I don't think it's ethical for MINI to have published labor pricing which is then multiplied by 1.5 if the work isn't being done "under warranty". Would someone please explain to me why something covered under warranty AND BILLED to MINIUSA costs one price while the SAME WORK performed out-of-warranty receives a 150% markup to the customer?! The task is the same. The overhead is the same. The parts are the same. The hourly rate of the employee is the same. The hourly labor rate is the same. :mad2:
It has always been done that way sad to say. The person really being screwed here is he mechanic not the customer. Mechanics can lose there arse if they get stuck doing too much warranty work.
You are not getting work done by the factory. It is a franchise and they need to make money. Rent in Arkansas for a mini dealer may literally be 1/10th the same land costs in LA. You could buy a house 3 times as large as mine for the same money just by driving less than an hour. So, different places charge different amounts. Another thing to consider is how busy a shop is. One may have a back log of cars, one free time, so places so far apart have different reasons to want or not want business. If the places were next door, the market would decide which does better, but since they are at least 1 1/2 apart, they have a customer base locked in and don't need to compete with each other. I say pay the man and don't worry about it. Personally I would expect local places to me to be more than ones so far away and consider it normal. Other examples..pharmacy, dentists, doctors...insurance companies pay much less for everything than retail.
Simple. Warranty work is done at a discount to BMW because of the volume involved. If you would bring a fleet of cars to the same mechanic, I am sure they would be glad to negotiate a discount labor rate for you. Even give you a break on the parts.
I guess this is just one of those things that I have to bite the bullet and accept, albeit grudgingly. On Monday I'm going to call several of the aftermarket shops in the area that specialize in MINI/BMW work and see what kind of pricing they offer for the computer coding. I don't mind driving 2 hrs. to get work done if that's the best price. There's plenty of shopping in the area and other historical stuff, so it's not like I'd be out in BFE with nothing to do.
I've not heard it explained that way around. I had an argument with a service writer once about something that was obviously a warranty item. I won the argument for all the right reasons but later asked the service tech why it was like pulling teeth given 1) it was clearly and obviously a warranty item and 2) I assumed they would get paid the same either way. He looked around and then quietly said something like "I didn't say this but...warranty work pays less. The parts department doesn't make anything off parts because they're at cost and the warranty rate for labor is a fraction of the standard rate. So they don't really like to do warranty work here since there's basically no profit."
The dealer is not giving a discount to BMW MINI. BMW MINI are demanding it. A job that has flat rate of 2 hours may only be paid 1 hour if BMW MINI is picking up the tab. The poor mechanic loses an hour of pay for that warranty work. The dealer makes zero profit on the parts for the fix. It's a pretty stinky business.
It makes you wonder what kind of quality job gets done under warranty if the mechanic is pushed like that..... Not good....
Glad I don't have the extended plan. Sounds like the entire "warranty" thing is not such a great deal after all. :frown5: Jim
Ahhhhh, just saw it on the other post. Added the OEM alarm, now you are looking to get some ECU work done to get it recognized.
Jim the extended service plan is something else entirely. Not sure about how the extended warranty coverage you pay for up front goes.
Ahhhhh, I see on the other post you added the OEM alarm and need to get some software work done so the ECU recognizes it....