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Report: #51114

Complaint Review: Leith BMW - Raleigh North Carolina

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  • Reported By: Raleigh North Carolina
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  • Leith BMW 5601 Capital Blvd, Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh, North Carolina U.S.A.

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I purchased a 1996 318i BMW in 2000, with 44,000 Miles on it. The car runs great, no problems mechanically.

After about 1 year I noticed the clear coat starting to peel off around the left rear quarter panel, near the top where the trunk is. I though nothing of it at first. Then it got worse. It slowly spread.

I noticed it was starting to ppel off the roof of the care ans also on the hood. I took it to three prefessional auto/body shops, that specialized in painting, and all of them said that this should not happen. All of them agreed that it was a bad paint/clear coat job, and that BMW should pay to have it repainted/new clearcoat.

I went to Leith BMW in Raleigh and they looked at my car. Of course, the piant is not covered in the warranty. I exlpained to them that It is an eyesore, and that there are cars 20 years older than mine that do not have this problem. THey came back to me and said that because I was not the original owner of the car, there is nothing they will do abou it.

THe sad thing is folks, when I approached them about this problem, I was polite, complimented on how well-built their cars were, that I did not have any major problems with their cars, and that I always kept up with the services, etc.etc. I tried to say that you know this car just had a bad paint job, thats all.

They didnt budge. I went up the chain, thought about filing a lawsuit, but my lawyer said it would be better to get a class action suit. So if anybody out there has had the same problem, please contact me.

Now my car, which still runs well, has most of its clear coat peeling off like a bad sunburn, and I will have to paint it myself to make it look halfway re-sellable.

You would think that a company such as BMW would have the best Customer Service..b

Ted
Raleigh, North Carolina
U.S.A.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 03/31/2003 11:56 AM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/leith-bmw/raleigh-north-carolina-2727616/leith-bmw-ripoff-the-business-that-doesnt-give-a-dam-raleigh-north-carolina-51114. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
0Author
12Consumer
0Employee/Owner

#12 Consumer Comment

BMW HAS A 7 YEAR UNLIMITED WARRANTY FOR PAINT !

AUTHOR: Bilal - (Canada)

POSTED: Tuesday, November 30, 2004

When you had this car, it was 5 or 6 years old. BMW should have given you a new paint job, because it clearly states that you have a 7 year warranty on the body for rust and paint. BMW should have repainted the car no questions asked. I would talk to BMW America about this issue, because the dealership is clearly ripping you off, and now that the warranty is over you have have no choice but to do the job yourself or fight this in court !

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#11 Consumer Comment

BMW HAS A 7 YEAR UNLIMITED WARRANTY FOR PAINT !

AUTHOR: Bilal - (Canada)

POSTED: Tuesday, November 30, 2004

When you had this car, it was 5 or 6 years old. BMW should have given you a new paint job, because it clearly states that you have a 7 year warranty on the body for rust and paint. BMW should have repainted the car no questions asked. I would talk to BMW America about this issue, because the dealership is clearly ripping you off, and now that the warranty is over you have have no choice but to do the job yourself or fight this in court !

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#10 Consumer Comment

BMW HAS A 7 YEAR UNLIMITED WARRANTY FOR PAINT !

AUTHOR: Bilal - (Canada)

POSTED: Tuesday, November 30, 2004

When you had this car, it was 5 or 6 years old. BMW should have given you a new paint job, because it clearly states that you have a 7 year warranty on the body for rust and paint. BMW should have repainted the car no questions asked. I would talk to BMW America about this issue, because the dealership is clearly ripping you off, and now that the warranty is over you have have no choice but to do the job yourself or fight this in court !

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#9 Consumer Comment

Shake Up at Leith

AUTHOR: Peter - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, September 13, 2004

I came across this and a couple of other reported incidents at Leith in Raleigh, N.C.. These problems are generally indicative of franchise ownership health status. Rich from Chicago was right on the money with his comments.

Nothing of man lasts forever. It would be nice however to pay more to be assured of reducing the risk of being stuck with a lemon. The paint incident leaves a lot of questions in my mind. Was it a junk repaint by the volumes of seemingly professional body shops?

Buying cheaper used stuff flat out carries inherent risk. I can't help but believe there were signs of existing or imminent coating failure with a closer exam at time of purchase.

Buyer always Beware.
I own a '01 Z3 and would slaughter a neighbor before parting with it (not really). Leith has been servicing the unit exclusively. I noted cold treatment on the new unit sales floor initially. You know, you walk in with a t-shirt and holes in the knees of your Levi's. You are a mark being profiled by commission feeding predators. Period. That's life. You do get the last laugh up when you break out the briefcase and pay cash. Dealers, as with all enterprise are profit obsessed. If not, they are working in public service.

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#8 Consumer Comment

Feeling Sympathic But Way Out Of Luck

AUTHOR: Rich - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, February 23, 2004

I don't blame you for feeling the way you do about the paint issue. The truth of the matter is, and this applies to all manufacturers, the factory warranty bumper to bumper coverage that comes with the vehicle, in this case BMW, of 4 years 50,000 miles is a guaranty they are giving you by saying "Nothing should ever go wrong with your vehicle within the time/mlg limit of 4years/50k miles but if something goes wrong (mechanical or cosmetic) within that time/mlg period we will correct it at no charge to the customer." I know this vehicle probably cost the customer an eye's worth off his wallet but what you must understand is simply that things break.Things become defective.Nothing man-made lasts forever.Many may consider the purchase of a vehicle to be the 2nd biggest investment compared to buying a home, but in the end it will eventually end up in a crushing yard.Keep this mentality and next time you would have paid to fix the problem when it was small.

