Hey... as referenced in my first post on NAM ( https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=107808 ) I got motored by on the first day I drove our new Mini, so I registered at the Sotaminis forum last night, but haven't been activated there yet. How long should it take to get adminned in?

No idea who motored me, but it was on Wednesday at the BBY parking ramp in Richfield.

 

Cant help you with your Sotaminis question...but I can say HELLO and WELCOME!!! Congrats on the car, Saabs are really nice cars (we've had 3), but MINIs are the way to go!!!

 

Sorry about that - I can help! Lately we're getting hit with some SPAMMERS as new singees, so sometimes it tough to get the right people onto the forum. Is your username the same as here? Let me know what it is and I'll get ya set up. Again, sorry for the delay...

Welcome!!

 

Yep same username, and I completely understand about the spammers; I manage a forum with the same problem.

 

Well I may or may not be visiting Sotaminis.com later... the tensioner in our MC has a bad bearing and needs to be replaced, but our dealer is waffling on whether or not to fix it within the 30 day/1000 mi warranty period (we got it Wednesday). If he doesn't honor the warranty, it's going back right away; we didn't get a newer car so that we could pay more and have maintenance nightmares right out of the box. I'll update when we learn more.

 

Welcome muranternet Good to see Adam was able to help you out. I'm a long distance 'Sota MINI member myself (and post on their forum as well). Hopefully your issues can be worked out with the MINI. I have a friend who bought a used MCS, started to have issues with it, sold it back and bought a new R56 instead.

Keep us posted and post pics if you keep it

 

Well, my wife is a better negotiator than I am, she just said, "Oh too bad you won't fix it, we'll be bringing it back today..." at which point they started backpedaling. From their last message I think they're agreeing to fix it, though they're probably not terribly happy about it. (Anyone wants to know what dealer this is, PM or I'll just post it if they tick me off too much.)

Is this pretty typical for a Mini? I really like the car, but not enough to be happy about paying for the car loan and a lot of unscheduled maintenances. :/

 

Not to put you on the spot.. I think the only dealer in 'Sota is Motowerks unless you went all the way to Milwaukee to International...

anywho... as with any car... some are good, some not so much. If you're still under the maintenance agreement, then it'll cover most repairs (yours is an '04 right?). You'll have the inconvenience of having to bring it back, but at least it'll get fixed and it's covered. If it's run out, then I hope you have a mechanic you can trust to fix it unless you want to bring it back to the dealer. I've had a couple of unscheduled repairs going on 2+ years of ownership. My friend sold their MINI to Carmax and used the proceeds to get the new one with full/extended maintenance.

Maybe that's what you should do?? I guess it depends on how much you've invested to get it.

I'm rambling.. need sleep... have a 10 day old baby...

 

Nope, not an actual Mini dealer. I've spoken with Motorwerks on the phone in the course of figuring out the repair cost for a tensioner... seemed OK. You recommend them for the upcoming maintenance?

We have a great import mechanic who we've been working with for 3 years I think... he was the one who spotted the bearing problem. I think we'll be happy with the car assuming this one problem gets fixed (calling the dealer tomorrow morning to schedule the repair, which they're doing) and plan to take very good care of it. Really, how can we not?

 

Update: we got the car back, good as new.

 

so it was only a bearing? did the mechanic find anything else that might need attention in the near future??

Now that you got the MINI fixed AND you're keeping it.. we need pics

 

Nope nothing else... I was a little concerned about the power steering assist, since I know a bad one can lead to engine fires, but temp was normal and that stupid sleeve fan is still working right. Aside from the bearing, no problems.