After dealing with KNAUZ Motors in Lake Bluff, Illinois today, I have to remove all recommendations I had previously posted! My wife had her 2005 MINI R50 with 14,000 miles in for an antifreeze leak. When we bought the car I purchased all the extended warranties offered to me and I purchased an "Extended Service Contract" last year. She was intimidated by the Service manager Steve, who was unwilling to help her in any way. He told her she should have purchased and "Extended Warranty" if she wanted the thermostat covered. If the "Extended Warranty" had been offered we would have bought it, obviously we bought all other extended contracts. She came home very upset that she was treated like a "girl" and not given any respect.

I called and spoke to the Service writer Steve, and to Jerry the MINI sales manager, who also told me that I should have bought an "Extended Warranty'. Thanks Jerry.

The $338.00 for a thermostat does not **** me off as much as them not offering to sell me the "Extended Warranty".

So now I can get the brakes replaced, but not a thermostat.

I hope when we buy our new BMW and our new MINI this fall the people at Patrick in Schaumburg, Illinois explain all our options.

 

Thanks for the information. I for one, can't stand when people wax poetic about their car dealer when they are buying a car!! You see it a lot on this forum and it makes me sort of mad. BECAUSE OF COURSE THE DEALER IS GOING TO BE NICE WHEN YOU ARE GIVING THEM 30k DOLLARS FOR A CAR. A good dealer is one who goes the extra mile after you've bought the car or one who gave you a great deal well below MSRP or throws in a few freebies. I see people left and right here saying "I just ordered/bought my car from so and so at so and so dealership and he/she is wonderful". Well duh! You expect them to be mean while you hand over 30k??? GIVE ME A BREAK! Sorry for the rant but this is a pet peeve of mine.

 

Yes, and it's also up the the consumer to be aware of the choices open to them when they're laying down $30K for a car.........

Troopertrip will know the right questions to ask on his next purchase now, won't he?

I also wonder why they didn't offer him an extended warranty policy when he bought the car, as it's a mainstay of any dealerships F&I business. However, to get angry about it 5 years later seems a bit counterproductive too.

 

Man, not to be the bearer of bad news but I can't really recommend Patrick MINI either. My MA was nice but beyond that...and their service department is AWFUL. At least Knauz was able to correctly diagnose your problem, instead of recommending a $7500 fix for a $300 problem, as Patrick did to me.

I *am* surprised they didn't sell you the extended warranty, however. You probably can still purchase a third-party warranty though if you really want one.

 

Wow, 7500$ for a 300$ dollar fix. What was the problem? Did you post about it here on NAM?

 

Prolry replace thermo at a place that does radiator flush cheaper.

 

Good rant. Old Steve isn't very bright, mistreating female customers is a legal no no. Doesn't sound like the sales mgr is a winner either. Send a letter to the owner, cc Steve and the SM and see if they respond. If they don't send the info to your local BBB and MINI usa.

 

Yeah, my engine harness was shorting and causing my transmission to act odd, in addition to a few other things (I was getting random head gasket codes and the gasket was fine...throttle was acting odd...). Anyway, I took it in and they diagnosed a failing CVT. Without dropping the pan or anything. A second opinion elsewhere indicated the CVT was fine, and the engine harness was the problem but that it would take a little digging (read: labor) to figure out and replace. I wasn't interested in chasing it down, and with 103k miles on the clock I was on borrowed time with the CVT anyway, so I traded in.

Currently, as far as I'm concerned there is not a MINI dealer within 200 miles of Chicago that does decent service work. I may end up going through the hassle of having warranty work not done at the dealership (which you can do, it is just a PITA) on the new MINI when the time comes (and we all know it will).

 

Sorry about your experience, this happens way too often. I can recommend Dan at Import Service Center in Glenview, he does a great job.

 

Patrick Mini's Service Department is first-rate. I've delt with them for years and am spoiled rotten.

 

Same old crap, who do you want to believe ?

 

Thanks Way! I appreciate the recommendation. BMBULBE also.