Frankly .... I'd get the highest ranking individual from the Dealership to look at the car with you .... and possibly someone from MINI USA. If shody work is being done it reflects badly on all of us. The owner and HQ needs to know that they have a problem with this body-shop!!

PLEASE STAND YOUR GROUND and accept nothing less than AS NEW DELIVERED QUALITY.

Bob

 

Great ideas... plus I think we've made a final decision that no matter how it turns out we are going to take it somewhere and have an independent inspection done out of our own pocket. This had already been suggested to us by the sales manager we bought the car from in Atlanta (even before problems developed).

 

We picked up the MINI today, not without incident though.

We contacted Allstate on Monday and they told us if the car was not repaired properly when we were called to pick it up again they would get a customer advocate involved. We also talked to our attorney and was advised to voice our opinion on how we felt about what had happened and make it clear that the repair would be inspected by someone else for quality.

We called the body shop also on Monday and was told that the body shop manager had gotten involved and discovered that "some things had not been done properly and they had removed the grill then replaced it and got it aligned properly, also the drivers side bonnet latch needed adjusting". Then got the call today that it was ready.

Before we could even inspect the grill/bonnet misalignment and check to see if the bonnet opened and closed properly this time I saw a bad place in the paint at the top of the bumper. The grill/bonnet was in alignment, as far as we can tell and it did open and close properly.

Then, Adam, who we had been dealing with came out, I asked him to also bring Ken, the shop manager out with him. Then Ken came out alone and I asked him to please bring Adam out also... he smirked didn't say anything except okay. I KNEW it wasn't going to be good after that! LOL

I told him the adjustments looked fine and it opened and closed properly BUT showed him the paint boo boo (raised area, must have been dust or something under it). He precedes to tell me that if I go around the car I will find more places like that in the paint from the manufacturer... I asked him to do just that but he wouldn't. We had also discovered discoloration to the top of the drivers side caliper, he snapped at this point and told me they didn't do anything to the wheels or tires, yes they did, as a 4 wheel alignment was done. We were just trying to discuss with him the safety issue if something had happened during the accident that had been overlooked. He wouldn't even look! SOOO... I finally get to tell him how disrespected we were on Friday when we were given the car as "ready" three times when obviously it wasn't and how I didn't appreciate them telling me that "it's just a MINI thing and they come from the manufacturer like that" etc... I tell him these statements had made me rethink my choice in vehicles and from my viewpoint the vehicle should have been returned to me in pre-accident condition. HE GETS RED IN THE FACE YELLING saying that it would NEVER and could NEVER be returned in pre-accident condition because an accident had occurred. That was enough for me.

We drove the car and all seemed to be fine. They buffed out the bad place in the paint. We paid the deductible and before we would sign off on the car we put in print how we felt that there was no pride in the workmanship of the shop and described how rude and disrespectful the manager had been, and we signed it.

We then went over to the MINI dealership to have the calipers checked out before driving an hour and half home in the car, safety issue that we wanted to be sure of. We talked about what happened with the MINI dealership manager, the BMW dealership manager, and MINI service manager (all three at their request). They were not happy and the BMW manager went to the body shop to discuss the issue. We have no clue what happened but it was made known how we felt and gave names of witnesses to the incident.

The MINI guys put the car on the lift, removed the front tires and said it was discoloration and the only explanation they could give was that the body shop must have used something harsh to clean the wheels, but all was fine as far as the calipers themselves. They didn't charge us and were very nice and put my mind to rest that I hadn't made the wrong decision to buy and love my MINI.

I fell in love with her all over again on my long drive home. I just hope all goes well without incident and will get the fan and air conditioning work checked out for my own peace of mind.

Thanks to everyone for your great advice. orangecrush, thank you very much for your kind offer. If you will PM me your info we just might take a road trip up to say hello!

 

Wow, your story reminds me of how the manager of a local body shop here treated me. Yelling at me, swearing, etc etc and all because of their shoddy workmanship. The only problem you have now is that the work is warranted through them I'm assuming. :(

Lets hope you can just enjoy motoring!

 

Well, it was definitely not a pleasant experience when you feel like you were insulted, your car brand was insulted and you are yelled at by a red faced, eyes bulging and eye twitching BIG GUY (who if he was someone off the street treating me that way I would have called the police)! LOL WHEN in writing he had admitted the job was not done correctly the first time.

They said the "paint work" was warranted by them for as long as I owned the car... I "assumed" that the OEM parts that were replaced was warranted by MINI? :(

 

That's the issue I had. The bodyshop that took "care" (if you an call it that) of my previous car had lifetime warranty, but after the confrontation between them and I, they said they never wanted me back. And like I would go back after being treated that way.

The stuff they replaced, do you know if it was OEM? It might be covered under MINI, I wouldn't know. If something fails with your AC in the future, they might just say it's not under warranty because it was in an accident and the body shop fixed it, therefore it's not MINI's fault.

