I love MINI of Austin, I really, really do. After I bought my 2008 MCS used from a local Toyota dealership last year, I took her to MINI of Austin to get some warranty issues taken care of, including the timing chain tensioner fix.

They were very friendly, took care of everything that I asked for without question, and that made for an awesome first experience with them.

Later I went in to get two license plate bolts and a handful of interior trim clips (in preparation for my sub install, since I figured I would break some), all provided free of charge.

Then yesterday I took my MINI in for the yearly oil change since my pre-paid maintenance ends today. BUT, only 3,000 miles have been put on the car since the last oil change (she spent 6 months on the lot, getting pawed by lookee-loos), so I figured they would wait until the computer said it was time. Their response when I asked them about changing the oil even with only 3k miles? "Nah, don't worry about it, we'll get it". Wonderful!

When I pick up my baby a few hours later I got the welcome surprise that they went ahead and replaced my front brakes even though the computer read another 3,500 miles. That was completely unexpected, but welcome. As much as I like working on vehicles, I am always leery about working on brakes. Mainly because I know how bad I suck at getting all of the air out of brake lines...

So, MINI of Austin, if I were a car dealership I would want to have your babies

 

I expected some sort of rant, but found the opposite.. Very nice!

Furthermore, I love Austin!

 

Great story... Thanks for sharing!

Btw, how did they know you still had 3500 miles left on your brakes? Was that info read via your key?

 

The onboard computer service info said 3,500 miles, and I assume the key stores the same data.

 

Don't worry. The first owner paid for it already... the cool thing about buying a used car with some warranty remaining.

 

you got a good deal there, no question

I'm guessing that they physically checked pad thickness and it was down to the limit where they change 'em ... that computer generated number (that you can pull up on the OBC) is just an estimate. Catching 'em b4 they trip the sensor saves $$ but I think they have to show the old pad to get the $$ from MINI

Did they change the fluid too?

 

Unfortunately I did not get the paperwork for the service (for some reason I was assuming it would be in the car), so I do not know if they did the fluid too. I need to run by there later this week to pick up the paperwork.

According to the service records posted in the owner's lounge, the brake fluid was flushed in January 2010. How often should we be doing it?

I also saw mention of the first oil change at 17k... ugh... I'm sure the previous owner who was leasing my girl did their own oil changes every 5k, and only drove on the highway... all long trips. Right???

 

Wow, very impressive. Good to know there are still some repuatable dealerships out there who care about the customers.