McGrath BMW Of Elmhurst

They sold me a car with a cracked engine block. I should preface this by saying I always try my best to give businesses a chance to rectify bad situations before resorting to negative reviews. Unfor I should preface this by saying I always try my best to give businesses a chance to rectify bad situations before resorting to negative reviews. Unfortunately, I have escalated this situation as far as possible, and have been met with resistance at every turn, so here we are. Cliffs notes are at the end for those with short attention spans. After months of scouring the internet for the perfect X5M, I purchased an Alpine White on Sakhir Orange 2012 X5M with 45,000 miles on it from Elmhurst BMW in Illinois in June of 2018. I was SO excited about the car, the color combo, the mileage, and the fact that it had one owner and appeared to be so well cared for. I live in Colorado, so I tried to do my due diligence and arrange for a pre-purchase inspection with another BMW specialist, but couldn't find a local shop that could make time in their schedule. I decided to trust Elmhurst that the car was in excellent condition, as they stated. I had another enthusiast friend stop by to take a quick look at the car, but he was only able to do a cosmetic inspection. He said it looked nice, so I decided to go for it. I figured I would just purchase the most comprehensive aftermarket warranty they offered to cover me in the future. I signed the paperwork, and booked a flight for my husband to go pick it up. My husband flew to Chicago and took an Uber to the dealership. When he arrived, the interior was still dirty, and had all sorts of white crusty residue in the buttons. He notified Eugene, and Eugene assured him that it had been detailed, but they took it back to do a half-assed touch up. Great. Fine. Whatever. He was on a time crunch, and had to hit the road, so he took it as-is. When he got home, I immediately noticed that the "side view camera malfunction" warning came on whenever I tried to activate them. I immediately called my client advisor, Mike, to let him know, and he said they wouldn't be able to do anything about it, but to just wait a month and file a warranty claim. Shady, and I figured the warranty wouldn't cover anything electronic, but whatever. I waited a month, and took my car to my favorite BMW independent shop for its scheduled brake flush and to have the camera looked at. They noted that the oil pan gasket was leaking, a PCV hose was leaking, and the side view camera wiring was damaged and had caused corrosion at the camera itself. All told, over $3000 of work that should have been caught by Elmhurst, but I had a warranty, so whatever. I had the shop submit the claim to Continental Warranty, and everything was denied except for the oil pan gasket (but they refused to cover the one-time-use fasteners, or the alignment that needed to be done in conjunction with the repair). I decided to suck it up and have them get started on the oil pan gasket. I know these warranties have a reputation for nitpicking claims, and I was just happy they were paying for most of it. This is when things went downhill. Upon removal of the oil pan, the technician found that the engine block was cracked and needed to be replaced. They immediately called Continental Warranty, and the claim was 100% denied. Continental said that it was "clearly stress cracks due to previous work being done". My car had only ever been serviced at Elmhurst, and according to the service history, had never had any work done in that area, so their hypothesis was absolutely incorrect. I called Elmhurst to tell them what was going on, and Tim Baber said he would call Continental and see what he could do. Tim called me back after the weekend, and said that Continental refused to budge. I asked for a refund on the warranty, and after some back and forth, they agreed to refund me in full. This was the last helpful thing Elmhurst BMW did for me. (Side note: It's been a month and I have yet to receive the refund.) The full price of the engine replacement in my car was $26,000. My car cost $36,000. Elmhurst didn't offer me any assistance in contacting BMW of North America, or with the cost of the repairs. I asked them what they suggested I do, and Tim Baber told me to "JB Weld the cracks and sell the car." I pointed out how incredibly unethical that suggestion was. He said, "so trade it in at a place like CarMax." Oh, okay...I'll just pawn it off on someone else, and lose a ton of money in the process. He said, "well, you'd probably lose less trading it in than the engine would cost." He then offered me $28,000 on trade if I wanted to trade in my car for another one of their cars. He apparently forgot that my vehicle was dismantled and I live in Denver, not to mention the fact that I would never, in a million years, want another used car from them. I worked as a technician at BMW dealerships in a past life, and fortunately, I still have a number of friends who work for dealerships, and for BMW of North America. I reached out to my friend who works for BMW North America to see if he could help, and he went to work advocating for me to the powers that be. After a few weeks of back and forth, he advised me to tow my car to BMW of Denver Downtown. In the end, he got BMW to goodwill 75% of the repair cost. That left me with a bill of $1,400 to my independent shop and $6,500 owed to BMW of Denver Downtown for the balance of the repair. In the midst of this, I emailed Tim Baber, the used car sales manager, and Irv Shenderovsky, the general manager, to let them know how disappointed I was that they made no attempt whatsoever to assist me with this. They seemed perfectly content to sell me a car that needed a $26,000 engine and wash their hands of the situation. If I hadn't had friends at BMW, I would have been on the hook for the full cost of the repair, and they would not have lifted a finger to help me. Irv assured me that they would see what they could do to help, but he sent me one-sentence emails, no updates, and never answered his phone when I called him. He repeatedly asked for documents I had already sent him, and strung me along for over a month. He had their service manager, Korey, contact BMW of North America (the same exact thing I had already done, but weeks after the fact), and came back with the news that BMW wouldn't do anything more for me. BMW dealerships are independently owned, and I didn't expect more from BMW, they already went above and belond - I wanted Elmhurst BMW to take some responsibility. I asked Korey if they would have sold this car knowing the extent of the damage to the engine, and he said no, they would not have sold the car. But they did. They sold it to me. And they weren't sorry. I finally got Irv on the phone, and expressed how incredibly upset and disappointed I have been with his handling of the situation. He acted defensive, and insisted over and over again that there was no way they could have known about the damage, totally missing the fact that it doesn't matter whether or not they knew. What matters is how they handled the issue. If they had stepped up to contact BMW on my behalf to address the issue from the beginning, if they had offered to pay for, or even split my out of pocket costs with me just to make it right, I would be raving about their customer service to my friends and family. I wouldn't have hesitated to travel again for another car purchase. Instead, here I am, letting the world know how bad they dropped the ball and how little they care about their clients once they've signed on the dotted line. In the end, after over a month of arguing, he offered me $2500. A pittance compared to the $8,000 this has cost me. So at this point, I just want to warn others away from Elmhurst. Go literally anywhere else to buy your BMW. Cliffs notes: Elmhurst BMW sold me a car that needed a $26,000 engine replacement and refused to assist me in any way with the repairs. More

