So a friend of mine calls me up says she needs to get her tire looked at because she was hearing a weird noise from one of the rear ones. She has an 04' MC-Convertible; so she calls to me for advice and what not. I ask her what type of noise is she hearing and she said that it's making a "grinding" noise. I knew that wasn't right.. so I went over and checked it out.

So I go to her place and the first thing I notice about the rear-left is that there's gotta be something like 10-15 Degrees of negative-camber on the thing. So I knew right then something was way wrong; I looked under the car and the lower control-arm was snapped in half. She DROVE from Diamond-Bar to Pomona with a snapped control arm. The gringing noise she was hearing was the top of her wheel scraping against the chassis of the car on the inside of the wheelwell.

Now, she's a good driver but very conservative. She never races... she has wheels because she asked me to get them for her and she's still on stock suspension. Her car is an Automatic and she likes it because it's "cute", so I know she's not a hard driver at all. She didn't hit anything, she didn't notice when that happened. I trust her.. she has no reason to lie to me.

So I tell her to take it to the dealership because that's a part failure and that should be covered under warranty.

The Dealer which is in Monrovia, CA is saying "You must of hit something, we're not going to cover this because it's not a warranty issue. You owe us $950.00"

And i'm just like.. what the... she was just driving normally under normal driving conditions and a part failed on her... how is this not a warranty issue?!

So... what do I do now?!

Don't get me wrong, if they don't cover this, I'm just gonna have it towed home, I have my origional control arms and I can swap that easy no problem. But this is way wrong... what do you guys think!?

 

tow it home !!!!! sounds like dealer's mind is made up sorry.

 

Call your insurance company and see what they say. if it was an impact they cover it.

 

any chance you can contact another dealer's SA? you wouldnt believe the price and service policy discrepancies between dealers...

 

Go over their head and call MINI USA

 

She has an 04' MC-Convertible

Why would you even begin to think it would be covered under warranty? The warranty expired at 50K/4yrs.

 

+1

Warranty was up already.

But, I would contact any local Mini Cooper club in the area where the car is now, and get in touch with the Club's mechanic...He probably has one laying around and can swap it out (cheap ) for the ride home.

 

She got an extended warranty, she called ahead to ensure that she's still covered under warranty.

 

$950 is a little steep - what the heck is their labor rate - $400/hour including a coffee and pee break?

Wow!!

 

Yeah the car is out of warranty period, try Steve's Auto Clinic in North Hills.

 

I have an extra control arm, mine are aftermarket and I have my OE's just sitting at home so I can easily do it myself; I'd just rather not have to, yenno? I don't like to see people getting stiffed by dealerships, it's just not right.

 

yep, call Steve...here is his number...818-891-6109

 

How did you get an '04 convertible? I thought the first convertibles MINI produced were in the '05 model year?

 

I thought automatics didn't come out until 05 either..

 

My mistake, it is an 05'. I'm probably just going to do it myself, I just think it's an F-ed Up situation.

 

Why does the dealer give a crap about repairing the MINI if she has an extended warranty ?

They aren;t paying for it.....They should just shut the heck up and fix it.

 

I heard that dealers in general hate warranty repairs. Because they only get reimbursed the 'book value'. So the book might say "Control Arm Replacement = $300 (make up your own number)" but if they make the customer pay for it, they can get $950.

 

You also have to be careful of the "extras" that aren't covered. I had an extended warranty once and had a waterpump failure. After the dealer added in all the extra items that weren't covered (hose clamps, antifreeze, etc.) it ended up costing me more than it would have had I done the whole process myself.