I'm curious if Mini offers more buybacks than offering to replace the vehicle. Does anyone know? Does one benefit them more than the other?

 

It all depends on the specifics of the case. Whatever you do, I would recommend working with MINIUSA first when it comes to any type of buyback assistance.

State Lemon Law should be the absolute last resort when all else fails with the car manufacturer.

Some people have had experience with buybacks and vehicle replacements with MINI. I have experience with GM but thankfully, all my 3 MINIs so far have been great, and hoping the fourth one will be rock solid as well.

 

I have been told that there is a buyback offer on the way, but thought they might offer to replace the vehicle first.

 

sometime the car manufactures will offer a settlement of x amount of dollars. than you keep the car and the cash settlement. that is what happened to me with my old passat. i got back 5k,but kept the car.

 

I had a leak the dealer and zone rep could not fix and they gave me a new mini. Great dealing with them. They uphold a higher standard. Kudos to Prestige mini.

 

and I've heard of both solutions for Minis. Good luck with whatever happens. But I'd guess a lot depends on you! Do you want a good Mini or are you sour on the whole experience?

Matt

 

First you have to decide what the remedy is that is going to satisfy you. Then work with Mini to achieve that. If you do want them to replace your Mini, tell them that is your goal. If you just want a buy-back so you can go buy elsewhere, tell them that too.
Most manufacturers would prefer these issues be resolved at their level rather than the Lemon Law route as that then becomes a matter of record which works against their product line.

 

Do you have a non-fixable problem with your Mini , or is this just a general question.??

 

well, my glorious four months of owning a mini are over...last week my vehicle was bought back. I am happy with the reuslts and customer service at miniusa was great. Perhaps there is another mini in the future for me..we shall see. I want so badly to not want another one. It is difficult on this site to really know if there are truly a host of problems or if it is simply that if you go looking for something (wrong in this case) then you will find it. Consumer Reports lists the mini as an ok (reliable) vehicle to own. I wonder how many people have had zero problems after say 5 years....hmmm.

 

Glad to hear MINIUSA took care of you and the lemon vehicle. Since the ordeal is over, can you tell us what problems you experienced with the car?

 

I have owned 4 MINIs since 2002 and none has missed a beat in 6 years and 100K miles combined.

But unfortunately, like with any mass produced car in the world today, a few bad apples make out the factory.

Maybe next time your experience will be better.

 

I feel like I keep rehashing the details (enough lady!) but since you asked, I don't mine I had grinding issues from the day I bought the car-dummy me, I shouldn't have bought it. I kept taking it in for grinding and the dealer could never replicate it. Finally, I wrote miniusa. I received a letter via overnight mail asap from them..then they called the dealer to check on my car. That very same day (coincidence?), the dealer called me back and told me that my synchros between 1st and 2nd were destroyed. They blamed this on me (even though all of my paperwork showed that I had taken my car in 2 days after I purchased it). Regardless, they replaced my transmission. This is after one month of ownership. Everything was fine and dandy and I dreamed of many days of mini-bliss..road trips and the like. One night, a horrible noise came from my car and my clutch went dead..on the freeway!! This was scary. Anyway, my 4 month old car was towed and there it sat while my lemon law letter worked it's way to miniusa. I recieved no resistance from customer service. I didn't ask for a replacement vehicle but I was told I could have. You are a seasoned mini owner, you must feel confident in these vehicles, right?

 

Sorry you had such a bad experience with your MINI. Please understand that not everyone has had such problems--I for one haven't. Keep in mind also, that the happy owners probably aren't posting too often--NAM and other sites are full of drivers wanting information about problems.

As for your question, it's pretty hard to find zero problems after 5 years! I'm not talking about MINIs, either. I've had a lot of cars over the years, starting in the 60's, and I've had (among other things): clutch chattering in a Porsche 356, fuel injectors that were impossible to keep clear in a Peugeot, rust in one year on a Fiat, windshield wipers that broke all the time in a SAAB Sonett, transmission failure at 50,000 miles on a Pontiac Phoenix, head gasket replaced several times in a BMW 2002, and plenty of other examples--things big and small. Three of these cars were purchased new, and the other three were about one to two years old when we got them.

There ISN'T a car that runs forever without some sort of problem. I suppose Corollas and the sort are closest to this ideal, but do you really want to drive a Corolla?

 

At this point maybe .

 

Of course, there are no car lines that run forever with no problems. The real issue is Mini's and its dealers' reactions to the problems. Just as was the case with the OP here, one or the other, and often both, try to immediately either put the blame on the customer or claim they find nothing wrong. This is a repeating theme and, it really doesn't matter how many Mini owners haven't had problems worth posting. What matters is how often Mini exhibits these tactics once a problem does arise. I am at the point of thinking myself a sucker for having bought one.

 

" That's just normal with these cars . "

 

Corollas are the crappiest cars ever made. I hate them. I drove one in Canada 3 years ago. Brand new in one of the most beautiful and scenic roads in North America (Icefields parkway) and that thing had no handling, lousy brakes, no power and felt like a thin can.

 

Very true. When I brought my car in to fix the "coins in a tin can obvious" rattles, they didn't say they didn't hear them. They wrote, "nothing unusual was heard."

 

And a Corolla starts at, what, $5k less than a Mini and is intended to be an economy, commuter car. It may not have had a "prince" of an engine, but I bet it started and ran without incident.

 

I personally, would go for a Honda Civic or Fit instead. At least those cars are more fun to drive and better to look at than any Corolla.

 

True, but the point is, there really isn't a substitute for the Mini. If you get something else, you got something else.

 

Agreed.

 

Sounds like you had some sort of dimensional issue with the block or the crankshaft that destroyed trannies. Glad it worked out for you. Good luck with your next purchase. I've talked to Mazdaspeed3 owners who are happy (you lose a bit of handling, but gain two doors and gobs of power). Some like the GTI (a lot heavier). But whatever, there are cars other than the corrolla out there that will give you driving pleasure.

Matt

 

Get in the wayback machine and see some of my posts from late June and July regarding my car at that time, The Flying Squirrel.
Very interesting.

 

Our 05 was bought back. Basically you will get what you paid minus a deduction for mileage. Ours was more than fair. They offered to build us a new car but we declined since they had no fix for the problem ours had. No guarantee the new one wouldn't have the same exact problem.