[thegrandfacade]

Curious if anyone out there chooses to immediately take their vehicle(s) to a private mechanic for service, instead of a dealer?

I realize that a brand new car is covered under warranty, but I wonder if anyone either doesn't trust their dealership, or has such a good relationship with a private mechanic that it's worth the added cost?

[corbinwilliams]

This is the first I've seen such a post for US based vehicles. I would consider taking it to my friend who works on euro cars but only after taking full advantage of the free BMW services.

[evoi19]

I don't see why you would take it to a private mechanic for service when you have 3 years of free service at BMW. I can't see any advantage to that.

[DoubleDave]

For the 1200 mile break in service I would definitely take it to the dealer as there has been a lot of discussion about warranty status if it’s not done by BMW.

For oil changes and maybe breaks…if you like your private mechanic better then go for it.

If you really don’t trust your dealership to do warranty work, you may have bought the wrong car. Ever consider a different dealer service department?

I personally will probably change my own oil as I can get it done at the time that works best for me out in my garage instead of driving to the dealership.

[tom @ eas]

Depends on the particular situation, but lots of people do for a number of reasons like:

- Established relationship with tuner, with mutual trust among both parties
- Modded vehicles has no fear of warranty rejection for 3rd party modifications

Use the independents for the mods and regular items, save the large warranty claims/recalls (if something unfortunate does happen) for the dealership.

[Gfit]

Seems counterintuitive. It's included in the price so you are paying double for the work, it won't be recorded on the official service records of the car, a mechanic has no ability to fix and clear a recall, a mechanic isn't getting trained yearly on these cars and I would imagine if they screwed something up good luck bringing it to BMW for a fix.

[Grumpy514]

Originally Posted by evoi19

I don't see why you would take it to a private mechanic for service when you have 3 years of free service at BMW. I can't see any advantage to that.

Many people do that. They build relationships with shops (I'm a shop owner) and trust the people that work there to work on their vehicles. Just because it's a dealership doesn't mean they don't have some monkey with a wrench working on your vehicle & taking it out for a joy ride. The last time I checked mechanic shops don't have the best wrap and even less for stealerships.

Another reason is convenience. Not everyone lives right around the corner from their BMW dealer.

Supporting a local small business is another good reason.

[evoi19]

Originally Posted by Grumpy514

Many people do that. They build relationships with shops (I'm a shop owner) and trust the people that work there to work on their vehicles. Just because it's a dealership doesn't mean they don't have some monkey with a wrench working on your vehicle & taking it out for a joy ride. The last time I checked mechanic shops don't have the best wrap and even less for stealerships.

Another reason is convenience. Not everyone lives right around the corner from their BMW dealer.

Supporting a local small business is another good reason.

I completely understand your points and you make some good ones. i would argue that it really depends on what the work involves. If it's normal maintenance (oil, brakes etc), I could see one taking it to their shop of choice. However, if it's something major like the bearings or a transmission that's covered under warranty, I don't see why someone wouldn't go to the dealer.

[Grumpy514]

Originally Posted by evoi19

I completely understand your points and you make some good ones. i would argue that it really depends on what the work involves. If it's normal maintenance (oil, brakes etc), I could see one taking it to their shop of choice. However, if it's something major like the bearings or a transmission that's covered under warranty, I don't see why someone wouldn't go to the dealer.

Warranty work is a whole other thing, we have referred many customer to dealerships once we find out their vehicle is under warranty. We have had vehicles come in that had recalls that we catch, or known issues that the company came out and did extended warranties....customers appreciate the honesty. Many will go and get the dealer to warranty the vehicle for repairs, some are so blown away with our honesty they will rather give us the money to fix the vehicle. They know that even when they go to the dealer for warranty work, they will get told they need X, Y & Z services done to their vehicles when in reality...we just did those services a month prior. It's crazy how dishonest some people are, real shame.