Are BMW trying to rip me off?

bulldog14

Any advice welcome!! I'm getting very stressed over this!!

Just under 3 yrs ago I bought a Mini from BMW under one of these rental schemes where I had an annual mileage limit and would give the car back to them after the agreement ir oay the balance.

I decided to end my agreement early and they collected my car last week.
I have now received a bill for £750, telling me that the car was due for a service at 25000 miles, and on return it had done 25117!

This seems a bit steep to me! and to top it off, I had actually paid for the services in advance so would not of cost me anything.. (or will it cost them or the new owner as they now have the free vouchers!)
I don't think I've done bad in 3 years if this is all they can find to pull me uo on, as the car has had a through inspection for damage etc!

Can anyone offer any advice in what I can do?
Do cars generally have an allowance ofn miles that they can go over before a service? (it must be very difficult to get it serviced spot on the miles).

Thanks

Blacksheep1979

Well you can get it serviced before the 'exact' mileage...

bulldog14

I know you can get it done before, but surly they have to allow you a certain amount over???

mitchb

Any car ive had with a service requirement for warrenty, ETC always had a 10% buffer built into the limit.

This does seem very harsh, however you were aware of the limit. Id give them a call to discuss.

bulldog14

I wasn't aware of the limit until i received the bill!! I had no idea the car was due for a service as the warning light had not illuminated!

tinkerbell84

Presumably it tells you in the service book (so that you don't have to wait for a light )

hollydays

Is it not written into the finance deal?

I have a feeling that if you do go over the mileage for the service,(mileage allowance or not),then you invalidate your "free service" and they can charge you for the service,because you have not adhered to their terms and conditions, contracts being contracts,and surely,you knew these type of deals are very strict on the mileage ,so you really should have kept an eye on it.

My car (bought from a dealership)was just nearly due for its last free service and they rang me beforehand to book it in,and asked me the mileage.

Incisor

Another way of looking at this is what is your monthly mileage? and from that, how late was the service in days from the proper mileage?

Blacksheep1979

bulld!!!4 wrote: »

I know you can get it done before, but surly they have to allow you a certain amount over???

But then that's another limit and the man that goes 1 mile over that expects to be let off then the man 1 mile over that etc etc etc - there has to be a cut off somewhere and that's seemingly 25k.

bulldog14

Very few days!! Basically the extra 100 odd miles were put on the car in the days after arranging for it to be collected and them actually picking it up. When I arranged for it to go back it was under!!

It doesn't have 'free servicing' I paid for service vouchers when I bought the car so these are still valid!

Incisor

Blacksheep1979 wrote: »

But then that's another limit and the man that goes 1 mile over that expects to be let off then the man 1 mile over that etc etc etc - there has to be a cut off somewhere and that's seemingly 25k.

There has to be a tolerance. Suppose the interval is 5000 miles. Person A services at 19999 and at 25000, going over by 1 mile for servicing early. Person B services at 20000 and at 25001, going over by 1 mile for servicing late. Person A does not get penalised, Person B does.