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URGENT- HELP NEEDED 3 Coupe Wrecked by DEALERSHIP

58K views 649 replies 116 participants last post by  anE934fun 
#1 · (Edited)
Guys,

I had to bring in my 2009 3 series lease car to a BMW dealer so that they could fix the "service engine" issue. It's been 2-3 days. I have a loaner.

I got a phone call this morning from a body shop 30 miles far from the dealership, telling me that the car has been towed there last night and the car is wrecked.

the deaership has not called me yet, and I alos found out that the person who brought my car into that body shop called and asked them not to tell the owner of the car, me, about what had happened.

Whoever wrecked the car did not call the police therefore there is no police report.

It is obvious that someone from the dealership took the car home for the night and had an accident, and they want to keep it quiet, fix the car and return it back to me as if nothing had happened.

Noone from the dealership has called me yet!!!!

I need some advise, any suggestions?

Thanks
 
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#125 ·
Turk - deal with it the way you think will come out best in the end. No one know's how they'd react until they're in your situation. Word of caution though, don't be complacent that the dealer will be willing to work with you because it's a leased vehicle. As a lessor of vehicles my entire life, you are 100% responsible for returning that vehicle in a pre-described state as outlined in your lease agreement. If the dealer is lying to you about obvious things, i.e how your car got off their lot in the 1st place, they're probably not beyond twisting the facts so you wind up paying for the damages upon vehicle turn-in.

Good luck
 
#128 ·
Why would you want to ever give them any more of your money? Aren't you just condoning their actions? I'd have them fix it with a guarantee for no diminished value at lease end, fullfill your contractual obligations, and go somewhere else. Given them more of your business only tells them they can do whatever they want and people won't care.
 
#129 ·
Because I have had good sales experience there in the past 7 years. I currently have 2 leased cars from them, I brought my cousin, and friends there and they all have leased from them as well. The sales is very good and I think that would be fair to seperate sales from the service.
 
#133 · (Edited)
Huh? Is there a typo in there? Why would you get the car fixed through YOUR insurance, you had nothing to do with the damages? And why would you agree to that?

If anything they should terminate the lease, they should fix the car on their dime and not penalize you for anything, and they should comp you the $1000 for going over by 5000 miles (assuming .20 per mile) or part of it at least as some kind of good will gesture.
 
#139 ·
OP, I really really hope you didnt take that offer. Their trying to wash their hands of this by getting you to accept liability. DO NOT do it!!! I would e telling them they can shove the extra 5,000miles because they "stole" and crashed your car!!
 
#140 ·
OP, please keep us updated on this story.

This is so f*cked up on so many levels it makes me sick. The dealership's moves as told by OP are disgusting. So disgusting, in fact, that I (personally, not an advice to OP) could NOT let it slide and take the best advantage of the situation.

I'm sorry, but I'm so sick and tired of "...and if it's not right, just tell us and we'll make it right for you!" - just do you god*amned job right the FIRST time. And if you can't, there should be consequences. In normal society the consequences would be very clear - people don't want to do business with incompetent people no matter how much "free" sh*t the incompetent business throws their way. No so in this country. Sadly.
 
#141 ·
Your insurance company will inquire as to the cause of the damage. They will will undoubtedly contact the dealer and ask them to pay. If they refuse, and your insurance company pays for the repair, then your insurance company will subrogate and make a claim on the dealers coverage. This shows a complete misunderstanding by the dealer of the way insurance works.
 
#144 ·
NO WAY would I ever agree to that! You do not deserve the hit to your insurance and for their lies and cover-up they should eat your mileage. This is completely THEIR FAULT! I can't believe that you're even considering this!

I've seen people fall for completely lousy deals at a dealership, but this takes the cake! Unbelievable!
 
#145 ·
So they are asking you to commit fraud? I would use those terms to help them prick up their ears!

Just out of interest, what is your demographic? They are kind of treating you like you are stupid

15-25
25-35
35-45
45-Bimmerfest
 
#146 ·
Like others have said, if you claim this as an at-fault accident on your insurance, then there's a good chance your rates will go up as a result of the claim. If they want you to claim it as comprehensive damage (not collision damage), one look at the car is going to show that's a fradulent claim and you do not want to get involved with that.

