From: rob yeates [rob.yeates@achievehealthcare.com]
Sent: Monday, December 28, 1998 3:04 PM
To: I_am_mad_too@bmwlemon.com
Subject: My BMW EXTREME HORROR Story

As a preface, I can't tell you how much I appreciate you taking the time
to set up this site. If anything, it helps me to vent my extreme
frustration over my current predicament. I will give you the highlights
of my horror story as the original letter i sent to BMW Customer Care
department was 17 pages in lenght. This letter was sent over 2 months
ago, and then sent again 1 month ago. I haven't heard a WORD from ANYONE
at BMW.

Here's my abbreviated story which involves problems with the following
items that all occured within the first 90 days of taking possession of
the car:

faulty water pump
faulty radiator
faulty brakes
faulty muffler
Possible/Very Likely rollback on mileage
inconsistent starting/rough idling
repair work promised by BMW dealership still not performed 6 months
afterwards
General manager's refusal to speak with me regarding all the problems


							November 3, 1998

BMW Financial Services
Customer Assistance Department
P.O. Box 3608
Dublin, OH 43016-0306


Dear Customer Assistance Department:

I am writing this letter out of the severe frustration in the dealings I
have encountered with my local BMW Dealer, Motorwerks BMW, located in
Bloomington Minnesota. It is my hope that perhaps someone at the
corporate level can provide me with some assistance regarding some quite
serious problems that I have encountered with the vehicle that I began
leasing a few short months ago. If this letter does not reach the right
party at your department, please do me the favor of forwarding to a
party within the organization that can provide me with some prompt
assistance. I would greatly appreciate this.

Let me preface this letter with the fact that this current lease that I
have going is the 6th BMW that I have either owned or leased since the
fall of 1993. In order, I have purchased/leased the following vehicles
from BMW:

1) 1993 325I
2) 1994 325 ic
3) 1994 318 
4) 1992 318ic
5) 1994 318
6) current leased vehicle, a 1993 325i. 

My ownership experience with each of the previous vehicles has been
nothing short of outstanding from everything to delivery to ownership
experience. Up to this point, the cars have performed wonderfully and I
have received excellent assistance when any service or repair work was
called for (which was quite infrequently.) Simply, I have grown to
appreciate and love the cars and have a difficult time owning other
vehicles. Please keep in mind that the reason that I have come to
contact you is because I can get NO response from the General Manager of
the dealership either through written or verbal attempts, or through the
attempts of my lawyer. Quite simply, he refuses contact, saying that he
will not spend any more time discussing the situation with me because he
has done too much for me already.

In March of 1998 I relocated to Minneapolis from St. Louis, Missouri -
and quickly familiarized myself with the BMW dealerships in the twin
cities. I found Motorwerks BMW in Bloomington to be the only exclusive
dealer of BMW cars in the area. Accordingly, I had some moderate hail
damage to my 1994 318 and received a check for nearly $5,000 for repairs
and decided to trade in the vehicle at the dealer and "upgrade" to the
325 series. I found a car with 31,000 miles on it with more features
than my car had - power seats, trip computer, better sound system, and a
6 cylinder engine.

In debating whether to lease the car or to buy it outright, I figured to
save about $60 per month and do a lease on the car for 3 years and if I
still enjoyed it to buy it outright at the end of the lease. While the
car was a 1993, it still qualified for BMW’s lease program- due to the
low mileage that was on the odometer. I made the deal on July 31st,
1998, (a favor to the salesmen and the dealership to get the car
included in July’s books), and was to have a few minor articles on the
car repaired before delivery. The sales representative presented an "I
Owe You" slip for these items as well. (please see enclosed
documentation for evidence) Specifically, these items were the
following:

1)  Repair dent on quarter panel
2)  Repair right mirror lens
3)  Interior- dye back seat and holes in dash

	All very simple items to fix. 

This ticket was dated July 31st, 1998, and signed by my salesmen, Larry
Rheame. Larry asked me to bring the car back in to get these items
repaired the following week, Saturday, August 8th. I did so, dropped my
car off, and took a loaner car home. The repairs were to take the
dealership 2 days to fix and they were to call me when they were done.
On Wednesday of this week I called the dealership and Larry was not in
so I went to pick up my car. I was told that it was still out getting
painted and to come back the following day. I returned on Thursday and
the car was still not done or there on site.

On Friday I came in again to pick up the car (after not hearing from the
dealership once again) and Larry, my salesmen, was there but he said
that they weren’t able to fix everything on the car and that he would
arrange to have someone come out to my work and complete the repairs. I
gave him my home and work numbers and took my car back. When I got into
my car to go home I noticed that there was white paint on the interior
of the car, specifically on the inside driver’s door, the steering
wheel, the seat, and the shift knob. I advised Larry of this before I
left and he said that it probably happened when they primed and painted
my bumper and that he would have someone take care of this as well. (No
apologies of course). I agreed and left the dealership with the vehicle
comfortable with the fact that someone would call me and fix the things
that still needed fixing. (All that was done to the car while they had
it for the week was taking out a dent in the bumper and replacing a
cracked passenger rear view mirror). The did not re-dye the back seat or
repair the holes in the dash. Now on top of this I had paint on the
interior of the car.

