Dealer Visit: A Brief Recap

I know no one cares, but I gotta tell someone!

Mr. Bigglesworth went in for his 12-month checkup yesterday at ASSAEL MINI. He's got ~11,500 miles on him so far. A couple interesting snippets I thought I'd share:

- I pull up @ 0745, the super-hot greeter girl says hello to me- by my first name!? She talks up the "cool little 'Spy Car'"...

- My file now has "NO WASH PLEASE" on it permanently! :)

- Mr. Service Writer and I do "the walk" (you know- where they note current dings, etc). He sees my Limited Edition Tow Hook License Plate Holder: "Heeeey-- That's pretty nice! In fact... [goes in for a closer look] that's the nicest one i've seen- where'd you pick it up? (I pimp Blair's machining skills!) He spends 5 minutes talking about how his FELL OFF ON THE FREEWAY and inquires how he might get his hands on one (go Blair!)...

- We walk around the back and he says, "Wow your car is really clean!" I smile...

- Waiting for my rental (grr!) I tried to get the skinny on the rumor of the dealership getting bought out. Mum's the word over there! The two folks I talked to acted like they didn't know what I was talking about but I could see in their eyes that they know something. Brecht, here I come, maybe?

- I went to the parts counter and inquired about a few OEM, interior shiny bits. Man, OEM parts from the dealer are ludicriously priced! ($78 for one door sill?)

- As requested, they didn't wash the car. They did however, put on an unknown (probably BMW/MINI branded) tire treatment though. It only splashed up a little bit onto my paint and arches. *shrug*

- I picked up my car and before I headed onto the HMS Gridlock, I went over to MINI Sales to say hello to my MA. (Ed. note: I picked up my MINI exactly 370 days prior and haven't seen him since. ) I walk in and before I could even say hello he calls me by name too! We chat for a moment and he says, "Oh by the way, thank you for the letter you wrote about me. I can use it if I ever need another job." Sheesh! Even *I* don't remember writing a letter! Damn, he's good. (MA="Nick Armstrong" by the way if you ever have to send anyone to ASSAEL)

- The "12-month checkup" included the 10k mile oil change. I also had an intermittent SES light. The SES light was caused by the 02 sensor (I lost a bet with my friend). I don't know what they did to it, but my MINI is noticeably faster now than when I handed the keys over! Did they reset the ECU and it adjusted itself for my pulley and cold air intake? (That's just me guessing- I have no understanding of the technology!).

Since my first MINI in 2003, I've had both very good and very bad days dealing with the service folks at Assael. Today, was definately a good day! Yeah, a short, boring recap with no pictures. But true!