ok my first topic. i was driving my 02 mini last week, came to a stop after the freeway exit noticed car was running rough. took it to my nearest mechanic not a mini mechanic but a real reputible one. he saw that the coil pack had split between number 1 and 4. ordered a new one from my source for oem, installed it and immediately did it again so i had it towed to the mini dealer 200 miles away, to my demise the dealer called me and said since i had installes a aftermarket remote starter they could not warranty this car. now mind you my car still idled and was just running on what seemed to be three cylenders, they told me after further inspection that my computer, both of them as well as my main harness were ruined, cost of repair,12,000.00 dollars. i got physically ill. can any one give suggestions on how to proceed?

 

Yikes! Sorry I have no expertise to offer, not even a suggestion...

except...gulp..12K? or $1,200...I hope your fingers slipped! If not, MY stomach rolled when I read that!

But if not, you've probably come to the right place. I would definitely wait for some feedback here before proceeding. (not everybody knows what they are talking about, but you'll find some very helpful knowledgable folks)

What a freaaking thing....I'd be pretty distrustful of that dealer right now...it would take a lot of convincing --12K???

Do you know anything about this dealer--do they have a sterling reputation?

 

This is spine chilling information. The first hassle for you is to find out just where this $12K figure is coming from. Hopefully you will have some recourse. The warranty law (not sure on the name- Magneson?) requires that the (honest??!) dealer be required to prove that the aftermarket parts have caused the trouble in denial of warranty, a huge drag but obviously something you'll need to research. Worst case scenario: you may become the poster person for the danger of aftermarket add-ons, something MINI is unfortunately very clear about where warranty issues are concerned. Hard cheese for sure.

 

>>they told me after further inspection that my computer, both of them as well as my main harness were ruined, cost of repair,12,000.00 dollars. i got physically ill. can any one give suggestions on how to proceed?
>>

Its got to be a bad case of fat fingers. There is now way that the reapir bill is 12K .
If this 12K for real, I would unleash a pack of rabid layers. One things did the dealer say that your remote ignition setup was "responsible" for the meltdown.

So Sorry to hear of your problems :???:

_________________
2004 MCS Indi Blue /W Sport, Lapis blue interior - Stock for now, but not for long.

 

Find a Lemon Law lawyer.........pronto. You are protected under Magneson and should be OK in the end, but it sounds like your dealer is NOT going to make it easy for you.....so try not to waste time dealing with their run-around. Unfortunately that's the way some of them work and in this case you'll have fight fire with fire. Good luck and please let this forum know how you are making out.

 

I'm totally skeptical.

I don't mean to sound accusatory, but this sounds
like a made-up story.

A coil-pack splits and the car doesn't run quite rite.... OK so far.
The replacement "immediately" split.... Fishy, but possible.
The dealer says the engine and body computers are shot, but the car
still runs and just runs rough. Real fishy.
The reason for the computer failures is a remote starter. Getting stinky-fishy.
Not only that, but the wiring harness is shot. But the car runs pretty well
with two broken computers and a shot wiring harness. SSSSUUUURRRREEEEE.
$12,000 to replace and they won't do it. Yup.

The final straw. It's your first post.

So, I think it's a made-up story.

You can help us out by giving us the name of your dealer so we can call them
and see if there is a MINI in the shop matching this description.

You don't give anything more than the dealer name. If you refuse..........
We come to our own conclusions.

If the dealer confirms, you get a complete apology from me.

 

I'm with you Trippy......seems alittle Fishy

 

Funny thing is I met a guy with the same problem at CES in january with the exact same problem. He said he lurked around here but never posted... He said he worked in or owned a stereo shop in Fresno, CA. I guess he grabbed the wrong wire for his remote start.

MiniBoost

 

This does sound a bit fishy but hear this one out.

I went to a Christmas party and met a Mini owner who is an x-partner of my attorney. He had a car stereo shop install an aftermarket unit in his S. Shortly thereafter the car stopped running. He took it to the Mini dealer who informed him that the stereo shop screwed up the install and introduced voltage into the network causing the ECU and several other components including the instrument pod to fail. They charged him $4,000 to fix it. He is currently suing the installer. I told him that I was glad I did my research on NAM and learned the correct way to intall a stereo and have never had a problem.

Bad mechanics can screw up anything. But should it be so easy to blow up major components? I think that this is bad engineering!

 

Hi Trippy...

I can vouch for this one as, I was the first to hear from Thomas after the he received the email from
the dealer. As for the amount they quoted him... I find that absurd and I have recomended him to
bring the car down to Los Angeles so an independent tuner can run diagnostics independently....

peter

 

For $12k plus the money you could make from dismantling your mini and selling the parts, you could buy a new one. Best of luck suing somebody.

 

>>I can vouch for this one as, I was the first to hear from Thomas after the he
>> received the email from the dealer.

