Looking for some expert advice here. Unfortunately my service advisor wasn't much help in determining a cause. I just replaced my gear shift assembly because the dealership found it to be defective, which it was. Almost suddenly, one morning I found myself unable to shift from park to reverse and got the scary transmission light on my dash. My stomach dropped. I had no prior issues with the shifter until that point.


I love my 2009 Mini, which I special ordered all those years ago, and have adored since the day it came home to me. I don't adore the $1.2k I just had to fork over to repair a faulty gear shift assembly. I have 45k miles on my Mini and take great care of it. Is this just a mechanical failure of a Mini's design? The service notes also said "foreign fluid" was found upon inspection. Um, is my Mini going out for drinks without me?


I've heard for years about expensive transmissions replacements, and the fact that my gear shift assembly went out on me at this point, makes me very fearful for the future. I can handle the occasional thousand in repair; part of owning a car, but if this is a sign my transmission is on it's way out before hitting 100k miles, it might be time to trade my beloved in for something newer, as much as I never, ever wanted to do that.

 

Known issue, due to the placement of the cup holders.