Sagar

Hi guys

Earlier last month I booked my car in at Sytner BMW in Leicester, and I thought it would be worth doing a quick write up on my experience.

I initially rang the dealership on a Wednesday to have the bonnet (Hood) catch looked at as it was stiff and looked bent. This was making it very difficult to open the Bonnet. I also wanted my car to be enabled for MP3 Playback as per the SIB.
When I rang I gave the lady on the phone my details and the reason for having it booked in and also asked to ensure I would have an Automatic Courtesy Car for the day.
She said that they had a slot on the following Friday at 9am.

Over the next 5-7days, the dealership kept me updated via txt message of where to park and confirmation of my time/date etc.

On friday morning I got to the dealership's service center (Which is a new-build away from the showroom) and drove into their "hanger". A lady came and took my keys and asked me to go and see one of the advisors at the service desks.
I went over with the service advisor for the reason of my visit. She was happy with the Bonnet Catch problem but was stumped when I mentioned Enabling the MP3 playback.
Luckily, I had printed out the SIB and left it on my passenger seat. After talking through it with a workshop techie, she said they would sort it out and give me a call if they had any issues.
I also agreed to have the car given a quick "PitStop" check for ?15 which was washer fluids, tire wear, engine oils etc. The car hasnt been looked at in 4 months so I thought it was a good idea.

I then asked about the courtesy car. She asked me wether I had asked for an Auto, which I did. A few minutes later she returned with a set of keys, and her 1st words to me were "be carefull, the car belongs to our workshop manager"
After taking my insurance/licence details she walked me outside to a 2008 X3 2.0d. The car was FILTHY with mud everywhere, the numberplate could hardly be seen through the dirt. Things were even worst inside as the drivers footwell had 2/3 cigarette butts in, the entire car was covered in cigarette ash and the floor mats and doors were covered in mud marks from shoes.
I asked her to note all this down on there check-sheet.

Later that afternoon, I got a call back saying the car was ready to collect so I took the loaner back down to the dealership.
She said the bonnet catch had been replaced as it was faulty, and the CD player worked. She mentioned that it was VITAL I record all my music at 128kbps in order for it to function correctly.
She showed me the bill, which to my surprise was around ?15 higher than I expected. I know this is not much in the scheme of things so I was interested to see where the charges came from.
I was charged around ?5 to have my car cleaned, which I wasnt told about. I was also charged ?10 for washer fluid.
...........Now I Knew I didn't need any washer fluid, as the previous day I had filled my washer fluid to the brim! When I questioned this, she asked one of the workshop guys to come in. In a round-about way, he agreed I didnt need any, but they put 2 un-opened bottles in my trunk for me to use as required.
I asked for these to be taken off my bill and the service advisor agreed.
I handed back the keys to the Loaner X3 and got in my car. The guys had made an AMAZING job of cleaning it inside and out for ?5, so although not asked, I wasn't too concerned about that.

When I got home I checked the bonnet catch, and as expected it was working perfectly, and high-lighted how bad a condition my previous one was in.
I then made an MP3 CD, with 35 tracks on it, all at 128kbps. When I put this in, I got the same error as allways "Medium Cannot Be read".
Over the next few days, I started getting this error when I put in a normal Audio CD too.
The problem seems to have gone away, but still creeps up every now and then. Never the less, the car cannot play MP3's. I have tried around 4 CD's with different settings etc.

I'm not taking the car back there to get sorted, Id rather travel a few miles and try out another dealership.

Overall, Sytner Leicester is a lovely place, it's new, it's clean and the staff are well mannered and well spoken.
BUT...... the most important thing is they DID NOT deliver (on this occasion). It seems they were more interested in how tidy the offices looked than getting customers vehicles sorted.

Sorry to blab on, but I thought i'd get some UK input going.

Sag

BLooD

bought my car from sytner in colchester, i was left disappointed with their service, the dvd player suround was damaged by the previous owner, i was promised a replacement but 8 months later, many phone calls and 2 visits to the dealership i am still waiting, didnt like the way the sales assistant rushed me out of the door, didnt explain anything about the finance either, i got the impression they prefer customers that look like they can afford bmw cars.