I bought my 2002 Cooper S with 67k miles on it two months ago. I got it from an Audi dealership, as it was a trade-in. When I bought it, they told me they had checked it thoroughly and they also did the NY State inspection for it.

Today I took the car to a local garage to get new tyres (from TireRack) put on it. I was waiting for the work to be done, when the guy called me into the workshop and asked me if I had noticed the very audible clicking sound when the steering wheel was turning. I had not.

They put it up on the lift, and looked underneath it, and said that the steering rack was corroded and needed to be replaced. They called my warranty provider and got the part ordered. Fair enough I thought. Glad they noticed.

10 minutes later the guy calls me back in and shows me the rear brake rotors and calipers are corroded, and the pads are worn almost completely. He also said that the valve cover gasket was leaking oil. He had to drill the bolts out to remove the cover because they were so corroded. I don't think that he is scamming me - for one he sent me photos of all the parts he needs to replace, and his garage has good reviews on TireRack.

All in all I am paying $800 for all of this work (warranty is paying about $900). I did not get a mechanic to inspect the car before I bought it because I thought that an Audi dealer's inspection and service would be more than good enough. I now realise that was a foolish mistake on my part.

My question is: Is the Audi dealer in any way liable for this? There's no way any of this has happened in the last 75 days, and they passed it for inspection and sold it to me claiming it was in perfect condition.

 

Guess their idea of perfect is more like," get it out of here fast"

The car may not of been cared for very well considering the corrosion issues. But it sounds like you have found yourself a reasonable shop.

Mark

 

Was there any sort of warranty from the Audi dealer? A lot of dealers will include some sort of (brief) warranty on a used car. Either way, it wouldn't hurt to try and pursue it with them.

 

Seems buying a used car at a dealership is the worst place to buy as they would be the ones that could "cover up" damage and wear the best.

I'm kinda in the same boat but I was prepared for gremlins. A week after I bought mine I notice oil draining from the valve cover and the oil pan, which had obviously been cleaned up for test drives. There was no trace of any strut tower defenders which shocked the heck outta me. The brakes were low and the coolant looked like mushroom soup (couldn't check at the time - too hot).

It would seem the previous owner resolved to letting the car fall into squalor as they knew they would be trading it in. It's all better now though. The second life of the mini has begun....

That corrosion issue seems really odd.

Good luck with the little guy!

 

"I bought my 2002 Cooper S with 67k miles on it two months ago"

Most States has 90 days warranty in a used cars. Is yours still under warranty? The best you can do.

"steering rack was corroded and needed to be replaced"

This one I don't understand. The only time you replace the steering rack is if the seal is leaking and mess up the rack. Steering rack is expose to dirt, water, himidity and road hazard. After a year or two, all car's steering rack will develop surface rust. Corroded is a bad word, I don't know if the mechanic is taking you for a ride. Unless of course the rack is exposed to brake/clutch leaking fluid. Otherwise, why do you need to replace a rusty rack?
Ask if the rack is leaking, if not don't spend money.
Ask if the rotor can be turned within spec. If yes, don't spend money.

"rear brake rotors and calipers are corroded, and the pads are worn almost completely"

Well, this one (pads are worn) a pure regular maintenance. Could be right.

But rotors can be turned if within spec. Again, corroded caliper is another bad word. I'm sure he is taking you for another ride.
As long as the piston is working and the seal is not leaking, why change the caliper?
Ask if the caliper frozen and leaking. If not, don't spend money.

He was sending you a photo, because rust is a very powerful item to sell.

 

The car did come with an NY State "Anti Lemon Law" warranty which was 60 days. During that time, one of the side indicators fell out, and the airbag light came on. The Audi dealer fixed both of those things.

Being as that warranty has now expired, I'm guessing I am stuck. I guess I am just a little annoyed that they'd sell me something so in need of repair.

 

To be honest I was 50/50 on whether he was "selling me rust" so to speak. The weird clicking sound from turning the steering wheel was undeniable though.

I'll post the pics that he sent me.

 

But you mentioned, you didn't hear any clicking sound...but now you heard it.

