Seven Reasons the Service Center at BMW of Escondido is the Premiere Shop in San Diego County

We updated this article on September 11, 2020 with two more reasons why the Service Center at BMW of Escondido is the Premiere Shop in San Diego County. Scroll down to “Our Service Center has All the Comforts of Home” and “Our Service Center is All About Your Convenience” and see how we are continuing to improve, for you.

Our Service Center Cares for You and Your Car

When we started the service center in the heart of downtown Escondido, we knew we wanted to stand out against other dealerships. While there were other shops that offered services for your car–ongoing maintenance, oil changes and new brakes–our family always wanted something more for the community. From the first day we opened our doors, we wanted to be the premiere service center in San Diego for every BMW on the road. Thirty-four years later, we are living up to this goal. Our licensed mechanics, BMW Genius, and certified shop have created a culture where we care for your car, as much as we care for you. In a lot of ways this makes us unique, because we don’t just service your car, we maintain a relationship by taking the time to know you as our customer. 

Our journey started on the front porch of a small house, when we decided to do something new. Most movements start small, and this one has grown quite large. Bill and Jeanelle, along with their sons Tom and Tim, opened up their first location on the corner of Juniper and Valley Parkway in 1985. They put everything they had into starting the business, risking it all on what seemed like an impossible gamble at the time, except for the passion they had for working hard with good people. What started with a single family, grew to support twenty employees in that first year, and now more than 100 employees call BMW and MINI of Escondido their home. 

Our Service Center is the Highest Rated Shop in San Diego

The first service center was located on the same lot as our first dealership, where we had a small lot of fifty cars and only five service bays. Thirty years later that small shop has turned into the highest rated service center in San Diego, with a near perfect dealership rating, servicing more than 1200 vehicles a month in forty-five service bays. In addition to the service center, we have grown to offer a separate Certified Collision Center (body shop) that services on average eighty cars a month, with a staff of ten dedicated mechanics, body technicians, and painters. If you think about it, that means we care for more than 15,000 cars, hybrids, and SUVs a year. That’s a minimum of forty cars and people we are caring for every day. 

“I have been a loyal customer for almost 19 years. I keep going back due to the excellent service and the professionalism of the staff. My interactions with everyone, from the owner to the sales people, have been superb. The way I’ve been treated is like a member of a happy family 🙂 Keep up the great work, positive attitude, marvelous and extraordinary job. ” – Randa G.

Customer experiences like Randa’s are why people keep coming back to us year after year. It’s why they start with a new or used car, schedule service for ongoing maintenance, trusts our collision center when their car gets in an accident, and why years down the road, they choose one of our new showroom vehicles instead of something from a competitor. People like Randa are not alone. We’ve created a familiar and trust-worthy culture, where the same people that originally buy and service their car with us, are the same people who do it all over again when it’s time to upgrade. In fact, it’s because of people like her that we see more than 110 new and used vehicles drive off the lot on an average month. People know us, they trust us, they want to come back, and they refer their friends and family. 

Our Service Center has All the Comforts of Home

We know that waiting for your car to be serviced can be a task. No one wants to wait in a room for hours, or take out a loaner for a short amount of time. That’s why our waiting area has all the comfort of your home, like on-demand coffee stations, vending machines to satisfy those cravings, comfortable seating, and television. In addition to that, we offer free wireless high speed internet access, so if you need to work, you can. We’ve taken the time and put in the effort for you to feel comfortable from start to finish when servicing your car with us. 

Our Service Center is All About Your Convenience

In addition to servicing over a hundred cars a day, we care for our growing fleet of service loaner cars and SAVs (which we also sell and lease). We know that being without a car for any duration can be difficult, but those of us who need something for our commute, trips around town, or just for the feeling of being whole, we know how much it means. That’s why we allow you to schedule use of our loaners in advance, so you can have peace of mind at home.

For your convenience, we also offer after hours drop-off.  With a secure key drop box, all you need to do is park your car, lock your vehicle, fill out a folder that is provided for you at the box, and drop in your key. We will call you when we open so we can start working on your car immediately.

