UPDATE: 3-19-14. In fairness to Dreyer & Reinbold, specifically their service department, I wanted to update my review. After speaking with a MINI customer care expert at their 1-800 number, I received a call from Thomas the service manager at D&R asking for another chance to try and repair the transmission issue with my MINI. They initially replaced a part of the transmission, then test drove the car only to find it still had the issue. They have now replaced the entire transmission and are keeping it to test drive and make sure it is running correctly. I am due to get Sadie back on Friday and I hope, hope, hope, she purrs like a kitten. My thanks go out to Thomas and his team for addressing this issue!

Buyers/owners; beware!! I own a 2009 Cooper S hardtop (a.k.a. Sadie) that has encountered numerous issues since I bought it last February. I've had it in for service at least 7 times over the year. In that time, I've been given all sorts of misinformation from the service department. Most recently, I was directly lied to yesterday regarding my transmission fluid. It was a quart low, why? -- no one seems to know. Supposedly there are no leaks and supposedly no transmission damage though the fluid was sampled from the top and it's my understanding that it should be sampled from the bottom to determine possible damage. The trans. fluid is something that is marked on my CPO warranty paperwork as having been checked a year ago though yesterday I was told it's not something they check during that process....what? This series of ongoing issues and lies is too much. My warning to you, no matter how much you want a cooper (I wanted one for 8 years) and no matter how adorable they are (mine is too cute for words) don't do it. It's non-stop service and b.s. I know I'm not alone. Case in point, there's a class action lawsuit currently in California for MINI misrepresenting "Lifetime" transmission fluid. In trying to solve this issue their standard answers are either "No, we can't do that" or "We'll have to contact MINI corporate in Germany." After which, MINI corporate says "No." The MINI brand + Dreyer & Reinbold = HEADACHE. Sorry, Sadie, you may have to go. :(

 

Its too bad you are not having a good "motoring" experience. I have only had one instance dealing with D&R and mine was positive. I had a cold start issue - which they fixed under warranty without incident.

 

I've had nothing but great experiences from Dreyer Reinbold and have had great successes from all 5 MINI's that I've owned. Sorry to hear about your issues, what model car did you have before your MINI?

 

Hmm...misinformation or misunderstanding? There has to be more to this.

BUT, that said, if you've truly tried to work out the issues, it sounds like a great opportunity to get their Service Manager or MINI USA customer service involved or perhaps the BBB or California State Attorney General's office.

I see you posted the EXACT same thing on Yelp too.

1st post and it's to flame a dealership.

 

Interesting replies to my post and an interesting response from Dreyer & Reinbold MINI. So, as to Yelp, I have reviewed a couple of great restaurants... anyway, I am very disappointed that my experience with MINI has turned out to be a bust. I am the first person who wanted it to be great. As I said, I wanted a MINI for 8 years. I researched and searched for the exact one I wanted and when I found it, I was sooooo excited! And, we were happy to hear that D & R WAS going to try to work with us on trading Sadie in and purchasing another MINI. But, the deal that was offered was well, pretty sucky. It was no better than if we had just walked off the street. As a result of posting my original message on the world wide web, they have stated that our relationship is severed. They aren't going to investigate the transmission issue any further. I am not dissuaded though. My message is remains the same. If this car was supposedly so awesome that they CPO'd it, then why did it have the wrong tires on it and I'm the one who discovered it, and why was the A/C not working, and why did it have some leak in a turbo hose, and why did it have another hose that vibrates, and why doesn't the cigarette plug work reliably, and why was it significantly low on transmission fluid to a point that it was driving very poorly, and why does it shift so hard out of first on cold days that I feel like I may go through the front window? You get my drift. I just wanted a cute little MINI that I could drive forever. I would have been a big cheerleader for MINI and Dreyer & Reinbold. I guess it wasn't meant to be.

 

Those sound like simple and legitimate questions, when you asked those of D&R, what did they say? Did they give you any written paperwork?

 

MINIdave: Some of the issues have been addressed, like the leaking turbo hose, but then there are things like the cigarette/power plug that they said wasn't covered under the CPO. I discovered it wasn't working very soon after buying the car and I didn't think it was too much to ask that they just replace it, but they wouldn't. They bent the prongs and called it a day. I understand that cars have issues but when a car is sold with a CPO and they talk it up as if that makes it like buying a new car then I expect an experience like that of buying a new car. It's just that at this point I don't know how much faith I have in the whole dealership/brand. And, now that they called my husband to say that our relationship is "severed", what is that supposed to mean? Oh well, enough time spent dwelling on this issue for one day!