MINI of San Francisco

Nice location, clean and comfortable, and your staff was friendly. However, you quoted me an insane price for the work that «needed» to be done. The quote included over 10 hours of labor but the items needed should have only taken 4 to 5 hours. You also said I needed to replace all of my breaks but my rear brakes still had 8 mm on them, which will last me several more months. I am very disappointed that you tried to take advantage of me. Your charges for diagnostics and resetting the sensors is RIDICULOUS, you realize I can buy a reader from amazon for $ 20 and download an app on my phone for $ 5 to do that. I will not be returning for service or to buy a vehicle, I have moved on. Sorry, not sorry.

I have a 2005 Mini Cooper Convertible. I have had the car for several years and love it. Recently, I had the misfortune of having troubles with the sliding mechanism on the top right and the top would not go down. I found it to be cracked in half. I went to Mini of SF to get the part and discovered they wanted over $ 750 for it and it only is sold as a set. I thought that was very high so I did my research and found a local place online and saved almost half off the part. The local place was named BMW Parts Warehouse. It turns out it had the same address as the Mini of SF service building. I went to the BMW of SF parts counter and got the parts at substantial discount. I then tried to find a place to replace the broken part and was not successful. I wound up making an appointment to bring my car to get this part replaced at Mini of SF. They quoted $ 765.00 and I accepted because I had no other alternatives. Once they got the car they told me it needed additional parts because Mini updated their sliding mechanism and it would cost an additional $ 590.98 in parts to make it work. I talked the advisor to give me the price out of the BMW side of the house and saved an additional $ 200. They surprised me be replacing the sliding mechanisms on both sides and not charging any extra. I also had a $ 100 coupon that they accepted. All in all, the job of replacing the parts to make my top work was a little over $ 1000. I am not sure if that is a good price or not but the top works again and I am back on the road. One last note, when picking up my car the fender flare was missing. It came off in the wash rack and was damaged. Mini of SF replaced it with a new one at no charge. Even though they seem high, they do have good customer service. Steven was great keeping me informed about the progress and taking care of my requests.

I like their booking system and they have a nice waiting area but that where it ends for me. I originally started going to the main dealer for servicing as I was under warranty, then I just kept going as habit.
Make of this tale what you will… I went in for a service and a diagnosis on an engine light error code for a 2009 Mini JCW. They told me the service would be $ 1300 with $ 200+ of that just for the engine light diagnosis. The engine code error (they said) was an oil leak causing issues with the turbo boost as oil was getting on the lines and the oxygen sensor. They recommended a new valve cover, lines and sensor bringing the total with the service to a whopping $ 4100. I refused and I’m glad I did, I just heard from an independent garage that the leads are fine, so is the oxygen sensor and they did not come up with any error codes on their diagnosis. They said the oil leak appeared minimal and recommended just replacing the valve cover (they also take video of everything they do/​replace which is something maybe Mini should consider if they want to appear more honest!). Also it seems that Mini missed the need for a new battery despite it having a full service with they. (That failed the test with the independent garage the day after the Mini 54k service was performed by Mini of SF). Bottom line is that even if I’d got the unnecessary items replaced I’d still have saved $ 2000 by going to an independent! and more like $ 2500 of savings without the unnecessary parts and labor. If you do want to stick with the Mini main dealer please consider a second opinion, I have lost all trust in them!

DON’T GET YOUR CAR SERVICED HERE.
I’m used to getting cars serviced at dealerships, especially when they’re new-​ish. But I’ve never been ripped off like I was here.
Basic services cost way more than they should. They also left a big scratch on my car. (I’ll update once they resolve this.)
An air filter replacement cost me $ 130. At another mini dealership, they wanted only $ 90. The cost of the «labor» was $ 85 for something that is a 5 minute job.
They also charged $ 87.50 to reset the service indicator. They said this was required even for minor service like an oil change. So my oil change cost me $ 162.50! I Googled how to reset the service indicator and it’s something you could do in 2 minutes.
This was the first time I’ve had my car serviced here. Never again.

The SF Mini repair center offers excellent service. They listen to all your concerns and address each and every one of them.

I took my MINI in because a light was on in the car saying that I had a burnt out fog light. I took it in and they told me my vehicle doesn’t even have fog lights and that the light went on due to a bug in MINI’s computer system. They charged me $ 225 to turn off the warning light. Staff was rude and I was not even given the normal car wash or fluid top off. Ridiculous — never taking my MINI back here.

i had a pretty significant mechanical problem with my low-​mileage 2010 mini, which i was dreading, but Angelina went went out of her way to work with my coverage from HondaCare (I bought used from SF Honda), and between them, they took care of the whole problem. It took a bit of patience in terms of timing, but it was thorough. I’m grateful for a job well done, and the extra effort on fair pricing of the work.

