Hi all! I took possession of a brand new 2012 JCW on July 13, 2012 from Mini of Portland (Oregon). As such, I'm coming up on my first year of ownership. I only have about 3,500 miles on my car, so definitely less than the 10,000 mile recommended for oil/filter changes (or was it 15,000 miles).

Do any of you have experience or knowledge on whether the dealership would cover the cost of an oil/filter change if I've had the car over a year, but less than 10,000 miles?

When I purchased the vehicle my Mini Advisor said I should get the oil/filter changed at least once per year, but she didn't indicate if the cost would be covered under warranty if I had less miles than recommended, but still one or more year old.

I do plan to call the dealership to ask, but before doing so wanted to get some experience and feedback from others in the know. It sounds like some Mini service departments are a**holes and will do anything to make a buck and unfortunately I've not heard great things about the ONE Mini dealership we have in Oregon....sadly the next closest dealership is in Tacoma, Washington, which is about 5 hours (one way) from where I live. So hoping to have some information and knowledge in my back pocket before contacting them.

Thanks everybody!!

 

They might confiscate it and give it to someone who will drive it.

 

No they will not cover it. And it ain't that hard to do it yourself either. Less than $50 for oil and filter will get the job done. Unless you want the dealership to charge you over $120 for them to do it...

 

They will cover it. They will change your oil every 15,000 miles or 1 year. I've had them do it before. They will say something about your mileage not being there yet but you'll have to push for the once a year oil change. When I did this the SA had to do some additional typing etc so I imagine he was doing some kind of override or something.

 

LOL, yes I would love to drive it more, but I only work about 5 miles round trip from my house and some days work from home, so don't have much opportunity to drive it during the week.

I look forward to more comments/experience from folks seeing as though there are two different opinions posted so far.

BTW, I'm not an oil change do-it-yourself kind of gal, so will stick with the professionals doing it

Thanks everybody!

 

BTW.... just had our dealership change oil in one of ours and it was only $69.95. Might be a MINI USA deal this month.

 

They changed my wife's Clubman's oil after a year but under the service counter for no cost. I believe the manual states to change it at least once a year, and the dealership should be willing to abide by the manual.

 

not a good enough reason. i work from home every day and still manage about 8k-9k miles a year. drive more or give me your car.

 

I bought my MINI in June of 2010 and have driven it less than 7,000 miles per year.
Every year I have had the oil changed after 12 months and MINI has paid the dealer. Today was the third and final free oil change.

 

The "service minder" on mine has both a date and a mileage on it. The date is one year from my last (official) service. I'm pretty sure that means it is one of the "included" services.

 

it's one year OR 10k, not and. yes, it will be covered.

 

Noob
32k miles a year here

 

Yep, it's 1 year or based on OBC mileage, whichever comes first. I took mine in when it reached 1 year since the OBC was still counting down around 7K more.