A week and ½ passed and I had heard nothing from the dealership, so I
called my sales representative on Monday, August 17th and he took my
work and home phone numbers and said he would get back to me shortly. He
never did. Keep in mind that the "I Owe You" stands in tact for 30 days,
so I wanted to stay on him to make sure these things got fixed. At this
time, the coolant warning on my car came on and I noticed that it was
leaking antifreeze - which I had to add. I also figured I better check
all the fluid levels at this point as the car was not running very well,
and noticed that the car was down over a quart of oil as well. This
surprised me for a car with 31,000 miles that I had literally just
purchased. I wondered if the dealership had sold me a real lemon. I’ve
owned 5 of these cars and never had this problem - even when my car had
over 70,000 miles on it. 

I called back again for Larry on Thursday of the same week, left a
message, and got no reply. The following Tuesday, August 25th I reached
him again, asked him if he got my message and again he took down my home
and work phone numbers and said he would take care of it. He never did.
Finally I called the used car manager, left word for him and explained
the situation and he never called me back either.

Thoroughly frustrated at this point, on September 7th, after not hearing
back from the dealership for over a month, I called the general manager,
John Drewitz and explained my situation and the horrible service that I
was receiving. He seemed quite receptive and asked what we could do to
remedy the situation. I told him that I wanted him to go over the car
with me, so I could show him all of the problems that I was encountering
and that I couldn’t imagine why a car with so few miles could have so
many things wrong with it. He agreed, and we were to meet that Saturday
morning, September 12th.  

I showed up at the dealership and presented my situation to the dealer
and had him examine the car with me. Specifically I showed him the car’s
interior, had him listen to a very loud muffler,  showed him the stains
in the seat, told him how much antifreeze I had added, told him it was
at least a quart low on oil, and said I 
was very displeased that I hadn’t even got a call back from the
dealership. I had given them a check for almost $5000 and a car that was
mechanically very, very, sound in exchange for this vehicle- which was
now running horribly. The G.M. was very standoffish. He commented to me
after hearing my complaints, "What I hear you saying is that the longer
you are in the car, Rob, the less you like it." The conversations that
ensued were directed by him, as he was done listening to anything I had
to say. He was intimidating, pushy, and evasive.

When I asked him if the car had been checked over before they put it on
the lot for sale he said it was "quite possible" that the car had not
had any service checks performed and that he "wouldn’t be able to stay
in business" if he had to check every car over before putting it on the
lot for sale. I found this utterly ridiculous, as every pre-owned BMW
that I have owned has had a thorough inspection for possible faults. 
The G.M. wrote another I Owe You slip to me and said that he would have
the car looked over for reasons for the leaking antifreeze and oil and
also check the validity of the car having 31,000 actual miles at the
time of purchase/lease. 

Specifically the I Owe You said:

1)  check engine for possible oil consumption (shows a quart low)
2)  check for antifreeze leaks - (added 2 weeks ago less than quart)
3)  check title and inspect car to verify that car has 31,000 actual
miles.

Additionally, the G.M., John Drewitz, said that he had master mechanics
who were very familiar with these cars and he would probe them to see
what their thoughts were regarding the actual mileage on the car. He
promised to share this information with me. He never did- and never
provided me with any written documentation pertaining to the car’s
actual mileage or service records, although he said he did consult the
BMW master computer for this information. He then asked me to set up an
appointment to have the car looked over, which I was able to do on the
following Thursday, September 24th. 

I received a call from the service advisor on September 24th and was
advised that the car needed a new radiator because the old one had a
crack in it. I was told the repair cost and then called the G.M. to
advise him what they found. I told him that I felt they should be
responsible for the repair because I had only had the car a short time
before I started encountering these problems. He said he was "under no
obligation" but that he felt it was fair to go 50/50 with me on the
labor and repair of the vehicle. Since he said he had no legal
responsibility I didn’t feel I had much recourse and said I disagreed
with the principle but I guess I would have to pay for half. 

When I went to pick up the car on Friday, 9/25/98 it started up but was
running very bad, and idling very harsh - shaking and vibrating. I
thought this may be because they put a new radiator in it and I should
let it run for 10 minutes or so, but the condition did not improve. I
left the car there for the remainder of the weekend because the service
department was now closed. I received a call from the service advisor
the following Monday saying they didn’t have any problems when they
started the car and that it was running fine. The last time I picked the
car up was Monday, September 28th. It ran for 13 days before breaking
down.

