I drove it too hard. My service came up from Mini, and I have 43k miles on an 05 Mini Cooper S. It needed an oil change, possibly a new pulley belt and also a cigarette lighter repair so I can plug my radar back in.

Thoughts on that by the way, are always welcome.

Not to mention a good wash.

Anyway, Mini wanted to charge me $350 for the service while still under warranty!?!?! What the hell is that? I said ***** that, I'll take it to my local guy.

Well, he takes a look and leaves me a message saying that they needed a new pulley belt, which was good. He also said the car needed an alignment, and I needed new tires which I got that are awesome:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....ce+T%2FA+KDW+2

So, my car was shaking at 70+MPH but I thought this was because of the bald run flats and maybe an alignment.

Turns out, the bolts to the subframe were loose, so maybe that's why my car was shaking so bad!

Anyone ever have anything like this happen to them? I have no clue how that could've happened.

I know I drive it hard, but geez, enough to loosen bolts on a frame? I never track the car or anything, so I'm mystified as to what's up.

I can't wait to jump out of this/repair it. I need new wheels, new winshield and to fix the worst dent in the history of the world on my driver's side door.

Dammit, money fixes everything. Anyway, I guess what I've been trying to ask is:

- Any advice on making the cigarette lighter work again? Where's the fuse I can replace? If that doesn't work, what's plan B?

- How the hell did the bolts of my subframe get loose?

 

Charging you for warranty work? Nuh-uh. Get a second opinion at a different dealership - that's crazy. I'm assuming you did your 10K and other indicated warranty services right? Everything you describe should be covered under the warranty. If not, have them give you a print-out of everything they plan to do with the charges and let them know that you'll be taking that to a second dealership to check how THEY'LL handle the warranty claim. You might want to run the list past a known good dealership like Classic MINI in Cleveland Oh - just give them a ring and ask to talk to the service manager and see what he thinks of their "warranty quote".

Sounds to me like they'll claim the damage to the subframe and the pulley belt was caused by hititng potholes or something. If you know that's indeed what happened then suck it up - you damaged the car. If you need NEW WHEELS then I'd say you need practice in avoiding road hazards (sorry).

If you honestly don't feel that you damaged the car, explain that you did not damage the car by misadventure, and if they'll not cover it under warranty then get a second opinion from an actual dealership (NOT a general garage - having a non-certified mechanic work on the car can void the warranty).

As for the cig lighter, look in the fuse box near your feet - the diagram is on the lid. The cig lighter has it's own fuse (its a 20A IIRC but I might be misremembering). There are replacement fuses in the box (one of each size), but be sure to replenish the fuses you use - it always happens that when you don't you end up blowing another one 100 miles from a shop and get stalled dead in the water for lack of a $.10 part. Just get a $10 box with an assortment of all size fuses and leave it in the garage or the boot.

IMPORTANT: If the fuse blows again DO NOT REPLACE IT AGAIN - something's grounding and popping the fuse. There's no way in hell a radar detector draws enough current all on its own to pop that fuse. One blown fuse on a circuit like that is a curiosity, two is a warning of an impending electrical fire. This is covered under warranty as well BTW.

 

Thanks Matt,

Yeah my experiences with Morristown Mini have always been positive, but this one came out of nowhere and made me scratch my head and say "What the hell's up here?"

I got the car serviced, but for all other people out there, be warned this happened to me.

So anyway, cigarette lighter, windshield and wash I will still go to them for and see what's goin on.

I still have no clue how I loosened the bolts in my subframe. Should I invest in an engine dampener?

 

No - like I said re: you needing new wheels - sounds like your issues are with driving over and through road hazards like potholes, not with anyhitng like an engine damper. You don't end up needing new wheels from spirited driving. Honestly it sounds to me like you did something to the car that you might be forgetitng to mention, personally, but without seeing it I have no idea. I'd definitely be asking the dealer why they did NOT cover the repair under warranty - there's no way they just chose to not explain that to you.

 

They said it was "required by the factory" to pay the money for a tune up. I have a 19% pulley on the car, but that's it. There's nothing else out of the ordinary. It's just physically knicked up a little bit right now. Once I get the windshield, door and new wheels, and detail the inside, there's nothing wrong with it at all. It runs and drives great, and I've had basically zero mechanical issues. I don't drive it like a maniac all the time, but here and there I like to jump on it a little bit. I'm not going 60 in second gear for over 3 seconds or anything, and I know how to drive a stick well now. I just don't get it, but it is what it is and I'll see what happened in a couple hours.

But, more feedback is always appreciated.

 

I have a feeling the pulley change is the reason for them wanting to charge you for the pulley belt. You removed the factory part and replaced it with an aftermarket part which may have or not effected the belt- I'll bet the bulk of that $350 was for that item alone. I would think the cig lighter would not be questioned nor the oil/filter change. If I read you OP right it was the local guy that found the loose bolts-right? It sounds like you got everything sorted out.

 

edited for quote

 

Well, service work - like oil changes - aren't "warranty work". If you didn't buy the extended free service, then at 43,000+ miles, you're beyond the standard free service.

 

...Oh Sh*t.....I need new brakes too! The car is a different car with nonrun flats. I love it. It's faster, smoother, quieter. EVerything. It's like a brand new car. I'm in love all over again.

Is it possible/hard to do your own brakes?

Links?

 

the regular warranty is 4 years/36,000 miles right?

 

Regular warranty is 4 years/50,000 miles. The maintenance program is 3 years/36,000 miles.

 

Try Princeton MINI. That might be the next closest dealer to you. (I'm not quite sure where you are located, but NJ isn't that big!)

 

I placed a call to Prestige, as I am just so underwhelmed with Morristown Mini's service as of late. No calls back or anything

Same with Prestige as of right now too

 

I took the MINI in for an oil change, SES light, and a squeaky window, and I was quoted around 350 as well, for my 30k inspection. They informed me that the MINI has a 4yr/50,000 mile mechanical warranty , and a 3yr/36000 mile maintenance warranty. I only have 29k miles, but its an 04 model so I have gone over the 3yr maintenance, I was unaware at the time, but they were kind enough to not charge me for the oil change like they should have. I had no idea there are two different warranties.

BTW I asked them what this 350 dollar inspection covered, and they gladly gave me one of their inspection sheets for me to look at and take home. The dealer was MAG (midwestern auto group) in Dublin, OH (Columbus)