Hi All,
My wife has a 21 F56 with 21k miles. It recently developed a shudder when turning the steering wheel. I took it to a local shop who said something is rubbing in the steering gear. The repair is a new steering rack for $5k! There is no way this should be going out at 21 thousand miles. My wife babies this car. Even the shop suggested I call MINI to see if they will cover it out of warranty. My question is who do you recommend I contact first? Should I call MINI USA support first and try to convince them or should I contact the dealership and ask them to plead my case with corporate?

 

If it makes a difference, this is the third MINI she's purchased new. I would hope that would give us some loyalty cred.

 

Mini needs to perform their diagnostics first. You’ll have to make an appointment at the dealer, telling them only that the car has an issue. Do not mention anything about taking it to the local shop. See what they claim the issue to be, and go from there. If you go in and start raising a ruckus, you’ll get no where.

 

+1

definitely take it to the dealership & as njaremka said:.

might be an inconvenience if the dealership is far away, but totally worth it

i was so bummed when MINI closed my local close-to-me dealer, now it is a 2 hour round trip if i want to visit a dealer parts counter and it is frustrating

 

Thanks for the advice. Appointment made.

 

My 2021 MINI Cooper also started having a shaky steering wheel at 25,000 kilometers. The dealer immediately charged me $4,800 for a steering rack, even though the car was still under warranty. I didn't argue with them directly, but quickly found an alternative: I bought a used, original steering rack in excellent condition from a reputable parts dealer. After reading autoplicity reviews and being convinced of their reputation and low prices, I ordered it, it arrived within a week, and I installed it myself with a friend in the garage. The savings are huge, the MINI is now like new again, and my nerves are gone. Decisions like these save both money and my spirit!

 

When I checked it in at the service counter, the advisor immediately said that the steering column needed to be lubricated. When I picked it up, the explanation was that the factory puts white lithium grease on the plastic bushings that steering column passes through. Over time, it dries out and becomes sticky causing the steering to feel notchy. They cleaned the old grease out and replaced it with light machine oil. The service advisor said they've never had one come back after they've done this. This must be a common issue.

As a side note, I'm surprised at the use of the lithium grease and machine oil on plastic. Both lubricants are petroleum based, which can damage some plastics.

Thanks again for everyone's comments!

 

Did that fix the issue?

 

Sorry it took so long to reply. Yes, that solved the issue of the steering feeling notchy.