Hey fellow Motorers! It's been quite some time since visiting this forum, but I am need of your wisdom.

I have a 2006 Mini Cooper R50, the 4 yr warranty is just about to be up and I have one issue I want to take care of. Before it runs out, I want to ask you guys what problems I should have the dealer check out. Right now, I just have a very loud whirring/whining noise coming from AC unit every time it is activated/turned off. No other major problems for me other than leaking coolant due to a faulty O-ring somewhere that MINI already fixed a few months ago.

Any suggestions of what I should do to take full advantage of the warranty before it runs out?

Thanks!

 

Oh, and its only about ~30K miles on it so far.

 

Hi,

I had my dealer do an inspection, but nothing came up. Which is good.

Since the expiration I've only had an issue with the sunroof. It needed lubrication. I did it myself, but you might have them check the grease if that's covered, as a burned out motor is spendy, I understand.

I've got the 100k maintenance warranty, but will miss my bumper-to-bumper like crazy. What a great feeling that was, knowing every last detail basically was covered.

 

Most dealers will only really check your car if you have specific complaints. They may say they inspected the car but they don't get paid from MINI under warranty unless they are addressing a customer complaint. Also, if you complain about an issue and it becomes real within a short time after the warranty expires you have a record you identified it before the warranty expired and a better chance of getting it covered after the warranty is up.

Things to consider telling the dealer you have a problem with:
- Oil pan gasket
- Power steering
- Upper and lower steering universal joint (making a crunching sound)
- Window motors
- Coolant leak (thermostat)
- Air conditioner is not cold enough
- Low speed cooling fan on the radiator
- Upper motor mount leaking

You may not be having any of these problems but you need to say something is wrong with them for the service advisor to write something down for the tech to check (window does not go down sometimes, etc).

 

Definitely have them look at the power steering - I just had to replace the pump on mine at 30K miles. Not cheap out of warranty, even at the local non-dealership shop.

 

I had similar miles on my MCS when my warranty was about up. Took it on one week prior to expiration mainly to get my bonnet stripes replaced due to spotting on them (which they did on warranty). I had them look at a couple things, power steering hose looked weepy, and I can't remember what else now, just on the off hand something was wrong. They didn't find anything.

What did surprise me though was I also mentioned that a couple of times, on rare occasions, it would be difficult to get into first gear. I was totally expecting them to say they could not duplicate. I was shocked when they called and said they found metal shavings in the tranny (I had only owned the Mini for about 4 months). Got a brand new tranny. I sprung for an extra $400 and had them replace the clutch at the same time.

I came so close to not taking it in, but really wanted to get new bonnet stripes . Boy was I ever happy I took it in .

 

Before my warranty ended, I had my car in for Inspection 2. As well, my dealer checked for any issues that might have a trend or is common with other MINIs. Such things as mushrooming towers, leaking oil pan gaskets, noisey sunroof rails, worn bushings, failing fan motors, plastic coolant bottles, etc. As I was paying for Inspection 2 anyways, they buried their time in that service. If your car is not in for any other service, the dealer may have a "warranty about to expire" check package. It shouldn't be very expensive (less than $100?) where they go through and check for any possible common issues before they become a problem.

My car has turned out to be quite reliable as they didn't find anything. But they told me to complain my sunroof rattled so they could lubricate and clean out the rails under warranty, so I did. This does not mean your car will be perfect for the forseeable future. About a year after, my top engine mount leaked and I had to pay to have that replaced. Thankfully, that wasn't too expensive and much less than the cost of an extended warranty.

 

Interesting how you had it in for Inspection II so early. That takes place at 60K miles, but the warranty runs out at 50K miles.

I've read in several other forum posts the dealerships usually don't go through any unnecessary inspections before the warranty runs out. However, I took my old '02 MCS in for some warranty repairs way back when at 44.5K miles. The dealership identified two or three other items I did not point out and repaired them too.

 

Just scheduled appointment, let you guys know how it goes next week!