Dealer is offering maintenance program upgrade for $2699. Says it will cover maintenance up to 100K miles. Without it cost of maintenance would be $8989 over that period. I did get it back in 2005 but when I went to use it the item needing maintenance wasn't covered or it wasn't needed. So I never felt I got my moneys worth.

Should I get it or just spend it on MODS?

 

Will that price still be good at end of warranty? (I assume it applies to your 2018 JCW on order).

If so, why use your money this early?

Does the scheduled maintenance really cost $9K in the 1st 100K miles? You can buy a decent used Mini for that.

Can you do some of the maintenance yourself & get dealer cost to be less than the $2.7K?

 

^^^^ you answered your own question.

 

When I bought my 2016 it was only $1200 and included a free clutch change which the labor alone pays for itself.

 

On my 2005 MCS manual trans the clutch failed at 180,000 miles. Have the clutches gotten worse?

 

Not to change subjects, but does anyone remember the warranty that Mini offered in 2016 that ended? I could have sworn it was for rotors and other stuff to be changed at the 30K mark. It ended in early 2017 and went to more of a traditional warranty

I think

 

Well to be fair at 98,000 miles I may have been putting extra stress on the clutch just to have it replaced for free...

Yes the 2016 extended should include all brake jobs.

 

Technically, it was a free maintenance agreement. It was good till 36K.

 

Ok, Im not losing my mind then.

Do you remember what it entailed? The only reason I ask is because I am close to my 36K mark and mentioned it to my dealer and she looked at me like I was speaking Russian.

I know I got that maintenance agreement when I bought my Mini

Edit -Found it - http://www.motoringfile.com/2016/01/...gram-for-2017/

 

I got the extended maintenance plan, and luckily it still includes the brake pads and rotors. I am on brake pad set #3, and the rotors have been turned once. It's going to be worth it for me, since I hit the track about 4 times a year or so. I'm definitely going to need a new clutch before the maintenance plan runs out.

 

I talk to many MINI drivers that say they put 60K on original brakes or clutch or whatever, but certainly my experience, especially when I lived in SF, was different. Lots of hills, bumper to bumper traffic, spirited driving, and admittedly some 'feathering of the clutch' now and again... my first two MINIs saw clutch replacement at 21K. The 3rd and 4th MINIs I didn't have clutch wear at that rate, though the 2015 MCS I'm almost done with had a manufacturing defect in the tranny that almost killed the motor at 4,000 miles! That one wasn't my lack of shifting excellence. Point being, in every MINI to date for me, some aspect of the initial maintenance package was used before the 3 year mark. Only one car did I get the extended maintenance for: the first gen R53 and even then, I sold before I accessed it.

That all said, the 2019s, of which I am stepping into in a few weeks, don't even have these bigger ticket items included in the initial maintenance plan, let alone the extended contracts. Yikes!

 

I ended up buying the maintenance upgrade to get brakes, rotors, clutch... just in case...

 

Related question: am enjoying the 2015 Countryman I bought in June 2018 (with 34.5 K miles), but just found out that it needs brake replacement/maintenance at 40K mi. amounting to $1350. Dealer is offering special offer on Maintenance Program Upgrade at $1695 for 3 yrs (actually 2.5 yrs) or $$880 for 1 yr (actually .5 yr). The former will mean I'm spending only $350 more than the repairs and will get 2.5 yrs of coverage; the latter means I actually save almost $500 dollars on the repairs, but have very little additional coverage. Any opinions on which, if either, I should take?

 

If you can't diy on the brake job, quote it somewhere else. That price is very high. That changes the math.

 

Sorry, could have been more specific. That's $1071.50 for replacing rear & front brake pads and rotors + the rest for maintenance odds & ends (rotate tires, wiper blades, air filter, inspection) = $1340.00. And it's a dealership... Thanks for the reply.

 

$300 in parts for quality replacements and 150-300 labor at an indy shop to put them on. That includes rotors/pads/sensors. Did this with my CM and a local mechanic because I was too lazy to do them myself. Car has over 30,000 miles since then and the pads look barely worn.

As you can probably tell I'm not big on paying MINI for maintenance chores, but in the end it isn't really a lot of money to pay them for the convenience of not having to shop around.

 

Thanks again, M-the-M. I'm definitely not a DIY-er. I'll probably go with the $880 MPU to cover these and any other repairs that might arise in the next 6 mos. and after that, investigate other shops for repairs. Maybe I'll take it to the VW/German mechanic who's done good work on our Passat wagon.

 

Replacing pads and rotors is not rocket science. Look on YouTube. I bought the parts from a vendor here for $450.00.

One of my neighbor is building a RatRod. I gave him the torque specs and supervised what he was doing since I cannot do it by myself anymore. He asked $100.00 for the 4 wheels and was happy to have some cash to finance his addiction.

Wiper blades, air filter, cabin filter are easy to replace and cost mostly nothing. As for tires rotation, I go to the tire shop every 3.5K and they do it free of charge.