Peter, can you tell me the dealer name?

_________________

 

sorry for the late response. not one single fact is made up. i will not say the name of the dealer since my mini is still there, i have to go 200 miles with a trailer and take it another 300 miles in the other direction. i will answer any questions any one has with pleasure in order to help my situation. this is what my mini dealer e-mailed me . if any one can explain please do so. dme burnt, body computer burnt ews unit burnt, mrs unit burnt,kombi instrument cluster burnt, ignition coils burnt, and the main wiring harness spliced into [this was for the auto start that worked flawlessly] i am not making up anything. the mini when it was towed would start and idel all be it rough like on three cylenders it would run, how is this possible?

 

>>sorry for the late response. not one single fact is made up. i will not say the name of the dealer since my mini is still there, i have to go 200 miles with a trailer and take it another 300 miles in the other direction. i will answer any questions any one has with pleasure in order to help my situation. this is what my mini dealer e-mailed me . if any one can explain please do so. dme burnt, body computer burnt ews unit burnt, mrs unit burnt,kombi instrument cluster burnt, ignition coils burnt, and the main wiring harness spliced into [this was for the auto start that worked flawlessly] i am not making up anything. the mini when it was towed would start and idel all be it rough like on three cylenders it would run, how is this possible?
Sorry but this dosen't have anything to do with Performance Mods.

 

ick! that's what makes me so scared with doing mods and upgrades, that the dealer will fall back and say,"Not my fault!" and then you're left with nothing.

 

If that quote is in writing, is the car technically 'totalled" in the eyes of the insurance company?

 

SuperiorSound:

Hopefully, you had the remote starter installed a long time ago and the car has been running normally until now. Otherwise, if it was installed recently, like last week, I think MINI can rightfully claim it somehow caused the problem.

In any event, because of the high dollar value, I doubt anyone is going to voluntarily offer to make things right for you. So you're probably in for a nasty legal fight that could last for months.

As an alternative, you might want to check whether your car or home insurance will cover this. You might have to pay a deductible out of pocket but this might be the quickest and least painful choice.

Hope it works out for you somehow...

 

thank you for the advise, if peter at m7 is unable to repair i quess insurance will be involved. by the way the remote starter was worked for several months.

 

So, the dealer is somewhere in southern California?

Can I call them and get their side of the story now?

 

Why does it matter at all to you Trippy? He asked for some help, not to be tattled on.

Wiring harnesses are not only expensive, but are labor intensive since basically the whole car has to be taken apart. 12k does seem very high, since its half the cost of the car, but a new wiring harness will cost you a lot. Anyways, it sounds like Peter is helping you out.

 

It matters to me, and it should matter to you for a few reasons.

1) If an aftermarket remote starter can destroy three computers and
an ignition system without any warning and void the warantee, I want
to know how so I can be sure it doesn;t happen to me.

2) If a car can run with a stumble with three destroyed computers
and a burned-up wiring harness, I want to know just what these
computers do to help the car.

3) If a dealer is lying and trying to rip this guy off for $12,000
I sure as hell want to know.

Aren't you in the least bit curious and skeptical that all this can
happen from an aftermarker remote starter that worked fine?

Sheesh, I like using my brain. It's fun. Try it sometime.

 

I feel you, Trippy. The Dealership would be on my EXTREME suspicion list until they prove WAY beyond a reasonable doubt that the remote starter had anything to do with this "total electronic system failure". Everything is "burnt"? I'm an Electrical Technician by profession - and this sounds like the BIGGEST pile of doggy-poo that I've EVER heard from any MINI dealership!

1) The computers are OBVIOUSLY NOT fried if the car A) opens the doors B) starts, C) runs, D) shuts off when you turn the key off!

2) Since the computers aren't fried, the dealership is obviously playing you for a FOOL

3) Take it to another dealership, even if it's 5,000,000 miles away!

here's the kicker; I've had info leaked to me stating that MINIUSA is "cracking down" on ALL aftermarket stuff, and basically voiding warranties across the board. If they want to play hardball, we've already got the legal system on our side; it's called Magnuson Moss!

 

That's why we need to talk to the dealer.

Anyone in the California area that can review this thread
and guess the dealership involved?

 

Any status update? Peter? Owner?

 

Well here is my sherlock holmes info:

There happens to be a superior sound in Pinedale, CA. zip is 93650

on miniusa you can search for dealers by your zip code. Here is what came up:

east bay mini (approx 130Mi) Pleasanton, CA
Mini of Mountain View (approx 132Mi) Mountain view, CA
Mini of Concord (approx 148 Mi) Concord, CA
Niello Mini (approx 150Mi) Sacramento, CA
Mini of San Francisco (approx 158Mi) San Francisco, CA

Hope this info may help.
MiniBoost