Hello I am in Southwest Houston, and my Service light is on and my Mini has started jerking when I drive, I don't trust a lot of auto shops and I don't know where I should take it to get serviced.


Help.

 

I just moved here and I was wondering where to take mine too.

 

I live in New Orleans and I've driven to see Way in Atlanta when it's not a recall item the dealer has contacted me about, or a maintenance issue I can't do myself (special tools or knowledge).

 

I've bought stuff from Way in the past, but it's a bit of a drive from Houston.

 

I bought my 09 R57 a few months ago and I'm also looking for a good shop in town to install some mods and possible maintenance. Is the any referrals here in Houston.

 

Way is a lot closer to the mid south than Pennsylvania. And the next place I'd want to take my car would require a boat, so... yes it's a drive, but the time & gas is worth knowing my car is with a trustworthy mechanic. IMHO.

 

I've always been disappointed that threads like these aren't more active. I think a good mechanic is about the most helpful tip you can give. And who to stay away from. Because I don't have one. But I'm going to post my limited experience.

Now, I recently went to Midtown Agean Auto Works on Fairview near Taft, just west of downtown. The Jiffy Lube where I get my inspections has been recommending them to everyone for years. The owner of the Jiffy Lube has a Mini, but he hasn't yet needed their services.

So I stopped by Friday afternoon to discuss some overdue things with them. They seemed to know the car pretty well. And I bumped into someone I knew that said they've been keeping her old car going for years. And so have several other people we both know. It's not a fancy shop. No waiting room. A closet for an office. And no yellow safety lines that customers should stay outside of. I was under the car with the mechanic.

The last place I tried, other than the dealer, was Motorcars LTD. And I am not recommending them. The one on Hempstead inside 610. They sent out postcards promoting themselves as a lower cost alternative to the dealer. But their price for an oilchange was pretty high. and they told me I needed the drive belt/tensioner replaced and quoted a high price for that and repairing the common leaky power steering problem. And that was many miles ago. I've only needed to top off the power steering once. And the Midtown Agean mechanic looked at the belt and showed it to me. It looks almost new. Now that I know where it is, I'll monitor it. I swear these components are like shangri la. Invisible except for the right people and at the right time.

Also, the drain plug was over tightened and stripped by Motorcars LTD. The mechanic tried with an extractor tool to get it off but couldn't. The owner wanted me to go back to Motorcars and tell them to fix what they broke. But it's so long ago I doubt I can convince them they are the last people to touch the car. My car is overdue for the oil change both miles and time wise. Especially time. I was away many months & also don't have a daily commute.

I've been wanting to go to Silvios in Midtown, who is very well regarded for BMW service. They've been there for years. I spoke to him once when i took an old Mercedes I used to have there. But they won't shuttle to Montrose. Only midtown & downtown, even though I live within 2 miles. And I just read some reviews of him yelling at people for trying to discuss problems and mentioning their research on the internet. I don't like that.

Anyway, I just made arrangements to go to Aegean tomorrow to do my brakes and they'll try harder on the oil plug.

 

The fact that people in this thread are recommending a mechanic in a distant state, really makes my point about how hard it can be to find a good mechanic.

If you've found one, please share.

 

I have coupons for Momentum Mini for the very services I just had done at Agean. And of course they arrived in the mail right after I got home from picking up the car

If anyone who didn't get them wants them let me know:

$69.95 oil change. (where the hell has offers like this been all this time?) Break pad replacement from $249 Pads & sensors plus cleaning of calipers. Doesn't mention rotors but maybe that's the reason for the 'from.' Also a 90/hr labor rate plus 15% off parts. I'm going to keep that one for now. Good for 90 days from the date i received the mailer. Which was Tuesday. All rates are plus tax.

I nearly freaked out when I got these as this would have been $300 cheaper from what I paid at Aegean. But then I realized it didn't include rotor replacement and that's the most expensive part. On the other hand, there's extended warranty stuff I should go to Momentum for and could have done it all there.

Aegean was ok. As far as I know the service was good. They were nice and friendly. Provided prompt shuttling to and from home. The owner has a way of talking that hijacks the conversation and you might forget to go over everything you meant to. I need to make notes to go by in the future. I was hoping the prices would be lower. The labor charges weren't broken down for each service, but just looking at parts, the oil change was high. I looked up the price of brakes & rotors on MiniMania and the Aegean parts charges were lower. They charges $185 for labor. I was told 3 hours, but they had the car for at least 4. I didn't really note what time I was called to say it was ready. But 185/3 is just a little over $60.