[carlos2283]

BMW of Austin service manager admits over a phone conversation to me that they have been using approved airbag recall parts for their own vehicles first and bypassing existing customers!

Some of us have been waiting 6+ months.

At no point does the service manager I spoke with offer an apology or accept blame. Felt like I was talking to someone running for public office.

After complaining for a few days and writing a negative Google review, dealership finally offered me a rental; After compalining to BMW NA they shipped out an interim part fix specifically coded to my VIN.

So this takes care of me but Im still upset about this practice of priortizing parts for their own fleet, in this case e92 M3s, and omitting the rest of the public.

Gong to file a compalint with BBB.

When I asked BMW NA about the dealerships poor behavior, they said they can't do anything about it, but prefer that they not do that...Great.

[lowbudgethero]

wow i'm surprised you haven't gotten at least a 328 or something as a rental in the meantime

[ipilcher]

Sounds like a good candidate for local media.

[positiveions]

When I contacted BMW of North America regarding this matter, the representative offered me a rental free of charge. His exact words were that "if you feel unsafe driving your car we would be happy to give you a rental car". I would call BMW of North America regarding this matter.

[BeEmVe]

That said are the airbags sent out VIN based? That is, is each airbag is assigned to a particular VIN. If so I have a hard time understanding why that is the case. I do that the recall is being processed by location and age of a vehicle as a risk based factor.

To answer my own question via chat with my local dealer. In this case the airbags are tied to a particular VIN as the airbag(s) and controller module are being replaced. So IMHO the only real question is how did the dealer get in front of the line? I.e. who is responsible for prioritizing the VIN ordering?

[Draper]

I don't think you've provided enough info here.

Was your car sitting at the dealership awaiting parts that were specifically ordered for your car, or were you simply waiting on the dealer to give you a call when they had parts available?

It's understandable why the dealer would want to fix their own cars, so unless they somehow used your VIN to get extra parts and then did not follow through on installing them in your car I'm not sure what there is to get upset about.

[bdkinnh]

Originally Posted by Draper

I don't think you've provided enough info here.

Was your car sitting at the dealership awaiting parts that were specifically ordered for your car, or were you simply waiting on the dealer to give you a call when they had parts available?

It's understandable why the dealer would want to fix their own cars, so unless they somehow used your VIN to get extra parts and then did not follow through on installing them in your car I'm not sure what there is to get upset about.

If your car was waiting to get a new diff and the dealer instead put it on one of their cars, would you feel the same way?

[Draper]

Originally Posted by bdkinnh

If your car was waiting to get a new diff and the dealer instead put it on one of their cars, would you feel the same way?

The difference is I don't have my car...and that's what we don't know about the OP. If they have his car, and are fixing their own cars before his...then yes, that's an issue.

Personally, If I had already taken delivery of my car and was able to drive it around town, I wouldn't lose my mind if I wasn't the first person they called when the new diffs showed up.

[bdkinnh]

Originally Posted by Draper

The difference is I don't have my car...and that's what we don't know about the OP. If they have his car, and are fixing their own cars before his...then yes, that's an issue.

Personally, If I had already taken delivery of my car and was able to drive it around town, I wouldn't lose my mind if I wasn't the first person they called when the new diffs showed up.

What if you had been waiting six months? And it was a safety related part?

[Draper]

Originally Posted by bdkinnh

What if you had been waiting six months? And it was a safety related part?

That's not really the question. Everyone with a BMW made in the last ~8 years has been waiting 6 mos. It's really BMW's fault for taking so long to have a fix available.

The OP is trying to shame a dealership for wrongdoing, but unless they are holding his car there's really no reason for them to take care of him before anyone else.

[Chihuahua]

Originally Posted by carlos2283

I Have the entire phone call conversation recorded and at no point does she offer an apology or accept blame.

Be careful with that, in many states it is a felony to record private conversations without the consent of all involved parties.

[oolas3]

Originally Posted by Kyle B

Be careful with that, in many states it is a felony to record private conversations without the consent of all involved parties.

Texas is a 1 party consent state only. OP is ok.

[carlos2283]

The dealership service manager gets a heads up from Takata and the highway transportation agency that a temporary fix has been approved;The S.manager then submits a list (in this case a list of BMWs she wants fixed first) to BMW so that they can in turn authorize the interim airbag part with a VIN. Apparently BMW NA has no idea about this and they just authorize the parts with the VIN numbers on the list.

In a situation where BMW folks have been potentially risking their lives (or not driving their cars) how can you not be upset when you learn your local dealership is putting their cars first over your safety?


