Hello,

I am new to this group but I am not new to MINI. I have a 03' Cooper that I bought new and I love it. What I don't love is the only dealer service center in my area. I have had a lot of trouble with them and was hoping that someone knew of some type of certified MINI service center in the Philadelphia / South Jersey area that is not part of the dealership. The yellow ("Get me new brakes") light is on and it also needs an oil service.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

Try this forum. Tis' your NAM brethren from Philly.

 

On that note, now that the first MINIs are going out of warranty on time (as opposed to miles), how long will it be before independent shops sprout up? I've always had dealers service my cars while they were in warranty. When they were just about to go out of warranty, I'd have a trusted and convenient independent shop (that specializes in the brand--no generalists for me) check it out for stuff I should tell the dealer to fix under warranty. Then I shifted service to the independent--they are almost always both better and less expensive than dealers. What with so many MINI owners living inconvenient distances from authorized dealers, I'd think the time is just about right for independents to emerge. What do you all think?

 

Ravana - Thanks for the link

findude - I agree. We need some independents to pop up quickly. Even the dealer I don't like is more than 30 miles from home. I am also very hesitant to take Coop to a generalist.