a BMWNA issue, more like a Desert BMW issue. Have you googled their name? I seem to recall significant negatives. Maybe find a new set of local eyes....

A

Call BMW NA in New Jersey
 

File a claim. You can do this over the phone. I have went through this process successfully within the last 13 months. Be specific, document facts in chronological order and get this to the case rep asap.

You can NOT do this over the phone. Or might I say, BMW is free to ignore anything you SAY over the phone or write in an EMAIL. Pursuant to the Warranty Statement you received with the car, there is likely a requirement (varies by state) that you notify BMW "in writing" with a physical address listed.

(Based on the OPs posts, he has ALREADY contacted BMWNA in NJ and they are running him back to the dealer....I think the dealer hacked his car, the BMW regional rep has intervened and said BMWNA will not fix this...now the dealer is in a jam (they are liable) and are trying to screw the OP. THis will likely be litigation against the dealership.

Did they even give you back some cash since they had your car for so long?

IMO: Lawyer up..

sounds like the dealer is triing to avoid a lemon law case !

No.

You need to understand that there are THREE PARTIES involved here!

BMWNA
The OP
Desert BMW

Each independent, each with different fiducial interests....

The "lemon law" affects BMWNA. The dealer doesnt really care at all... as long as they do what BMW tells them, tries the repairs, escalates issues, lets BMW aftersales support call the shots- then the dealer isn't blamed for a lemon law claim. At the end of the day BMWNA pays for the lemon law claim.

IMO, someone at the dealership screwed with the OPs car... but desert BMW was willing to try and fix it and stick BMWNA with the bill...BUT, once BMWNA (regional rep) had a look, HE said "BMWNA will not cover any more work, there was 'outside repairs' done"... (The wienies at Desert likely didn't say 'that was one of our junior guys that did that'...)

Desert is more than happy to sit back, let the OP be pissed off at BMWNA, and assume that the OP will not find out what really happened.

Unless the OP is not telling us something...

I went and hired a lawyer today. Here are the facts. when Desert BMW had the vehicle for 8 weeks and did whatever, they opened a PUMA case with BMW. I went a visited the vehicle on week #2. The vehicle was seriously in a ton of pieces inside. I think every part of the dash was sitting in the trunk and back seat. I don't think they had a clue what was going on. The first time they fixed it there were a ton of parts on the paperwork, and I can only image what they cost plus labor. I don't know how BMW reimbuses a dealer, if it is like every time or by the job or what. Anyways, when I got the vehicle back, it was not even assembled right. The left side door panel was torn, rear door panel was off the clips, and the interior dash by the i-drive plastic was broken and pulled up. They told me that was all normal and offered to repair the door panel. When I left the dealer is started raining and my wipers then didn't work. I ended up taking it back and they had it like 3 or 4 more days fixing issues. But when i got it back again the door panel was more damaged then before (they tried to fill it with some plastic stuff and it looked crappy). It went down hill from there. They did give me a loaner car, 328i to drive. But the whole experience from the begining with Desert BMW was just horriable. Each time I brought it back as it got worse they had their Shop Forman work on it, which was not any better then whoever worked on it first. When the dealer called me this week to tell me about the 14K I needed to pay to fix it, he told me that maybe a Electro Magnetic Pulse was coming from my house. That pissed me off even more have even said that. i guess that was like their comment "Outside Influence" is causing it. I would sure like to take it to another dealer, but Desert BMW of Las Vegas also owns Desert BMW of Henderson, both Auto Nation dealers. Vegas has no other dealer choices to take it to. I almost want to take it to Los Angeles or a dealer down their but since BMW NA said no warranty I don't think it is going to help.

I guess we will see what the attorney says. I wish I could upload the dealer paperwork, you would see how they basically accused me of changing the brake switch.

Hate To Bust Your Bubble ARD, But
 

I was able to lemon law and get BMW to pay me back almost every cent I put into an '09 35d (every payment, all the down payment, taxes, etc.)- starting with a phone call to BMW NA in Jersey to start a claim.

I do agree with your last post. BMW NA had the dealer review the lemon law claim first (Service Manager - who did not have a horse in the race - can say no every time), which of course said the claim did not qualify as lemon law. I the requested the regional service manager to review.

Don't know if the RSM did look at the case but was called by BMW NA stating they would buy the vehicle back. I may have been lucky it went smooth. Lengthy, but smooth.

I dont mind bubble busting....


But becuase YOU had a singular success with a phone call- in direct contravention to the stated warranty- does not mean you should tell the OP that HE CAN do it with a phone call.

(And admittedly, just becuase the warranty requires a letter does not mean my advice- wherein I tell him a call will not work- is correct either!)

Given the fact that he has ALREADY called them, and BMW RSM has already looked at the car, BMWNA is not going to take his call and agree to buyback his car.

Finally, my local dealer was totally supportive- which made the decision very quick. The rest of it was VERY slow with BMWNA.

IMO of course.

A

Yeah, guess I should have read the OP a little more thorough and not commented. NVGoldendog had already went through the step of calling BMW NA.

Just trying to help. This situation appears way more serious than what mine was.

NVGoldendog - Good Luck!

Wow. Just Wow. I would be livid. When my previous X was in they stained my leather seat (It was truffle) and I refused to take it back until it was fixed to my liking. If it were me I would refuse to take delivery of the car until EVERY issue got fixed that way they couldn't say later that I caused the issues

'EMP' coming from your house?! :bustingup

That may be/could be The most absurd excuse any dlr on the planet has ever offered up! :D

Wish I was close to your dlr: I would ride by and look to meet the Albert Einstein channeling geniuses they have in that joint. :yikes:

Good Luck, and I hope they give you a new car, and you find another dlr.

^^^ Indeed.

Someone was watching Oceans 11 or whatever.

:rofl: