Bill Jacobs MINI

Not exactly a smooth experience Update 5/26 - This is an update to a prior 1 star review. Some background - since I deleted that prior review...they gave us a deal on a Friday, we pu Update 5/26 - This is an update to a prior 1 star review. Some background - since I deleted that prior review...they gave us a deal on a Friday, we put 1k deposit down, and made arrangements to drive the 5 hours to Naperville the following day. They changed the deal when we were an hour out. We turned the deal down and headed back to Michigan. We thought it was rather rude that not one person called to see what changed when our salesperson knew we were coming from so far and were already on our way. On Sunday morning we sent an email to all their sales managers and the business manager. When we didn't receive a response by Monday night, I posted the negative review. Well, last weekend we took the long trip again to buy this car. One of their sales managers, Darren, contacted my wife to try to work out the deal. I'm not sure if he was responding to my email, the the lost sale hitting his desk, or maybe even responding from our prior negative review. He was very apologetic and wanted to work a deal out. At any rate, we worked out what I consider to be a fair deal for the car. Darren was very nice - and hey they are a busy dealership. I understand why it might have taken them some time to follow up on a lost sale. Even though we decided to still deal with them after our initial very bad experience. They were really good in some areas and fell short in others. If this review were for their parts department - I'd give it a 5. Parts was great. We ordered some additional accessories - it was easy pleasant experience and they came in quickly. Not only that - they shipped it to us in Michigan AND called to let us know the tracking number. I'd definitely recommend. In regards to the purchase - We bought a 2013 Mini Cooper Countryman S ALL4. We made arrangements to make the drive again and told them we would be in around 1pm on a Saturday. When we arrived - the car looked great. It was detailed and looked as new as they could make it. The salesperson that we originally dealt with was going to get us through the initial paperwork She was friendly. Clearly eager to put the past behind us. The sales manager who got us back came and greeted us as well. Things seemed to be going well - until we had to wait over 2 hours for the finance guy to do the paperwork. I mean, I would've understood waiting if we hadn't made an appt to come in and buy the car. When I've done that in the past - we were in and out in less than 45. Yes, the Mini dealership is cool and they give you free beverages - but I didn't want to be there all day. Especially when driving 5 hours to get there. We didn't end up leaving until after 6pm central. Got there around 1pm. Ah well. The only other issue we had was what I'll call a "misunderstanding" with what we negotiated for the extended warranty. They worked it out - but we had to do the paperwork twice - and show proof of the warrant that was negotiated in an email. I think part of their problem is that they are a big dealership and need some better processes in place to be more efficient. Like - the day they were initially losing the sale - the should have called. Not 2 business days later. The paperwork should have been ready when we arrived. Their salesperson should be able to walk through all the paperwork - not just a finance manager. Yes, they did try to makeup for our initial issue. They were all very nice when we were there. If it wasn't for the extended warranty issue and the fact we had to be at the dealership for hours when they were expecting us to come in and purchase - I'd have given them 3 stars instead. Would I purchase from again - yes...if the deal was right. *******PRIOR REVIEW The short version of our experience can be summed up by the phrase "bait and switch". They agreed to a deal over the phone that I don't believe they ever had any intention of honoring. It seems to me they just wanted to get us invested enough to just go through with the purchase even if it wasn't what they initially offered. I feel very naive to have believed in a verbal agreement over the phone and given this dealership a $1000 deposit. Even after they reneged on the deal (after we had already driven over 3 hours to get there) no one from the dealership called to apologize or explain anything. Even if they respond to a review - it will just be for show on the internet. I contacted all of their sales managers via email - with basically the longer story I have below and have yet to receive a response. Here is long version of the story if you're interested: We verbally negotiated a deal on a 2013 used Mini and felt confident that our deal would go through as planned. There were mixed reviews on the internet - some good ones so I thought we should take the bad ones with a grain of salt. With faith, we put down the 1k requested deposit and planned our 4.5 hour roadtrip (9 hrs roundtrip) the next day. We should have initially been worried since our salesperson, Irma did seem a little confused about how the CPO warranty works and the remaining factory warranty left. I had already read about CPO and figured the car as a 2013 should have 8 months left on the original factory based on the Carfax report. So, I didn't let her confusion worry me. Irma told us that we would need to put $1000 deposit down since Bill Jacobs would start the certification process in the morning. We put the deposit in over the phone. We agreed to meet with Irma on Saturday at 2pm to buy the car. The meeting was set for later as we would be driving in from Detroit. We added the car to our insurance policy, filled out the credit application, and emailed everything requested to Irma. On Saturday, after we had been driving for over 3 hours, Irma called us. That was when the deal began to fall apart. Irma advised us that the car could not be certified. However, the car qualified to covered under a BMW certified program. Since the car didn't qualify for Mini CPO, they also had to seek other financing. The best we qualified for was 2.1 or 2.5 she wasn't sure, it depended on the terms. We immediately pulled over - since we would need to review exactly what had changed. We asked some questions about what the BMW certification was exactly. How did it compare to the Mini CPO? She focused on telling us what the Mini CPO did not cover. She said most people thought it was full coverage but really it was just a powertrain extension. We were confused because we thought the CPO warranty covered more than just powertrain. Irma said that the BMW warranty was basically the same coverage as a Mini CPO. The more we talked about what coverage they were offering - we began to understand Irma didn't mean a BMW certification - it was just an extended warranty with minimal coverage. So - instead of the CPO vehicle that we agreed to we were now talking about a regular pre-owned with a very basic warranty. Obviously, we were pretty upset because we had agreed on a CPO and that wasn't what was being offered now. We completely felt like we had been given the "bait and switch". We told Irma that we couldn't accept this change and to please refund our deposit. She informed us it would take 6-14 days to process. Since our experience with this dealer hasn't been good so far, I now have to worry about them having our money until the refund comes through. On the long drive home, my wife and I felt bamboozled and ashamed. We felt extremely naive to have bought into a verbal agreement with a car dealership. We should have gotten everything in writing prior to planning a 4 hour car trip. If anything good has come out of this experience, it was that hard life lesson. More