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#7 Consumer Comment

ceases to amaze me what they think they are

AUTHOR: Cory - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Friday, February 20, 2004

RE: Your BMW experience, I tore the muffler off
my BMW on a cattle guard and the local dealer
replaced it at no charge, under warranty. It
would have cost $1000+. The local dealer is
outstanding. When I read reports such as this , I wonder what goes through the minds of these people? His vehicle is now 7-8 years old. I have a
16 year old Dodge, do I expect the local Dodge dealer to repaint my vehicle for free. It doesn't
say where Ted purchased his vehicle. I doubt it was from Leith BMW. Who does Ted think is going to pay the $ 5000+ to paint his vehicle.

I deal with the public all day long and it
never ceases to amaze me what they think they are
entitled to.

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#6 Consumer Comment

Good Experience

AUTHOR: Jennifer - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Wednesday, February 18, 2004

I'm sorry that you feel that you were ripped off. I personally had a good experience with Leith BMW. I also had some clearcoat peeling on a newer BMW and pointed it out right away to the dealer. They immediately took care of it.

When it takes a year to discover an issue (particularly one that isn't covered by warranty), I don't think that you really have alot to work with. For all they know, a rock could have chipped the paint seal and it began peeling from there. Also, the car was about 7 years old when you got it.

As far as a lawsuit, I think that it would be a waste of time and court resources. It would be significantly cheaper to just get the thing repainted. I'm afraid that this isn't BMW's problem and am sorry that you feel this way.

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#5 Consumer Suggestion

Hey Ted try doing this, might be FUN! :)

AUTHOR: The Great Thorn Your Consumer Advocate - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Wednesday, April 02, 2003

Hey Ted you might have fun faxing a copy of your Rip Off Report to BMW. They might enjoy knowing that they have a dealer that has made the Rip Off Report.

BMW of North America, Inc. Corporate Office
300 Chestnut Ridge Rd.
Woodcliff Lake, NJ 07675
201-307-4000
Toll free: 1-800-831-1117 (BMW Customer Service Center)
Fax: 1-201-930-8362
Web site: www.bmwusa.com

Next, Ted you might have fun sending a fax to BMW's web hosting company. Make sure Bud Smith gets your fax. His fax number is 1-(612) 305-3552 His email is budsmith@FALLON.COM

Call up Bud Smith and ask him if he will give you contact info of big shots at BMW. Bud's phone number is 1-(612) 321-2552.

I am willing to bet big money that Bud Smith will not give you any big shot phone numbers!

Ted you notice that no matter what car maker web site you go to that there is never any email addresses or phone numbers posted.

Car makers do NOT like to talk to consumers when the consumers are having trouble with a dealer or with the car that they own. It seems that they just want to DUMP you in the deceptive dealer's hands.

To all who read my postings.
If you have any names, email addresses or phone numbers of car maker big shots, Please send them to the editor@ripoffreport.com at the best consumer web site on the net. The editor will see to it that I get the list that you send.

It is my job or calling to help consumers in the auto industry and victims of the credit industry.

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#4 Consumer Suggestion

Call BMW!

AUTHOR: Jim - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, March 31, 2003

Did you actually contact BMW? I mean BMW the manufacturer, not the BMW dealer. Try that. Use a search engine to find out the ZONE OFFICE which services your area. Find out first if there have been any paint related recalls and if not, see if there's something they can do for you. I think you might be on thin ice however. Its a 1996 car probably built in 95, meaning its an eight year old unit. But I do wish you well with it and if you have success, post it here so we all know!

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#3 Consumer Suggestion

Call BMW!

AUTHOR: Jim - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, March 31, 2003

Did you actually contact BMW? I mean BMW the manufacturer, not the BMW dealer. Try that. Use a search engine to find out the ZONE OFFICE which services your area. Find out first if there have been any paint related recalls and if not, see if there's something they can do for you. I think you might be on thin ice however. Its a 1996 car probably built in 95, meaning its an eight year old unit. But I do wish you well with it and if you have success, post it here so we all know!

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#2 Consumer Suggestion

Call BMW!

AUTHOR: Jim - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, March 31, 2003

Did you actually contact BMW? I mean BMW the manufacturer, not the BMW dealer. Try that. Use a search engine to find out the ZONE OFFICE which services your area. Find out first if there have been any paint related recalls and if not, see if there's something they can do for you. I think you might be on thin ice however. Its a 1996 car probably built in 95, meaning its an eight year old unit. But I do wish you well with it and if you have success, post it here so we all know!

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#1 Consumer Suggestion

Call BMW!

AUTHOR: Jim - (U.S.A.)

POSTED: Monday, March 31, 2003

Did you actually contact BMW? I mean BMW the manufacturer, not the BMW dealer. Try that. Use a search engine to find out the ZONE OFFICE which services your area. Find out first if there have been any paint related recalls and if not, see if there's something they can do for you. I think you might be on thin ice however. Its a 1996 car probably built in 95, meaning its an eight year old unit. But I do wish you well with it and if you have success, post it here so we all know!

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