I’m definitely not getting a Mini again. All my previous cars, service is so quick, I drop my car off and it’s ready to pick up in a few hours. Mini takes all day, and it takes 30 mins+ to drop off the car waiting for someone to process everything. Shouldn’t everything be in the system? At Volkswagen you drop the car and walk away, they take care of the rest. Also the whole advertising of all service covered is fake, the only service covered is oil change, the rest is $ 200-​$ 500. To get my car just looked at cause I was smelling something in it was $ 225! And that may or may not solve the problem, it’s just to look at what’s wrong.
I needed my parking light fixed, it cost me $ 50 at a spot in soma. Mini quoted $ 250+.

The service advisors are hit or miss — sometimes you get someone really helpful and sometimes you get someone that’s just ambivalent. The thing that drives me the most crazy though, is that they never answer their phone in the service center! It doesn’t matter if you’ve dialed your advisor directly or if you call the main line. You always get the voicemail, and when you leave a message, good luck getting a call back the same day.
The last time I took my car in on a Friday morning, the work sheet said my car would be ready at 5:30pm. I started calling at 3pm to see if that was in fact the case, and no one would answer or call back… until 6:30pm, when my advisor finally returned my calls to tell me that my car was ready, but that the service center was closed, and that I’d have to wait until Monday to pick it up.

Unfortunately Mini SF desperately needs to update their website. We had an appointment for dent removal that we made online only to be informed WHEN WE ARRIVED they no longer offer dent removal!

Be sure to confirm what your service will cost, as you sign the estimate. Mine ended up being almost $ 50 more and when I asked why, they went through the estimate line by line and confirmed that no additional repairs were done, and then nonchalantly said the difference was due to tax (?!?). It wasn’t so much the amount as the attitude — no attempt was made to take responsibility for the false quite and the resulting higher charge.

Meh experience with mini of SF Parts Dept.
They don’t answer their phone. They forward you to voicemail. They don’t return calls. They say part will be in the next day, don’t call, when you call they can’t find it. They are understaffed and staff is poorly trained.

This review is based on the Mini SF’s service center — customer service. David Kim was incredibly professional, patient and understanding. He was attentive and took the time to explain my mini’s needs. Unfortunately, I had to pull my mini out of service because of a family emergency but David was very respectful and accommodating. Thank you David!

This was by far the best car buying experience of my life … all because of Jarrod Hartwig!!!
Let me be clear: I was VERY specific in my demands and forthcoming about communicating when/​how those demands were to be met. Unlike another Mini Cooper dealership that didn’t seem to value my needs and simply blew me off, Jarrod Hartwig was attentive! He took charge of the situation with such charisma and care. He went within the MINI network to find exactly what I wanted. And what I wanted was near impossible to obtain … like tears of a unicorn.
Not only did Jarrod went above and beyond, he solved a problem that was otherwise unsolvable. And it did not stop there. He also took the time to walk me through the financing process in lay person’s language, gave me a tutorial of how to use all the cool features of the car, and followed up the next day to ensure that I was still in love with my MINI (yes!). This guy is a true GEM (and a total cutie, but I digress).
I am so happy with my new Mini Cooper and grateful to have met the fairy godfather of sales! Thank you Jarrod for making my car shopping experience so amazing!!!

Had a really bad week when my 2 day old mini got side swiped, and Anderson was so kind and understanding he did a free paint transfer. I’ll definitely be back if anything goes wrong in the future. Thank
You Anderson!

I own a 2012 mini and am relatively new to the area. I had a weird problem where it appeared that the battery was on it’s last leg. When I went into take a look at the battery, I noticed that the positive and negative terminals were in fact on the right post, however, someone had indicted in writing that they were actually reversed. Since we have only had mini service on the car I’m guessing it was the mini factory or dealer. In any event, I called SF mini service to start the process and ask if they have ever seen this. I could never get a service tech after multiple days and attempts. Just an endless loop to scheduling and hold.
I ended up having to drive down 30+ min and fight all the traffic just to talk to someone and see how to proceed. Here’s the thing. These guys were not busy, there were 4 of them all playing on their smart phones — no customers. I mentioned I could not get through on the phone and the response I got was «yea, that’s kind of the way it is here».
The guy I spoke to was nice enough but WTH, they won’t answer the phone. I did notice that sales answered the phone on the first ring.
After 2 MINI Coopers and seeing this same type of attitude at dealers in Maryland, Austin TX and now here in SF — I’m done.