Great experience Mike, was extremely professional and informative during the buying process. This was my best car buying experience not just because I am happy with my Mike, was extremely professional and informative during the buying process. This was my best car buying experience not just because I am happy with my car but because of Mike was just a down to earth guy that made the process smooth. More

Fast and efficient. Mike helped me out with getting my car in record time. I flew out from another state and even so we got the deal done before lunch :) Very happy and Mike helped me out with getting my car in record time. I flew out from another state and even so we got the deal done before lunch :) Very happy and can recommend this dealership and Mike. More

Perfect Very good, clean and very fast service. Very recommended for other customers. They repair my car and right now car run and drive like i bought. Very good, clean and very fast service. Very recommended for other customers. They repair my car and right now car run and drive like i bought. More

Great experience. Everything went smoothly. I was taken care of immediately. My vehicle was served in a timely manner. Justin Informed me of the services performed and advised me of follow up it I was taken care of immediately. My vehicle was served in a timely manner. Justin Informed me of the services performed and advised me of follow up items. More

Welcome to the BMW Family That’s what I was told when I first purchased my car and Elmhurst has lived up to that. The car still drives like a dream and the service team has bee That’s what I was told when I first purchased my car and Elmhurst has lived up to that. The car still drives like a dream and the service team has been amazing! John is my go to guy but anyone in service is phenomenal to work with. I love how proactive the are regarding the upcoming service requirents. Looking forward to purchasing my next BMW from them! More

Bad experience for the second time After a bad experience, i would not recommend this dealer for repairs. i had to go Laurel Bmw, just to get things fixed right. Thanks Laurel After a bad experience, i would not recommend this dealer for repairs. i had to go Laurel Bmw, just to get things fixed right. Thanks Laurel More

5 Star Dealership Great car buying experience with extremely professional, knowledgeable and helpful staff. Highly recommended dealership - proactive internet communic Great car buying experience with extremely professional, knowledgeable and helpful staff. Highly recommended dealership - proactive internet communication, fantastic waiting area atmosphere, concierge service. Awesome purchase. More

Kind, Courteous and Professional service ! I was pleasantly surprised at how courteous and professional Eugene and Dave were at Elmhurst BMW. There was no pressure, and they answered all of my I was pleasantly surprised at how courteous and professional Eugene and Dave were at Elmhurst BMW. There was no pressure, and they answered all of my questions. There was no haggling over price. I told them what I thought a fair price would be, and they matched it . It was the best experience I have ever had in purchasing a vehicle , and I would highly recommend Eugene to anyone looking to buy a BMW.. More

Purchase 2016 CLS63 AMG Mercedes Great experience as an out of state purchaser. Elmhurst BMW handled everything with expertise and professionalism. Special thanks to Joe Svoboda for m Great experience as an out of state purchaser. Elmhurst BMW handled everything with expertise and professionalism. Special thanks to Joe Svoboda for making the sale go seamlessly! Would highly recommend this dealership to anyone. Thank you Elmhurst BMW for a job well done! Miles Olson More