OasisT sold his mini and is now the happy owner of a mazdaspeed Miata.


Matt

 

Sorry to hear that there was a snafu at MINI USA.

Sorry to hear OasisT sold his MINI (with a bitter taste in his mouth?).

CD MINI, you need to recognize that it's not as simple as you suggest it to be, with your condescending shouting. Many of us have years of tracking and even racing our cars, under our belts. Familiar with Moss/ Magnussen for starters? Tip o' the iceberg....

What's a ButtDyno look like anyway? Wait... don't answer that.

 

Not to mention that is Mini is sponsoring you, they are actively encouraging what you do and should stand behind that.

 

but he says the new car is fun and he's happy. That's good enough for me!

Matt

 

The only thing that bothers me about this whole thread is how it says MINI STABBED ME IN THE BACK & then when MINI did take care of OasisT the thread still reads MINI STABBED ME IN THE BACK. Maybe a moderator needs to edit the subject to reflect that MINI did indeed do the right thing in the end.

Just my .02 here.

Miata's are fun cars. He should be smiling while driving.

 

and so what if they took the knife back out? Time, hassle, BS and on and on. Can't undo it all.....

Matt

 

Well IMO & we know what that is worth. He yelled before he had reason to. I would have been pissed too, but I would have waited for the outcome before yelling that to the MINI world.

Again just my .02 here.

 

we'll never know if the yelling helped or hindered.

Life goes on...

 

You are correct we will never know. Yelling seldom accomplishes anything.

Yep, life goes on. Lets motor.

 

sometimes that's the only way that she'll listen!

Matt

 

true and as the Doc said, sometimes it's the only way. I have been through similar things. It seems like OasisT tried everything he could before going public. I had to do the same thing.

What's funny, is people said the same thing to me. However, I too had exhausted every other avenue I could. Yet all of a sudden after the "yelling" happen, the situation was resolved by the clown causing it.

Funny how that works.

Not everyone has the honor and ethics those of us who do not like "yelling" do. So, sometimes you have to speak their "language."

 

I do understand that, but to me it would feel that I was lowering myself to their level. Personally speaking, that isn't something I'd be willing to do.

 

like when the oil pump failed on my buddy's 335i a bit ago. BMW said 60 day national backorder. He said 'fine - your car then!' (VA lemon law says 30 consecutive days at a dealer for the same issue = buyback). Needless to say, he had his car back on the road with a new oil pump before day # 30 showed up. That's how you get stuff done with people who won't play ball.

if you allow people and companies to walk all over you, they invariably will.

 

Sure thing, but one could say what needed to be said in a calm rational matter. I'm not implying your friend didn't, but I think that is your point here. There would have been the same result in this case by being calm & saying the right thing. It was what was said not how it was said, at least in this case.

 

I tried everything in my power to get it resolved peacefully and gave it WAY more time than most would have, regardless of what a certain individual/individuals have been saying. Its amazing to me that some individuals think they know more than those actually involved in the incident regarding my warranty. I think its irresponsible for people to say I didn't give it enough time without knowing my conversations within MiniUSA and within my dealer. Oh well, there will always be people like that spouting off their opinion with little regard for the truth. Unfortunately, going public was the only option. Fortunately though, the issue was resolved by those that were made aware of the issue within Mini USA through me going public. Without going public, the issue was not going to be resolved, and, I was told, basically, that I was out of luck after NUMEROUS attempts to resolve it peacefully and quietly. This action hopefully will help others in similar situations avoid going through what I went through, there was simply no reason for it.

I'm just glad, in the end, MiniUSA rescinded their stance on my warranty. Bottom line is, my warranty issue was a real issue, not just something I over reacted to in a short amount of time.

I'm sure I will more than likely own another Mini someday, in fact, I have already spoke with a few about potentially autoxing one again in the future at some national events possibly. Mini makes a helluva product and Mini's still rock in my opinion and their contingency program is most excellent as well. Thats definitely not in question. I'll still be lurking around a bit from time to time, so, see you around sometime, and, if anyone needs setup advice or just has a question, feel free to PM me, I'm on here pretty much every day at least once answering PM's.

 

You know, there's a magazine called Grassroots Motorsports, right? They're racing all those expensive 1993 Miatas and 1970 something Saabs and fixing them themselves! Hundreds of dollars! The cars might have cost a few grand too!

Seriously, the large scale track orgs HAVE turned into expensive adventures, but anyone doing autox locally will tell you they don't have a big budget and it's a weekend hobby. Sounds like a little bitterness.