Lovin' my new car! Our salesman and staff were so friendly and helpful! They made buying a car a great experience! We came in for oil changes and ended up trading one of Our salesman and staff were so friendly and helpful! They made buying a car a great experience! We came in for oil changes and ended up trading one of our Mini Coopers in for a new one... I absolutely LOVE my 2016 Clubman. Also, the service department is extremely helpful and kind as well... More

LOVE MY MINI Just bought my MINI 1-27-16. Best car purchase experience I ever had! I LOVE MY MINI. I found my MINI online, Dana contacted me within a few minutes Just bought my MINI 1-27-16. Best car purchase experience I ever had! I LOVE MY MINI. I found my MINI online, Dana contacted me within a few minutes, I went in for a test drive and was instantly in LOVE with my MINI. Credit, Pricing, Finance and overall experience was not stressful at ALL. This is very rare compared to my previous experiences at other dealerships. This was the first time I ever visited a MINI dealership and WOW the MINI's are a great car- Very well built, safe and fun to drive. Check them out - they are a lot bigger inside than you would think. It's a classy little car! More

Buying process is good People are nice. The price is good comparing with other dealers around Chicago. I think I got a pretty good deal. Haroon is great. He helped me to pic People are nice. The price is good comparing with other dealers around Chicago. I think I got a pretty good deal. Haroon is great. He helped me to picked a car based on my likes. Since I have just got my car for several days. I will update my review after I got further customer service. More

Mini Cooper dent repair Wonderful customer service, gave me daily updates on the progress and were upfront about costs of repair from day 1. I would recommend this to anyone Wonderful customer service, gave me daily updates on the progress and were upfront about costs of repair from day 1. I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for mini servicing or repair. Kevin jacobs is a class act guy More

Cooper 2015 hardtop Haroon n Greg are great. They helped me to finalize a car based on my likes. Also had lots of visits before deciding. They are cooperative. Haroon n Greg are great. They helped me to finalize a car based on my likes. Also had lots of visits before deciding. They are cooperative. More

Excellent Service We are nearing the end of our free maintenance on our 2013 Mini. I am a bit worried about the expense of maintaining the car once we are responsible We are nearing the end of our free maintenance on our 2013 Mini. I am a bit worried about the expense of maintaining the car once we are responsible for payment, since it will cost about $130 to rotate the tires. Service has been exceptional so far. More

Great Staff The staff stayed late to help us on a Saturday night to close the deal and deliver the car. They were excellent in all respects and even followed up a The staff stayed late to help us on a Saturday night to close the deal and deliver the car. They were excellent in all respects and even followed up after to see how the car was doing. More

Exceeded Expectations The service dept here is excellent. 5 star experience from the time I called to set up an appointment to pulling out of the lot with my car feeling l The service dept here is excellent. 5 star experience from the time I called to set up an appointment to pulling out of the lot with my car feeling like new. Everyone is extra friendly and helpful (not pushy) and the dealership has a cool modern feel with a showroom full of gorgeous vehicles to ogle. The service advisor was very communicative both via email and telephone. He took care of all paperwork related to my 3rd party extended warranty and patiently explained the estimate. I didn't feel pressured and the prices for the services were fair and competitive. I was happily surprised at the value of all of the work that was performed on my car. I have had other specialty mechanics work on my MINI and feel that I Bill Jacobs provided WAY better service and value. I wish I had brought my car to them sooner but I live downstate (Bloomington area). I was surprised to find out they offer a transportation service at low/no cost that I could've used. They mentioned that their service extends up into Wisconsin as well. They also provided me with a no charge loaner car to use while they worked. I knew owning a MINI (and driving it as hard as I do) would mean some extra maintenance. I'll be taking it back to Bill Jacobs in the future. Thanks again Bill Jacobs team. Happy Driving! More

Service department is second to none. Mitch Shefveland, my service advisor, and Mike Polley, my Mini service technician always take great care of me. I could not be happier with my experie Mitch Shefveland, my service advisor, and Mike Polley, my Mini service technician always take great care of me. I could not be happier with my experience at Bill Jacob's Mini. More