My Cooper has (had) checkered side scuttles. Great look. But yesterday in some mysterious fashion, one went missing during a road trip. I suspect it loosened up somehow and fell off at a gas station when I checked the oil and water. Oh, well.

Question: does anyone know of any vendor that sells single scuttles? I don't relish paying another $170 for two.

 

Whooaaaa... don't go buying a new one. I lost one of my scuttles a couple of weeks ago and took my car to the dealership. They replaced it for free.... considered it defective trim.

Just trying to save ya some money.


Mark

 

I had a piece of chrome around my grill fall off that the dealer replace free of charge.

 

If the dealer doesn't replace it for free, I have a set I'll sell you. I put the stock cooper ones on my car.

 

Exactly, a missing piece of trim should be considered warranty...


Mark

 

Yeah, as long as they were dealer installed they should replace it. Were they?

 

Sorry to hear that happened, hopefully you are able to get them replaced by your dealer free of charge. We replaced ours (Chrome for JCW) a month or so ago and I was actually surprised by how easy they do come off. Wonder if this happens a lot?

 

Yeah, I think more than we know. I started checking out posts when I lost mine and found that I was definitely not alone.

As far as the dealer warranting it, I doubt there will be a problem whether they were dealer installed or otherwise. I changed mine out to the JCW ones and they still warrantied it.

Mark

 

I had the same problem and the left side JCW "Mesh" insert part went missing. I can't remember who I purchased it from but they asked that I send back the right one and they provided me a new pair. When I reinstalled it I put a dab of silicon sealer on the backside (you can't see it) on the hooks that hold the insert to the outside holder. No problems since. You might try some silicon on yours when you get a replacement.

 

You know, I might do the same... just for insurance.

Thanks,

Mark

 

Thanks for the replies and sympathy. To answer your questions, they were installed by the dealer. Below is MINI of Nashvilles' reply:

"Unfortunatly, there is no recall on the scuttles.It is very uncommon for them to come off. It may be possible someone had messed with it in a parking lot. I checke with parts and they can only be ordered in pairs. If you want to replace them again, call Carla Fuller at 615-850-4040 Thanks, [MA]."

I will be contacting Malteseracer to see what he wants for his extra set. I've never has a question about MINI of Nashville until now. 4,600 miles and the scuttle falls off? Of course, maybe it was stolen, I suppose. They are easily removable with no tool and the bonnet closed.

 

Complete and utter bullshiet! I've got 9K miles and my dealer didn't bat an eye at replacing them.

I would find another dealer. There's no reason that they shouldn't warranty them and I hate it when the dealer has the "really, never heard of that problem before" answer.

I've got a brand new set of my '09 JCW. There are NOT the JCW ones, they are the ones that came off my '09 when I bought it.... drove it home and replaced them with the JCW.

I'll post a pic if you're interested.

Mark

 

Good News, fellow MINI lovers. Mini of Nashville has agreed to replace the side scuttle under warranty--sort of. Free to me, but the sales department will be paying for it out of their budget.

Seems that the MA installed it and didn't do it right. The scuttle inserts are supposed to snap and lock into place in the carrier. If they wiggle, they weren't installed correctly.

The dealership will fix me up, but insists that I bring the car in so that they can ensure the installation is done correctly.

Many thanks to the posters that awoke me to the idea that I should pursue a warranty claim.

R

 

That's just another benefit of this wonderful forum. Most members always try to look out for others.

You wouldn't believe how much money I have saved from other cool members offering advice.

That's why I love this place....

Glad ya got it fixed.


Mark

 

I wish I had stumbled on this forum a scuttle purchase ago. I replaced my lost scuttle the first time I seen I was missing a scuttle and now I lost a second one. I will defently go to the dealer and show them my receipt and these blogs. I luv this forum!!!

Thx,
eddie

 

One reminder Eddie, that only works if the dealer installed it. If you bought the parts and installed them, they won't cover it.

When I lost my scuttle, I just took the car in and told them it was missing. I didn't mention that I bought and installed them. They don't know what scuttles were on the car.

Mark

 

Hope the dealer will treat you well, headfirst4. It isn't hard to properly lock a scuttle, but it does take a grain of know-how and a bit of effort. I remember watching the service department work to get the scuttle mounting prong locked into the carrier. He had a little screwdriver and had to gently pry at it a bit.

It does make you wonder about things if we're still having scuttle troubles years after the car has been equipped with them, doesn't it?

 

Mark,
they were installed by dealer. I didn't ask for them and when I went to pick up my car after purchase they had them on there. Then after the first one was lost I went to the dealer and they installed the second one. I would figuer they knew what they're doing, I guess not!! And like RRCAGNILIA they gave me the run around but I'm heading over there today and now I have a bit of ammo (if you will). I still have the reciept.

Thx for the info,
Eddie

 

That's cool... there shouldn't be an issue...

Let us know.


Mark

 

Ok, went to my dealer and the Service department was closed so I spoke to the Sales Manager and he tried to give me the run around. As soon as I mentioned that other Mini owners had their scuttles replaced free of charged and showed him the threads I printed out from this site, he gladly took my name and number and told me he would talk to the Service Manager to see what they could do for me.

Thanks to all of you and Mark I'll keep you posted, they're going to call me on Tuesday and if they don't I'm calling them back or going back in person.

Eddie

 

Great, sounds like they are least considering it. Being that they'll turn it into warranty, it shouldn't be a big deal. (well, it's never suppose to be)


Mark

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...15-post21.html

 

Good news you all, I know it took me a while but I went back to the dealer on Thu and they replaced the scuttles for free. They also installed them correctly this time. Once I was able to talk to the service guy they were very friendly and they fixed the problem right away.

I want to thank you all for your responses and feed back. This is a great place to come to and share with other MINI owners.

Eddie