Hey everyone! What's happening to me??

My Cooper was banged into a few weeks ago while I was on vacation. It took two weeks to get it into the body shop... I dropped off the MINI on Tuesday afternoon. Because the body shop does a lot of work for the local BMW and Mercedes-Benz dealers, they keep new BMW and Merc cars as courtesy loaners. After all, the guy with the smashed up SLK doesn't want to be stuck in a Corolla for three weeks, right?

Since MINI is a BMW product, I was entitled to the BMW. However, they couldn't find it... so I got this, instead... a 2012 Mercedes C250





It feels enormous, it handles like a pig, and I love it! Even the seven speed automatic is great. Put it in sport mode, slap the shifter to gear up or down. The heated seats go all the way up the back. The stereo sounds fantastic, bass is very clean and punchy. Acceleration is more than I'd expect from a 1.8T in a car this size. It's easy to squeal the tires on hard corners.

I'm surprised by how much I'm enjoying such a bloated, complicated luxury sedan with an automatic gearbox. I'm sure I'll be glad to get back into the Cooper... but I'm hoping they take their time with the repair now. I'd love to have something like this as a second car for longer trips, slow cruising, and so on. I could maybe afford to pick up a used one, but I don't think I could afford the maintenance costs!

Anyone here driving a big sedan as a second car?

 

This, Danny, is just why a man should never cheat on his wife. Not even a one-nighter. He just might like it and then the real trouble begins. Turn her in and get a Kia.... pronto.

 

Hahah.. a very apt comparison, and good life advice, too!

I've got the Benz for about a week, I'm going to enjoy it as much as I can until then!

 

Cool. Yes, it is sometimes fun to play with a new toy. Enjoy and then I bet you'll still be glad to see your MINI back.

 

I just sold a 2006 C55 amg, it was plenty fast with V8 engine, but once I test drove the mini my car just felt like an overweight pig
I'm enjoying the better gas milage and light maneuverability of the mini

 

Spoke to the body shop today as I still haven't heard anything! It's been ten days! It looks like it will be early next week 'til I have my baby back. The mirror they got was non-powerfold or non-heated or something, so they needed to re-order a new one from the mainland.

I'm starting to grow tired of the fat benz... it shines on the highway but is an absolute pain when I need to manoeuvre quickly or want to straighten out a twisty road! On the bright side, I have to attend a wedding tomorrow, so it will be nice to roll up in style

 

Shhhhhhh..... don't let your MINI hear you say that!

 

I have an 01 BMW e38 740i sport as what will be my second car but is my only car at the moment. I'd highly reccommend driving an e38 for awhile. Owning one can be very pricey though depending on how it was maintained.

 

I drive a Volvo S80 as a second car. Fantastic vehicle, and great on long road trips, because driving it requires no effort whatsoever!

 

 

Did it break yet?

 

Haha... well, it's been nearly three weeks, and nothing has broken yet! Is that good for a Benz?

Apparently there was another issue with the mirror for my car... first it was the wrong one, then they got 6 of 7 pieces for it (?!) but the motor hadn't arrived, so that needed to be finished up. It will DEFINITELY be ready tomorrow, I'll call you!, he told me yesterday. However, it's 5pm and I was never called.

I'm starting to think they broke/lost/sold my car, and are just stalling for time!

One thing this experience has given me, is a new take on automatic transmissions. I used to be a little snobbish towards auto cars, but really, a well-done auto is perfectly enjoyable.

 

I know that feeling so well. The thoughts I've had these past weeks, waiting for calls, only to be told that parts were late, or something else needed replaceing. It almost felt like I'd dreamed I had a MINI or couldn't wake from a nightmare. Your experience will be over soon, too.

It feels like I'm driving a whole different car now, since the transmission has been replaced. It's amazing. Told them while things were apart to check out some things that I'd read about here and thanks to everyone here on NAM for some awesome info.
Great guys that worked on it, everything is back together and we're all happy with the results.

I'm so hooked on this little car and I know it's an ongoing process to keep it happy. If it's happy, I'm happy.

Transmission is warrantied for 3yrs or how ever much longer I chose to extend my policy.

 

LALALALAL (fingers in ears) nononononono

 

(shouting) CVT
Bet your ears are really plugged now.

 

Haha... I still prefer a manual for a "fun" car, but I get the appeal of a nice auto for spending a lot of time on the highway and in traffic now. It shifts quite nicely.. however, on a "spirited" drive, it doesn't always know when to gear down, and so on.

 

Well, an update for everyone!

I went to pick up my car today! I got the call this afternoon, and hurried up there after work, thrilled to get back into my nimble little pride and joy. I inspected the drivers side and everything looked great. Then I start to look at the front, and the body shop guy mentions that I should have my bumper fixed.

Now, there's never been anything wrong with my bumper! I look and notice it IS sitting lower on one side! How have I never noticed this!?

Of course, I quickly realized there is no way this escaped my attention, as I am quite obsessive about the state of my car. I insisted it happened while they had it. I dug up pictures on my phone that I had taken recently showing the front end, all perfectly aligned. He was able to pull up some photos they took when they first got the car in the bay, and one fortunately did show the drivers side front, and there is no enormous gap... so he agreed that it must have happened on their property. He suggested someone must have banged into it when it was in the parking lot... a customer, probably.

"You're going to fix this for me, then."

He agreed they would, of course, fix it for no charge, and he said he would also pull the dent out of the nose on the hood and spray between the stripes to match it.

I'm worried about "internal" damage now, though. I didn't even think to pop the hood and inspect everything until I got home.

Here's a picture of the damage.

 

Dang!! At least they'll take care of it, plus.

Walking to mine, the day I picked it up, I spotted holes on the underside of the bumper, that I was pretty sure needed something attached there.

Sure enough, something was missing. They fixed it, pretty darned fast, too.

 

Nothing is ever easy, is it? I'm glad they fixed it quickly for you! I'm just concerned about any damage to the interior bits... radiator, what have you. I emailed my insurance guy to see if they'll cover the cost of an inspection at MINI to set my mind at east

 

Good for you, wanting the inspection. Hope they set your mind at ease and good luck.