Latka,

Sorry to hear of the problems with your MCS. But as you stated, it was kind of a freak problem due to misaligned wiring from the factory. I agree that six trips and multiple weeks waiting for a fix is excessive.
British car mechanics would know to trace wiring harnesses before/during/after invoking the requisite voodoo talismanic incantations to the Prince of Darkness, Lord Lucas; certainly by the second or third trip in.
However, these are simple folk, German car mechanics. Fritz will never know the amount that Nigel has forgotten about English cars. Cut them a little slack. I do hope that they provided you a loaner for the extended time your ride was in the shop for what was obviously warranty work. Nevertheless, getting a free JCW kit for this seems a trifle unrealistic for your expectations.
I say if you want a JCW, buy it at list and "negotiate" the install, as that is what is realistically within the dealer's perogative.

Don't Worry, Be Happy

Motor On

_________________
BLUBELLE - 2003 MCS IB /W Premium, Sport, Cold pkgs, Lapis blue interior, Magnecor wires, Alta Pulley, Moss Skid Plate, Chrome Trim Interior

 

I also am having trouble with my dealer. They are refusing to fix the rattles my car has saying the H-Sport springs are to blame. Check out this thread for the whole story. https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...c=20807&22

 

mgcman - that's the problem! The Brit mechanics only know Mini's Prince of Darkness. The MINI has electrics by the Bosch, errr Bosch.

 

For everyone who wasn't aware that the McDonald's coffee lawsuit actually had some merit, here's a link:

McDonalds Coffee Lawsuit summary

The worst part is, McDonald's *still* hasn't changed their coffee temperature, so beware!

Of course, there are plenty of frivolous lawsuits out there ... but I don't want to make you boiling mad.

MINIangelD

 

Coopers4Us - I was *not* trying to pull a "McDonalds" on MINI NA. Our car was in for service over 30 days. It was in for service 6 times. Do you know how much of *our* time was wasted driving back and forth to the dealership...let alone pulling out our hair in frustration at their f'ing "could not duplicate problem" responses? I know the JCW package costs like $6,000 installed - but I can guarantee you that it doesn't cost MINI that much to produce it. Was I asking a lot? Yes, but consider the huge lump of crap we had to go through. We're not suing MINI... it would be pointless. They're another huge mega-corp that really doesn't give a crap as long as you pay your money to them.

If I could push the f'ing car off a cliff and be done with it - I would. Our 1971 Mini spent more time on the road than the '02 did in it's first year... Is our car a rare case? I sure hope so...but I find it odd that a few other strong MINI supporters also had rough problems out here.

The thing that really furstrates us is that we loveed the car - we still do. We're just pissed off enough at the dealership and the "could care less" attitude of MINI NA that we want to get rid of it.

 

>>For everyone who wasn't aware that the McDonald's coffee lawsuit actually had some merit, here's a link:
>>
>>McDonalds Coffee Lawsuit summary
>>
>>The worst part is, McDonald's *still* hasn't changed their coffee temperature, so beware!
>>
>>Of course, there are plenty of frivolous lawsuits out there ... but I don't want to make you boiling mad.
>>
>>MINIangelD

dayom... thanks for the clarification. that is kinda messed up. anyone know they why didn't just turn down the temp on the cofffee?

 

Sorry about your problem, but you have to admit that it was kind a fluke and would probably take some time to figure out what was wrong. 6 times to a dealer was probably excessive but now that the car is fixed enjoy the car and quit complaining. Come on a free $5,000 freebie, if I were the dealer I would have had a hard time keeping a straight face. One thing I notice on this site is the number of Mini owners who tend to whine about their car not being perfect. When you buy a new design one has to expect some problems down the line or wait a couple of years for a car manufacturer to work out the bugs. We bought a feb. 03 with the extended warrenty for this reason. Hope you eventually enjoy the car or sell it for something you will be satisfied with.

 

Regardless if the JCW kit was asked for or not this many trips to a dealership to solve a problem is excessive. I don't expect cars to be perfect (and no one else should given that they are machines and will have failures and problems at various points of their lifecycle...I sure have had my share of problems) but I do expect the MINI dealership network to make best efforts to resolve the problems. In this case I forwarded Latka's information to my contacts at MINI USA in the attempt to raise their awareness of the issue at this dealership. I believe that this type of feedback to the head offices can only help to improve the brand, service, and ownership experience.

As I mentioned before if others are having major problems with their MINI, dealership, etc. please email at the address below and I will forward your contact information and issues along to MINI USA. Hopefully this will help you resolve the issue more quickly.

Best regards,

Mark

 

some good reading: www.miniofhawaii.com/frameset5.asp?LINK=Service&MAIN=service_depart ment&PIC=10

(copied from the above site)

TAKING CARE OF YOUR MINI

M-S 7AM - 5:30PM
Sun Closed

"Knowledgeable, skilled, and passionate about keeping every MINI they encounter perfectly tuned: MINI Certified Technicians. MINI of Hawaii is home to the only known flock of them in the Pacific.

Whether it's work that falls under our 3-year/36,000 mile Full Maintenance Agreement or body repairs, our team is the one you can trust to keep your baby in perfect health."

btw, isn't that mini-5 on that page? whatever happened to that mcs? that car had some nice pep to it (i had it as a loaner once). it was also beaten around the track at the race days ("driving school&quot and held up pretty well...hmmm, anyone own it now?

 

it's storming outside, good time to do some surfing. found this under the dealer ratings. hmmm. night and day.

Fantastic Experience. Apr 10, 2003 12:27
Submitted by: Latka
We purchased our MCS only a few days after the dealership opened. Aka and the entire staff were fantastic - keeping us up to speed on the whole process and taking care of us as needed. Since we took delivery of the car we've had a few hiccoughs here and there, but the MINI folks have been great and taken care of everything we've asked. I would definitely buy another car from them.