Anyways, sad to hear that this happened. I've come from Hondas and if anyone knows how bad aftermarket warranty claims can be, it has got to be Honda. It sucks that after all the positive press Oasis generated they would be willing to do that to a daily driver.

 

Be VERY cautious of this too ... When I bought a Mitsu Evo, and a Suburu WRX they both gave "free" membership to SCCA with the cars purchase ... If you signed up for an Autocross event , you also recieved a "Warranty Voided" letter direct from the manufacture ... Several of my buddies got screwed by this deal ... I NEVER signed up for the SCCA ....

 

Keep in mind as well, I was told BEFORE I purchased the Mini in question that I would never have warranty issues from Autox. This came direct from the head of the MiniUSA Motorsports division.

 

FWIW if you can't get it in writing, assume the worst. People change, people forget, people lie, manufacturers demand profit. That is how it is. As much as we love our Minis, the dealers and mmanufacturers generally will do everything they can to cut their costs and maximize their profits. OasisT is one example. The guys dealing with cold start up noise of their R56 are another example. Denial, obfuscation and rejection are the general rule, unless you hold a lot of sway or yell a lot and in public. These is general rules and you should assume it could apply to you at any time.

All that being said in my particular circumstance I still love my 2003 MCS, purchased out of state but maintained locally. And I never had a dealer complaint from Crevier concerning autocross or mods.

 

You'd be welcome to come drive my 02 S anytime here in alabama..... I've emailed MiniUSA to voice my concern over how they have treated you.

 

I will be posting this on the Solo site as well, but please be informed that the official policy of miniusa is that any autocross event will void your warranty. Interestingly, this doesn't seem to apply to an HPDE.

But, if you are going to autocross, either put down a fake name or be aware they can void your warranty.

Please feel free to review the following email exchange.


<MINI.Assistance@askMINIUSA.COM> wrote:
From: MINI.Assistance@askMINIUSA.COM <MINI.Assistance@askMINIUSA.COM>
Subject: Your Warranty Inquiry [1-775739423]
To: Date: Monday, June 16, 2008, 10:24 AM


Hi ----,

Thanks for writing MINI. We appreciate your inquiry regardig the warranty.

As indicated in the Service and Warranty booklet, the warranty shall be null
and void if the vehicle has been used in any competitive event. Please also
note that only a service technician at an authorized MINI dealer can provide
technical support and specific warranty coverage advice upon inspection of the
vehicle. If you need it, you can find a list of our MINI dealers and their
contact information on our website,
http://www.miniusa.com/link/findadealer/dealerlocator.

If there are further questions I can assist with, please feel free to drop me
an e-mail. I will be happy to lend a hand.

LET’S MOTOR.

Darlene Hawley
MINI Customer
Relations and Services
Representative
866.ASK.MINI (275-6464)




-----Original Message-----

From: Sent: 6/16/2008 12:00:00 AM
To: miniassist <miniassist@internal>
Subject: General customer service



question/comment:
I am an avid autocrosser and I enjoy the occasional HPDE. I have been running
my 02 Cooper S for both of these events and I have been considering upgrading
to a 07 or 08 cooper S. Unfortunately, I just read this post:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/showthread.php?t=125769&page=2

What is your stance on your warranty for cars used in

1) autocross

2) HPDE

3) Time Trials

4) Hill Climbs

5) Nasa or SCCA stock road races

Please email me your response as this is sorted out.

 

HPDEs are not timed competitive events.

Alan

 

A big F!Y! from MiniUSA.... And I don't think it's technically correct. If I read her letter correctly, she maintains that only Mini dealers can perform service and maintenance, and still have the warranty intact. I don't think this is a legal restriction (think oil changes and the like).

Matt

 

Alan, you are spot on. HPDE's are not timed events so even though it entails maximum braking, acceleration, and handling for prolonged periods it does not void the warranty. While in contrast a simple AutoX will void your warranty.

And Matt, this is a big F!Y! from miniusa

 

Stop beating a dead horse! One person had a problem with one MINI Rep that over-reacted to the situation. MINI stepped up and took care of it and since then has not had any similar problems. As a wise man once said, it's a mighty thin thing that doesn't have two sides to it. I'd suggest you've only heard one side. I'd bet big bucks that Mazda's written warranty policy reads the exact same way. Manufacturers and dealers are not all the way some of these posts portray us. Most all of us truly care for the brand and our customers.

Brad Davis
MINI of Charleston