Dealerlopnik

"HoustonRunner" (houstonrunner) 04/13/2018 at 10:08 • Filed to: None

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Story of good dealer and stupid me. DOTS Ferrari for your time.

So, wife has been driving the 2015 BMW 328 since it is on a 10k miles per year lease and my daily commute is about 100 miles round trip (hers is about 15). Over the weekend she tells me the clutch pedal was making an odd noise. I drove it around the block, and it sounded and felt like there was a slight catch during clutch release. Since it is on lease and fully under warranty, I didn’t even try to diagnose (or anything really), I just called the dealer and made an appointment.

Dealer is good overall (Advantage BMW Midtown in Houston), but after drop off hadn’t called me by 2pm. So I called, got a call back about 5 minutes later, car was ready for pickup.

Know what it was? The floor mat. It had migrated too close to the pedals and was catching the clutch enough to just barely impede the progress on release. Yeah, I felt dumb. I’m no super mechanic or anything, but can do basic brakes, alternators, etc. And I didn’t even try.

Not much lost but 30 minutes or so of my wife’s time dropping off and picking it up, and we did get it washed, but still feel pretty dumb.

Anyone else care to share your story to make me feel slightly better?

(Also, if you will be in the market for a 2015 328i M Sport 6 speed in July, I know a dealer that will have one CPO and I know the driving history.)

Dasupersprint - base trim is enough > HoustonRunner 04/13/2018 at 10:34

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I really thought for a minute that your wife was DD a Ferrari 328

Arrivederci > HoustonRunner 04/13/2018 at 10:35

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I’ll share a story from my Dad. He has a C5 Corvette and enjoys taking it on long road trips up north to visit some of his relatives. Anyway, he was coming back on one of these trips through West Virginia and noticed that he was getting a vibration and noise. He thought it felt like a loose brake caliper as it subsided under braking.

It’s later in the day so he pulls off in Summerville, WV and finds a Chevy dealer to get it checked out at. Service was closed, so he books in a nearby hotel to get it looked at in the morning.

Dealer’s service dept opens the next day and he takes it in, explains the issue and lets the tech at it. Tech comes out maybe 15 minutes later and tells my dad it’s all sorted out. My dad couldn’t believe it was done so quickly and asks what the issue was. Apparently the lugs had started to loosen on one of the wheels. He had recently installed Z06 wheels and the tech said that often you need to re-torque them after installing new wheels, which my dad hadn’t done. Good thing he stopped when feeling that vibration!

WilliamsSW > HoustonRunner 04/13/2018 at 10:38

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Oof! At least it was a cheap fix. :)

Many, many years ago, I bought a ‘74 Dart for $650. Slant 6, Torqueflite POS that constantly overheated.

I was driving it on a date and it just flat out quit running at about 40 mph. I pulled it into the median and gave it a shot to start it, but got absolutely nowhere (it was dark, too). We called her mom to pick us up, and a tow truck to get the car.

What was the problem? It was out of gas. The gas gauge (unbeknownst to me) had just quit working, on a quarter tank, so I had no clue.

TheRealBicycleBuck > HoustonRunner 04/13/2018 at 10:43

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After buying my truck, I had problems with the clutch not fully disengaging and the throttle not going full throttle. The real problem was similar to yours - the floor mat slid forward, preventing the pedal from going all the way to the floor. I attached the back of the mats to the carpet with some pins to keep it from happening again. It also kept me from embarrass ing myself with another trip to the dealer for “repair”.... 

Party-vi > HoustonRunner 04/13/2018 at 10:47

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My stupidmobile has a 7 quart oil pan and takes 20W50. I was changing my oil and forgot to put the drain plugs back in, and basically filtered almost two gallons of 20W50 through my engine and onto the garage floor. That sucked.

HoustonRunner > Dasupersprint - base trim is enough 04/13/2018 at 10:51

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Now that I read your comment I can see that I was a bit vague. (Though the picture is a Mondial Quattrovalve that I see in the parking garage at work a few times a week. )

WilliamsSW > Party-vi 04/13/2018 at 10:53

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and of course the drain pan was long gone, just to make it that much worse, right? :/

Party-vi > WilliamsSW 04/13/2018 at 10:54

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Yep.