hi nice to meet you all. i have had a lot of problems with my 2005 mini and the dealship blames me. 4 thermostat housings and 2 air condition comressors while still under warranty. now at 29,000 needed bearings whats up really not happy even though i love the style and steering. now need tires any ideas??? kathy

 

That seems quite suspect that they keep blaming you for broken thermostat housings. What did they say you did to cause such a problem? At this point that might be water under the bridge since it seems those items have been resolved and now you have some new issues. Bearings at this stage doesn't seem to fit either. Unless you've had a lot of accident damage or have really neglected regular maintenance of the car, I'd say it might be time to send some messages up to the regional reps or higher asking what you should do with a car with low mileage and so many problems.

29K miles for new tires seems about right given typical OEM tires. With the new ones, rotating them regularly should help them last longer.

In the future, being that you're out of warranty you may want to consider a cheaper independent mechanic as an alternative.

 

I am always suspect of shops who perform repeat repairs of same parts when under a factory warranty. As far as I know, the basics are that the dealership bills the manufacturer after the work is completed. So they are reimbursed almost 100%.

I would contact MINI USA and file a report with them. This stinks like low tide in Bar Harbor Maine. I mean really, 4 thermostat housings ?!?!?!?!?!

 

4 thermostat housings, very strange, 2 AC compressors, also very strange, bearings? Something doesn't seem right here.

 

Yes, but what the heck could she be doing as an owner to cause these issues? Nothing, IMHO.....what "basic maint" is there for an A/C compressor, or a thermostat housing? None that I know of, and the front bearings - if those are the bad ones - are sealed, so there's no maint there either.

I've said all along, there are no bad cars, but there are lots of bad mechanics....

I can see no freakin way they could blame her for these problems, unless the car has been wrecked....

29K for tires is actually pretty good, I don't think you can carp about that. One of the things that makes the steering so much fun is the type of tire they use, if you buy 80,000 mile tires I don't think you'll like the way it drives nearly as much....