I went out of town on business, and took my Range Rover. Since my parents were out of town, I left the MINI at my Aunt's house ( wasn't room in the garage at home). Well my cousin, who's 14 or so, found out I wasn't getting any souvenirs, got a little upset, and destroyed a few things in the MINI.

Mainly, he took something, and poked holes through the speaker grilles, into my speakers; all of them.

Will MINI replace this as they are under warranty? Admittedly they sound like rubbish, worse than before, since there are holes in it. Or am I going to have to pay for a new system now?

 

Well, MINI certainly won't cover that kind of damage under warranty. Of course, it's your cousin (or his parents) that should be footing the bill anyway.

But when it comes to actually replacing the speakers & grilles, you might consider just buying the grilles from MINI, and taking the opportunity to upgrade the speakers themselves.

 

the grilles are fine. I suppose it was something needle like and thin he used.

I know how much the HiFi is from mini. around 2500 .. not worth it. and his family definitely isn't going to pay for it.

 

What a brat! I'd make sure the parents paid for repairs and give that kid some discipline, with a belt. Attachment 27331

Upgrading the speakers at this time sounds like a good idea.

 

He didn't destroy the whole stereo system, did he? If all you need is new speakers, they'll probably be less than $300 for the whole set (at least, that's how much it costs to replace the H/K speakers in the first-gen cars).

EDIT - I just looked up the prices for the HIFI speakers, and replacing all eight is closer to $550.

 

check out ebay or the marketplace here on NAM. Sometimes you can pick up stock speakers pretty cheap from people who have already upgraded theirs. You could even post a WTB Stock Speakers thread in the marketplace forum. Cant hurt.

 

Also, have you looked under the grilles to see what damage he actually did to the speakers? It's been my experience that simply putting a hole in the speaker cone doesn't change the sound noticeably, especially if you poke it with something small enough to fit through the grille holes.

The few times where I've had a screwdriver slip and punch a hole in a paper-cone speaker, a small piece of electrical tape and a smear of silicone caulk has made things good as new.

 

Amen to that! I agree, make the parents pay for the replacement OEM's, or take this as a blessing in disguise and upgrade.

 

Did he do the back speakers as well? That is a fairly big job as you need to take out a lot of panels. How about the tweeters?

The two speakers in each door are not difficult. Or, you could have a shop do it. If you have your MINI dealer replace the speaker with same rubbish that they came with, you will be paying something like $150 per hour labor. At least that is what MINI of Mountain View charges.

As for speakers, I replaced mine with Infinity Kappas and they sound much better. If you buy through Amazon, total cost of speakers would be less than $350. Here is what I used:

Infinity Kappa 60.7cs 6-1/2" component speakers for the bass in the door.
$124
Infinity Kappa 42.7i 4" 2-way car speakers for the mid/high in the door.
$58
Infinity Kappa 693.7i 6"x9" 3-way car speakers rear
$98

Total $280 plus shipping.

The 60.7cs will provide separate tweeters for the A pillar.

Upgrade to these, or similar speakers and you will thank your cousin for the increase in quality. You don't need to mess with amps or anything, just replace the speakers with better quality. I would bet that the OEM MINI speakers will cost you as much or more.

 

Wow, keep an eye on that kid, sounds like someone that will grow up to do worse things (mall shootings)... Maybe you could get some upgraded speakers from Crutchfield.

 

All ten speakers were ruined, he took a hairpin, and poked a assload of holes in the speakers.

I've got an appointment on wednesday at the mini dealership. Hopefully they'll fix it under warranty. I'll try to just tell them it sounds like rubbish. :p

 

He's 14. Pay to fix it and then let him know he is getting one speaker for every Christmas and birthday until they are paid for.

 

He is 14??? and did this?? I don't know that's plain crazy... time for some little spoiled brat to get a job.. and pay for it. all over he was getting anything? yeah ok.. guess who would be getting nothing for a long time.. make that a long long time. I don't play when it comes to my car.. and neither should you. We all know what we have to do to have our cars, and I would be damned that a 14 year old would destroy what I work hard for.. Ugh this seriously just pi$$ed me off lol and it's not even my car. Although a thought, can their homeowners cover it? It was done @ their house? Just a thought. Oh but I know one lil boy who would be very busy working over his Christmas holidays, obviously he is bored, and needs something to do.

 

In retrospect, judging by his character, you are lucky that that is all that the little a$$**** did to your Mini. He could have caused a lot more damage. I doubt that you could convince Mini to replace them under warrenty. Just look to the future for a speaker upgrade.

 

Yeah, he's getting one of the speakers with holes in it every Christmas and B-day until their paid for.

Homeowners should cover it, if your family wants to file a claim.

At 14 I had a job, time for this kid to pony up some cash and become a responsible member of society. If he's not willing to get a job, time for a yard sale with all his stuff.

 

Wow all that and you're "slightly" aggravated? Yeah I know I'm old but at 14 I had been cutting lawns for a few years and new the value of money. My parents would have forced me to pay for the damage.

 

Yeah that sounds like a real legitimate warranty request. Make his parents pay, and don't be such a dishonest ***

 

I agree. And if you want to report it on homeowner's coverage, I'm sure your insurance company would be glad to call the police and have it handled as a criminal matter. They're not going to want to pay off without seeking compensation from the responsible party.

I'm surprised at the lack of responsibility by the juvenile delinquent's family. Where are the parents to not offer to pay for the damage and make it right? And why isn't the OP demanding such?

It's equally irresponsible and dishonest to expect the dealer to cover that as a warranty item. That's a wonderful lesson for the teenager, too: Blame it on something else and let someone else be the chump to pay for it.

 

There is no way they are going to fall for that. You are going to end up paying a lot of $$ for poor quality speakers. However, since your warranty attempt isn't very honest, perhaps it is what you deserve.

 

If I were you, I would take a VERY close look at the rest of the car. Anyone who has such disregard and disrespect for other people's property, who is so incredibly irresponsible and just plain evil might not have stopped at only the speakers.

 

Hope that kid likes orange jumpers, I have a feeling they're in his future. If he has no regard for people's property and reacts that way over not getting a souvenir... oh boy, some future he has.

And trying to get that covered under warranty or through a homeowner's insurance claim ? Not to continue to beat you up, but it pisses me off becuase, in the end, we all pay for it.

 

Don't waste your time. Do you really think MINI will believe that your speakers all spontaneously swiss-cheesed?
Your choices are to:
1) Take it up with the kid/parents
2) Go buy ten new speakers and hope that next time he doesn't do more damage, given that he suffers no punishment for the damage he did this time.

Me, I'd be taking a hat pin and a leather belt to his ***.

 

If you request that dealer should cover this under the warranty you are no better than the kid that punched the holes.

 

+1

 

Well, I agree that the little snot needs to get his butt to work and start to earn enough to pay for your repairs, that is if you can get him to fess up that he did it (which it sounds like you already did) Allowing him to get away with this teaches him that there are no consequences for his bad actions, making him get a job to pay for it teaches him that there are - a lesson he sorely needs to learn. I don't care what his background or if he's had a tough go of it so far - he needs to learn right from wrong.

This reminds me of what MaxN's been going thru...........