[joeyb26]

Long story but ill try to keep it simple:

I brought my 335i in for service last tuesday because of drivetrain malfunction. I filled up my gas tank and reset my trip odometer and my average mpg. The gas station is about two miles from the dealership so when i dropped it off there were about 2 miles on trip odometer.

They gave me a loaner car and i told them i was traveling over the weekend and wouldn't be able to get the loaner car back till monday, which they said was fine. They called friday and said the car was finished and i could pick it up monday when i got back. Pick up my car today to see 1/4 tank of gas gone, and 122 miles on the trip odometer

I went back inside to talk to the service manager about this and she said it was because they had to do several test drives to first diagnose the problem and then to make sure it didn't come back.

Now i understand having to test drive it, but 120 miles?? anyone else other than me think someone from the service department took my car home over the weekend? also the average mpg was 26 mpg, which at least means whoever drove it wasn't beating on it..or at least i think.

/rant

[Tony_YYZ]

Yeah, that sounds sketchy. Was your loaner perhaps a vehicle that was used by someone at the dealer as their daily car and they took yours home instead?

[joz]

Wouldn't surprise me if someone did a parts run or something along those lines using your car with that being an excuse for a "test drive'

[Cyberdemon]

If you brought it in for an actual drivability problem, then it's valid that they drove it. Bringing it home is the easiest way for a service manager or tech to verify everything is OK in normal driving, otherwise they'd spend hours after work driving cars around just to test.

Best case scenario you could bug them for the $15 worth of gas or complain so they give you a free car wash or something.

[Blubaron79]

They had to take mine home over night to put miles on my car to get the thing to throw codes for a drive train error. Not 120 miles, but it was a decent amount.

[alienranch]

Seems a bit excessive, but it was a drive train malfunction to diagnose so it probably justifiable.

[chiefneil]

Funny, when I was having an intermittent clunking noise with my E46 I repeatedly begged the service guys to take my car home and drive it around like their personal vehicle until they heard the noise. Over the course of 3-4 visits for the issue they always adamantly refused and insisted all test driving had to be done from the shop during business hours.

Anyway 120 miles sounds like quite a bit. That's roughly 2 hours of highway driving... I wouldn't think it would take that long to diagnose a drivetrain issue.

[300hp]

Guys remember these guys have access to M3s, M5s, M6s, 650is, 650i GCs etc. I have spent enough time at the dealership for car washes to know that if a service guy is to take a car out for a joy ride, the last thing he will think of is a 3er or 4er.

Drivetrain malfunction is a difficult issue to diagnose. My 13 that was replaced had this issue twice and they typically put at least a 100 miles for diagnosis and testing. Also 100 miles is not a lot of miles, that's about 120 minutes of diagnosing and testing. Assuming each run is 30 minutes that's about 4 test runs. It's reasonable for the type of error you had

[Labeef]

That is not excessive. What would you rather have, 3miles put on and have to keep coming back to find out that issue is not resolved or 122 miles knowing the issue is 100% resolved. You have to remember, even though they diagnosed the issue, there could be an underlying issue that can be causing multiple systems freaking out. So it is very important to drive the car very thoroughly and make sure all problems are 100% resolved.

I had a RR axle seal replaced and they put about 75 miles on my car to make sure it doesn't leak again.

[adhrp]

Originally Posted by Labeef

That is not excessive. What would you rather have, 3miles put on and have to keep coming back to find out that issue is not resolved or 122 miles knowing the issue is 100% resolved. You have to remember, even though they diagnosed the issue, there could be an underlying issue that can be causing multiple systems freaking out. So it is very important to drive the car very thoroughly and make sure all problems are 100% resolved.

Agree with this. As long as your issue is 100% resolved you need not worry about those miles.

[chylld]

Originally Posted by Labeef

That is not excessive. What would you rather have, 3miles put on and have to keep coming back to find out that issue is not resolved or 122 miles knowing the issue is 100% resolved.

This. Slightly higher miles and problem 100% fixed is much better than the usual "we couldn't replicate the problem" or "we tightened some bolts and it's good to go" dealer babble.

[Webic]

If it bothers you that much, go buy a GPS tracker or dash cam and put it in the vehicle when you take it in for service.

[USC2000]

When I had issues with my e90, my service advisor told me they would be taking it home to put miles on the car to try and get the problem to show up because it wasn't repeating itself on the short test drives. Also the mpg can go down quite a bit due to them leaving the car on for an extended time while trying to diagnose the problem. Essentially the car is sitting there burning fuel getting zero miles per gallon.

[capt_slow]

My dealer had the car for 26 days and put 226 miles on it to diagnose a "Chassis: Drive Moderately" error. Although my SA clearly asked me first before proceeding.

I asked them to fill up the tank and they happily obliged.

[WHL102]

I had a Hyundai SM take my Sonatahome for a night and he put around 60 miles on it. He also idled it in the driveway for a while so the MPG was also crap. They returned it with a full tank though...

[carzaddict]

120 is a bit excessive...but yes its very well possible someone took it home....but they should have disclosed the info.

[olinjohnston]

Totally normal.

Cars are often driven home for several days at a time if there are drive train issues. BMW only pays the dealer to fix it once, unless its a different issue.