Non-AB or Non-Cartrade BMWs

[mini_jeff67]

Just wondering how many non-AB or non-Cartrade BMWs are out there? I'm driving one, Japan spec.Reason I'm asking is AB will not service or maintain non-AB Beemers (donno about Cartrade cos got none in Sarawak as yet) becos they claim they cannot warranty the service plus they can hardly cope with AB cars. :blink: From what I understand, C&C services and maintains all MBs, although non-C&C MBs have to pay a slight premium - which is only fair, I feel. Not sure if they warranty service on non-C&C MBs though.I for one would prefer to go to an authorised centre simply becos they are sufficiently equipped, with the equipment at least - personnel is another matter! :beaten: What about the rest of you guys? What do you think?A beemer's a beemer, no matter where it comes from! :yahoo:

 

[ichiwan2]

You are definitely right. A beemer is a beemer. Whoever purports to be an authorised dealer/reseller had better provide service. Otherwise, you should do the nasty and complain directly to BMW Germany and tell it to them straight that their own authorised dealers are not providing the support to a Beemer owner. Its like telling us a beemer from Japan is not as good or worthy as a beemer brought in by the "authorised dealer/reseller".

Further, it is short sighted of them. They stand to lose a perfectly good, potentially repeat customer. Totally dumb, if you ask me.

 

[Juan Powerblow]

Originally posted by ichiwan2@Apr 30 2005, 04:55 PM
You are definitely right. A beemer is a beemer. Whoever purports to be an authorised dealer/reseller had better provide service. Otherwise, you should do the nasty and complain directly to BMW Germany and tell it to them straight that their own authorised dealers are not providing the support to a Beemer owner. Its like telling us a beemer from Japan is not as good or worthy as a beemer brought in by the "authorised dealer/reseller".

Further, it is short sighted of them. They stand to lose a perfectly good, potentially repeat customer. Totally dumb, if you ask me.

Ichidownthere2, I absolutely agree wif you. It's absolutely senseless! In the end, it's in BMW's interest to ensure their products are well-maintained by authorised representatives! If the authorised representatives don't share such sentiment, their exclusivity should be removed!! I think this is imminent since meritocracy and fair play always wins the day where good sense prevail. Learn now, Auto Bavaria... b4 it's too late!

 

[soorian]

I ask AB Sungai Besi once . Can i bring in any Recon car for Service. They say cannot, since its a grey Import. What bullshit it this. BMW Is A BMW. May be AB worried import cars are better then thems :yahoo:

 

[firefox]

Guys, Its all about money! You did'nt buy it from us; so we did'nt make our profits. Let you rot, or so they think. This gives the independent Bimmer service establishment more business ! In fact, I prefer to go independent. You've got a problem or need servicing, drive there , wait an hour or so & viola! You drive away with everything fixed. Send it to AB? Make appointment- if you're lucky , get a slot in a weeks time. Meanwhile if your UDM is not running, take BMW, bus mini wilayah! If you send the car, chances are you'll get it back only in 3 days time , if you're lucky! Thats my experience anyway. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[saat]

A Singaporean fren once drove his 3 series up north and he ran into problems. I tried to talk him into taking it to my regular W/S but he insisted on towing it to AB, because his car is still new. After a short discussion, AB agreed to do the job so that he can take drive back to SIN.

I am not sure if he had to pay a premium over local cars.

But to be fair (although I might be out of my mind to do this), AB is a reseller. Depending on the agreement they have with BMW AG, doing warranty work for non-AB cars might not be profitable to them. So they do have the right of refusal.

I did hear that, if you have taken a car bought thru AB, to another W/S for regular servicing, AB insist on doing an Inspection II before accepting on reentering it back into the AB service regime.

So if you acquire your car from a grey importer, they do have the right to refuse. Take it to the many "specialists".

 

[ichiwan2]

Originally posted by firefox@May 1 2005, 10:11 AM
Guys, Its all about money! You did'nt buy it from us; so we did'nt make our profits. Let you rot, or so they think. This gives the independent Bimmer service establishment more business ! In fact, I prefer to go independent. You've got a problem or need servicing, drive there , wait an hour or so & viola! You drive away with everything fixed. Send it to AB? Make appointment- if you're lucky , get a slot in a weeks time. Meanwhile if your UDM is not running, take BMW, bus mini wilayah! If you send the car, chances are you'll get it back only in 3 days time , if you're lucky! Thats my experience anyway. Just my 2 cents worth.

So, is there no profit when parts are replaced? Does AB really sell parts at below cost? I suppose the labour charge is cheaper than bm specialist or Ah Kow workshop.

Not that I like AB. In fact stopped using them years ago. But a Bimmer owner should have the right to choose, good or bad, right or wrong.

 

[mini_jeff67]

No profit on parts is a lot of rubbish as I'm sure a lot of AB car owners will attest to! Heck, I'm not even asking for a warranty, just service/fix/maintain the damn car!

