Any damage from a collision was before I bought it from the dealer. But the tail lights are ready to fall out as well- both sides- The rust is clearly from water leakage issues which when under regular warranty Mini fixed. Yes, I am stuck with a lemon. One of the national (CBC) investigative shows wants my info, they may do a story on this.

 

Well, I called MINI of Nashua NH and MINI in Burlington VT. NH dealer basically said 'Eh you can swing by and we'll take a look. It's a long process to claim warranty.' The VT dealer was so willing to work with me. I could send in pics if I couldn't make the drive. I drove up 2 weeks ago and the dealership took one look and said 'yep, we see this a lot.' I got a call today to schedule the approved warranty body work. How can some dealers say it won't be covered because it wasn't 'inspected' throughout the life of the vehicle? The VT dealers only question was if I had been in a collision and may have damaged the hatch.

Also to note there was a yellow 2005 cooper S with NH plate Hum-bee and a MOT decal at my mechanic the other day. Had the same rust pattern as mine so I passed along to the mechanic that the owner should inquire about the warranty. Hum-bee was so nicely waxed and trimmed, I can't imagine the owner didn't know about the warranty.

 

Mine is currently at the dealer. I dropped it off this morning and was given a rental car. My service advisor just called me to say that he had already sent the estimate off to MINI for approval. It's looking good so far!

 

I took my MINI to Mini of Burlington back in Sept. and they honored the warranty without balking. They were super good about it (although I didn't get a rental car which would have been nice since I am 105 miles from the dealership), they replaced both doors, hatchback, and both tail light pillars under warranty. So, I'd say if you have rust perforation and a dealer challenges it, seek out another dealer in the area and try again. It seems dependent on how the dealership feels. Mini of Burlington even offered to send in the paperwork if I sent iPhone photos of the damage to them since I had to travel quite a distance to have them inspect the vehicle.

One downside I did have, the body shop cracked my hatch lift handle when tightening the attachment screws and swirled the top of my hardtop when replacing the hatchback. The dealership replaced the lift handle and sent the bill to the body shop. They weren't understanding when I was upset about a huge swirl on my well kept, shiny roof. :( I'm hoping Prima Amigo helps mask the flaw.

 

I got the call this morning! MINI approved the replacement of the driver door, both rear quarter panels, and the hatch. My car will be out for 4 weeks. I had a super friendly dr ice advisor. Pleasantly surprised!

 

I brought my R53 to MINI of Bedford a few months ago for this work. Replaced the complete hatch, both rear quarter panels, etc, etc. Awesome.

I just had to go in beforehand so they could take pictures of the rusted areas (around the tail lights and on the hatch) and then waited a few weeks for the approval. Once it was approved I brought it back and it took about a month (they use Prestige Autobody in Manchester for the work, which was the cause of the delay).

I've never taken the car there before and it hasn't seen a MINI dealer in about 8 years so there was never any 'regular inspection' done on it. I thought they may deny it because it was just surface rust - nothing all the way through the metal that I could tell - but they never said anything.

There was also a section on the hatch that I had previously repaired myself - again, thought they may say something since they hadn't done the repair...being the honest person I am I told them about it and pointed it out - they said no problemo...

Pat

Edit - couple pics:

They looked like this before (don't mind that bumper, it's on my to-do list :-)):



And after:

 

I have had rust fixed on my '06 R53. The MINI dealership (MINI of Chicago) made it sound like it might be a toss-up, but I had same-day approval of the work and they fixed it promptly.

 

Bill Jacobs MINI in Naperville took care of me. I get my car back in about two weeks.

 

Has anyone had the repair done with one of the metal flake paint finish? If so, how well did they match and blend the paint?

 

Just took mine to the dealer to have photos taken of the rust. The employee didn't seem like he wanted to be bothered with the issue, hopefully it's take care of, I have a 2005 with 125k. I'll update

 

I know in Maine rust like that tends to be from the Salt chemicals they put on the road. I can't remember if it's Calcium Chloride or Sodium Chloride, but it EATS cars. I haven't had a car yet that didn't wind up with massive amounts of rust after a few winters.

I'm lucky I have a winter beater so I can keep my Mini nice and dry.

 

Just had my '05 R50 in for a MINI dealer rep inspection on rust.

Local shop said they were not authorized to make the call so I waited for the rep.

Quick inspection and all good-MINI is covered.

Almost 10 years old and 131k miles!

Here is what I found above the boot handle, just to the right...
(had that piece replace 2 years ago for some corrosion in the light and wiring-had not impacted paint at the time)

before-rust by jimmy_racoon, on Flickr

Key to coverage was the "perforation" where the paint cracked-see the 2 half moons?
(image from DSLR camera with macro lens-who's OCD?)

Happy to see this minor flaw getting fixed for nothing!

You can only see it if you get close, but I see it.


9 Minnesota Winters-still a beauty! by jimmy_racoon, on Flickr

Ready to start my second decade of MINI fun with the R50!!

 

I finally get mine back tomorrow after over a month of of not having it. I was informed that the passenger door as well as driver door was replaced. Awesome!

 

I just noticed on mine that there's no radio reception when I put the rear defrost on...there must have been some shielding in there or something that got removed when the work was done...

Might be something to check if your rear hatch gets replaced!

Pat

 

From Bentley:

"MINI models are equipped with a diversity antenna that uses the rear window
defroster element along with the roof mounted aerial to improve radio reception."

Something must not have been reconnected properly.

 

Holy cow that's cool stuff, cristo!! Thanks a lot for posting that...never would have guessed it.

 

I just discovered my rear defrost doesn't work. And now that you mention it here, my radio reception has been worse since the repair work. I am supposed to have the dealer look at it next week. It is taking all of my effort though not to scream at them. This is the second issue I've found that should have been caught if a proper inspection of the body shops work had been done.

 

Thanks so much for posting these, Mudhen especially. I'm going to take my '06 MCS to bedford with the same rust patterns. Here's hoping the 12 year warranty holds up to my 200k!

 

Just got her back yesterday...

New boot handle, emblem, license plate bracket, name badge. Entire hatch lid repainted to original.

Can not beat that on a MINI with 133.500 miles and over 10 years old!

Go MINI.


rust free by jimmy_racoon, on Flickr

 

Lucky you they have been giving me the run around. Glad you got it fixed up!

 

thanks, bavmotors

stick with it since you have nothing to lose!

(dealerships make no money on it for playing middleman-thus the disinterest )

 

So, After this last winter of driving I've noticed the spots mentioned by everyone else.

Under the driver's side tail light I've got a good size rust bubble / spot and above the boot handle as well. I guess it's time to call Bedford Mini like Mudhen did...

 

And Denied!

I have about the same rust as Mudhen, took it to the same MINI of Bedford dealer, and I was denied... I was told "you have to be the first owner, take it in for regular checks from MINI and it has to be caught quickly"... I think I'll be calling VT now...

Also, to add some "sketchiness" to it... MINI of Bedford told me I was denied but that for more detail I had to call MINI USA at 866-275-6464. They had no records of a claim... So I called back and got the above quote... Seems weird that I was denied for a claim that MINI USA didn't know I had when it was MINI USA folks looking at the car...?

 

Wow that's ridiculous, I made a claim about a year ago they took pictures and they haven't had a rep look yet and it's getting much worse. They better not give me that bs, I'd try another dealer if available.

 

Wow, that SUCKS thartek! Sorry to hear that...

I think I said it before, but I'm the second owner of my R53 and other than a few times about 8 or 9 years ago it has never been into a dealer.

I wonder how the actual verbiage in our paperwork reads? I've never actually looked at it...