And none of those outcomes would make the dealer or manufacturer liable for the damages caused. In short, the 'why' doesn't matter. You're telegraphing.
It sucks when you're on the hook for damages, but you're on the hook for damages.

 

If there was an accident and you were trying to aviod it, and missed a shift and blew up the motor...Id say thats an insurance claim.

 

someone mentioned that court fees are $25k +, if you take them to small claims court (which you'll want to check the limit you can sue for in your state ..usually between $5k-$10k) will only cost you a day's worth of your time and about $50.

That would be the route I'd go. I've taken clients who didn't pay up to small claims court ..it's very easy process.

 

Judge Judy FTW!!!!

 

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So what happened with this? How's your car?

 

On line with this topic, I visited my local, (150 miles) Mini dealer last week. I was able to talk with the Service Advisor and we discussed after market equipment. I specifically mentioned Cold air systems, upgraded exhaust and larger tubes for intake and inter cooler. All he said was that it was on what happened to the motor, or drivetrain, and that if these parts added too much power, put too much pressure on the equipment, that BMW would NOT honor their warrantee. Also, if there was ANY indication that an over rev situation happened, then that too would void the warrantee. I then asked him, then why have the damn warrantee anyway, because in just about any situation they could find an out in just the over rev situation. I said, these are suppose to be performance engines, high performance motors, the drivetrains are suppose to be over built just for these situations. He said, that these are built to specifications for normal driving. I said, what about the JCW and the autorized JCW parts that are performance parts. Basically he said, so long as there are no over rev situations. What is considered an over rev situation, I asked. He then got too busy to answer any more of my questions.

So, don't go over 7000, as that is the red line, because the cars computor will register and red flag all such encounters. Too bad, guess that wonder warrantee isn't worth the paper it's written on. A GTI r is beginning to look better and better.

 

go for it !!!!

 

To everone thinking Mini is being cruel or strict with their warranty, they are no different than ANY other car company. The over-rev that happened in this case would be a voided warranty with any car you buy. When you rev an engine past what the valve springs can hold, you will get a collision of piston the valve period. No car company makes and engine with a 10,000 RPM cushion in the valvetrain to prevent this, they can't. It has nothing to do with flooring the car and letting it bang off the rev limiter, thats what the limiter is for but when you go from 5th gear to 2nd gear at 70mph that is called a mechanical over-rev. When the valve spring is hit with a 9,000 rpm jolt, it can't close the valve in time and you get a collision. If you are having problems learning to shift you should buy an american car with a non collsion engine so you can miss all day long without this problem until you make the timing chain skip a tooth and then you will be in the same senario.
You do this to a new 911 turbo and you will be out $50k for an engine because Porsche isn't going to cover it either.

I don't want to **** anyone off but our Mini engine is not a "high performance engine" in that BMW over built everthing internal so you could add another 100 horsepower without any problems. It makes great power for it's size but it is not designed for huge power increases. A VW GTI being no different!

 

I agree...

 

To get an over-rev, don't you have to have a mod to over-ride the rev limiter, or downshift into too low a gear for the speed?

The thing that gets me about the warranty is that it can be voided by AutoX or track days.

 

Robin Casady, every car manufacture will void your warranty if you damage your car at the track. They key is to not tell them you where at the track. I work for Porsche and they are very track friendly, but they can still choose not to cover a claim if you tell them I was at the track and they engine blew up when I was taking this corner at 100 mph. It really comes down to the dealer and how they approach the situation. I don't think Mini would give you problem for revving to 7k or whatever your limiter is unless the re-flash made it way past the stock limiter, which none of them do. But you miss a shift from a higher gear to a lower gear and all the momentum of the car will spin the engine to what ever speed matches the wheels, which is usually several thousand RPM more that what your rev limiter is, and that is when you get the collision. I had a 1995 M3 that at 110mph on the highway I went from redline in 4th to what I thought was 5th but hit third instead and bang the tach nailed the peg at 8,500 and took a little while to come back off it when I started slowing down. The shop said it was in the 9s and it bent ever valve in the head but one which it broke off and bounced around the cylinder knocking a hole in the piston and wall. $9k later I had a new reman engine. It was a tough lesson to learn, and trust me I make sure I am in the right gear now.

 

Is there any car company that will warranty track use? I've never heard of one.

 

Lotus and Porsche are perhaps the most liberal but they too have limits.

 

Lotus will void your warranty for going near red line during the break-in period.

 

That can be true so they always recommend you do not track the car until after break-in or 1000 miles. After that, they are track friendly within limits.

Although Porsche test dynos all their boxer engines up to redline before they install them in their new cars.

 

the car is being fixed now, not by dealer tho...4 valves were bent.

the mini tech suspected that the car was modified..the description said that the engine "looked" modified without any real proof..so they are going with theyre suspicions and the over rev...insurance doesnt want to help because they dont cover mechanical problems even if it was to avoid an accident.

 

good luck... i hope it doesn't cost too much.

 

GM does with the Corvette. They even tell you to add some extra oil for the days you are at the track..

 

Is this officially documented in a Chevy document or is this something that is dealer dependent which is only verbal? Can you post that document. Thanks.

 

From the latest Owners Manual for the Corvette.

 

I am proud of Chevy for allowing their owners to enjoy their cars. But as the first line says, Racing or Competitive driving may affect you warranty. I sure that if you miss-shifted your Z06 and overreved the engine and causing the same kind of damage this tread is about, you would be fighting with GM to cover the engine. No manufacturer covers abuse, and a mechanical over-rev is abuse. Speed limiters have more to do with tire speed rating than a company allowing their cars to be tracked. Just the German big three have some agreement on the 155mph limiter thing.

 

But the question was, does any car company warranty their car if used at the track. I was just pointing out that GM does with the Corvette. They even provide High Performance driving classes when you buy a ZR1, which you can use your own car in. Does not affect warranty at all.

What you are stating is if you miss-shift, if that was to cause damage to the engine, why should that be covered? It's no different then running the engine without any oil. Now in the case of the provided text, if you tracked the Corvette and added the additional oil as stated and had a problem with the car due to oil delivery problems, it would be covered since you ran the car as recommended by GM.

I'm not trying to stir the pot here, just trying to show that some cars are expected to be used in a performance related manor. There are plenty of guy's who mod their Corvettes, and we all understand that if a failure occurs, we don't expect GM to cover the repairs. Heck if they see that you installed a different tune then the factory one, they can void your warranty. But if the car is left as delivered from the factory, and you bring it to a track, if a failure occurs during running it as recommended, they will cover the failure. They even provide a launch control feature which allows you to drop the clutch running at 6500 RPM's and the car will take off under computer control for the best posible 0 to 60 runs.

It all boils down to what the car is expected to do from the factory.





Either way, when my Wife's Mini is delivered, I'm sure we will have fun in it.

 

Are you saying that a GTI r is still covered under warranty if over-reved?

 

That document you posted has all sorts of caveats and all it says it that warranty can be voided if tracked/raced. This is very far from GM will warranty their cars if used on the track.

So far, this is not too different from any other auto manufacturer.

High performance driving classes is not racing. Porsche, Lotus, BMW and AMG among others offer those as well.