When did the battery become a wear item not covered under the 4 year 80k km warranty? We have 44k km on our 2012 CMS, battery is flaky, and not holding full charge anymore. We are under warranty, but the dealership is saying we need to pay for the battery replacement.

We were considering the clubman S all 4 or X1, but after this, we will definitely not be purchasing another mini.

They can't say how long the battery is covered for, because they can't say how it wears. I asked if the battery failed after a day, a week, a month, is it covered? The answers are vague, because they cannot determine if the battery failed due to a manufacturing defect.

 

Battery problems have been discussed here a number of times.

Here's a link to one thread to get you started.

And here's a little older thread but lots of good info in it.

 

The difference is BMW covers this when it happens, I had the same issue in my X5 and it was replaced no questions asked.

I can register the battery myself, I'll get an aftermarket 70ah battery. This will be our first and last mini, and it seems ridiculous for a brand to lose a customer, and have them harbor ill will and tell other people over such a nominal cost.

It is what it is

 

I have a 2012 CMS and it had a bad battery at 39,000 miles. My dealer repaired it under the factory warranty no questions asked. Maybe try another dealer. Sorry for the trouble

 

It really depends on where you go and who you talk to when you get there... I can tell you that there seems to be some significant discrepancies between what the sales person tells you is and isn't covered and what the service advisor tells you is and isn't covered... Same goes with the extended maintenance plan...


For example... Just the other day, the "MINI" badging on my all weather floor liners just came off. They always take them out and pressure wash them whenever I take it in for scheduled service... when I stepped inside the car for the first time after picking it up for my last service, my foot grazed the mat badging and it slid right off. I just super-glued it back on thinking it was no big deal, but it eventually came off again.


I figured if it's covered under warranty, then I might as well get it fixed. The next time I went back in, I told them about it figuring they could just use some strong adhesive and re-attach it. Then they called me and said that they "instructions from MINI" were to replace both of the mats... I figured okay, if you want to do that, then okay. When I got there to pick up the car, they had an invoice ready charging me full price for them. I explained that they were supposed to be covered under the MINI 4 year 50,000 mile warranty and he said that for accessories, the warranty was only 2 years.


Well, I called shenanigans and explained that I specifically got all of my accessories and included them in the initial purchase of the car specifically because my motoring advisor stated they would be covered for the 4 year or 50,000 miles. The reason why is because I told him I could locate all of the accessories online for much cheaper and do the install myself on most of them - Floor liners, roof rack, snowboard holder, rearview mirror cap, sideview mirror caps, etc... I figured I'd save myself around 500-1000 dollars doing some of those easy items, but I changed my mind when he said they would not honor any accessories not purchased with the car initially for the new car warranty.


Well, then he said he would just "charge it to the sales department" as it was their mistake? and I got the new set of all-weather floor-liners. My guess is that if he'd know that I wasn't going to just fork over the money without any fuss, he would've just glued the badge back on and been done with it. Seemed pretty sketchy to me...


Then again, there was another time I went in because my seat had a crack in the leatherette. The car was and still is under warranty... I take good care of my car including the interior and it seemed like it just wore out way too soon. But I couldn't stand seeing the crack in the seat, so I took it in thinking it would be another hassle, but they replaced the seat upholstery under the warranty - no charge and no questions asked...


I think it really just depends on who you get when you drive in the service area. Some service advisors seem to claim that nothing is covered trying to get every nickel and dime out of you, while others seems to take care of most every problem or issue at no cost wanting to ensure that you leave them a good rating and become a return customer.


I'm no cheapskate and I'll pay for things that are clearly not covered under warranty, but they really need to get on the same page as a far as what is and isn't covered to make sure there are no misunderstandings and keep customers happy and coming back.