Dealers

[SanMan]

Has anyone had any dealings with TAG Sport in Geneva, Illinois? They are the closest dealer and I have not seen anything on the board. Called them and they sounded good on the phone and will visit soon but need some input from someone else too. What exactly do you look for in a good dealer? I have a service coming up and am a little leery. We lost two good dealers in this area last year. Need more!

Thanks for any help.

Scott

[rglassma]

I would pay a visit and ask to speak with their service manager. Discuss your needs, identify their rates, service level agreement and staff. If they have a certified master technican (BMW) on staff, that is a good thing. Many do not.

They should provide you with some standard prices for service including:

12,000 , 6000, brake system flush, oil change, hourly rate.

Check out their parts department and accessories. See how dedicated they are to the BMW line.

You may also ask for a few local references that come in and frequently do business with them from the Service Manager.

You should also ask to talk with the General Manager (if available) and get acquainted with him. See what kind of guy (or gal) he/she is. If they don't have time for you, walk out and shake the dust off your feet.

See if they give a Discount on items for membership in MOA or similar clubs.

[gunny]

Scott:
Some are good and some are not.

Try to get off on the right foot in your initial dealings with them. Remeber we all have good days and not such good days and your initial perception might not be the right one.

Here's a way that will go a real long way with dealing with the service department. Slip the service manager a 20 on occasion and tell him that lunch for the technicians is on you. You'll be surprised at how they treat you from then on. The technicians will definitely appreciate that and go the extra mile for you.

Never hurts to smile and tell a joke. Folks with a smile on their face are a whole lot easier to deal with.

Ask the parts folks if they can help with a discount, usually they will, just ask and then be appreciative of their efforts too, even if they can't do a discount for you on that sale.

Treat them like you'd want to be treated if you were in their shoes and life will be good.

[blkswan]

Hi Scott

You live in Earlville, I grew up in Mendota and my grand parents lived in Earlville. My mom still lives in Mendota. Anyway I use to go Rockford BMW until it closed this winter. They had a very good mechanic working there named John, he now works at TAG. I would trust John to perform any repair on my LT, he's been working on BMW's for a long time. I stopped by TAG last month and the owners seem like very nice people. I'm going to have them do the annual on my LT and the 600 mile on my wife's GS650.

I rode down to Utica last weekend had I known you were around I would of dropped you a line.

Will Hedgspeth

[batbyk]

[QUOTE=SanMan]Has anyone had any dealings with TAG Sport in Geneva, Illinois?

When Tag opened up they had two of the best mechanics in town working there.

Since then both of them along with the parts manager have moved to Motoworks in Chicago, an independent shop.

They were replaced by the mechanic from Rockford when Rockford BMW closed.
I do not have any experience with him.

For the money Motoworks is less expensive, great mechanics, close to public transportation. all my work goes there.

[SanMan]

Thanks for the heads up Will. I feel a lot better now. Good to know another LT guy is close. Let me know next time you are in the area.

Thanks,

Scott

[yaklt]

When I had my RT, Tag Sport are the ones who finally got it running right... As Larry said, a couple of their mechanics went to the shop in Chicago (close to the metra which is convenient). They were "real sorry" I didn't by my LT from them (but another dealer was just plain closer to me).

You'll find the folks at Tag nice; I found them to be up-front , honest - and they have a good stock of BWM riding gear.

[SanMan]

You gentleman were right. TagSport was a very nice experience. I give them an A plus.

Scott