Not to be negative, but it seems that they'll use any reason to deny warranty :(

 

Oh gosh! It says OEM on the insurance papers we got... but what you've stated is the reason I cried all weekend and said I didn't want her anymore (buy me another one now)! LOL

YET I fell in love with her all over again when I motored on down the interstate! UGHHH!

 

Please ask your dealer before assuming! I don't know 100%, just throwing out my opinion

 

My guess would be that an R56 MINI is too new for there to be any aftermarket parts out in the pipeline yet. You have oem parts & paperwork that says so.

I hope you learned something here. Do research & find a highly regarded shop if you ever need body work again.

Now go for a drive & enjoy your MINI. It will help you forget all of the grief you have been dealt by the bodyshop.

 

OrangeCrush would be able to confirm but when my '08 was rear-ended I was told that there is not enough volume for aftermarket parts to be a profitable alternative. What is it with MINI's authorized repair facilities? I had a very similar experience and my 2-3 week repair took closer to 8 weeks and three 200+ mile trips to pick up a car that was "ready" that wasn't even close to ready. Hope everything else checks out okay and you can get back to enjoying your MINI. Good luck!

 

After reading the whole saga (and I am sorry about your car, no one deserves to be put through the ringer on repairs), that's exactly the first thing I thought. While it is vexing to have to deal with insurance and moronic body shop employees, it's horribly sad to lose a dog in this way; Also important to keep things in perspective. I hope your car improves, and you get what you are owed. More so, I pray for the poor owner of the dog. I wish you luck.

 

I hope you learned something here. Do research & find a highly regarded shop if you ever need body work again.


Amen to that. Finding a good body shop is akin to finding a good dentist but hopefully an entity needed less regularly.

A body shop associated with a dealer is in my experience a minimum cost cost shop trying to put product out the door fast. Find out where the big bucks guys send their cars (BMW being at the low end of the scale I'm talking .... who does Ferrari in your town; or who do the hot rod and restoration guys use???)

 

I feel your pain. We had a problem where the sales staff at our local MINI dealership was great, but the service department was bad and the body shop was worse. For body work, we've used the shop affiliated with the local Mercedes-Benz dealership (insurance-approved, too) and they've always gotten problems fixed right the first time.

 

I DID learn something here...

I got in the car this morninig to go to the store... I notice something just isn't right! I can start off in first great then from second to third I am depressing the gas petal all the way to the floor an struggling to get to third and 3,000 RPM?? Was this from the accident or is it just how a "JustaCooper" is after the breakin period?

I told fiance what had happened and he drove the car and said it performed just fine.... THEN we drove it later and between 2nd and 3rd it was like a stuttering (bump or somthing)... then from 3rd to 4th it was like several stutters (power, no power, power, no power). How can repairs to the fan, conderser and compressor cause this? OR is a new problem OR is it a "Just a Cooper" performance issue that happens after the breakin period when the engine loosens up?

BTW, from driving home the hood/grill which are one and the same are off again on the right side. It opens properly so I guess if I have to I can live with that because I will NOT take it back to the same body shop.

I'm to the point of don't care, ride it out... wait until it is a year or two old and trade it in. :(

My advise is... just don't have an accident and don't be a perfectionist!

I'll post more if it gets better but for now... I'm done!

 

My girl "White Lightnin" (not Lightening but the illegal beyond the limits of fun southern moon shine kind) before stuff happened. I still love her but just don't know what the future holds.

 

Me....


Seriously though... finding a good bodyshop is important because unfortunately, it's you, the customer that is stuck with the reminder of the poor workmanship everyday you get into the car.

It's all about pride.

Mark

 

PRIDE... that is the key word, I guess I kinda ticked someone off when I said the body shop had none!



Oh well... live and learn but a costly lesson to learn. *walks away still sulking*

 

Well, take a trip to NC and let me work on it for a day. I'll put it back to factory condition.... and you won't be walking away sulking.




Mark

 

You got it! Send me some info and I'll be there!

 

"How can repairs to the fan, conderser and compressor cause this? OR is a new problem OR is it a "Just a Cooper" performance issue that happens after the breakin period when the engine loosens up?"

NO! Something is wrong. It should perform the same. Foot to the floor to just get up to 3K rpm is not the way a Just-a-Cooper functions.

It is so GREAT to see OrangeCrush make the offer he has made to you. Talk IMMEADIATLY to your insurance agent and again explain the problem and issues you have had... and are currently having. Have them withhold total payment if you can. After repairs are made to correct the issues your agent can hopefully deduct them from the payment .... or consider a lawsuit to recover the expenses of getting the repair done correctly, and the emotional stress this has put upon you and your family. If I was on your jury I would definitly find in your favor!!!

Bob

 

PM sent....



Mark

 

It hasn't come though yet but waiting anxiously! You're the best, I'm now excited!!

 

Check again... it shows "sent" in my PM box.

Mark

 

Got it and replied... Thank you!

 

Mark- What a great thing to do.

Ligtnin, I'd be hugely amazed if the shifting troubles you have are related to the bodyshop experience. Are you seeing a check engine light in conjunction with the poor shifting episodes? I think you may want to take your MINI to the dealer & have it looked at.