Things Dealers tell Customers

Believe it or not, this is the chief complaint of even the car and truck buyers who end up at my store after traveling from Miami-Dade.

Inevitably I always ask why they would travel so far to buy a car when, 1.) they live in Miami-Dade county and we're actually in northern Broward county, and 2.) they must have passed 10 dealerships that sell the same brand I do.

Their answer, nearly every time, has been that the sales staff and dealerships of Miami-Dade were either so rude and pushy, or so unhelpful (and I've got to guess it's that some dealership staff down there just don't speak English well is part of the issue as well) (I know I wish I spoke English and Portuguese - I'd be far more effective as a saleman).

The other percentage of people who travel this far are just those who know our reputation for getting people financed. I guess word spreads amongst those who are prone to forget to make payments or those who have had a car repossessed in the past?

I really don't know. I do know that people come from too far away in the counties to just claim it's because we're nice to them, lol, but a large part of them do.

I had a similar experience at Team Triumph here in Wisconsin a few years ago. It was late summer on a Friday afternoon. I was really interested in the new Tiger 800 and I heard they were very willing to give test rides. So I showed up with my gear.

Walked into the showroom and there were no other customers, just a woman doing some paperwork behind the counter. She didn't say anything when I walked in, which I thought was a little odd, but whatever...

I looked around at gear and bikes until I came to the 800. Looked it over in detail, got on t see how it felt, etc. it became obvious that the woman behind the counter was purposefully ignoring me. So I decided to see how long it would take before she would say anything. I continued to look at the bike, get on & off, etc. for 45 minutes. That's as long as I could take it as it ceased to be amusing. I left, and walked by the counter on my way out as she very seriously kept her head down & shuffled papers. I actually wondered if I had walked in while they were closed, I looked but didn't see any hours posted as I left. If I was seriously considering buying the bike I would have said something to her. Weird encounter to say the least.

Made the same mistake as I did, should have had $100 bills falling from your pockets when you walked in.

I would have thought sitting on the bike that had a "don't sit on me" sign would have done it. But no.

Several sales guys there when I was there, no other customers.

On the other hand, Darren at Euro Cycles in Wexford, PA is great.

In Italy there are no laws about mileage limits for cars and trucks. AFAIK neither in other European countries.
My car has a Fiat engine (no kidding). The same 2.0 liters, direct injected, turbodiesel, Multijet® unit equipped on many Fiat, AlfaRomeo, Lancia cars, and on many Fiat and Citroën commercial vans (Citroën is a french brand, I don't know if it's known in the USA).
Some versions have up to 170 HP, mine has 135 HP.
Commercial vans normally reach the mileage you said, I believe a car can too.

At my actual mileage per year in the cage, I will reach 350,000 miles approximatively in 2080, so I'm not much worried

Gateway BMW was the opposite. Both times that I've been in there I was talked to in a couple of minutes. Even after telling them that we were only there to look at the bikes they still entertained our questions. When I asked about the HP4 and Competition models the salesman egged me on a little about if I was sure that I didn't want to put down a deposit but it was in fun.

Morton BMW out of Fredericksburg, VA was the same sort of experience. Friendly people and they let me test ride several bikes and even let me borrow some gear since I was there for some training with the Army and didn't have any. It's going to be hard to decide which store to buy from when I finally pull the trigger.

It's kind of refreshing when you find these kinds of dealerships.

Honz and the staff at Gateway are just a bunch of great people that love motorcycles. At so many dealers the staff all make an run for the door at closing time. At Gateway they shut the door and the staff will hang around for a beer and just to kick back and BS. I've been lucky enough to get to hang out with them a few times.

If I get your point (my english comprehension sucks), we are saying the same thing. Engine longevity does't depend on close oil changes, if you use quality oil.
I'm suprised by the manufacturers' indications, and the different indication the same manufacturer asks for the same engine whether it's sold in Europe or in the USA.

I had never known about the difference, I'm also surprised by it. I would assume that any stress on the car would be similar.

Perhaps there is an oil quality difference? Our EPA regulates everything it can here in the USA, including oil additives. There are quite a few additives that are supposed to be good for a motor that are limited here.