Our Service Center has World-Class Training

We are a family-owned and operated dealership, so while the service and collision center care for you and your car, we also care about the people working on your vehicles. That’s why all our techs, painters, service writers, mechanics, parts specialists, all have years of experience, training, and school, before they ever pick up a wrench to work on your car. Valuing people is a key essential to the way we do business, and for us, that starts under our roof. If we can care for our employees well, then you can rest assured that we will care for you. We currently have 12 BMW and MINI Master-Level techs, 2 Master-Level Shop Foremen, 1 Certified Tech, and 2 Associate Level Techs. We send our techs every month to the BMW NA training center in Ontario, CA and provide continuous, monthly online training so they can keep up with the constantly changing technology and repairs. In addition, every technician is ASE Certified. Our Service Advisors and Geniuses are also BMW trained and certified by BMW NA. Before becoming BMW certified, they have taken dozens of classes at the BMW NA training center, online, and at the BMW Performance Driving School in Thermal, CA. 

“There is a family atmosphere here and I’m not just another number. It’s a healthy environment with a relaxed and fun vibe, where I can do my job well right next to my best friends.” – Hector Analista, Service Advisor

That’s just one of the reasons why people choose to make a career at BMW of Escondido. While the mobility industry experiences constant ebbs and flows, most of our employees choose to make this place home for decades. Most of our advisors and managers have been here between ten and twenty years, resulting in life-long customers that have built up years of trust from these one-on-one relationships. 

“I feel pretty lucky that my passion became my profession.  I love teaching people about their BMWs and showing off all the neat little features they didn’t know about.  I love troubleshooting their concerns and figuring out how to make their lives easier or more pleasant when it comes to driving.” – Meghan Galeli, BMW Genius

Chances are that you will also meet one one of these long time employees while you’re at the dealership. Tom and Tim are at the dealership regularly, ensuring that things are indeed business as usual, and you are never too far from someone that can help you with what you need right away. 

Our Service Center Helps Extend the Life of Your Car

People love their BMWs like they love their family; they are fans of the brand and the life it embodies. It’s not the average vehicle where you walk on lot and drive away. It’s something you dream about from childhood, something you save for years in order to afford, and something you take meticulous care for once you finally have one to call your own. When you do that, it’s helpful to know that our service and collision centers are your partners for life.

This partnership starts in your home. When you’re driving down the road and the car alerts you with a warning light, is your first step to call and schedule service, or is it to look online and see what it means? As winter approaches and tire pressure changes, will you bring your car in let us service your car, or will you look to us for help? We help make it easy, by providing as many answers as we can with just a few simple clicks. If we can start by providing service in the home, it helps us in the shop, and helps extend the life of your vehicle. 

“My girlfriend and I will always continue our business with BMW of Escondido. You would have thought you knew nearly every employee 10 years in the building based off the way they treat you. I thought their service center would be hard to top with the wonderful crew they have there but the sales team is just as great.” – Nicholas Z.

“I have been servicing my cars at BMW of Escondido for years. Exceptional service as usual. I always request the same adviser – Harris Fetcher. He is always very friendly and responsive.” – Marin M. 

When our clients are driving from as far away as Temecula, Irvine, and downtown San Diego, it’s important for us to value their time and money, as much as we value their cars. If we can solve the problem in their garage; great! If we need to solve the problem in our garage; just as great. Testimonials like Nicholas and Marin show that solving problems together is what keeps us moving forward, showing our community and potential customers that we care.

Our Service Center is Committed to You and Your Car for Life

We love it here in Downtown Escondido. North County San Diego is the place to be, with its easy access to the world’s best beaches, active lifestyles, and future growth potential. In short, it’s home. If you’re reading this, then it’s probably home for you too. You live and work here, you do life here, and your kids play sports and go to school here. As much as we are rooted in Esco, you are rooted too. This place is heaven, right? 

Our shop, showroom, and customers are like family, and family takes care of one another. If it helps, know that we have regular service specials for your car that will save you time and money (save that link ?). While we could easily be the shop for all German auto makes and models, we know we’re not here to just provide a one-off service for your vehicle; we are here to provide you everything you need, for life.