I've had the car about a year now. It had its last service in San Francisco shortly after I bought it, and was at Northwest MINI for a new a-pillar cover just before I shipped it to Kodiak.

My MCS was sent to Northwest MINI recently for warranty work, which they covered under roadside assistance (door handles froze when I was inside it - MINIUSA was concerned about that being a safety hazard, so had me ship the car to the nearest USA dealer). Since it was going in anyway, I decided to have some paid services done - coolant flush, oil service, brake fluid flush, and 4 wheel alignment. It costs about $1600 each way to ship a vehicle from Tacoma WA to Kodiak AK.

I would otherwise normally try to take care of maintenance and repairs on my own. Probably helps that I'm a former auto/heavy equipment mechanic (who is now in the IT field). I'm not quite sure what the other 5 MINI owners here on the island do for service though...

 

Less than 5 miles. Or less than one from my work.

 

So far it seems about 25 people have more than an hour drive, and <10 have to drive a reasonable distance. I'd bet almost no other car company has dealers so far from their customers. Maybe Ferrari, Maserati, Aston Martin, Rolls, Lamborghini or Bentley; but I'd bet none that sell for <$40k (and even those are about the same distance as the MINI dealer). Jaguar, Saab, Audi, Volvo, Hummer, Land Rover, Lexus, Infiniti, and BMW all have dealerships in Allentown. Did I miss any?

 

I'd rather go to a MINI-exclusive dealer if one were convenient, as it is in my case. I think it's ridiculous to make people drive over 100 miles to a MINI dealer, though, when they probably pass at least one BMW dealer. Yes, BMW dealers should do oil changes, etc. Anyone can do those, if they are the least little bit interested in keeping their cars past warranty period, or they should be able to farm out the work to a good repair shop. After all, who changes oil only every 15,000 miles??

I think a tech should be cross trained in all but the most arcane of services and diagnostics. It wouldn't be too much to ask--and would make the car so much more usable. After all, even I had some fears about making an 1200 mile long trip (each way), knowing that I would pass only one dealership in that distance (New Orleans). And my car is only 10 months old!

P.S. FWIW, I wouldn't mind sitting in my BMW dealer's waiting room--it's much more comfortable than MINI's.

 

Live in WV where there is not even a dealer for Mini but there is a dealer for BMW approx. 45 miles from where I live in Charleston. My closest dealer is in NC at Winston-Salem nearly 200 miles away. Bought the car in Atlanta on the way back from a vacation trip. I told the dealer there that I wouldn't be back for the services and he should throw in the oil change kits for me since I have performed my own service on all my vehicles in the past anyway and he did give me a kit. If you can prove that you performed the service then they would have a hard time refusing warranty IMO which is why I keep receipts of my oil, oil filter, air filter and other maintenance items to verify. Oh as as to BMW and Mini dealers being separate, where I purchased in Atlanta the BMW dealer and Mini dealer shared the same building, shared parking and service facilities and owned by same individuals. Just two signs on the same building.,

 

130 miles to albany, 200 miles+ to boston or peabody

 

Closest Mini dealer 200 mi. in St. Louis.Closest BMW dealer 90 mi.

 

260+ miles to the closest MINI dealer

 

175 miles to closest dealer in Richmond, VA
200 miles to the dealer where I bought the car near Washington, DC.

A few BMW dealers with 75-90 miles.

 

I talked to my dealer and ASK Mini about this and they weren't interested in adding one in the area. My MA thought the next one around here will be in Santa Barbara but was just a rumor.

I don't mind the drive up from here since there are some nice twisties between but a closer dealer would be nice.

 

120 miles from my front door to the front door at Flow Mini in Winston-Salem.

134 miles from my front door to the front door at Hendrick in Charlotte.

I can make it to either dealer in 2 hours, but it's more fun, and takes longer if I do it on the back roads.

 

Hwy 1 between Aptos and Santa Cruz is often a nightmare, and 17 can get pretty crazy with the Silicon Valley Commuters. What twisties do you take? I usually end up going 101 to avoid the Santa Cruz traffic.

I was under the impression that the limited number of MINI dealers had to do with the limited production capacity. No point in opening more dealers than you can supply. I was hoping that as production capacity increases and new models are added, they would be able to support more dealers.

 

That's just it--we're not talking about trying to increase a production quota--this is strictly after the fact, in the service arena. That MUST be improved!

As for all you guys talking about how it's neat driving the twisties to the dealer, try doing that with a problem of some sort--not enough to call the tow truck, but enough to make those twisties (and distances) a real PITA.

 

201 miles...from south of Birmingham, AL to MINI of Nashville.

 

1.5 miles

 

Last time I went up San Jose Soquel Road (after taking backroads from Watsonville), which still left some of 17 but not much. On the way back is was highway 9. Stuck to 1 for the trip from there. It was on a Saturday and wasn't crowded on the roads (17 or 1).

 

About 70.
It is more fun comming back, though. Traffic drops off and the road gets twisty.
It's a little further that way, but I likes it!

 

65 miles, all highway but 10 miles of it.

Good thing there's a few breweries between there and here.

 

I have a MINI dealer 18 miles from home but I go to the one 47 miles away as this is where I picked up my car, all the service has been done there, my mechanic is there, and I know everyone there. To me it is worth the extra miles.

If I had lived 200 some miles from a dealer I would have though twice about MINI ownership as I went in knowing about the warranty and service requirements.

 

My Mini dealer is only about 20 minutes away (45 minutes if I take the freeway!).

 

1 hour

 

I'm among the lucky ones. I've got one dealer at 18 miles, another at 20 and two more at 40. I haven't been to a dealer since I picked it up though.

 

The closest MINI dealer to me is 3 states and 600 miles from my driveway.

 

Man!!! Do you live in the Mini Wasteland???. Are you the only one or have others been that dedicated to go that far? (I know I would!)

 

I have to drive 57 miles each way- A little over an hour.

Our local BMW( only 1) dealership looked into having a MINI dealership where I live. Unfortunately it required building a separtate building and they had no room at thier current location and did not want to move it away form the BMW dealership so I drive to service my current had to be towed twice-but it was under warranty and therefore covered.

I argued with my spouse when I ordered this new car- he said why do you want to drive to get service when you could get some other brand and have service in our city. Had it been up to him I wouldn't have bought it but it was my decision and I will live with it.

Heres to hoping nothing goes awry...but if it does I will go to Denver- they always give me a loaner.. so it is not a huge issue although it would be nice to be able to get any service here.