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I think we use the same JASO / API classifications

Yes there is a quality difference. The oil is better and costs more. The customers expect to pay more and run the oil much longer.

The EPA does not regulate additives. It does regulate what comes out of the exhaust, and certain additives kill catalytic converters. There are other additives that do the same job of engine protection, sometimes better, but cost the oil companies more.

In addition to the JASO, API, and ILSAC standards, the auto makers may have their own sets of oil standards. GM's dexos standards are one example. The Japanese motorcycle makers use the JASO 4t four stroke engine standard and the MA wet clutch standard, as well as API standards. I don't know if the European makers have their own standards. If so, it would be in the owner's manual or sticker on the bike--"Oil of xW-xx viscosity must meet standard such&such".

Yes, and.... The oil change intervals are a recommendation. If the owner has oil analysis reports to show that the oil remains good, there is no need to change the oil. I know, bothersome and expensive. Synthetic oil will run longer due to its slower rate of oxidation. That is part of the syn spec of the base oil classification with higher saturates (polyunsaturated cooking oil is good, hydrogenated saturated...with hydrogen...motor oil is good), but there are variations between different qualities of synthetic base oils. And synthetic has higher viscosity index, so it thins a bit less when very hot and thickens less when very cold. Polyaphaolefin base oil has a higher film strength than Group III "synthetic" (very highly refined petroleum) base oil. All contribute somewhat to more engine protection and longer oil life.

I think it's just shady marketing to suck money out of people. I mean like earlier in the thread a man buys a commuter car only to find out that commuting is considered severe service. WTF is it for then? Now you add in their standard strong arm tactics regarding warranty and the need to have service done at the dealership with only OEM parts and you've got a money maker.

Cars and bikes are way more expensive in Europe then in America, maybe they try to balance lower selling prices with higher maintenance costs.

Do you think an engine run for ten, fifteen minutes at a time in city traffic will last as long, and be as problem free as one run for an hour or more at a time at highway speeds out on an interstate? Don't think so. It never gets to optimum operating temperature(or just gets there) and is run in stop and go traffic, hence the severe duty classification.

I reckon 15 minutes of driving on a gas pot should get the oil up to operating temps. I wasn't trying to debate whether or not you have to get an engine warmed up properly or not I was saying that buying a commuter car to be told using it to commute is severe service. Why do you think there is a diff between here and euro spec intervals?

The whole severe service/non-severe service is moot. The person that originally posted about the service department lying and giving bs information is unwilling to accept the facts.

I called the local BMW shop asking about getting keys made for my new to me bike. The parts guy explains the process for having a key made and I tell him I'll be in the next day. All is good.
I show up the next day with registration and DL and was informed by the gal behind the counter that the guy I had spoken with the day before was not in but that she would help me out. Went into the back room and finally reappears only to inform me that they are out of blanks and that they were on order.
The next day I call back and she informs me that the key blanks had arrived and that I could stop in to pick some up. I asked what the process is to have the keys "cut" for my bike and she tells me that the shop doesn't do that but that any local locksmith would. I mentioned that I had been told that BMW USA had to be provided with current registration and drivers license and the keys would be shipped from the east coast. She said that was not correct.
I went to another BMW shop that had knowledgable personel and had the keys within about three days.
You can guess which shop will never get my business.

Walked into one of the Ridenow Powersports here in Phoenix, which is a huge dealership...

Two girls and one guy at the parts department, I ask them all at once...

"Do you guys carry Dainese gear?"

They all look at me blankly and respond, "Never heard of it?"

I then ask "What about Rev'It?"

They all look at me blankly and respond, "Never heard of it?"

I then ask "...Okay, what about First Gear?"

They all look at me blankly and finally one of them says "I think I've heard of that some where before, but all we carry is Joe Rocket and Fulmer."

This was my reaction...

What are BMW keys made of, adamantium, that they cannot be cut? Are they chipped or what makes them so un-dupeable they have to be shipped from BMW?

Not that they cant, they wont. Just BMW policy, or so I was told. One of these days I need to get a spare key, guess Ill find out for sure then.