I have a very high threshold for dissatisfaction, but my recent experience with BMW caused me to take the time to document my experience. I have spent over $400K on 5 7-series cars over the last 15+ years, as an extremely loyal BMW buyer. My current $100K+ 750iL just passed over 65K miles and the extended warranty expired and to my surprise mechanical issues have not stopped materializing! I contacted BMW NA to find out what $400K over 15+ years of loyalty meant to them - evidently it means nothing! They pushed me to a silly Customer Care Rep who was useless and of no assistance whatsoever and it shocked me that this is the way the customer who buys the top of the line car is treated. It was NEVER about the cost of the repairs, it is about loyalty and trust in a brand which you have lost from me and I will make it my mission to share this poor experience with everyone I know in the Indian high tech and physician committee – two associations that my wife and I are a part of!

In the current environment where brand loyalty is critical to the corporate bottom line, BMW obviously feels that someone in their mid-40’s, with a 7 digit income, who will be in their target market for the next 40 years, has no value – I wonder if Mercedes and Audi feel the same way???