I finally got confirmation from BMW NA that an interim airbag part has been shipped for me to my local dealership but I wanted to raise awareness on behalf of those waiting and assuming this kind of risk.

If you see your local dealership is selling Known recalled BMWs on their preowend lot, and you havent gotten a letter, chances are they are doing the same thing and prioritizing their fleet over your safety.

[carlos2283]

Originally Posted by Draper

That's not really the question. Everyone with a BMW made in the last ~8 years has been waiting 6 mos. It's really BMW's fault for taking so long to have a fix available.

The OP is trying to shame a dealership for wrongdoing, but unless they are holding his car there's really no reason for them to take care of him before anyone else.

The issue is they are knowingly USING recall parts for their OWN FLEET and omitting the public, thus prolonging the danger and risk to everyone waiting;Clear enough?

[Draper]

Originally Posted by carlos2283

The issue is they are knowingly USING recall parts for their OWN FLEET and omitting the public, thus prolonging the danger and risk to everyone waiting;Clear enough?

You still didn't answer the question. Was your car sitting at the dealer awaiting an airbag module? Or did you at least get a parts availability notice from BMW, and then make an appointment to get your car fixed at this dealer?

To me, it sounds like you may have purchased the car there, or at least had them service it a few times. Based on that, you assumed they'd automatically order a part and install it for you. I guess I can understand the logic, though that's not really how these recalls work. What about people who may have had their cars serviced at 2 different locations - who would be responsible for ordering their part?

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't see any dealer misconduct here.

[Joaco135]

Remember dealers can't sell a car without fixing the recall first so of course they want to get their inventory ready first, they need to move those vehicles before getting the ones that are already sold like yours. Sucks, yes but that is the way it works..
Hope you get yours fix soon but don't think the dealer has done anything wrong here...just my .002

[BeEmVe]

The recall ordering should be done on a risk based assessment via location of vehicle and age. Here is a priority list:

http://www.safercar.gov/rs/takata/takatalist.html

If the dealer cars are outside of the priority I would be concerned about their actions. I would also be concerned about customers outside of the priority.

[Viffermike]

Originally Posted by Kyle B

Be careful with that, in many states it is a felony to record private conversations without the consent of all involved parties.

That doesn't apply in Texas. It's a one-party-rule state: i.e., only one party has to be privy to the recording being done. He's good.

[OutlawX3M]

If I were in your shoes, here are the 3 things I would be doing:

1) Speak to a lawyer to see if there's any wrongdoing here, you may be entitled to compensation.
2) File a complaint with NHTSA or any gov't agency that's involved.
3) File a complaint with the local BBB/Chamber of Commerce.

DO NOT POST to a forum as anything can be and will be used against you especially in a civil case.

** I'm not a lawyer but I did sleep in a Holiday Inn once **

When I was in market for a car, I found a few nice '14s at dealerships that caught my attention -- none of them could be sold because of this recall. And there's not enough capacity to replace all of these airbags in a reasonable time frame. Remember, this is what, 8 years of production across dozens of manufacturers -- one big clusterf#&k.

[Dackelone]

What about the customers who bring their cars in for the recall and EXPECT a BMW free loaner? Don't you think the dealer should first have some loaner cars that are safe for customers to drive? I hate to think of the lawsuit for the poor guy who brings in his cr for the airbag recall only to get hurt in a accident with a loaner car that the dealer KNEW was not safe to operate.

I don't really see what the big deal is. This airbag recall sucks all the way around.

Dackel

[P1]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

What about the customers who bring their cars in for the recall and EXPECT a BMW free loaner? Don't you think the dealer should first have some loaner cars that are safe for customers to drive? I hate to think of the lawsuit for the poor guy who brings in his cr for the airbag recall only to get hurt in a accident with a loaner car that the dealer KNEW was not safe to operate.

I don't really see what the big deal is. This airbag recall sucks all the way around.

Dackel

That's the thing: I don't think they are giving away BMW loaners. You'd drop off a nice BMW and be in a KIA until your parts come in.

[Amdahl]

I agree with Dackelone; if I was BMWNA, I would expect the dealers to have their cars fixed first, specifically to get their pool ready for the tsunami of 1,900,000 cars that is about to come through the service network. End of discussion.

As to the idea that dealers are in charge of the VINs and priority, I doubt it. They may be able to determine a list of VINs at the beginning, but very shortly BMWNA is going to be driving the whole thing with parts availability by VIN, and customer notifications by mail. NHTSA has ordered it.