Would not recommend the service center. I was getting out of work later than I had hoped and I needed to pick up my car after a minor service recall. Their hours say they’re open until 6pm so I called at 5:25pm to let them know I might get there just right before and if they would be kind enough to give me a few minutes grace period but there was no answer. All I needed were my keys and car, anyway; no payments, no fancy explanations, or complicated repairs. So I rushed over to get there right on time but when I arrive, the place is empty except for some guy manning/​closing the accessories shop. He says he can’t help me because all the service advisers had left and apparently nobody else was in the building anymore. So I ended up wasting my time and money heading over only to find out the place had closed before their posted service hours say they would. I wonder if this is some regulatory violation. I now don’t have a car to get to work and have to waste my time going back again tomorrow.
I understand establishments have specific service hours but if they say they close at 6 I understand that to mean that they physically close and leave the building at 6. Not any sooner that by 5:59 the place is practically abandoned. And for how Mini markets its brand name, I would have expected better service standards and a better accommodation of their customers’ needs. A disappointing and frustrating experience for something so menial.

I recently purchased my first Mini. It’s a used 2012 CUTE car from a Mitsubishi dealer in Marin. It had a couple of weeks left on the factory warranty, so took it to SF Mini Service for a thorough inspection. I was fortunate enough to be assigned to Service Manager, Angelina Poirier. She spent extra time with me orienting me to the many digital features that I had trouble «getting» on my own. They provided a loaner, had my car washed and when I picked it up got my first Christmas Gift of the season; a logo umbrella & USB fob!
I seldom take the time to write reviews, but thought this was worth writing about!

I just have to say that the service advisor, Andrew Orosco is awesome! Even though, the guy prior to him effed up my appointment, Andrew managed to fix my day *phew*…off to being my productive self!
⁵⁄₅ stars to Andrew

I would have given it ZERO stars.
Lack of interpreting services
Lack of follow up from management (Patrick Day)
Lack of customer service from Jarrod Hartwig
Broken promises
This is what I sent to Patrick Day, general manager at BMW/​Mini but he never responded to me. He did not even acknowledge emails even though the manager under him told me that I should get answers «last» week. This is not the first time. Patrick Day failed to respond to my other emails.
I filed the BBB complaint. Here are contents
When I came in, your staff person Jarrod Hartwig kept talking. I gestured to him that I am Deaf. He kept talking. I then asked for notepad. He frowned. Moreover he was already grouchy that morning before I came in. I wrote if if he understood that I was deaf? He kept on talking as he obviously did not get it. This is 2014, not 1900’s. I wrote back to him and said I thought he was very rude to keep talking while he should have been using paper and pen.
When Gilbert came in and saw that, he asked me to come over to him. He then kept talking. Ugh! I pointed to him to use paper and pen.
When we were in process of getting the loaner, I noticed that it was not the one I wanted. I told Gilbert that I called two times and made sure that the loaner is the hard top. Gilbert seemed surprised and then went to the computer. Good enough, there was entry saying that the cusotmer should get hardtop and that should be no exceptions. That was made a year ago.
Gilbert was unable to get hardtop and was fuzzy with his promises. I told him that I want that in writing as I am no longer able to trust your company that keeps breaking oral promises.
As result, I ended up wasting my one and half hour with your dealership, and that could have been avoided if your advisors were more sensitive and more organized and double-​checked and triple-​checked.
What I want is:
1. Formal apology from Jarrod Hartwig in writing
2. Your actions to make sure that my next custoimer service is 100% good like other hearing peers get to.
3. Your actions to ensure that your advisors take training on how to communicate with Deaf customers.
While we are at this, I also want your dealership to ensure that your upcoming events are ASL interpreted as well. The last time I sent you an email, I never got the response. I followed up several times but no luck, and it was very disappointing.
I filed BBB complaint after not hearing from Patrick Day for several weeks.
Patrick Day did respond to my BBB complaint and provided very false information. He also avoided responding to my private emails. I was quite disappointed that Patrick Day went to the lengths to reframe me as a bad guy while making himself and his dealership look good even though the fault was at their side. He even avoided addressing my concerns and demands in the BBB compnlaint.
It seems that Patrick Day’s management needs to take a look at him and consider replacing him. I hope that Patrick’s management sees this, calls me, and talks with me to get the full story, and addresses my concerns.
Looking at other Unilocal reviews from BMW, it seems that I am not the only one who feels that way. It is too bad that Patrick Day is continuing to do the bad job and the upper management is failing to see that.
Do you know anyone who runs the BMW/​Mini and willl listen to customers who do not feel good about Patrick Day and his team?