Why do I need a dealership alternative?
That’s a great question.
Coast Motor Werk has spent the last 10 years answering it.
Dealerships are nice. Your BMW or MINI might not be on the road without it.
As a place to be introduced to these great cars, get to know them, and test drive them, the dealership is helpful and welcoming.
Once you drive off the lot, though, things change.
Since the dealership knows you already love your BMW or MINI, they are not motivated to keep you in love with it.
That’s where we come in.
5 Reasons You Need the Dealership Alternative
1) No Long Waits.
The dealership exists to sell. Their maintenance package is a secondary benefit, which is why when you show up for repairs, you might feel like a second-class citizen. The lines are long, the wait for an appointment is longer, and you pretty much have to tackle a staff person to get some help.
If you are sick of waiting, Coast Motor Werk is the cure. Our main job – our ONLY job – is to maintain and repair your BMW or MINI, which is why our staff will see you immediately, find out what you need and get to work. We know you have places to be, and we want to get you back on the road quickly.
2) We Care As Much As You Do.
Every mechanic at Coast Motor Werk joined our team because they love these cars. We specialize in BMWs and MINIs because we know how great they are.
The Coast Motor Werk team doesn’t treat our clients, or our clients’ cars, like a burden or an annoyance that has to be dealt with.
We want you to be customers for life, which is why when you’re here, you’re family. (Yes, Olive Garden said that first, but we meant it first.) We even planned a vacation to Germany for our customers – would we do that if we didn’t like you?
3) Salary vs. Commission
When employees are paid on commission, the more they sell, the more money they make. This is a great motivator for car salesmen, especially in the BMW and MINI world, where the cars basically sell themselves.
What many people don’t realize is that at a dealership, not only are the salesmen paid on commission, but the mechanics are too. That means the more repairs and services a mechanic sells, the more money he makes.
Unfortunately, commission-based mechanics are more likely to push unnecessary or untimely repairs onto customers who don’t know better.
Mechanics on commission are also competing with each other for your business, which means they aren’t likely to help each other when fixing your car.
At Coast Motor Werk, we don’t use a commission system. We pay our mechanics a good salary, which allows our team to focus their work instead of chasing nickels and dimes.
We encourage our mechanics to work together to diagnose your MINI or BMW’s problem and get it fixed fast and correctly. Also, there is no motivation to add repairs or services you don’t need. We’re good like that.
For more on the difference between salary and commission-based mechanics, click here.
4) “Free Scheduled Maintenance” Isn’t Free.
The warranty period for “free scheduled maintenance” only applies to a strict schedule of indicated repairs. For example, if you come in because your check engine light is on, but the oil service isn’t due for another 700 miles, the dealer will not take care of both, and tell you to come back in a couple of weeks.
If “time is money,” that kind of service isn’t free at all.
The Coast Motor Werk alternative is simple: we want to satisfy your service needs as painlessly as possible. We keep thorough notes and records on your vehicle, and if you have additional maintenance coming up, we’ll let you know and take care of it when you bring your car in.
5) Premium Service Doesn’t Mean Premium Prices.
Since we have decades of repair experience and our mechanics are so dang efficient, it’s pretty easy for us to charge you less than the dealer does. A lot of times, our prices are half of what the dealer would charge you for the same service or repair.
This blog was originally titled “101 Reasons You Need a Dealership Alternative,” but we realized you probably wouldn’t read all that. If you want to learn more about what makes Coast Motor Werk so special, give us a call or make an appointment and we’ll be happy to explain more.
