peter griffin

I notice many dealers like to email invitation for free inspection. I did one last year at one of the dealership, I plan to go visit another one for the same offer.
My question is, should I continue taking advantage of theese offers, or don't waste my time with them, regular service is all I need?
Much appreciated!
Dan

aretardedorange

I went last month and another gentleman had brought a 07 530i that was out of warranty my car is in warranty. The SA told me that my car is in "Excellent Condition and needs nothing" but I should look into buying the maintenance plan. The other gentlemans 530i though had so many problems everything was leaking and needed replacing from what I gathered.

If your in warranty they will say your car is in excellent condition if your not then they will make things up. Don't go!

pjinca

I figure any time a dealer offers you something for free - take it, just DO NOT let them do any service. The actual service you can do somewhere else MUCH cheaper, let them find any issues then go somewhere else to fix it

theXman

That is what they do to get you in. It's all about money. Creating foot traffic and some might take the bait and pay for the "recommended" services. If you are there already for other warranty work, then it doesn't hurt to get some "freebies". But I wouldn't drive all the way there just for that reason.

peter griffin

Damn! So you think they just won't tell me any problem if it's under warranty? The only logic behind that I can think of is, the dealer want customer to bring the problem to their attention, so the they can charge the extra $50? That's shady

My thought exactly John. The only reason I took the time to bring in my car the first time, so they can tell me what they see, so I can be aware of the issue.
I can simply bring to elsewhere and let my technician do the work. Only if they willing to tell me any issue, that's the problem I guess


My warranty is still valid through the end of 2011. I just want to take advantage of these offer, but only if they are legit.
The first time I was invited for the service was long and "as usual" they didn't find any problem, so I'm skeptical about it.

Thanks for all your thoughts

pjinca

No worries, if it's free let em take a look. If they find something let your tech confirm/fix it, if they don't? Let your tech confirm/fix it lol

peter griffin

Looks like that's the way to go then. Just scheduled 10 o'clock on Saturday, probably a 30 min inspection. Shouldn't be too bad

JeffNNJ

Ummmm Gentlemen, we make money whether the car is under warranty or not. If you're not paying then BMW is.

pjinca

And that's fine Jeff, but better when BMW pays

jgt

I actually just took my car in for the complimentary inspection this past weekend.
I had to go to dealer anyway to pick up a new battery so I figured might as well have them check it out.
One of my rear ball joints was squeaking (I already knew this) and they recommended changing out both sides.

A recap:
Dealer is 20 minutes away.
I picked up a new battery (no shipping on batteries).
No real surprises with the inspection (already knew my ball joint needed changing).
And I got a free wash and vacuum.

Worked out for me.

Oh yea I just got an email today from the service manager pining for my business. I asked him to get back to me with a quote since they didn't provide one on the inspection sheet. $538 for labor only on both ball joints . BAAAHAHAHAHAHA!!!