 

Yeah I wasn't noticing it before. But the dude is sitting there turning the wheel and it's clicking away. He'd just driven it into the workshop so there was nothing he could have done to it.

 

OK so here are two of the pics he sent me:

Brakes


Rack


Gasket cover

 

Yeah, I like to try and have a "glass half full" view so hopefully I've at least found a decent shop.

The car was ex-lease, bought out by original lessee and then traded in. It sat on the Audi lot for 2 months. Probably explains the lack of care.

 

Thanks....that's the way I'm gonna look at it!

 

For a NY car that has been through 6 winters the amount of corrosion doesn't seem too out of line.The use of salt on the roads and the length of the season will make a car old before its time.The rust on the rotors may be a bit too deep to machine out and be above the min. thickness. Rust on the calipers isn't a problem unless the piston is hanging up or the handbrake mechanism is sticking.It would be prudent to have the shop inspect the rest of the undercarriage,brake lines,etc. to see if anything else could be a problem.

 

Looking at the pictures -- I'm sure, He is selling you a snake oil.
I'm right on my assessment....the pads probably the only legit.
The rest are scam -- just my opinion.

 

Thanks. I emailed the pictures to my mechanic brother-in-law back in England and he thinks the same thing. He told me to ask for the parts that they replaced when I pick up the car so I can take them somewhere else.

I guess I am stuck paying for this now.

 

My 02 S developed a clicking in the steering about 6 months into ownership and MINI replaced the steering column under warranty. They said it was a plastic bushing in one of the universal joints in the steering column and that is was an annoyance and not a safety issue. About a year b4 we sold the car at 95,000 miles plus 6 months ago, the click had come back....not always but sometimes. I'd imagine there was a tech bulletin on it else MINI would not have replaced the first time, but since I understood what it was, and had eyeballed the joints in the steering column I decided it wasn't worth an extra trip to the dealer and never had it looked at a second time.

Trace the steering col' and I think you'll find the joints and if you want to confirm jack it up and crank the wheel from lock to lock a few times.

I don't see anything 'wrong' in the rear brakes other than the probability you need new pads - but the angle is poor (and your pics hard to view as they load BIG and also sent a P.O.R.N pop up to my machine...). Don't forget that the 02 does not have wear sensors so you need to do visual checks. If the pad material is thinner than the backing plate it is time to change. MINI says don't turn the rotors...replace every pad change. In this case I'd change them too, but usually will go two sets of pads to a set of rotors if they are 'plain' and for street use.

You can get plain jane pads at a good parts store - my local AutoZone had 3 different types of pads for an 02 S when I needed 'em in a pinch last year. I suspect they'd have plain jane rotors as well. Changing the rotors in the rear should add less than 5 minutes of labor per wheel for one who knows what they are doing changing the pads and has the right tools. Consider that when you get a price. There's a great DIY guide available here for front and rear pad changes. If you've every done disk pads there is nothing special here.... In other words .... you no longer should need to go to the dealer or a special MINI mechanic for a simple pad change ... any decent brake shop should be very able to handle this work. If they tell you otherwise LEAVE ... quickly.

Buy the parts and come over to the house and I'll put 'em on for a pint of Guiness or two .... but it's a long drive . . .

 

With all of the corrosion with that car I would just bet it is a Flood car from another state. I certainly would do some research and find out. If it was and the dealer knew it he would be liable to replace the car or refund your money. Do a car-fax on it yourself. If it was a flood car you will have many more problems in the future.
Ronnie948

 

there is a lot more corrosion and coating loss then I had on my 02 . . .

but mine did not experience NY winters nor any northern weather at all . . .

so the question is:

at this time a carfax is only gonna tel you ya got screwed on a used car deal . . . do you want to go to the dentist????

 

Interesting. I did the Carfax on it before I bought it and there was a check mark against every category. No record of accidents etc. Think it's just had a hard 7 years....

 

Well, all in all, I guess it sounds like I could have avoided having the rack changed. It was included in the warranty so I guess that's OK.

The brakes were probably overkill I guess, but at least now I know I have a new set of everything and from now on I will be getting second opinions on matters such as these before I agree to any work.

Thanks for all the replies.