Ms. [redacted] brought her 2004 BMW 545 to our dealership on 10/30/13 for issues related to oil and coolant leaks that were covered by her extended warranty. The customer’s extended warranty has...
now expired. After our inspection, we replaced the upper timing chain cover gaskets, alternator bracket seal for the oil leaks, as well as the valley pan gasket under the intake manifold for the coolant leak. The vehicle repairs were completed on 11/25/13.
The customer brought her vehicle back to our dealership on 02/12/14, informing us that the vehicle had several problems since we serviced it on 11/25/13. First, she stated there was a “squealing” noise coming from the engine when starting the vehicle. After inspection, we were unable to duplicate this problem. Secondly, the customer reported there was a “whining” noise when driving that sounded like a problem with her power steering. Again, after inspection we were unable to duplicate this concern. Third, the customer indicated the oil level gauge was reading at the minimum level; therefore, we added 1 quart of oil to her vehicle. Fourth, she reported the heater was not getting hot at idle, so we adjusted the setting in the idrive. And fifth, she indicated we cracked the windshield wiper cowl during her service date in November 2013. As a result, we replaced the wiper cowl at no charge to her.
On 02/19/14, the customer brought her vehicle back to our dealership and reported there was a “chirping” noise on startup. After inspection, we were, in fact, able to duplicate the noise so we replaced the drive belt and tensioner. The customer called back on 5/6/14 and said that the noise was still present. Given this, I called the customer on 05/8/14 and informed her that I would refund her the money for the drive belt and tensioner. Later that day, she called back and said that the air conditioner was only getting cold on the passenger side and her vehicle was making a “chirping” noise when starting the vehicle. She brought the vehicle in that day (05/08/14) and we gave her a free loaner car so we could complete the inspection.
I paid my BMW certified technician $437 worth of diagnosis to evaluate her reported issues concerning the air conditioning system and chirping noise. My technician tested all the wires that go to the a/c compressor, as well as the wires that go to the a/c control head. He was unable to find any problems. He then performed an Evacuate and Recharge on the a/c system and discovered that the low pressure side was higher than it was supposed to be and the high pressure side was lower than it was supposed to be. The dial on the pressure gauge was also fluctuating on the pressures. These issues indicate one of the following: 1) a stuck expansion valve; or 2) an a/c compressor going out. My technician also started the vehicle many times without duplicating the chirping noise. I called the customer and informed her that we need to start with replacing the expansion valve but there was a possibility that the compressor was also bad. I informed her I would apply the $383.51 she paid for the drive belt and tensioner towards the repairs.
At that point, she stated there was not a problem with her vehicle until we repaired it in November 2013. I informed her that the repairs that were completed in November (6 months prior to the current date) were not related to the a/c given that we did not remove the compressor or the a/c lines at that time. Further, on repeated occasions we were unable to duplicate the reported “chirping” noise when turning on the a/c. The a/c compressor and the expansion valve are mostly mechanical parts; therefore, they will not show up in test plans on the BMW scan tool. Given this, I informed the customer we could not be 100% certain whether the expansion valve or the compressor was bad. However, I did inform the customer that it was recommended she replace the expansion valve if we were replacing the compressor. I also told her that the compressor is on the other side of the engine from where the repairs were performed, so it is unlikely the repairs would have produced the a/c problem.
The customer was also informed that our service department would not be held responsible for any additional problems with her vehicle if they were not related to the November 2013 repairs. At that point, she approved us replacing the expansion valve. This was completed on 5/21/14; however, it did not fix the issue with her a/c not getting cold on the driver side. I told her that the vehicle is going to need an a/c compressor like we thought, so she informed us she was going to pick up her car and declined having the compressor replaced. I applied the $383.51 towards her bill and her father picked up the vehicle on 5/27/14.
[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Regards,
[redacted]
The customer's 2012 Tiguan was brought in to service here on 7/3/14 because after driving the vehicle for 2 or 3 hours the a/c would start blowing hot. The service advisor explained to the customer that we would have to drive the vehicle 2 or 3 hours to duplicate the concern and the...
customer agreed and signed the repair order stating that. The service advisor did drive the vehicle home on 7/3/14 so we could duplicate the concern and she could not duplicate the concern. My shop foreman then drove the vehicle home on the weekend and he was still not able to duplicate the concern. On Monday morning 7/11/14 the technician completed another long test drive and duplicated the concern. The techician then tested the a/c system and found the a/c compressor needs replaced. He then completed an oil service on the customer's car. The technician does smoke but he assured me he did not smoke in the vehicle but his clothes may have made the vehicle smell like smoke. We called the customer's extended warranty and found out her extended warranty had expired at 100,000 miles and she had 107,000 miles. I told her that the a/c compressor would not be covered by her extended warranty because it had expired. I talked to the customer and told her will are going to send her a check for the fuel that we used and pay her back $127 for the diagnostic charge that she paid. We will also complete a full inside and outside detail for free. The customer agreed that this was acceptable. I apologized that we did not fill her vehicle with fuel, it smelled like smoke, and it was dirty on the inside. I sent the check request to my accounting department and they will be sending it out next week.
