Try E & L Auto Service in Winter Park. Eddie is a good guy. He knows MINI's.
321-284-4772 Near I-4 and Fairbanks


Minzila

 

Tell the dealer to pay for the engine or you will report them for selling the car in that condition. It's a $15,000 fine from the EPA.

 

Wow. I feel like I have got lucky with Cincinnati MINI / The BMW Store. I just blew up my Catalytic Converter at 53K (which was fortunatly under warranty until 8/80).

I bought an extended warrant the day that happened (knowing I was auto-crossing the car) and would break it again. Before I bought the warranty, I asked them about mods and the warranty.

Turns out that the place is very mod friendly. They have ALTA signs in the MINI part of the dealership, and sell/install all the ALTA mods. They consider a 15% pulley to be a 100% safe mod for the car, along with other ALTA parts.

According to the service writer, the owner runs Porsche and BMW cars in SCCA events, loves to mod his cars, and doesn't ever want to discourage owners from doing the same.

I asked, so if my car comes in here all modded out, clearly being raced evey weekend, and has issues -- does it interfere with my warranty? He said, no suspension mod would ever be considerered, and as long as I don't have a 19%+ pulley and have engine damage, I'm good to go. Everything else is pretty much safe.

Sucks you have to deal with your dealership.

Sorry to hear this.

 

Niello is pretty good too. Even deals Dinan upgrades.

 

Im not talking about the MINI dealer, im talking about the car dealer he purchased this car from used. If they try to argue with him that the pulley was stock when they sold it to him. he can contact the orignal owner to prove that he did not put the pulley on, that it was in fact the original owner. but there is no need to even worry about this unless the dealer makes this claim.

 

15% pulley + 2% crank + RMW head + RMW header + 63,000 miles = Happy Camper...

It's all in how you treat your toys...

 

Thanks to all for your input. It's really appreciated. I'm definetly going to take some action against the dealer who sold the car, who as you might have gathered, isn't a Mini dealer.

 

The OP can certainly talk to however sold it. Good idea. But the fact is, he owns the car. IF the dealer plays the no warranty card, the original owner is not likely to be responsible. I know that kind of sucks.

 

How would a non-Mini dealer be expected to identify a non-stock supercharger and crank pulley? When Downtown Mini "checked" the car, though, when the OP bought it, they should have noticed the mods and raised a red flag. Might there be a receipt or any record of Downtown Mini inspecting the car?

 

Yes, well it is a used car with almost 50k miles on it, sometimes things just break, you know?

I also wonder if maybe the car gave some warning that he - as an inexperienced MINI owner - just didn't pick up on.........

Either way, I think the gentleman should just go get the '04 engine (it will fit, right?) have it installed and carry on.........lesson learned and the wiser for it............

Rant on>

I'm not being critical here, but when did people in this country become so eager to get others to pay for things that happen to them? Whether it's coffee spilled in a lap or a trip over a bad spot in the sidewalk - someone else must pay!

< End rant

 

So far it seems to be a case of first finding out who is responsible for what.

Getting the nit picky details like WHY did a valve break? What exactly broke? Might have nothing to do with mods.

 

Did the seller sell with a warranty, or AS IS?
If the latter, I can't see where you've got any leverage. It sucks, but sometimes things suck.

 

I think even licensed used car dealerships must have some kind of warranty.

 

Not around here. The sticker I usually see has two big boxes. One marked WARRANTY, the other marked AS IS, with a big check mark next to the appropriate box.

 

Dealer counter-argument: Yes, but the JCW supercharger is different from that of the MCS.


Seems to me that a broken valve is not the result of over boosting or any of the other typical mods. Typically, the most likely cause is over-revving. Does the car have it's original programming, or was the rev limit tampered with by aftermarket programming?

 

Most cars that are still under factory waranty will state on the bill of sale. This car still had warranty left, so the AS IS argument is moot. The real issue is the dealership selling you a car that violates Federal law and then telling you they won't warranty the car because of the illegal mods. So, do like I said earlier, demand they fix the car and return it to stock or you will turn them into the EPA. It is a $15,000 fine. They can fix it or risk a fine. Let them know that you will go to the EPA and local news if they don't fix it.

