Ok, so what is everyone's status? We've had our MINI's for 8 months now.

I'm at 12,160 problem-free miles. I LOVE this car. And I am so thankful that I chose the MINI over the Prius after the recent recalls.

 

just turned 5,100 for me. and tons of trouble. well, one main thing. the hood. been repainted twice... such a long story, but let's say the dealer really f-d up my car.

 

Just had the dreaded cam chain/tensioner repair. The car was fine, but it made a rattle on cold start often. Oil pressure seems to be up a bit, which I suppose is because of the bad tensioner. Ran OK, and still a joy to drive.
Only 8500 miles..Old guys don't get out much.

 

9700 miles and runs like a top. No rattles, squeeks, nothin. Just took it to Pismo Beach over the weekend. They don't wave there like they do here . Our club has been active and have a lot of members going to AMVIV (A Mini Vacation in Vegas) next month (not us, Jiminni cannot get away from work--maybe next year). We are going to an autocross test-drive of new Mini's put on by MiniUsa in California in a couple of weeks. (We use their cars, not ours). Should be fun.

 

16,500 miles and running very well.. No problems to report, other than the chain tensioner that was fixed 8000 miles ago, and the passenger visor mirror light, which stayed on all of the time. I LOVE this car!!

I'm pleased to report that we just purchased our second mini about 4 hours ago... just got back from the dealer! my spouse needed a new car, and Toyota just didn't seem appealing anymore It's a 2010 Horizon Blue Mini Cooper, with a few adorning goodies... so I get to go through all of the waiting/shipping/tracking all over again this year! ohmigawd! Lacey, it sounds like it will be similar to yours. My baby got an oil change for good measure, since we had to spend a few hours at the dealer's anyways. My dash reports a first tuneup of May, 2010., or about 3800 miles or so from now.

It was a little warm today - almost 6C (about 40F?), and I was able to open the sunroof for a bit... which I completely miss...

and what's on our doorstep for tomorrow morning? a 3+ day storm, with snow and rain. gah... can't I keep this car clean?

 

Welcome to the Multiple Mini Club Hey that sounds like it should be a new thread.......

 

Erinbr--My sister just moved from Hanover, MA (remember we went to visit her over Thanksgiving) to San Diego--she got outa Dodge before your snowy winter. Know anyone that wants to buy a 1M+ home in Hanover? 5500 sf. HUGE! j.

 

I just got my Clubman back from the dealer for the dreaded cam chain repair. It is quieter, and the oil pressure is a tad higher. It was covered under warranty, however, the service advisor (love that) said the charge would have been $2200. That really shocked me. I looked up the prices of the parts on one of the sites that sells them, and they totalled about $240. I asked the service adviser if they really meant that price, and he said yes. The job did not take a full day, so I am wondering where the total comes from. They can't be charging $250/hr labor, and the parts couldn't be 5 times as expensive from MINI..wassup?

 

Interesting It would have irked me if he would say "it would have cost". Who the heck cares, just fix it So glad we have a mechanic we can trust here, after her car is out of warranty

 

We may just have to start that The MMC...

 

I remember! 5500sf? omg, that's a mansion! I don't know anyone looking for one, but will keep my ears open..

aww... does this mean you won't be visiting us anymore?

 

I'm not sure I understand this one... this is a known factory defect, with a service bulletin. Many people encounter it, and the service guys know exactly what's wrong when you mention the rattle. Why does it seem like he wanted you to think they were doing you a favor? You'd think they'd do a recall some time and fix it...

 

Sorry, I must not have been clear. They were very good about repairing it. I just cannot believe that it would cost $2200 if it had not been under warranty. It should not cost that much for someone to have a timing chain replaced

 

I think we both understood you But we both also seemed to think that the service advisor was kind of a jerk in what he said Your right that there is no way that should cost that much I would be wary of bringing my car back there after your warranty is out

 

I know--we made the trip just in time cuz she found out the week before about the move. We did have a great time though.....

 

Exactly Thank you for the interpretation lol
Any chance there are other mini dealers in your area? I'd be a little afraid of going back...

 

It takes me and hour to get to this one near Washington. There is one near Baltimore, nearly two hours, and one in Richmond, over two hours..nothing easy. I'll just hope it goes well. I can do all the simple stuff, just no computer related repairs. Unfortunately, a lot of it is probably computer related..

 

Our closest dealer is over two hours also, hopefully we never have to see them

 

We have two dealers within 30-45 minutes, and will have a third (in New Hampshire) opening this summer.. but, I'm curious - for those who have had Minis for some time now, do you continue going to the dealer after the warranty/maintenance program expires, or do you find a local mechanic?

I'm guessing that the number of people trained to work on Minis is much smaller than, say, a Toyota, and that you'd have to already know and trust them..

