I would like anyone to list dealers across the States that Honored warrenty work on cars that have had outside mod's made. :smile:

 

Northwest MINI has been great even though I have lots of mods. I even got a free rental car for 3 days while the worked on it (DSC problems).

 

I could see a dealer doing warranty work on a part that you have not modded, but I would be surprised if they did warranty work on, let's say your supercharger, if you had a pulley.

Sleepless, what was your warranty work on - anything that you had modded?

 

>>I would like anyone to list dealers across the States that Honored warrenty work on cars that have had outside mod's made. :smile:


Great Topic, Darxar.
Though I haven't had mine in the shop since I brought her home, I have added a Madness intake and an Alta pulley. My dealer seems very quick to jump on the "It'll void the warranty" defense at the mention of these add ons. Guess we'll see what happens when we're in for our first oil change.
BTW, this is the Mini Center in SanAntonio, Tx. if anyone has other exeperience with them, please let us know.

 

Rasmussen MINI in Portland OR is a pleasure. So it sounds like if you are in the NW part of the country you can mod to your heart's content. :smile:

R

 

>>I could see a dealer doing warranty work on a part that you have not modded, but I would be surprised if they did warranty work on, let's say your supercharger, if you had a pulley.
>>
>>Sleepless, what was your warranty work on - anything that you had modded?

1st visit was for an oil leak which they decided was due to the oil pressure tap. They turned out to be wrong, it was some hose that was leaking, but they did not charge me to have it looked at.

At the same time I hade them set my digital reads outs from Metric because I got the car form a dealer that gets them from Canada. No charge.

2nd visit was to diagnos failing DSC (the light would not come on when flicking the switch nor when you could feel the traction control kicking in). After spending several hours on it they ordered a new DSC. No charge.

When the DSC unit arrived, it did not fix the problem so they gave me a rental car. I had been have shorting problems with the BMP Design gauge pod so it was a suspect in the DSC issue. Still no charge.

3 days later they figured out that the DSC problem had something to do with the car being made for Canada but now the trip meter was set to Miles instead of Kilometers. Changing it back to kilometers "fixed" it for now while the engineers in the "home country" figure it out. So, I didn't buy the car from them, the car has mods that could have been implicated, yet, not charge!

Unfortunately, after they worked on last, it started to have major starting problems (like it wouldn't start once warmed up). It went into OBDII limp mode on my way to the track yesterday! They paid to have it towed to the dealer; FROM THE BLOODY TRACK!

Yes, they've treated me VERY well so far. I'm just hoping the starting/limp mode problem is not traced to any of my mods; otherwise, I may not get exactly the same treatment.

Fingers crossed...

 

SHEESH! you should be crossing your toes too! talk about a great experience! I'm gonna start heavily modding my cooper in the following months so hopefully I have a similar experience...

Anyone in the virginia beach area have mods and experience with the dealer there?

 

I hope you guys aren't putting your dealers leanient policies at risk by posting here. Just a thought...

 

Guys, I am not wanting nor expecting dealers to warrenty any mod's that Mini does not sell, like JWC, I just want dealers that are honest and dont get uptight about having some mods done, Its up to the dealer to prove that the mod did not affect a part that is under warrenty, I am just wanting a list of honest dealers that will not freak out if you have mods, that will look at the car and make an honest assesment of the car and what caused the problem, from what I have read on this form and mini2. I dont want to take my car in that had an BMP intake put in and have the dealer scream and rant and refuse to work on my car, this would cause me to take legal action which I would prefer not to do, I know dealers out their will work on cars that have had outside mods, making sure that the mod did not affect the warrented part. I wanted a list incase the service dept in my area seems to be unreasonable, I would have a place I can take my mini and know that the 95% of the car that has not been touched will be covered. Keep the posts comming, the way I look at it a dealer can lose a lot of business if they get a bad rep on one of these forms.

 

I am sure any dealer will gladly work on heavily modified cars. If the dealer work has nothing to do with the mods that have been done. If the dealer needs to work on areas that have been heavily modified they will just charge you that's all, why would they not work on the car, they really don't care if you modify the car or not, the issue is who pays for the repair work, you or the Mini.

 

I agree with Hank, it usually boils down to what the cause is and then deciding who pays. I'm not really suprised by how Nortwest MINI has handled my issues. Although they could be caused by my mods, they haven't made such claims without proof. This seems like the right way to do business. And, they know that I'll gladly pay for the service if indeed problem is caused by a mod. They also have made it clear that they need/want to learn about the MINI so all this work they've done is also helping them understand the car in real world situations. That is a GREAT attitude and a prudent one.

Anyway, in case any one is interested, the problem appears to be the wiring harness so a new one is on its way. Now I do have my toes crossed because the idea of having the harness replaced makes me tremble with fear of future electrical gremlins, or that, indeed the BMP gauge pod installation somehow messed up the harness... But, at least the harness is more in line with the shorting problems and intermitent DSC issues so hopefully this will fix them all at one time!

 

My car's pretty modded, and I've had it serviced at all three dc area dealerships (towson, MD, annapolis, MD, & Sterling, VA). I guess as long as your aftermarket item isn't the problem, and your cars still under warranty, they'll work on it.

cheers,
=Danny=

 

Sleepless, why do you think the BMP gauge install is the culprit to your shorting problem? Could it be from one of those Scotch Clips or how about the grounding wire? Could any of those connections not be in the right place?
I have installed my BMP gauge cluster but not hooked the entire thing up yet. BMP is sending me a new style oil pressure sending unit hook-up that doesn't require tapping the top of the oil cap.

 

Because the gauges were shorting out right from the start. I've replaced them with a new setup from BMP because the local shop could not figure out what the problem was. New pod is working fine.

I hate electical gremlins

 

I took my car to Downtown Mini in Orlando to have a steering rack replaced under warranty. Other than a comment "I see you have a new pully", the mods had no impact on the service received. This was the first time the car had been there (I bought it in Miami) and the service was great.

 

Hendrick Mini in Charlotte NC Alta V2 pully, nology plug wires, Scream Demon Coil, cutom grand wire kit, H-sport springs. No issue with the dealer and my warrenty just the fact that is is about to end .

 

CINCINNATI MINI

 

MINI NORTH SCOTTSDALE. Has worked on my modded BMW and my "slightly" modified Mini...no problems. But, I'm just cool like that.....

 

Knauz
Patrick
Downtown
Bill Jacobs

But I also think this topic may be case by case

 

East Bay MINI in Pleasanton CA has been good to me and my mods

 

+1

 

I had warrenty work on the only part still warrentied, the airbag system. It was done at MINI of Omaha, in Nebraska. The mods and the airbags are unrelated, and the dealer seems to know and understand that.

 

Midwestern Mini - Dublin, Ohio. Ask for Steve Morris.

 

+1 I've been there afew times and they have never said anything about my MODs.

 

Alex at MINI of Manhattan, has been great, he still changes my oil even though i have a catch can, replaced the factory belt for the supercharger when it got destroyed even with a pulley, and they still help with warning lights and what not even though i have a GIAC tune