Category: | Car Dealer |
Address: | 31320 US-19, Palm Harbor, FL 34684, USA |
Phone: | +1 727-490-6464 |
Site: | minioftampabay.com |
Rating: | 4.7 |
Working: | 9AM–8PM 9AM–8PM 9AM–8PM 9AM–8PM 9AM–8PM 9AM–6PM 12–5PM |
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Erica Ortiz
I bought my Mini Cooper S Clubman from Ferman on May 29, 2014, excited to have purchased my first Mini Cooper. In my year and a half of ownership (and 40,000 miles), I have had system wide failure issues on the car, including: -Thermostat Housing -Cooling Fan -Waterpump -A/C Compressor -Timing Chain (Class action lawsuit judgment - refusal to help) -Valve Cover Leaks -Oil Filter Adapter leaks -2 Broken Oil Caps -Cam Cover leaks -Front Case Leaks -Alignment Issues -4 sets of brakes -2 sets of tires -Non functioning Radio The oil changes and services were done through Ferman Mini until my distrust became apparent. I was notified of the class action lawsuit judgment against Mini for the problematic engine. I reached out to Mini directly 1/26/16, and was told that there were options, but I had to bring the car into the dealer to have it looked at. By now, the car has engine noise at start up, is leaking a considerable amount of oil, and is smoking occasionally. I’m immediately told that I would have to pay an excessive and added $250 diagnostic fee - for a car that I have been sold from this dealer and dissatisfied since day 1 - because I had “too many issues”. I hesitantly agree, hoping that Mini will do right by me in light of the legal action against them. I’m told that the car needs Timing Chains, has oil leaks coming from the front cover, the remote oil filter adapter, and cam cover, the radio would have to be replaced, the water pump is leaking, and my concerns about the transmission issues were never even addressed. The only assistance I was offered was a discount off the work- on a car that has a class action judgment against to repair and told to pay out of pocket an additional $3000 to fix. I have owned the car less than 2 years, and less than 40,000 miles. These are not normal wear and tear repairs, these are not negligent repairs, they are horrific and system wide failures that have warranted legal actions, and Ferman knew this when it dumped the car on me, the unsuspecting buyer. While looking back at my inspection reports, they had noted on the hand written inspection that oil leaks were present at my first service visit and never advised... while it would have still been under warranty. So thoroughly discouraged, I looked at trading it in only to find that it has depreciated so much since I bought it that I am stuck with over $10,000 in negative equity, and thats not even including the work Id have to get done just to trade it in. I was sold the car for $16,900, and it is barely worth $4800 today. I feel that I was completely ripped off by Ferman, knowingly sold a lemon of a car that had pending litigation against, and have zero options of getting out of this car into something reliable. How can a car that is less than 6 years old and under 100k miles have system-wide failures across the board? More importantly, how can a dealer such as Ferman, in good faith sell me a vehicle with pending litigation and this many issues? A/C compressor failure, Cooling Fan failure, Thermostat Housing leaks, waterpump leaks, 4 separate oil leaks in 4 different locations, a timing chain issue that Mini is aware of but wants me to pay out of pocket to repair, Transmission issues that that endangered my life when the vehicle surged forward on its own at a light, radio failures, 4 sets of brakes in 40k miles, 2 sets of tires, THIS is the kind of quality that Ferman delivers to its customers? Please stay away from Ferman and Mini - and share this story as a warning to all of their absolutely unethical actions
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Susan Yeunnahn Chung
I originally bought my MINI in Palm Harbor. Not only was I living in St. Pete at the time, but also that was the only MINI dealer in Tampa Bay. I moved to Tampa and ended up switching to Wesley Chapel. Overall, I did not have a good experience in Wesley Chapel, but the convenience kept me going back until I decided enough is enough. With even my brother (also a MINI owner) being treated poorly there, I came back to Palm Harbor and am I *really* glad and grateful that I did. Recently my MINI suddenly stopped working. I called Palm Harbor and was able to get my car towed in and a (super) loaner car to use in the meantime -- pure seduction making me want a new car (those dealers know what they are doing by giving such loaner cars). It took a few days to figure out the problem, which left me uneasy since I figured a complicated problem meant an expensive repair. I ended up talking with Dennis, the service manager, who allayed my fears and reassured me that Palm Harbor was going to do what is fair. Dennis called me back in a timely fashion and already had asked MINI to help me out with a goodwill repair, so that he could give me the good news right away that I would not have thousands of dollars in repair but only a fraction of that. I was _so_ thankful. If you have any concerns, talk with Dennis. He is very calm, reasonable and empathetic. He went above and beyond to help me out and I will not forget it. I want to let others know that they can find a trustworthy person in Palm Harbor. I would encourage anyone to make the extra drive to Palm Harbor over Wesley Chapel. Update: After a few more visits to the dealer, it is clear that the service department here is TOP NOTCH. The dedicated people have gone to great lengths to keep my MINI going and have found ways to keep me from crying from high costs. Rather, I have left with extreme gratitude and relief a number of times. One time, Aaron F. even removed the massive amount of recycling (cardboard, etc.) that I had in my back seat when I dropped off my car. (I completely forgot that anyone taller would not be able to get in the drivers seat with the back completely full of stuff!) I ***definitely*** recommend this place over the other in the area.
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Rick Crowley
I must start by giving my first experience at this dealer and Sara Griffith was a wonderful sales person and did a good job. I really love the product and have had it now for 3 months and was now do for service . My wife had called and set up the appointment and wanted to make sure that they had some touch-up paint that we could pick up at the same time. The phone call had gone well to set the appointment and when we showed up we were greeted in the service drive very promptly. My wife and I then went in and spoke to the service advisor and signed the paper work and then walked around , we walked 3 lots (Mini,BMW ,Used) and not one person even ever said good morning ?! maybe they all stayed out to late the night before not sure but really was not a big deal because I was not buying anything. We then went in and sat down in the waiting area and after being there 2 hours we were told that we were ready to go. We followed the service advisor to the desk and he was checking us out and we asked again for the touchup paint and was told that we would need to go to the BMW building to get this ????? this upset me since we had walked by that are 3 times and if told that up front could have handled that during the 2 hour wait ? really figured since this was set up as part of the appointment that this would have been waiting for us and all taken care of at the advisors desk. We then walked to the car and noticed that the wash job was less than good the vacuum was not done very good at all . I am now looking for a new dealer that has a good service department that can perform as well as fermans sales department