Am I an idiot for giving them the OK?
Pls chime in as I have a few hours to re think this.

2010 R56S 49,800 mi
Overheated, loosing qts of coolant in a short drive.
Dealer is 30 miles on a flatbed away, Indy shop 5 miles, made it there before I hit limp mode.

Thanks, and happy motoring!
Drew

 

It really is up to the individual! I just had the dealer quote me same price for front brakes and it sent me to the internet to buy all components to do it myself. I am not a mechanic but I will do it myself when the prices seem expensive to me....for the same money I am doing all 4 brakes and rotors along with all needed parts. So it is up to you! If you find it easier to just say here do it....then you made the right choice. I am not in that category as I am too cheap and would rather get what I am paying for even if I have to extensively research and do the job myself. I must admit there are some jobs that even I could not attempt! But If it seems easy enough I will.

 

Where in Northern Virginia are you?

Unfortunately shop rates in NoVA are pretty high. Even independents are $120 an hour. So a few hours plus $150 in parts. $650 is not that unreasonable. Most places who are more familiar with minis will do it for a bit cheaper.

 

I live in Warrenton, work in Manassas. Shop is in New Baltimore area, 6 miles from my home

 

Have you reached out to MINIDynamics?

 

I am not familiar w Mini Dynamics...
This shop was close to home, and I need my car back asap, so I have sucked it up.

 

I was quoted about the same price, and did the job myself. It is really tricky but there are some good threads here about the procedure.

 

DIY right here: I would recommend do the main water pump ( if not already done and in the new metal version) and water pipe also. You could do just the thermostat just to get things done.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...8-no-heat.html



You could try it yourself after reading this , parts are linked as well.

Or show this to another local INDY shop and get a quote.

 

My independant did the water pump for $720. I would have thought just the thermostat would be a little cheaper than that. But it's a mini, I'm surprised you don't need to drop the front end to add oil !! ;-)

 

Sorry so late to the party but I had therm' done on a 7 - S by an indep - British Specialty Shop - on the Space Coast for $325.

MINI parts and coolant

2.7 hours according to the book . . .

 

Thanks guys!
Wish I had the time to DIY, this is my busiest work week all year

 

It's the old formula: Time/Money/Skills(tools).
Usually, you'll be lacking in one area which forces your decision one way or another.
$650 is reasonable. Could a novice do this job? Most likely. However, you have said you are really busy (lack of time in the formula), and the car is already at the shop (convenient).

We towed our car off the road and to the dealer on a Saturday. They quoted us a huge bill for our work. After working out the logistics, jockeying cars around, and being "given" the gift of time (no real deadline imposed), I opted to do the work myself. It has teken a long time, but I saved bunches of money. If this had been my only car, I would have just written the big check and had it done in a week.

 

DIY will always be cheaper for parts and labor. Typically, what people do to keep down the cost, is buy their own part and have the install done by the shop to save money. Lots of parts have been posted with pricing above. We do have pricing as well, which can be found here. Can always ask for a break down of their pricing too.

-Luccia

 

I was quoted $730 for the same job from Irvine Mini.

 

Dealer said $750, but my deductible would have been $50 less

 

I like this formula!
It doesn't pay to paint yourself into a corner without options. I think we tend to convince ourselves that we must have our car at the ready every day 24/7 and never plan to have options in case this can't happen. So we fail the test of the formula because we don't have the time to play with. Get out your check book!
Planning and preparation prevent you from being at the mercy of the system which is designed for one thing and that is quite simply to make your money theirs.
So, if you want to own a funky import car, get yourself a back up plan, a garage and start buying tools and learning how it's done.

My buddy, who happens to have too much money, dropped 5k for a brake job on his Audi RS4 last year. 40k later the pads are shot again and he calls me looking for sympathy. Yah right...go sell one of your Ducatis and fix the brakes on your daily driver dude. He doesn't get dirty ever..

 

$5000 for a brake job, does that include brand new brake calipers?

 

I feel sorry for people that own Minis and don't want to (for whatever reason) DIY on them. Seriously, you either need really deep pockets or need to learn to do the work yourself. Otherwise, sell it as soon as your able.

 

No idea but it must have. I know the rotors are insane expensive. It's just a fast sedan for gods sake, it doesn't need formula one carbon brakes.

Sorry OP, we are way off topic!

 

I should get my car back tomorrow:-)

The shop said I completely melted the thermostat housing, they saved it to show me :-/
It looks like the low speed fan switch is dead, and now they claim to hear " timing chain chatter when it's cold" I need to get my car out of there asap. I'm interested how much of this tab my extended warranty is going to cover.

 

Thats my problem with shops (including dealers)... always trying to sell you something/rip you off.
Maybe the timinig chain issue is true or they're just saying that. Either way, get a second opinion.

 

The thing that gets me is that these aren't huge jobs. Brakes should be $250 parts included provided you just need pads. It's such a simple job I would be embarrassed to demand that kind of money. The world has gone mad.


Try doing a valve adjustment on an Ducati 916. Now that's some work and it takes skill too.

 

To be honest it was pads and rotors but like I said I am just too cheap! So I was able to get all corners for the same price and I'll do it myself. Have never done it before but from all the videos and info online it looks pretty simple. The stuff I can not do will be my undoing! Hopefully (fingers crossed) I will be able to attend to all the issues I can with this car. I love the vehicle and will actually get a great sense of pride wrenching it. Valve adjustment on a Ducati is one of those areas waaaaaay out of my league!!

 

Not pretty

 

You think?