If I was in that situation, I would expect them to terminate the lease, fix it under *their* insurance, waive the over mileage charge, and provide a loaner from now until my new lease vehicle is ready to be driven off the lot. That's a totally reasonable resolution.
 
#149 · (Edited)
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#150 · (Edited)
Guys I am sorry for not being clear enough on my previous post, I put smileys because I thought it was a joke. I was typing as I was pulling out of the parking lot. I thought they were f'ing kidding me with that offer; fix the car through my insurance, paying for the extra miles and then they could terminate the lease. "This must be a joke" is what I have thought and headed to their dealership.

I got there little late due to traffic and the manager was leaving to pick up his wife. He told me to stop by the next day to resolve this. I have not discussed anything with him yet.

I have talked with my sales advisor, I have mentioned her that what the manager offered me is ridiculous and unacceptable. It is unbelieveable that they are asking me to to fix the car through my insurance, I later found out that the dealer's insurance only covers their cars, not the cars left in the service, which did not make sense to me at all. What if ' God forbid' their service burnt down while there were 20 cars in service?Whose insurance would cover that.

I aksed the million dollar question, "why would your dealership let tech guys take customers' cars home? " The service advisor told me that they wanted to test drive it :)
They also say that they called me 830 in the am to let me know about the accident however the first call I received was around 2.30-3 pm. I can sure prove that, etc.....

I will find out tomorrow, this must come to an end

Thanks for all your responses and advice.
 
#151 ·
I have talked with my sales advisor, I have mentioned her that what the manager offered me is ridiculous and unacceptable.
Ah, she'll make it all right, then...

Seriously, though....I don't mean to intentionally insult, but I think you are not doing yourself any favours by letting the manager phuque you off and 'go get his wife', etc... Was that the GM who blew you off, or just the Service Manager? You should have gone to the GM to address the issue to your liking, which at the very least should be:

- immediate lease termination
- waiver of any excess miles
- new lease of your choosing based on dealer cost for the car

Own it, brother, you were the one done wrong! Don't let them phuque you.
 
#154 ·
So they're claiming they're letting their employees drive other people's cars home and they're not insured for that? Seriously? In the chain of "reality" the employee's insurance would come into play before yours. THEY had the accident. Sit down with the VP and get on a speaker phone with BMWFS and run their scenario through with them. Better yet, call BMWFS tonight. The dealer's tune will change by morning. They hold no cards here yet they're acting like they're negotiating a car sale with you. It's time to hammer them.
 
#155 ·
Wow there sure is a lot of good advice.
Should anyone allow any M car over night?
It seems it is very temptimg for a test drive.
I remember reading about a porsche turbo S that was wrapped around a tree on a test drive (late at night).
Hope the car gets repaired.
 
#156 ·
Something doesn't quite add up here.....

They want you to cover the damages under your insurance..... but before they mention that little tid-bit to you, they've already brought the car to a body shop of their choosing. What if your particular insurer requires an adjuster to see the damages before work is started? What if they require you to go to a particular repair shop?

One thing you might want to check though is if you signed a waiver when you brought the car in. I imagine that it might cover something like this, in which case you may be out of luck.

If that's the case, then I think you need to re-visit the whole "more stabby" scenario :stickpoke

There's a similar story to this here . Dealer totalled a guys M5.... Final result, he had to sue the dealership... it went to trial.... he was awarded $160,000.... took over a year.

Good luck....
 
#157 ·
I think it's time to get BMWFS/BMWNA involved in this. It's quite obvious this dealership has no interest in resolving this as easy as possible for you for THEIR screw up and from what you have said they continue to lie. I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw them at this point...they've given you NO reason to. My guess is the manager put you off until he could get the whole story from others at the dealership and they could come up with some "story".

I completely understand your willingness to work with them, initially, but the time to be nice is over, at least it would be if it were my car. I'm pretty easy going, but once the lies started flying that would be it and for the life of me I don't understand why the dealership didn't come completely clean and turn a horrible situation for a customer into a "WIN". Do they not realize how much POSITIVE "press" they could get if they just would have done the right thing from the beginning? Instead they seem to be going the complete opposite direction...UNREAL.

Good luck!
 
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