I want to direct you towards my initial post which describes my experience with a MINI dealer and a timing chain tensioner related failure:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...appointed.html

Which brings me to today. As of about 2 weeks ago my remanufactured MINI engine that was purchased from a dealer has once again let go. This time after 40,000 miles and only a little over 3 years. The crankshaft is walking back and forth due to some sort of bearing failure. Not knowing what to do and not having the money to fund a 3rd engine, I decided to reach out to MINI to see if I would get a different reception this time.

I most certainly did not. While polite, none of the assistance offered held any real value. I am being told the only help I will get is to reinvest into a company that has yet to invest into me at all. I will be given owner loyalty dollars towards the purchase of a new or used MINI and that is it. Nothing else.

This situation is of course my own fault. I never should have bought a used vehicle with 80k+ miles, but you also don't expect a 2nd engine to fail after only 40,000 miles. I put out almost $7,000 dollars on that engine replacement and it was gone just like the 1st. It died coming to a yield sign on a highway off ramp.

I wanted to give you the reasoning that I was provided for them not offering any assistance with the 2nd engine failure:

"The 1st engine was low on oil at time of failure" - This is a bold face lie that was recorded somehow as fact by MINI of Chicago. I had a gallon of Mobil 1 in the trunk during the first failure but that is beside the point. I also provided near perfect service records for the 2nd engine. I'll black out the information and post them if desired.

"The car has 140,000 miles on it" - This is true but has no relevance on the fact that the engine I am discussing failed after only 40k miles. This point makes no sense although it was reiterated twice after I corrected them and said the engine only has 40k miles. Apparently my car convinced my engine that it should start acting like a 140k mile engine.

"You car has been used in Autocross" - Let this be a lesson to anyone who uses their vehicle for fun. It's strictly not allowed per MINI. Don't they offer contingency bucks to those who run national level events?

So that is it. Those are the reasons why I am not considered a good customer. Those are the reasons MINI wants me to spend more money on their product while telling me I'm **** out of luck on the money that I have already spent.

I would advise against supporting MINI because they will not support you.

 

Yup, have seen more than a few posts like yours. My wife drives the MCS, I drive a Mustang. My Mustang has track apps built into the instrument cluster, which I found interesting. When I asked the Ford SA about it, the response was, 'if you track it, will void the warranty'. What the heck, why did they include it then?

 

The new Mustang also has line lock, which essentially locks the front brakes so you an burn out your rear tires to warm them up for drag racing. That'll void your warranty too. It's funny about that stuff though as when I worked at an Audi and VW performance shop we had the dealership sending us new and just bought Audi's to install APR product and tunes onto them, and they still provided a warranty. Other times, we would have Audi/VW customers come in and we'd flash their cars back to stock (that we tuned) before they went back into the dealer for services. Most of the time the dealer will look to find any excuse as to what would void a warranty at times like these. I had an instance, with a different brand, where we had the dealer rebuild the heads and we picked them up and installed them onto the block. Started it up and the car kept missing. Brought it to them and they had to tear it down. What was the result?... The buckets in the heads were installed backwards and because we took it from them after they did the rebuild and installed it onto the block ourselves they couldn't warranty it because, "We don't know what you could have done to them when you picked them up."

 

It's quite sad and very disappointing to me. Such a costly mistake for myself. That Audi head thing is so ridiculous.

I went through and laid out my service I figure I will throw the dates here too just for a record:

9/22/12 - 99,844 - Brakes & Standard Scope @ MINI Chicago
12/20/12 - 104,000 - Engine #1 Failure - Engine replaced @ M&R Automotive (Paid in full by me, Engine was purchased remanufactured from MINI Dealership, probably MINI Chicago)
12/29/12 - 105,308 - Diverter valve leaking and replaced @ M&R
There we some free oil changes done by M&R in this time period. 2 or 3 as a goodwill for getting the engine replaced with them.
12/2/13 - 113,666 - Cooling lines replaced - recall done - inspection @ Bill Jacobs MINI
4/3/14 - ? - Oil Service kit bought @ Bill Jacob's
7/29/14 - 118,433 - AC Broken, Inspection, Oil Change @ Bill Jacob's
8/28/14 - 119,041 - Alignment done
4/17/15 - 123,107 - Alignment & Oil Change @ Bill Jacobs
11/3/15 - ?(Not Recorded) - Oil Change & State Inspection @ Pep Boys
1/28/16 - ?(Not Recorded) - Oil Change @ Pep Boys
3/12/16 - 141,167 - NH State Inspection
4/10/16 - 141,884 - Engine #2 Blown

I provided copies of all receipts to MINI as well. Such a shame they brush it under the rug so easily.

Ya live ya learn I guess.