just wanted to share my experience with mini of towson. long story short. I called them to find out how much it would cost to have my new h-sport rear swaybar installed and was told it would cost 305.00. I asked why it was so much and they said it takes three hrs to install at 105.00 per hr. I told them that the people that made the bar said it should only take a trained tech an hour to do the install. I was then told that it takes three hrs. because they have to bleed the breaks. (the breaks don't need to be bled) you don't even touch the breaks. I think that these mini dealerships think that the people that buy mini's either have so much money that they don't care about the cost or that we are too stupid to now that we are being ripped off. I called helix and maade an appointment to have the bar installed at an hours rate of 75.00. Lets see. 75.00~305.00, which one should I choose?LOL. as of this moment I will never spend another dime at mini of towson.

 

???

 

I think he feel asleep before he finished

 

or had a heart attack

 

Oooh, don't say such things... That's awful.

 

lets hope not...maybe he was going to announce his car had just arrived at Towson...what a bummer.

 

. . . I think it was subliminal advertising.

 

sorry for the delay. I tried to edit and spent about twenty min. typing out what I wanted to say and then i lost it somehow and had to retype it so now you got the short story

 

Wow, that is crazy...I can't believe they would mess with your breaks (or brakes for that matter ) for a swaybar install.

 

Well, to defend Towson's honor here ... albeit I see no reason to bleed the breaks

1. Towson IS mod friendly.
2. Towson WILL install and warrant anything from the MiniMania catalog
3. You bring in something not MiniMania and expect them to install it, your lucky they even looked at it
4. Why not just go to a local independent shop like Glenelg? for aftermarket work? Why drive 3 - 4 hours back and forth to Helix? When you need something adjusted with it and if your not DIY, are you driving back up to Helix? Just curious because that seems like such a long haul when there are local facilities that are just as good.

Since the MINI mechanics has no need to know anything about installing ANY aftermarket parts, I really cant see how you can complain.

 

i can complain because they want to charge for three hours labor at 105.00 and are trying to justify that cost by telling me that they have to bleed the brakes. helix is only charging me for one hr at 75.00 per hr

 

There is a reason why they claim the brakes needed tending to. The 'factory' procedure for replacing the sway bar includes dropping the rear subframe. The procedure for that states the brake lines need to be disconnected. Any time the brake hydraulic lines are disconnected the brakes will need bleeding.

Now, most people that install the rear swaybar dont bother with disconnecting the lines, instead they're left connected and the bar gets fished around the connected lines and there is enough slack in the metal lines to allow the subframe to be dropped to get the bar into place. The techs to their credit were gauging their labor according to set procedures that they mostly have to follow.

Towson is one of a rare breed of dealerships that are both mod friendly and mod capable, and they cover their labor with a warranty after installing most common mods. Sadly, their labor rate is quite high, this is due in part to their ties to BMW service as well as the prevailing similar rates in the industry (I do occasional work at an independent shop that charges $85/hr). Shops that specialize in mods know the 'tricks' to get a mod installed with minimum fuss, and can charge their time accordingly.

 

And when you have problems with it, are you driving back up there? I can only speak for myself but I would consider my time more valuable than a 3 hours commute ... especially when there are multiple ppl locally who can do the same job.

Good luck with Helix.

 

Maybe he had a craving for a cheese steak. I sure do.

 

Towson wanted something like $500 to install a gauge pod. I know they will do the job correctly, but the service charge is a bit hard to swallow.

But, they replaced my engine with little fuss, after I had it explode one day, so I'd be happy to take my car to them again.

 

helix is 1 1/2 hrsfrom me and lucky dog is one hr. not much of a difference in travel time. To be honest I just found out about lucky dog. Ive only had my car since 12/05. I'm going to keep my appoint with helix and in the future I will check out lucky dog. either way they will be cheaper then mini of towson. I guess they are mod friendly when they are charging more then three times what private shops like helix are charging

 

Helix will end up costing you more money... cuz once you are there, you'll end up doing some other cool mods!!!

I live about 2hrs from Helix, but will be going there for my mods.
Hopefully by going to someone w/ his experience, I will have less of a chance of having any problems.

 

Dealership rates are pretty expensive, I don't know what else you guys expect . :\ For aftermarket parts tuners are a better bet than having the dealership work on it.

FYI, most guys working at the dealership are not enthusiasts. They're there to do a job, and have no obligation to know about all the aftermarket parts. There are a few enthusiasts I'm sure and those are the guys that'd know the car inside out, and sideways and would know about all the non-OEM stuff.