BMW of Charlottesville - Service

Samantha Ronalds

★☆☆☆☆

Edited a month ago

Update 2/11: My father has made calls on my behalf concerning this issue the past couple of days and has received no calls back from your service manager. Even though the comment on this post says to call so the issue can be discussed. We instead be send a complaint to BMW corporate. Still would not recommend going here and would go somewhere else. Original post 2/9: Won’t be returning and left feeling very untrusting of the service department. As a college student who doesn’t know cars very well I go to the service department because I don’t want to feel like I’m being taken advantage of or pushed around. After the past two times I’ve gone to this service department that is exactly how I feel. I first came to the service department in November of 2025 because my car had a recall, needed an oil change, coolant replacement and the brakes were screeching. I was told by Tristan that to run a diagnostic on the brakes it would cost $500. I ended up not doing that and just having the 12 point exam done where they determined I needed new breaks so I had them replaced. I had to go back again in February of 2026 because I was pretty sure my battery was dead/dying and my door was having electrical issues. When I got there I mentioned the issues that my car was having along with the fact that the brakes were still screeching. Gary was my service person this time and his response to the fact that my brakes were screeching was that BMW’s have loud brakes and that’s a common complaint. As someone who’s whole family has BMW’s and has had them consistently for the past 15 years this is something none of our other cars do. We’ve had extreme brake dust which is known about the cars and screeching when the brakes were put on incorrectly or didn’t have the proper amount of lubricant on them. So I found this comment to be extremely dismissive. I was then told that to run the diagnostics it would cost $200. I came from Southern California and when I get my car serviced out there this price usually gets taken off if you get the service completed with the service department. I was incorrect in assuming that would happen here as I ended up paying an additional $600 to get the battery changed. I was not made aware of this price before the battery was replaced. The “quote” that I received was sent to me and just said service recommendation “Thank you” $0 and I received this at the same time I was texted that the car was done and ready to be picked up. Had I known what it was going to cost to change the battery I would have taken it somewhere else. This whole situation has left me feeling like this service department is shady or trying to cut corners. After reading the service department reviews they have a 3.3 and this seems to be a problem that they have been having for years. Some of the reviews have mentioned things like oil changes not actually getting done and now I’m concerned that my free oil change I was supposed to have get done in November wasn’t actually completed. Especially due to the fact that sometimes when I first turn on my car and drive it it won’t go above 10 miles per hour. Making me think of the oil isn’t the correct one for cold weather like it’s supposed to be this could be why. Due to the lack of trust I have in this department it also makes me nervous that the recall wasn’t done. Unfortunately I’ll just have to hope it was done at this point because there are no other service departments close by that I can go to to check. I will be taking my car to a mechanic that is closer to me (not an hour away) to check and see if my brakes were done and put on correctly as well. Very disappointed in this service department and wouldn’t recommend taking my car here. There’s no benefit.

R Morgan

★★★★★

a year ago

Excellent service! Gary has taken care of my car since I purchased it over two years ago. On two separate occasions, I had unexpected issues (coolant light, punctured tire) and he fit me into the schedule on short notice and had me back on the road. Despite juggling multiple customers and requests, Gary knows the details of my car, discusses any recommendations, and always gives me peace of mind. Thank you!

Netra Kaucha

★☆☆☆☆

11 months ago

Their technicians just learning there.They couldn’t find out my car’s headlight problem.I just paid $1200 for nothing and they made around another $2400 estimates for another test. I pulled out my car from there and took to another location he fixed next day in $1100 for same headlight.