 

Yeah - wish I could change that. I said all along that the sales team were great to us. Towards the end that changed, but for the most part they were great. Our beef was with the "service" department.

"Whether it's work that falls under our 3-year/36,000 mile Full Maintenance Agreement or body repairs, our team is the one you can trust to keep your baby in perfect health."

Translation: We'll fix your car... "fix" being a very relative term, if and only if you're not one of the "poison" members, and if we don't have a wild guess that your car was autocrossed, and if ..... etc, etc, etc.

Damaged wheels are included at no extra cost to you!

Oh well... no worries. We pick up our Infiniti G35 Sedan tomorrow. POLLN8 is no more. Good riddance to the troubles of MINI of Hawaii.

 

A four door "family" sedan? It'll still only fit 3 people as you have to move the seat ALL the way back, unless you're putting kids in there.

 

>>A four door "family" sedan? It'll still only fit 3 people as you have to move the seat ALL the way back, unless you're putting kids in there.

No, I thought it's a four door "sports sedan". I have quite a few friends that have it but they all complain of the nice 16 to 18 mpg in real world driving with Premium fuel- ouch. So much for independence from foreign oil sources.
Wait, don't we control Iraq?

I can drive my MCS around and get 26 mpg easy.

 

My BMWs are fast! They can out run anything but a gas station!

 

yay, g35! you will absolutely love the car and the service you'll get from richard, francis, and the rest of the people at infiniti! baronious's dad recently picked up an fx45 :smile: on sunday, he mentioned how nice the g35 coupe is so maybe we'll pick one up as a "team car" :smile:

 

(groan) not another "company car" :smile:

Beast - I actually fit in the back seat with Alli driving. Lots of leg room in fact! She can sit behind me when I drive, so as long as you're not a grape ape you'll fit back there

It really moves out - so I'm going to have to keep my right foot out of it if we're going to see the published milage figures. Might have to get that Stillen supercharger before I come 'a huntin' for your 540i.... Until then I have a feeling all I'd see is the Bayerische Motoren Werke spinning propeller logo in front of me!

All in all, we're still sad that we had to get rid of the MINI. We've still got the little old guys though!

 

Latka,
Please do keep up with our events and we always like to see classic minis anytime.
Keep in touch.

 

No problem at all. If we can make it to 'em we'll show up!

Got the parts for the '71, so it'll be up for sale shortly. I'll make a big post with lots of pictures here before I put it in the paper.

 

we can do a "real mini" cruise :smile:
_________________


HAWAII MINI ENTHUSIASTS: Email hawaii808motoring@yahoo.com to join our group!

 

>>Yeah - wish I could change that. I said all along that the sales team were great to us. Towards the end that changed, but for the most part they were great. Our beef was with the "service" department.<<

Latka, you can change your dealer rating; I certainly did, and I encourage you to. Just go to the review, and as long you're logged in, there will be a little "edit" link at the bottom of it.

 

Thank you for the tip! I didn't know that was possible. Have since gone back and edited my dealer rating for MOHawaii.

"MINI of Hawaii
777 Kapiloani Blvd.
Honolulu, Hawaii 96813
USA

Phone: (808) 597-1225
Manager: Justin Scrofani
Website:"

LOL Justin is the Manager now? Maybe that's old info from before they even had the dealership up.

 

that reminds me, i havent done my dealership rating yet but i will do it as soon as i gather my thoughts into a few sentences

i believe that the justin being manager thing is really old...i also asked about that a few months ago and was told that he was the "manager" when it was only him and aka and they used to run the show...and then came darrel....

 

latka, you still here on nam? any news on your classics?

btw, someone mentioned something about your former MINI POOPER S being sold on maui at the bmw dealership there.

anyone know what happens to neighbor island owners when the car needs service and maintenance?!
_________________
race rubber rules. DINAN aint nothing but a badge if you can't back it up.

 

>>anyone know what happens to neighbor island owners when the car needs service and maintenance?!

I think I was told there is a BMW of Maui that does the work on MINIs there.

I think Latka may check NAM now and then and we would be happy to see his classic minis at our mmm.
He is pretty busy with work. His last post was Feb 8.
Not sure if he sold his Red Monster yet. I don't think so.

 

>>Well Andy sorry that you have such hate for your one and only dealer in Hawaii....One thing to remember...Many of the tech and warranty issues are regulated by MINI of North America....not the dealer. Out of the 800+_MINIs that have been sold in the state of Hawaii through this dealer seems that there are maybe less than 10 serious cases of problems. That sound pretty good to me. Sorry it had to be you......

I guess the "less than 10 serious cases" depends on who's counting and what is defined as "serious."

From the dealer's perspective, "serious" may mean a car that has a major safety problem that can't be fixed. From the customer's perspective, it may mean a car with a number of annoying defects that can't be fixed expeditiously or with good service. The gap between the first number and the second can be a huge chasm.

I'm hoping, as a new MINI owner (so far a happy motorer and one who has yet to experience the service side) that the dealership regards "less than 10" not as an acceptable fault rate but as opportunities to improve their processes.

I understand that mechanical systems can go wrong for a multitude of reasons and that the legalisms in the contracts may encumber the dealer at times. From the customer's standpoint, however, we would like to feel that the service people are on our side, and that management is truly customer centered, rather than bottom-line oriented. Each adverse occurrence is an opportunity to make it right by the customer.

Justin, does the dealership have quality improvement initiatives? Are there very visible, ongoing managerial directives regarding service improvement? I don't want to sound adversarial, because I'm hoping to have a long happy relationship with the dealership. I'm asking because I want to be reassured.

Mahalo.