 

What mod is a violation of Federal law?

Which Federal law?

 

If the car still had remaining factory warranty at the time of sale and an undisclosed modification caused the engine to blow, as the Mini service says, then the dealer that sold the car is liable and in violation of Federal law. Ignorance of the law or modification is not an excuse. The dealer that sold the car can then hold the previous owner legal responsible and seek restitution from him. The shop that check the car out may have some liability also.

To those that say 15% is safe, how do you know? Did you log this car? Do you know the condition of the fuel filter and injectors in this car? All it takes is disruption of fuel, lots of air and boom, you have a lean condtion that can cause detonation and excessive heat. Without logging this car it is though to say with 100% certainty that the pulley didn't contribute to the failure, though as stated above, over reving is usually the cause of dropping a valve. The dealer would likely win if pushed on this issue.

 

Emission laws brother. Adding boost and changing fuel or ECU programming is against the law. Where have you been?

 

My understanding of the law is that to deny a warranty claim, they have to prove that the mod caused the failure. I don't think they have a leg to stand on in this case.

 

The car, unless having an extended warranty purchased prior, does not have any factory warranty remaining. They go by whatever comes first...age or mileage. I have a 2002 (same as his) with less miles than his, and no longer do I have the warranty even though I have several thousand miles to go to hit 50,000.

 

I am really sorry to hear that your car is down. I see that you purchased the car 4 months ago, and have put 4,000 miles of awesome driving experience under your belt. The mileage you have driven plus the 4 months are going to work against you when you present an arguement to the dealer at which you purchased the car. They probably did purchase the vehicle at an auction, or take it on trade from another source, and will therefore probably stand behind the 'sold as-is' argument, (they probably didnt even know the car was equipped with mods). It was too bad that any paperwork accompanying the mods was not included with the sale, would have made things easier for you.

You did however have the car checked by a MINI dealer prior to purchase right? My husband is a certified mechanic and does pre-buy inspections all the time. He notices everything. I cant believe that a dealership, which should be thoroughly familiar with the car and what people do with them, did not at least inform you of the aftermarket parts under the hood. Your argument might be better presented to the MINI dealer themselves. MINI will argue back that 1) the car is no longer under factory warranty, and 2) if it was, the aftermarket parts voided it. Your agument back could be that you hired them for a pre-buy inspection. That inspection should have included everything you, as a potential buyer should know about the car, including mods.

The dealer can (and should have) punched up the VIN number and told you everything that any MINI dealer has done since new, so why cant they point out an aftermarket pulley to you??? If the mods were the cause of your engine failure (and you'll have to find somebody who will offer evidence supporting that), and they didnt point the mods out to you, then that may be enough of a bargaining chip to get them to cover at least a part of your out of pocket expense. Its really worth a shot, and its the angle I would take. You might get lucky with the dealer you bought it from, but your mileage and the time you've had the car really are against you there.

Anyway its just my .02 worth. I hope you get it worked out, please let us know whats happening, as we are all rooting for you. Oh, and if you were closer my huband could do the swap for you for just under 900.00.

 

Contact www.lemonlaw.com (1-800-lemonlaw) and they will provide a free consultation to advise you whether you have a valid claim under a lemon law, Moss-Magnuson or civil law. The state lemon laws do not apply as your car is too old. MM is on the verge of expiring for your car. Neither is suited to the circumstances. Other civil laws may apply. It's worth asking. Their fees are success based, so no out of pocket cost to you.

 

And so who is the claim going to be filed against? The selling dealer? That isn't going to get very far - their defense was that the car was sold as-is. The owner who sold to the selling dealer? What if they don't have any assets to claim against? You would also have to show that the owner made the mods to the car.... How much do you think this is all going to cost (to prove who made the mods to the car)? Now, what was the cost for installing a replacement engine in the car? Time to move on... too many armchair litigators that haven't had to pick up the cost of a lawsuit....

 

There are state laws preventing used car dealers from selling vehicles that have been modded in violation of the clean air laws. FLCooper.. would definitely have recourse in California, for example. In Florida, I don't know.