On Monday, October 12th,  I was driving back from lunch and the car
started steaming as I rolled into the parking lot. I shut the car off
immediately and looked under the hood and antifreeze was leaking
everywhere. I called Motorwerks service department and explained what
happened and they told me to call a tow truck and have the car towed.
Additionally, they said if they were at fault, then they would pay for
the tow.  I received a call back the following morning, Tuesday, stating
that my water pump had blown and I needed a new one at a cost of $375.00
Additionally, because it wasn’t the radiator, that it was my
responsibility to also pay for the tow. I called the G.M. and left word
of what happened and just got a message back stating he was "sorry to
hear about what had happened. "

I asked the service advisor when I went to pay the total bill of $449.89
for the water pump and the repair why, if the car wasn’t running
properly and was leaking antifreeze, doesn’t the service department do a
thorough check to make sure that they diagnose the problem accurately?
They simply said that the two items were completely separate. If I am a
complaining customer who has just purchased a car with some major
problems, why in the heck wouldn’t they take an hour to go over the car
AFTER I have already paid to have one thing replaced to make sure
nothing else is wrong? How could they miss this? They didn’t have any
answers for me, just that it was "a completely different part." 

After leaving the dealership in disgust and getting no reply from the
G.M. other than he was sorry to hear what had happened, I did some
research on lemon laws in the state of Minnesota. (I have attached the
documentation from the state pertaining to this, entitled "Minnesota
Used Car Warranty Law") I found out that I was well within my legal
limits when I approached Motorwerks and presented them with the problems
I was having and that it was Motorwerks legal responsibility to cover
these items under warranty. 

Directly, I brought in the car for the G.M. to examine on September
12th, 1998. This would be 30 days in August, and 12 days in September, a
total of 42 days after taking ownership of the car. I specifically
presented the problems to him of the leaking antifreeze and the way the
car was running and the fact that the oil was indeed a quart low. The
G.M. wrote out an I Owe You on this date to have the car checked over
and found that it needed a new radiator. (It is obvious now that they
didn’t check any other items on the car or do any diagnostic work as
they failed to find the faulty water pump as well.) 

The Minnesota Used Car Warranty states, "if the used motor vehicle has
less than 36,000 miles, the warranty must remain in effect for at least
60 days or 2,500 miles, whichever comes first; (Subd. 2 Written Warranty
Required.) This warranty covers not only the radiator, but also the
water pump. (Again please see attached documentation from the state). I
was well within both frames.

As if this were not bad enough, last Friday, October 30th, my brake
warning indicator light came on - and my brake liners are basically
non-existent. So, within 90 days of taking the lease I now have had to
replace, 1) brakes 2) radiator 3) water pump 4) thermostat 5)
undisclosed belts    -  all on a car that supposedly has 34,000 miles on
it presently. I drive the car under very normal conditions and only
drive it an estimated 15 -20 miles per day. 

To this day I have received no written or verbal reply from the
dealership or the general manager other than a voicemail, this past
Monday, that the G.M. left stating 2 weeks later after my last repair,
that he had received a letter of disgust that I had written to him -
(enclosed as well). I had my attorney call to discuss the situation with
the G.M. and he refused to sit down and talk about the problems, stating
that he had already wasted "too much time" trying to work things out
with me. The interior of my car still has paint on it, the back seats
still have the stains on them, and the holes in the dash have never been
fixed either - although I have repeatedly tried to get these things
fixed. 

To date I have spent a total of $805.00 out of my own pocket fixing the
radiator, water pump, thermometer, belts, and brakes on this car - 90
days after taking ownership of the lease. Additionally, out of these 90
days, the car has been at the dealership a total of 14 days. Two full
weeks!!!  I don’t know what else to do other than to go over his head
and present my absolutely horrific ownership experience with BMW
Financial. I have owned 5 BMW’s all 3 series, and have NEVER experienced
these sorts of problems. My service visits have been pleasant if not
outstanding prior to this dealership, and I have been dealt with fairly. 

Can I please get some action and response from your end. I have spent
thousands of dollars on BMW’s over the past 5 years and have been a
loyal and good standing customer. This isn’t the way to treat a repeat
customer. This G.M. and dealership should not be authorized to carry
your cars if they treat people the way they have treated me. The
ruthless and unethical tactics that have been utilized by the dealer
have been utterly dishonest and unresponsive. What action do I need to
take to get these items rectified? I certainly didn’t pay all of this
money down on a vehicle and trade in a very solid running car to be
dealt this hand. Quite simply I need your help, and I need these issues
addressed immediately. 

I have enclosed just about every document I can think of to support my
case. In addition this is the complete and utter truth of what has
occurred with this G.M. and dealership. There is no mincing words, these
are the facts of the situation. Please call me to verify receipt of this
letter and documentation and let me know what action you can take to
deal with this situation. 

Thank you-


Robert W. Yeates