Will be concise and to the point:
Key Facts:
Bought Car on: 1-10-2016
Kms on Purchase: 94,500
Kms while posting: 128,000 (Approx)
Bought From BMW Infinity Motors.
Warranty till
Nov 2018 / 200,000kms (Bought by me by paying extra)
The Car looked really good, the interiors were like brand new and everything worked. The Engine and Gearbox both had been replaced for unspecified reasons at about 90,000 kms and the adaptive damper suspension too was renewed fully at that time.
Brake pads were almost new.
BMW provided 2 new tyres and I bought 2 new tyres right at the start. So all tyres, brakes, suspension, engine and gearbox seemed new.
Am currently forced to mainly use my Ford EcoSport AT as it is more reliable though it is of the same age in terms of years.
GTO had suggested a new Endeavour 3.2 Titanium - I rarely follow correct advice.
25% time in the service centre:- It has been with me for about 20 months and has spent well more than 5 months of this time in the service centre.
- I was given a loaner X1 on two occasions it covered about 15 days.
Dates and number of days when at the service centre:
1-10-2016 to 15-11-2016 - 45 Days at Service Centre
30-11-2016 to 6-12-2016 - 7 Days at Service Centre
15-12-2016 to 22-12-2016 - 8 Days at Service Centre
03-01-2017 to 04-01-2017 - 2 Days at Service Centre
10-04-2017-11-04-2017 - 2 Days at Service Centre
15-04-2017-15-04-2017 - 1 Day at Service Centre
07-05-2017 to 07-05-2017 - 1 Day at Service Centre
05-07-2017 to 11-07-2017 - 7 Days at Service Centre
02-09-2017 to 19-09-2017 - 17 Days at Service Centre
29-11-2017 to 30-11-2017 - 2 Days at Service Centre
25-12-2017 to 14-01-2018 - 21 Days at Service Centre
15-01-2018 to 19-01-2018 - 4 Days at Service Centre
07-06-2018 to 23-07-2018 - 40 Days at Service Centre. With a few days with me in between.
- 1.8 yrs - 34,000 kms Approx
- Approx 155+ Days - 5+ Months at Service Centre. Some days are rounded off.
- This period excludes days when the car was with me as the service centre did not have a part in stock. The car though was not usable or a pain to use due to some defect like say the automatic rain sensor not working in the rains, since last monsoon. They then gave me back the car with a sensor reset just before the rains ended so I was not able to check it till this years monsoon when I just could not bear using the wiper in high speed or off all the time.
BMW is known for reliability and excellent service. But after completing 27,000 kms in first 10 months, I have been forced to slow down to just 7,000 kms in last 10 months.
Issue raised to BMW via Infinity Motors: - I told them that while the service centre has been very courteous and supportive the repair related delays have taken too long and the product has not been reliable enough.
- I told them that I am a Distinguished BHPian at TeamBHP as a statement to the fact that I understand cars quite well and that I would post the resolution on the forum and that I understand social media quite well.
- I informed them of one of my earlier cars the Tata Aria being at the service centre for just (relative to 25% for the BMW) 10% of the time and that TATA were fair and honourable enough to give me a 100% refund and take back my vehicle after realizing their fault. (Of course there are more details to that which I would not like to share.)
- That LG recently gave me a 100% refund for multiple failures of their top of the line washing machine costing 50K plus. Of course I had to fight a fair bit with them and go to the social media.
They finally gave me a
final verbal response today after about a month that they: (They would be giving a written letter which would obviously not state in as many words the following
- BMW cannot do any thing about the car and my experience. I had asked that they either refund 100% of my car purchase value back to me or provide me a significantly extended warranty ++. They are negative on both aspects. Essentially they are washing their hands of the vehicle and waiting for the warranty period of the car to get over in November either in their hands or mine.
- That they have been repairing the car within warranty since the time I bought it. That though I bought it from a BMW dealer under warranty how the car was maintained before that is not their responsibility. (I did inform them that I was told the car is in good condition and that it had Not met with a major accident.) They stated that the Engine, Gearbox, and Suspension had not failed. Though in reality the Engine Coolant leakage, Speed sensor failure, Steering rack failure, Starter motor failure etc resulted in the car being with them for long period. Also both headlights required replacement under warranty and the front door windows (both) squeaking required 4 trips to the service centre along with other issues and is still not resolved after 11 plus days allotted to that itself.
- 25% of the time spent at the service centre is something that is normal for a BMW of this age. But frankly even if it happens to a new car they would consider it on a case to case basis. There is no defined policy for uniform level of support.
- That the fact that I have had to keep a spare car to use the BMW is not their concern.
At my residence, presently I am the only one who drives so having 2 cars makes absolutely no sense, but since I have a dad who is 86 yrs old and may require to visit the hospital at any time I have to ensure I have a reliable car with me all the times.
While evaluating cars I was strongly bent on the Endeavour 4x4 Titanium, my father suggested a preowned Merc or BMW as they are reliable in general. I have multiple options among various brands including BMW from outside the authorized centre with half the kms on them at about the same price but without the warranty. I selected the X3 for the Warranty, Condition, and the 30D Engine of course.
Or is it that the previous owner too found the car to have too many issues and sold it off for that reason.
PS: The Car Buying Experience It was just like how buying a premium car should be. All arrangements for pooja, Chocolates, T-Shirt, Cap, Pen, Leather Tissue Paper Dispenser etc.. The Experience with BMW financials was also very good. The Car insurance transfer experience was very Bad. You win some, you loose some.