I have several questions, most of which are related, so I'll just jump into it.

I took my 09 MCS, with 71,888 miles, into my local dealership for rear breaks two weeks ago, and they did an oil change as well. After completing the work, my service advisor told me that the tech had discovered what I remember as an oil leak into the vacuum pump. On my invoice, under "recommendations", it says "VACUUM PUMP LEAKING. VACUUM LINES SWELLING AND VACUUM CANISTER FILLING WITH OIL." The invoice has an estimate of over $1000, but the service advisor told me, sort of under his breath, that I should come into the dealership in about two weeks with a complaint, which will allow him to give me a "significant" discount on the work, such that the cost will be a fraction of the initial quote.

My first question is, what should I complain about when I bring my car in? Or, in other words, can someone script my part in this farce?

Next, I was at my parent's house over the holiday, and they live on top of a hill that is regularly buffeted by strong winds. My MCS basically sat in their driveway in the cold for three days. After packing up the car, I hit the ignition button, and starter fired but the engine didn't start. I tried a couple of times, but the MCS only started after I pumped the gas while hitting the ignition button.

My next question is, then, do you think it's time for a new battery? I think the answer is likely yes.

To get better information to answer this question, I took out all of my repair invoices from the past six years to find out if my battery has ever been replaced—it has not, so my battery has 70k+ miles on it. I made a spreadsheet with the info! Anyway, during this process, I discovered that the dealer had replaced the vacuum pump seal in April of last year, after investigating an earlier oil leak. Initially, I thought I could maybe parlay last year's warrantied work on the vacuum pump seal into a discount on the work on the leaking vacuum pump. However, after PMing with another person on NAM, it appears that there is another seal in the vacuum pump that requires replacing the vacuum pump. So, I think they are two distinct issues. Also, I am on my first vacuum pump, and it sounds like I should just get that replaced ASAP, right? Hopefully it will cost less than $1000!

I have a Bentley's guide, so I started reviewing the battery-replacement process. Bentley, however, says to ensure that my MCS does not have an Intelligent Battery Sensor (IBS). If my MCS has an IBS, I basically have to get the battery replaced at the dealership, since a MINI tool is needed to reset the IBS.

So, finally, how do I know if my MCS has an IBS? This whole thing is giving me IBS.

But, if my MCS has an IBS, wouldn't it tell me when I needed a new battery? I'm worried about damaging the alternator by using a bad battery, so I'd rather replace it sooner rather than later.

Thanks for your time!

 

IBS , just drop the I , it's more BS than anything else, many of us just replaced the overpriced MINI battery with a autozone of the same size and never looked back.

I'm amazed you got 5 years out of battery, most die in 3-4 years.

 

what are the Mini's battery specs? dimensions, weight, cca?

 

you have to look at what you got, each can vary, my wifes had a 480CCA and my clubman came with a 680CCA , I replaced the wifes small 480 with a 680 , no problems.

I was told it depends on options , BUT my wifes car and mine have the exact same options.

 

rckrzy1, did you notice if your car had the IBS when you changed the battery? According to other posts on the forum, the IBS is some sort of extra-looking thing on the negative cable.

What I'm think is, if you didn't have an IBS the risk of a self-change battery is nothing. If you do have an IBS, there may be some risk if you don't go to the dealer for a change.

 

yes the wifes does, mine don't. I fought with dealership and eventually after posting on the delaerships FB page and emailing MINI USA they decided the IBS AKA battery nanny saying we abused the battery could not be proved or even say what caused battery drains and they should have covered under warranty. I got a refund for autozone battery I installed ( surprised I didn't hear stuff like it must be a MINI battery BS) and they did their battery registration thing. But It took a while for that to happen the car started better than ever with the larger battery.

IMO educated opinion ( been electronics tech for over 30yrs ) unless you are changing type, ie from a standard lead acid to a AGM or Lithium the capacity don't matter, Lead acid batteries are charged to a voltage and that has nothing to do with capacity, different capacity will take longer from a drained state but the charge rates would not be enough to worry about.

Many a users , including my son changed the battery in his 07 MCS and NEVER had the battery registered.

 

My 2007 MCS was in the paint shop for a month and when the sunroof was installed my ORIGINAL BATTERY died, not because of age because of neglect, they replaced the battery free of change. They bought the dealer battery and now my starter for the first time in almost 2 years sounds like it getting way more juice! It even sound different, like it's hyperactive!

Thank God I don't have the battery nanny!

 

Okay, I get that everyone hates the IBS.

Now, can someone help me with what to say to the dealership? Would a complaint about losing oil be sufficient to satisfy the service advisor's complaint requirement? I think I'm losing a little oil, but I still have a hard time reading the damn dipstick.

Should it be a complaint about performance of the vehicle? If so, could I complain about my batter dying? Or is that too far from the issue to trigger a look at the vacuum pump?

Thanks!

 

The service advisors advice is bizarre and probably a cause for his immediate termination from the dealership. Do you really want to be involved in this fraud? Lets say you bring it in have the work done, the SA winks at you and then when you pick the car up you get the full price invoice. What are you going to do at that point?

I'd talk to upper management about what has happened, probably in writing would be best and tell them you feel like you are being taken advantage of ....... etc. It isn't the way to run a business.

If they don't satisfy your needs look for a competent indep. repair shop and have it done for less money.

 

How so?

This does not sound like the way to get to the outcome I want.

My guess is that the service advisors have some discretion to give discounts on labor when a customer comes in with a performance complaint. The SA probably does not have such discretion when a tech discovers an issue during a routine service.

Anyone else have any suggestions?

 

Even if you replace your own battery, Take it to the dealership, to get registered so the car knows you have a new battery...Since out Alternators only MAINTAIN a battery, they do not charge.

 

The SA has ZERO discretion on adjusting prices, That solely comes down to the service manager.
With that said, he may know of a coupon or special coming up, or something like that.

Depending on your history at the dealer, and the tech you get, sometimes they will knock some time off the job to get the job sold, the better customer you are, the better chance of that happening. I know I do that for customers from time to time if money is tight, but they are loyal customers.

 

Also, for the complaint, just tell them you notice oil leaking in the engine bay. Thats good enough. they will be able to figure it out from there.

 

What? If alternators don't charge the battery then how come if I jump start a car with a dead battery after driving around for a few hours the battery is fully charged?

 

Like I said, it will maintain the battery to the last known recorded state of charge. So if your battery is weak , it will charge to that SOC and maintain that level. So if it's 13.3volts, it will charge to that point and maintain. Now with that said there is logic built into the cars, via IBS, DME and fail safes, and defaults when there is a fault with the system.