Donno abt u guys in the West, but in Sarawak, there's only 1 AB (!!!), which means there's only one BMW software to do diagnosis, resetting, etc... so... how to go to outside WS?

Maybe the committee can look into the issue, for the benefit of all UDM owners!

 

[affan66]

I think this only happens in Malaysia.

Not only BMW, last time Honda did this as well until Honda Japan intervened. A Honda that came out from any factory should be treated the same.

Another two cases of Malaysia Boleh:
1. My sister bought a Coach handbag for my wife. For some reason the piping on the lining of the bag came out even though we took great care of the bag. Took it to Coach KLCC. Wah, so lansi. They said, since we didn't buy from them, there is nothing they can do. Wrote email to Coach USA. They replied promptly and asked for a picture. They will then decide whether to have it fixed in Malaysia or USA.

2. Another handbag. My wife's wedding gift. Etienne Aigner. The gold trimmings faded. Waduh. Same issue. Maybe we look like kampung ppl la. They refused to help us and said we bought from PS. Celaka. Came back and showed them the receipt. I bought it from Etienne USA (via the Net) and not from factory outlet too!

Ridiculous. We have a long way to go when it comes to customer service. So much for WORLDWIDE GUARANTEE!!!

 

[mini_jeff67]

Er... any committee member(s) reading this thread? :dunno:

 

[wglee]

Food for thought:

If AB starts servicing grey imports, there might come a time when everyone would rather buy a cheaper and better made CBU grey import and still get serviced by AB, instead of buying a costlier and poorer built CKD BMW. How would AB's customers feel?

Would it not be bizarre that AB has to spend lots of money to build an aftersales network only to service cars brought in by grey importers who probably invested next to nothing in terms of after sales service and thus can sell cars cheaper than AB and by extension sell more cars (and by further extension, make more money) than AB?

Mind you, I'm no fan of AB but I suppose there are two sides to the coin.

 

[ichiwan2]

Then it had better improve the build quality of CKD BMWs. By right, a BMW assembled in Malaysia should be of the same quality as that of ones assembled in Germany, South Africa or North America etc.

BMW is a global brand and its customers should expect the same service and quality anywhere in the world. There should be no "second class" citizen, i.e., the owners of grey imports.

By taking on the responsibility of assembling and marketing of CKD BMWs, it does not absolve it of responsibility to support the brand.

Same questions I asked earlier,

Is there no profit when parts are replaced? Does AB really sell parts at below cost?

 

[juggernaut]

don't worry guys.. there are at least another 2 major companies preparing to enter the bmw dealership and servicing.. one will at least start up shop early next year. from what i heard, it is building a huge facility in technology park for the showroom-parts-servicing center.. all will be revealed in a few months..

 

[mini_jeff67]

Ah, but that's in the klang valley, I presume.

In any case, take C&C's case - they charge a premium for non-C&C MBs that they service. After all, they already have all the equipment and parts, AND it's extra $$$ & for sure PROFITS!

Warranty? Give limited one lo - outside specialists also give no or limited warranty only what!

 

[Fireblade]

Originally posted by wglee@May 3 2005, 09:21 AM
Food for thought:

If AB starts servicing grey imports, there might come a time when everyone would rather buy a cheaper and better made CBU grey import and still get serviced by AB, instead of buying a costlier and poorer built CKD BMW. How would AB's customers feel?

Would it not be bizarre that AB has to spend lots of money to build an aftersales network only to service cars brought in by grey importers who probably invested next to nothing in terms of after sales service and thus can sell cars cheaper than AB and by extension sell more cars (and by further extension, make more money) than AB?

Mind you, I'm no fan of AB but I suppose there are two sides to the coin.

What you mentioned about AB spending a lot on the set-up of their aftersales is true and furthermore they have to keep on training their staff and update equipment to cater for the new generation models. Whereas the grey importers would normally just sell cars.

Well, no matter where your BMW comes from, AB should readily accept it for service/repairs. They should do it like C&C and honour the warranty of grey imports. I know that it may not be possible to keep all the version of parts to cater for these grey imports but at least being a responsible principal they can order the necessary parts and at the same time gain more customers and possibly convert these 'grey' customers to buy their cars in future.

 

[mini_jeff67]

Now that makes a lot of sense!

 

[saat]

The argument does not fly with me.

The AB car servicing line of business should be independent of the car retail LoB. It would have its own P&L. Investments in staff training and servicing facilities are paid back from earnings from car servicing/spare parts and not sale of cars. So it should not matter if the car is sold by AB or Car Trade or other importers, all these are revenue. If the car retail LoB wants to enhance their offering of free maintenance, then the retail LoB must compensate the servicing LoB for this. Charging a premium for servicing car "not-sold-here" is OK but total refusal is not.

Isnt warranty compensated by the principal?