Hey guys,

I'll be taking my car into the dealership to have it looked at before my warranty runs out. Every now and then it's a pain to shift into 1st. It's very rare so I hope it isn't a big problem, but in any case, I will be getting a loaner MINI.

Are loaner cars always auto? Has anyone here gotten a loaner manual, maybe even an S? I'm thinking of calling and asking if that could be arranged. Maybe if I tell them I'm thinking about upgrading in the future it's a possibility.

Just curious about others experiences with loaner cars from the dealership.

 

A friend of mine had the same symptom with his 5 speed in his Cooper. His dealer went to bat for him with MINI & he got a new tranny. He was way out of warranty to boot.

As for the loaner my dealer gives both manual & auto in both S & Justa. The tech's get a lot of clutch changing practice on the manual loaners.

 

My dealer (Escondido) only loans auto Justa Coopers according to the cashier/clerk.

 

ive gotten a auto S, a manual justa, and a manual clubman s. :shrug:

id ask if i were you. im sure theyll oblige. they always want to sell a car

 

My dealer only loans out autos :( I have had 3 mcs though and only one non s which was a clubman

 

I called to ask, but my MA was busy so I left a message with the receptionist, saying I was thinking about trading up soon and wanted to drive an S. I got a voicemail later this afternoon and she said they had one S loaner that she would reserve for me. I don't know if it's an auto or manual.. hopefully manual, but I'm sure it'll be a blast either way! I'm curious about this whole paddle shifter thing.

 

I have a S and I've never asked but I've gotten a non-S auto, a non-S auto clubman, and a manual non-S. Can't find a pattern.

 

The MINI Dealer that I go to almost always gives me a manual because he says "I know you can drive a manual". Most of their loaners are automatics, but they do have a few with manual transmissions.

 

I guess it's just luck of the draw!

Sort of on topic here, the dealership where I actually purchased my car called me today, they have a fully loaded black '08 S they would very much like me to buy. They said they could give me every dollar back for mine. My schedule is a little strange so I couldn't arrange a good time for a test drive today or tomorrow, so the dealer offered to drop the car off at my house this evening and to let me drive it around for a few days.

Odds are I won't be able to afford the upgrade unless they can slash the price quite a bit, but in any case, it'll be a fun weekend!

 

I was quite surprised to get a manual last time I was in.

 

My dealership seems to make you wait an extra 2 weeks (on top of the 2 weeks it takes for an appointment) to get a loaner. So I've only gotten a loaner once in 3 or 4 visits.

I got an MC auto that was very tired... I heard of someone in CT that once got a JCW, but I can't remember the dealership.

 

I've had a variety: A manual MC, a manual Clubman, an auto BMW, some others that I can't even remember!

 

I was just given a Manual Clubman S. I was surprised they even gave me a loaner since I'm only 20.

 

Interesting range! I guess it just depends what they have kickin' around the lot.

 

I haven't needed or used one yet but I know we have 3 loaners at my dealership, 1 S and 2 non-S all auto. A stick loaner is too much of a liability for wear and tear.

 

Here in Charleston, they hand out everything from an auto Justa to a loaded BMW 335is.......I once got an X5, so it is always just the luck of the draw....haha...

 

Well, although they said they would have an S for me, when I walked out to the lot, fob in hand, I found an '07 Justa Auto. I was going to spend the morning test drivin' the turbo, but I just came straight home.

 

I'm like some of the others, I've had a Justa (auto), a MCS coupe (auto) and a MCS convertible 6 speed when I've gotten a loaner. The last one was the MCS auto which drove me nuts even when I figured out how the manual auto worked. I think one could damage a tranny in the auto using the steering wheel paddles, I know I hit some pretty high RPMs when I was trying to figure out how they worked (no I didn't read the manual!).

 

'Depends upon the dealer. I've only gotten the standard Mini. However, since mine is a convertible (full JCW), I've found that if I ask for a convertible, and they have one, then I get one. And since the dealer is a combined Mini/BMW dealer, and since they don't have any convertible Minis, I end up with a convertible BMW. Nice. The first time was a new 328i convertible hardtop. The next it was a 135i convertible soft top.

 

I kinda wanna have to bring my mini to the shop now when I get back to Charleston next week lol

 

I'm currently rocking a 2010 sparkling silver auto mcs loaner because my new engine crapped out on me after 800 miles :(