 

Judging by the way other companies operate, I expect it will be a while before the information to repair the car's computer systems will be available to anyone but dealers. Any other repairs can be done by any competent mechanic. I don't think a 'parts replacer' is good enough for any car, and there are too many of them.

 

Erin, Welcome to the Multiple Mini Club!!! As for repairs...I don't think that we've had to replace anything major yet outside of warranty that my dad couldn't handle. He replaced his brake pads himself and I think that that is the only thing we've had to do in 5 years. So sorry but I'm not much help in that regard.

Windfall, Those are some expensive repairs. I hope that they were joking.

On a sad note, my car had its first incident yesterday. I don't want to call it an accident b/c that's a tad dramatic for what it was. Anyway, I was driving down 35 at 65 mph, and ahead of me I see a large piece of cardboard coming out from under the truck ahead of me. It flattens on the ground, and I'm blocked in so I couldn't have avoided it, but the wind knocked it back up against the front passenger side of my car. It hit me so hard that I'm thankful that the airbags didn't go off. Needless to say, drivers gave me a wide berth the rest of the way home. When I got home, the front passenger side bumper was almost entirely off the car (the no-holes license plate bracket was holding it up), the license plate was bent so much that the edges were against the car, and the bonnet is not lying flat. Thank the Lord, none of the clips broke on the bumper so I was able to pop most of it back into place and the headlights are fine, the license plate has been bent back into shape. The bonnet still isn't lying flat and there's one small portion of the bumper that won't lie flat but otherwise it looks fine. The paint wasn't scratched, the black bottom lip is scuffed but otherwise everything looks fine. Basically y'all (aka other MINI lovers) and I are the only ones who will probably ever notice it, but it was still a very sad day. I'll post pictures tomorrow. I would love any and all ideas on how to get the bonnet to lie flat again without replacing the entire thing. I've accepted that it'll probably never be perfect but if I could fix it, I would like to.

 

There are vendors that have "cracked" the ECU already And don't rely on "any competent mechanic". I hang at my mechanics shop almost daily and see cars come in after being worked on at regular shops, it's scary what they do But whats even worse is when they come from a dealer and the stuff still isn't right

 

What a bummer So you are saying the hood will not close properly? Are you sure it's the hood or could it be that he bumper or the side fenders might be off? Do you know of a local body shop that might take a quick look for you?

 

Hey everybody, just checking in...

I had my car in the shop this Monday for some cold-start rattle investigation, and I have to say I am really impressed with the service department at MINI of Monrovia. I decided not to come in with a stack of paperwork printed out from the Internet describing the problem and solutions and stuff, but to just present the symptoms and see what they did. To their credit, the service advisor (Jim) listened, said "yeah, we've had that problem on some cars" and went on to describe what he was going to do to analyze the fault.

They had to order some parts to fix the issue and Mr. Zip will be heading back in next week. But the whole thing got me thinking.

First, I hit 15,000 miles on the way to the dealer that morning. WOW! I am going to be out of warranty by the middle of 2011! AND I DON'T CARE! I am loving, loving, loving this car. Perhaps the greatest thing I've ever bought myself.

Second, my loaner car was a bright yellow 2010 S convertible. (I was pleasantly surprised by this, I was expecting a Corolla.) I would not buy a convertible MINI, I have a Triumph Spitfire in the garage and even in California I don't think you need two convertibles - but that said I enjoyed driving it with the top down. If you haven't seen it work, the top mechanism is very slick. Anyway, the top-down time reminded me to OPEN MY SUNROOF! I have had it open pretty much all the time since that day - of course it doesn't hurt that it's been sunny and in the low 70s here in LA lately.

Third, the loaner had an automatic trans. I hemmed a little bit when I purchased Mr. Zip about getting an automatic but went with my gut and bought a manual. After driving the auto for a day I am convinced I made the right choice. For me, the minor hassle of shifting and clutching in traffic is far outbalanced by the enjoyment of rowing through the gears. I tried the paddle shifters a bit but it's just not the same.

Fourth, and probably most importantly, I really enjoyed being around people who are passionate about these cars! Not all of the dealer staff was like this but enough were that it reminded me of here, and how much I've enjoyed this board even if I haven't been posting much. It inspired me to look into local MINI clubs, and I will be joining one.

Sorry to ramble, it's been a thoughtful week for me MINIwise. I hope that you are all well and that your cars are keeping you motoring - and Lacynpiper, I hope you get Bonnie back together the way she's supposed to be, soon.

See you on the road!

Brad

 

Hey Brad. Glad to hear you're enjoying the car so much. Wow, 15k? I'm barely at 7500. As far as MINI clubs, take a look at So Cal MINI Maniacs (SCMM.org). I joined almost two years ago and really enjoy it. There are regular meet ups, DIY days, dealer sponsored events, and lots more. Let 'em know SteelersFan (Doug) sent ya.

See ya around town...