I am very happy to have joined this site when I did. Some of you remember I had started a thread "One Happy Guy". Last week I went out of town and left the car in long term parking. After 3.5 days of sitting I get in to start it and there was very noticeable squeaking from under the hood. I came here and did a few searches and formed a hypothesis about what the problem was, the belt or tensioner pully. I dropped the car at the dealer this morning and just received a call from them about an hour ago saying exactly what I found on this site to be the problem, only it was BOTH belt and pully. I won't be able to get the car back until sometime tomorrow though ...I just wanted to say thanks a bunch for making your knowledge available. It really makes my life a bit easier, and every little bit helps. Let's Motor !

 

The pulley and belt might have been going bad for a while. My car has sat up to 3 months without incident.

 

Yes you are more than likely correct. I'm just glad it surfaced now and not after the warranty ended. Oh, and get this, I got a base PT Loser for a loaner....doesn't even begin to compare .

 

From the dealer? That sucks, they must have been out of MINIs.