:help
Huge BMW dilemma
I have a HUUUUGE dilemma regarding a 2001 certified 325i that we own. We purchased the car in the spring of 03 and drove it through the end of 03 with only a few relatively minor repairs necessary. In February of this year, we took it in to the dealer because it started running very rough. The dealer made significant repairs to the car several times over the next couple of months to no avail. We took it in again for the same problem on April 8 of this year, AND THAT’S THE LAST TIME WE SAW THE CAR!
The car has now been in the shop for almost 4 solid months, and despite the best efforts of everyone from the factory on down, they have admitted they cannot fix the problem. The list of repairs that this car has undergone is staggering, and includes things like new ignition coils (multiple times), new wiring, new module, new cams, boxes, lifters, new fuel pump, new fuel regulator, and the list goes on and on and on. From that list, you can probably get a sense that they (including factory engineers) had no idea what was wrong. At retail, the repairs already are up into the tens of thousands of dollars. Fortunately, it’s all covered under warranty.
Four months later, everyone has finally thrown in the towel and the decision has been made to completely replace the engine. It is due in this week and will be installed early next. Now here is our dilemma…
When a future buyer of this car looks at the maintenance records, they are going to encounter a printout that looks like the rap sheet of a lifelong criminal. It will include dozens of major repairs culminating in the installation of a brand new engine.
Now there are two schools of thought on this issue, but one seems to dominate. For savvy car owners who can understand the evolution of a complex mechanical problem and the steps taken to fix it (like those who probably frequent this list), the response might be that a new engine is a great bonus as long as the rest of the car is in good shape. However, for nearly every lay person I’ve asked, the response has been universally negative. For reasons that sometime can’t even be articulated, nearly everyone says they would be completely turned off from buying a car that had this type of history… regardless of the reasons. To the average car buyer it says “this car is a lemon – stay away”.
This leaves us with a car that has been seriously devalued due to its troubled maintenance history, and it’s clearly the fault of BMW. Had they been able to fix the car properly when it first came in, we’d have no issue now. The fact that they were never able to figure out the problem indicates some serious deficiency in their engineering or troubleshooting processes, and this deficiency is what caused the cascading series of events that led us to this unfortunate situation.
So I’d like to ask some questions…
1. What to do about this situation? What is appropriate remedy? Do you agree that the resale value has been seriously impacted by this process?
2. Has anyone else ever encountered a problem with a BMW where the best minds of the company could not figure out the problem?
3. What does a situation like this say about the complexity of today’s vehicles?
4. Are situations like this (and I’ve been told by representatives of the dealership that ours is not an isolated incident) representative of some type of decline in the quality of German automobile engineering?
Answer one or all of the questions if you like. I’m looking forward to hearing your opinions.
The one thing I’d like to avoid is second guessing the cause of the problem and the troubleshooting procedure the company used. At this point it’s no longer relevant to the discussion since the new engine is due to arrive and be installed this week, and all the previous repairs are already a matter of record. The damage is done and there is no way to turn back the clock.
Finally, please indicate if you would be amenable to sharing your relevant insight and experiences with a journalist. If so, please contact me directly at gregl@patriot.net.
Thanks!
Regards,
Greg Letourneau
Huge BMW dilemma
I have a HUUUUGE dilemma regarding a 2001 certified 325i that we own. We purchased the car in the spring of 03 and drove it through the end of 03 with only a few relatively minor repairs necessary. In February of this year, we took it in to the dealer because it started running very rough. The dealer made significant repairs to the car several times over the next couple of months to no avail. We took it in again for the same problem on April 8 of this year, AND THAT’S THE LAST TIME WE SAW THE CAR!
The car has now been in the shop for almost 4 solid months, and despite the best efforts of everyone from the factory on down, they have admitted they cannot fix the problem. The list of repairs that this car has undergone is staggering, and includes things like new ignition coils (multiple times), new wiring, new module, new cams, boxes, lifters, new fuel pump, new fuel regulator, and the list goes on and on and on. From that list, you can probably get a sense that they (including factory engineers) had no idea what was wrong. At retail, the repairs already are up into the tens of thousands of dollars. Fortunately, it’s all covered under warranty.
Four months later, everyone has finally thrown in the towel and the decision has been made to completely replace the engine. It is due in this week and will be installed early next. Now here is our dilemma…
When a future buyer of this car looks at the maintenance records, they are going to encounter a printout that looks like the rap sheet of a lifelong criminal. It will include dozens of major repairs culminating in the installation of a brand new engine.
Now there are two schools of thought on this issue, but one seems to dominate. For savvy car owners who can understand the evolution of a complex mechanical problem and the steps taken to fix it (like those who probably frequent this list), the response might be that a new engine is a great bonus as long as the rest of the car is in good shape. However, for nearly every lay person I’ve asked, the response has been universally negative. For reasons that sometime can’t even be articulated, nearly everyone says they would be completely turned off from buying a car that had this type of history… regardless of the reasons. To the average car buyer it says “this car is a lemon – stay away”.
This leaves us with a car that has been seriously devalued due to its troubled maintenance history, and it’s clearly the fault of BMW. Had they been able to fix the car properly when it first came in, we’d have no issue now. The fact that they were never able to figure out the problem indicates some serious deficiency in their engineering or troubleshooting processes, and this deficiency is what caused the cascading series of events that led us to this unfortunate situation.
So I’d like to ask some questions…
1. What to do about this situation? What is appropriate remedy? Do you agree that the resale value has been seriously impacted by this process?
2. Has anyone else ever encountered a problem with a BMW where the best minds of the company could not figure out the problem?
3. What does a situation like this say about the complexity of today’s vehicles?
4. Are situations like this (and I’ve been told by representatives of the dealership that ours is not an isolated incident) representative of some type of decline in the quality of German automobile engineering?
Answer one or all of the questions if you like. I’m looking forward to hearing your opinions.
The one thing I’d like to avoid is second guessing the cause of the problem and the troubleshooting procedure the company used. At this point it’s no longer relevant to the discussion since the new engine is due to arrive and be installed this week, and all the previous repairs are already a matter of record. The damage is done and there is no way to turn back the clock.
Finally, please indicate if you would be amenable to sharing your relevant insight and experiences with a journalist. If so, please contact me directly at gregl@patriot.net.
Thanks!
Regards,
Greg Letourneau