Ms. [redacted] brought her 2004 BMW 545 to our dealership on 10/30/13 for issues related to oil and coolant leaks that were covered by her extended warranty. The customer’s extended warranty has...
now expired. After our inspection, we replaced the upper timing chain cover gaskets, alternator bracket seal for the oil leaks, as well as the valley pan gasket under the intake manifold for the coolant leak. The vehicle repairs were completed on 11/25/13.
The customer brought her vehicle back to our dealership on 02/12/14, informing us that the vehicle had several problems since we serviced it on 11/25/13. First, she stated there was a “squealing” noise coming from the engine when starting the vehicle. After inspection, we were unable to duplicate this problem. Secondly, the customer reported there was a “whining” noise when driving that sounded like a problem with her power steering. Again, after inspection we were unable to duplicate this concern. Third, the customer indicated the oil level gauge was reading at the minimum level; therefore, we added 1 quart of oil to her vehicle. Fourth, she reported the heater was not getting hot at idle, so we adjusted the setting in the idrive. And fifth, she indicated we cracked the windshield wiper cowl during her service date in November 2013. As a result, we replaced the wiper cowl at no charge to her.
On 02/19/14, the customer brought her vehicle back to our dealership and reported there was a “chirping” noise on startup. After inspection, we were, in fact, able to duplicate the noise so we replaced the drive belt and tensioner. The customer called back on 5/6/14 and said that the noise was still present. Given this, I called the customer on 05/8/14 and informed her that I would refund her the money for the drive belt and tensioner. Later that day, she called back and said that the air conditioner was only getting cold on the passenger side and her vehicle was making a “chirping” noise when starting the vehicle. She brought the vehicle in that day (05/08/14) and we gave her a free loaner car so we could complete the inspection.
I paid my BMW certified technician $437 worth of diagnosis to evaluate her reported issues concerning the air conditioning system and chirping noise. My technician tested all the wires that go to the a/c compressor, as well as the wires that go to the a/c control head. He was unable to find any problems. He then performed an Evacuate and Recharge on the a/c system and discovered that the low pressure side was higher than it was supposed to be and the high pressure side was lower than it was supposed to be. The dial on the pressure gauge was also fluctuating on the pressures. These issues indicate one of the following: 1) a stuck expansion valve; or 2) an a/c compressor going out. My technician also started the vehicle many times without duplicating the chirping noise. I called the customer and informed her that we need to start with replacing the expansion valve but there was a possibility that the compressor was also bad. I informed her I would apply the $383.51 she paid for the drive belt and tensioner towards the repairs.
At that point, she stated there was not a problem with her vehicle until we repaired it in November 2013. I informed her that the repairs that were completed in November (6 months prior to the current date) were not related to the a/c given that we did not remove the compressor or the a/c lines at that time. Further, on repeated occasions we were unable to duplicate the reported “chirping” noise when turning on the a/c. The a/c compressor and the expansion valve are mostly mechanical parts; therefore, they will not show up in test plans on the BMW scan tool. Given this, I informed the customer we could not be 100% certain whether the expansion valve or the compressor was bad. However, I did inform the customer that it was recommended she replace the expansion valve if we were replacing the compressor. I also told her that the compressor is on the other side of the engine from where the repairs were performed, so it is unlikely the repairs would have produced the a/c problem.
The customer was also informed that our service department would not be held responsible for any additional problems with her vehicle if they were not related to the November 2013 repairs. At that point, she approved us replacing the expansion valve. This was completed on 5/21/14; however, it did not fix the issue with her a/c not getting cold on the driver side. I told her that the vehicle is going to need an a/c compressor like we thought, so she informed us she was going to pick up her car and declined having the compressor replaced. I applied the $383.51 towards her bill and her father picked up the vehicle on 5/27/14.
[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response. If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
Regards,
[redacted]
The customer's 2012 Tiguan was brought in to service here on 7/3/14 because after driving the vehicle for 2 or 3 hours the a/c would start blowing hot. The service advisor explained to the customer that we would have to drive the vehicle 2 or 3 hours to duplicate the concern and the...
customer agreed and signed the repair order stating that. The service advisor did drive the vehicle home on 7/3/14 so we could duplicate the concern and she could not duplicate the concern. My shop foreman then drove the vehicle home on the weekend and he was still not able to duplicate the concern. On Monday morning 7/11/14 the technician completed another long test drive and duplicated the concern. The techician then tested the a/c system and found the a/c compressor needs replaced. He then completed an oil service on the customer's car. The technician does smoke but he assured me he did not smoke in the vehicle but his clothes may have made the vehicle smell like smoke. We called the customer's extended warranty and found out her extended warranty had expired at 100,000 miles and she had 107,000 miles. I told her that the a/c compressor would not be covered by her extended warranty because it had expired. I talked to the customer and told her will are going to send her a check for the fuel that we used and pay her back $127 for the diagnostic charge that she paid. We will also complete a full inside and outside detail for free. The customer agreed that this was acceptable. I apologized that we did not fill her vehicle with fuel, it smelled like smoke, and it was dirty on the inside. I sent the check request to my accounting department and they will be sending it out next week.