And not just 300 miles away, 100 of them are mountains with a pass that gets closed in the winter now and then.

If it was any other brand I wouldn't worry. But since Mini has been for years at the very bottom of any reliability list I have a tough decision to make.

Any of you also have your dealer far away? How's that going for you? Did you have problems with your car and if so, did you drive there right away or are you waiting until a bucket list of issues and then will go there to take care of all of them at once instead of going back and forth?

Mini really needs to work on their dealer network. There's NOTHING between Seattle, Salt Lake City and Minneapolis.

 

Mines ~100 miles away which seemed far, but certainly better than 300.

I think your biggest issue would be the 3 years of free service that is included in the price of the car is not nearly as useful if you've got to add 600 miles round trip to get an oil change. I asked my MA about that issue just for the 100 I have, and they did offer that they could drive a loaner to me, drop that off and pick my car up, drive it to shop and let me use the loaner until they could return it, all free of charge. But that level of service is at the discretion of the dealer, I don't think its standard policy.

The warranty also comes with road-side assistance, though I don't know if there are coverage null zones or not, or if they'd tow all 300 miles for free.

Even at 100 away I have been saving issues up a bit, I've got a weeping wiper fluid jet and had one weird engine issue, if I was 5 miles from the dealership I'd have stopped in, but as is, I can deal with them until the next time I have to go out that way or there's a bulletin for free service for the issues.

I'd recommend calling the dealership up and seeing how they'd work with you on service and repair across that distance.

 

I live in eastern West Virginia, and there are ZERO Mini dealers in my state. I'm about equidistant (time wise) from Flow Mini in NC, Crown in Richmond, VA, Mini of Alexandria in DC, and Mini of Pittsburgh in PA. The travel time to any of those dealers is three and a half to four hours.

My F56S is my third Mini, so that's been no major problem for me. That said, I'm comfortable doing my own oil and filter changes, brake work, and tire changes. (A dedicated set of wheels with winter tires mounted helps immensely.)

My '03 MCS only traveled back to the dealer for a replacement of the amplifier on the HK Sound System. I also had the hand brake cable break on me, but a local repair shop was able to handle that.

My '10 MCS only went back for the water pump recall.

Perhaps I've been unusually lucky, but I don't think so. I think the lack of reliability of the car has been vastly overstated.

So, Nuieve, my advice to you would be not to be too excited about the travel time/distance to your dealer IF you're competent to do routine maintenance work on your own.

 

During the first three years you should not have any major problems with the car, the exception being if you have run-flat tires. In my opinion they are very susceptible to punctures, or maybe I've had bad luck. I found that normal tire shops don't want to deal with them...it means a trip back to the dealer.

After the warranty period is over it doesn't make a difference where you live because you probably will never go back to the dealer again, unless you don't mind paying BMW prices. You either have to do your own maintenance or find a shop/mechanic who will work on your MINI.

 

Of course this opinion may change if you don't have your car for a while (three days and counting) because they don't know how to fix it.

 

Nuieve,


I'm curious what state are you in?


Take a look at this:
http://www.minirepairshops.com/

 

Call Mini. Maybe they would allow the service to be done at a BMW dealer or other "authorized" service center.

 

I had the same issue here in Tucson. I admired the MINI from afar and dismissed the idea of buying one. That is till a dealership finally opened here within the last two years. Now I have about six miles to go.

 

Where are you?

 

When I bought my new 2007 MCSm, I was about 250 miles from any dealership. Twice I had serious problems, and twice MINI sent a flatbed tow truck and paid for a rental car for me to use while work was being done.

When they finally decided they couldn't fix my MCSm, BMW/MINI bought it back from me.

Now, with a dealership about 125 miles away, the dealership will pick up and deliver a MINI at no extra charge, even for warranty service or warranty repair, sending a driver or a flatbed tow truck if needs be.

Maybe I have just been lucky, but my opinion of MINI service is very high.

 

^^^^ That's awesome! If they picked my car up for repairs so that I wouldn't have to drive to Seattle (I'm from Spokane, WA), that would give me a complete piece of mind.

As long as my car gets fixed and I'm not car-less in the meantime, I'm ok with that. I had many of my cars serviced for longer periods of time, it never bothered me much, I kind of even appreciate an opportunity to drive something different for a few days now and then.

WA. We do have a few shops in town, but I wonder if they're officially authorized to work on Minis during warranty period. As someone suggested, I'll probably call MINI USA and ask them about it in person. But even if not, if Seattle dealerships can pick up my car on a flatbad and give me a rental that will be fine with me.

 

There is of course a risk and some possible trade-offs. The question is, how much of a risk, and are you willing to live with that? Much of that may ride on the reliability of the F56, which is yet unknown, but hopefully better than previous gens.
My closest dealer when I had my '03 R53s was 1.5 hrs one way. The car was a definite Monday car, over the course of 2 years it racked up well over $10k of warranty work and spent about 1 month total at the dealer: new instrument cluster, twice new window winder motors, twice a new body control computer, new transmission throwout bearing, new steering column, and other minor stuff. Needless to say I sold the car at end of warranty.
For my 2013 R56s, the closest dealer is 3 hrs one way: Lithia MINI of Portland. When I bought the car, they offered a 'local warranty service pack' option at an added cost of I think nearly $2,000. For that amount of money, any warranty or included service work could have been done at a local shop of my choice, and that place could have then billed the work to the PDX dealer. The good thing of that arrangement would have been a written contract about the deal. The bad: the cost! I elected not to go for that. In addition, I don't know of a local dealer where I live that would have the knowledge and experience of how to work on an R56s for any problem other than just regular service.
The PDX dealer should still cover flatbed towing for a warranty issue that disables the car. However, for any warranty issue that does not disable the car, I would have to drive it to Portland, drive a rental back, and do another trip to pick it up, so that would mean a lot of time. That would apply to you as well. For me, it's not so much of a problem as I go to PDX about once every 1-2 months. I also figured - or am hoping - that my 2013 R56 will not be as bad as my 2003 R53, since it is at the end of the model life span rather than the beginning. That may be the biggest uncertainty in your question: no word yet on F56 reliability.
I would talk to your dealer about this. Afterall, they want to sell you a car. Make them go the extra mile to convince you by offering a solution that works for you, whether that is a local shop service pack option at a reasonable or no cost, extended rental car guarantee (not all dealers do that), or something else. For any of these, I would recommend to get things in writing! However, let them convince you - don't you do that work for them! Then go an enjoy your MINI (hopefully)!

 

The original Minis had a lot of problems due to the disgusting quality of labour. But those MiNIS stood NEVER alongside the road with real problems.
My first BMW Mini with CVT gearbox had zero problems in 7 years.I was invited ones for a recall =AC
In a forum you get often the problems, the very happy people don't often visit forums.They just drive. I like forums, I learn a lot and even some time can give some constructive advice.

 

I remember reading in the R56 forum, some years ago, about a fellow in Alaska who had a problem with his new car. Closest dealer was Seattle. And yes, MINI picked up the car, shipped it to Seattle, and returned it to him, as part of their warranty service. I think it was about 1500 miles.

My R56--one of the earliest built--has actually been quite reliable.

 

I would speak with the dealer about this issue. I live about 150 miles from my dealer and they will come and get my car and drop a loaner off then return my car when the work is done! As I recall Spokane is only about 150 miles from Seattle, mostly interstate 90, so I would think they would service you properly.