Getting the shaft
Here is an update on my BMW story. Get ready, it's not a happy one.
You may remember what happened. Stranded twice in one day. First at the Bay Bridge, then in San Francisco. Rescued by a friend and a nice tow truck driver.
It turns out I have a cracked radiator. Actually since these things are made out of plastic, I have a ruptured seam. Nothing to be done but to replace it. $1,100, thank you. Because they feel bad that I broke down in such a bad location, they will pay for half of the repairs. Out of courtesy, not because they did anything wrong.
The thing is, the car was in the dealership twice. The first time for the 60K service, and a second time to specifically to check the coolant alert. The paperwork says that they couldn't find a leak but added coolant anyway. So even though they looked at the coolant system twice, first at the service, then again when the coolant light came on, they say that the ruptured radiator is just a coincidence. Bad timing. They are sorry they didn't find any problems beforehand, but they looked at the system and sometimes that's just how life is. Or at least that is what they said yesterday.
Today the service manager says they never touched the coolant system during the inspection, even though the specs for Inspection II include this description:
Engine Compartment
- Read out diagnostic system
- Check engine cooling system/heater hose connections for leaks.
- Check coolant level and antifreeze protection level; add coolant if necessary.
So either they touched the cooling system or if they didn't, they were supposed to.
The notes from the subsequent paperwork show that when they got the car back to the dealer the second time they
"check coolant ad 1Q coolant pressur test no leak find thise time" (sic)
So, even though they checked the coolant during the service, they had to add coolant a week later. Or else they didn't touch it the first time and now they are adding coolant. But no leak was found this time. Huh.
So now the service manager says that they never touched the cooling system, never told us there was an air bubble in the cooling system and that even if there had been an air bubble there is no way it would have caused the radiator to boil over and rupture. In an effort to save his butt he is trying to rewrite history. Luckily, his paperwork tells a different story. Even more lucky is that I actually kept track of the paperwork.
Since then we've had three different mechanics tells us that we are right to believe there is probable cause and effect here. Either they didn't do something they were supposed to: check the cooling system during the service. Or they screwed up the cooling system during the service and couldn't figure out what they did wrong when they got the car back the second time. And/or they really screwed up the system when they got it back the second time.
Our position is that they should eat the total cost of the radiator repair. It was their fault, either through negligence or incompetence.
To add insult to injury, we have no way of knowing if the all-critical head gasket has been damaged and there is no way to tell until or unless things start to go wrong. If the head gasket has been damaged then the damage to the car will likely be catastrophic and there will be nothing to do but to get a new car. (Certainly not from them) In the meantime I get to drive this car every day with my kids in it and wonder if disaster is just around the corner. Won't that be nice?
But hey, it's just a coincidence right? Those nice guys at the dealer wouldn't take advantage of a woman just because she doesn't know a thing about cars. And they wouldn't lie about it later, would they? Because that would be wrong.
Since the service manager refuses to talk to us about this any further we have no choice but to contact the dealer management. I am also looking for contacts at BMW USA. If I don't get anywhere with them, my next recourse is to post a complaint on Craig's list, Yelp, Dealerratings.com and to report them to the Bureau of Automotive repair.
I know how much you enjoy irony, so here's what it says at the bottom of my repair paperwork:
You will soon receive a customer satisfaction survey call regarding today's service visit. If you can't rate us a "5", please contact your service advisor, or our service manager.
5 = excellent. That call is going to be interesting.
Oh, and last night after I brought the car home for the third time? As soon as I pulled into the driveway, my "check rear lights" alert went off.
Comments
We had a similar problem in January at our last service; new radiator was required but it was diagnosed right away. Bloomin' expensive too.
I wish you the best of luck for getting the justice you deserve.
this just in: a happy ending.
I'd bet that you're probably ok. It's a BMW. Further, it's a 7 series, BMW. Have faith in the engineers. Those cars are built to go through hell and back, and at high speeds even. You overheated in the cool, moist air of San Francisco and not in the Arizona desert. Further, you shut down pretty quickly when the shit went down, so even though you were overheating, you probably didn't generate enough heat to start changing the shapes of things.
Plus, you have AAA.
This was a lesson I learned early in my corporate life. Keep every piece of paper, even the cocktail napkins with scrawls on them. You never know when you'll need the evidence!