Last night, after work, the MINI salesman comes to my office to pick me up to take delivery of my new MINI Cooper S. I had with me a checklist of all the things I should check for. We did all the stuff we were supposed to. The dealership had already closed and the salesman stayed to make sure everything was what I expected. I said good night and off I drove. About 15 minutes out, I noticed it was getting a bit stuffy in the car so I turned on the fan. "My, this is nice. The fan sure is quiet. " Then it started raining and the windows started to fog up. I set the fan to defog and turned up the fan level to 2. Still quiet and the windows were not defogging. Turned it to 3 and still no fan. Turned to 4 and the fan came on full force. I also noticed the a/c comes on only if the fan is running....good thoughtful touch by the designers . It was Friday night, dealership already closed, service department not open until Monday and I don't live or work close to the dealership service center. I called the salesperson this morning. He told me to make an appointment on Monday to the service center.

I was going to give the dealership very high ratings in BMW's survey when they send it to me. Too bad. The guys that did the PDI need a kick in the butt instead.

So a word of warning to others about to go through delivery of their MINI. Make sure you add check fans, defrosters, etc on your checklist before you take delivery of your car.

 

This was a brand new car? Where is the dealer located?

Nozz

 

Hold on there........the survey that you get deals only with the salesman and the experience that you had with him/her. Even though questions will be asked about finance and delivery etc. The score reflects on the salesperson....PERIOD! For you to screw the Motor Advisor would be wrong. He/she stayed after the dealership was closed so that you could take delivery and it sounds like he/she treated you well. Take up any issues with General Manager........it will take you a lot further and you will have friends (Motoring Advisors) at the dealership when you do have issues.

 

Once you have the weekend to drive your MINI you will relax and enjoy the new car. Remember **** happens. Mini will fix the problems.

 

MINI has been good to me,would be better with no issues

 

Since the fan works at high speed, it might be worth checking the fuses to see if there is a fuse for "low speed fan" or something like that. Would save a trip to the dealer.

 

I agree that it is frustrating to accept delivery on a new car and have a problem. I'm sure that MINI will corrrect it. Yes, a bit of a hassle, but nothing to go crazy about (unless your dealer is more than 2 hours away...) Wait until you get the first dent..

Anyway, best of luck with your new Mini!!!

Regards, Glenn

 

Thanks everybody for your thoughts on this. Yes, I am disappointed that the fan doesn't work very well. I'll have to make an appointment and bring the car in. I guess this would also be a good time to get the car programmed for the horn to go off when I lock the doors remotely.

It is a hassle as the service center only opens Monday to Fridays during normal office hours (9 to 5). This is when I'm usually at work.

But yes the car is fun to drive and I'm finding difficult to try and keep the revs down during the break-in period....

Also, the car did not show up exactly as ordered either. Seems the car I got came with 17" wheels instead of the standard 16" wheels. Makes the car look better but the ride a bit more harsh. But kudos to the dealer as since they said it wasn't my order, they let me have the 17" wheels and tires at no extra charge.

 

Do you have the manual HVAC or auto climate control?

 

I never got a survey on how my buying experience was. Maybe since I wrote in a bunch of nasty letters.

Howard

 

Actually, I was reasonably pleased with the buying experience. I have a general mistrust of car salespeople because I know it is their job to upsell as much as possible and I think I was treated quite well. I don't think I was pressured all that hard. By experience, I was sort of expecting extra equipment on it that I didn't ask for. However, I was never asked to actually pay for the upgrade. When I expressed some hesitation regarding taking the 17" wheels, my wife overheard some other sales people (not the one I was dealing with) making some rather inappropriate comments about me. But overall, I enjoyed the sales experience. So yes, Nick, if you do read this forum, you will be getting a good rating from me if I do get a survey form from BMW. (I wonder how many MINI sales people actually read this forum....should we put up a poll?).

Also, the service department was very kind in trying to fit me in to get this issue resolved as soon as possible. However, I still can't help to think that this is something the PDI folks should have caught before delivery.

Oh, it's regular fan and a/c. I couldn't justify the cost of automatic climate control for what I was using the car for.

 

Per an article I saw bits of recently, (in National Geographic of all places... although, I recall seeing (teensy) print ads for MINI's in my Smithsonians too :smile: ), wait I digress...

Anywho, the article said that MINI sources parts from all over the world, and the source country for a particular part or assembly (like dashboard/cockpit) can and does change... MINI says they get parts from "wherever makes them best and cheapest" (which sounded like opposites, to me, but that's another story)...

I have a theory that your fan switch is bad and will likely be replaced under warranty... You might have one of the ones they recycled from 70's-era AMC Gremlins (kidding )...

I'm curious to know what's the outcome - good luck,
Tatt

 

I know this may sound elementary... but... my car occasionally has this issue. (happened twice, so...) Did you by chance try to shut off the car and restart the car? It sometimes acts a lot like Windows XP... just needs a reboot.

 

Atleast ur mini started after 1 day....my 05 wouldnt even start on day 2.

 

Everybody has mistrust of "car salesman" even myself.......unfortunately thats the way it is. I agree the techs should have caught the issue when doing the PDI. When I took delivery of my 05 MSC it had a bad HK amp and the windshield wasn't sealed correctly for whatever reason. This should have been caught but some places have total idiots working for them.

As long as the dealership takes care of the issue quickly then no harm no foul.........enjoy your new car!

 

The dealer service department had me bring the car back to see if it was something that they could easily fix. Turns out it's going to need a day and then another if they have to order a part in.

However, they were out of courtesy cars as the sales people were grabbing them and selling them. So I have to bring the car back again on Thursday so they can have my car for a couple of days.

While I was there, I had them clean off the glue that was stuck on the dash from the warning sticker and fix the speaker grill that popped off. They might have to order a new one in too as the existing one just didn't want to stay in place. I'm starting to worry a bit about the overall quality of my car.....

Nice people.

However, I must say, the car is a blast to drive. I'm still resisting booting it too hard (break in periord). This morning, some moron in a souped up Integra wanted a drag race and pulled a few rather dangerous moves to try and get me into it. If anything, I noticed the car attracts a lot of attention.

 

Beken, my mcs has climate control and a few times my windows foged all up. It helps to crack the sunroof open just a bit but turning the defrost on immediately clears the windows. I wish you luck with your new mini. You will soon discover that your mini while not perfect it is addicting. Do your brake in and try to relax, it will all be taken care off. I drive a 2003 that now has 35000 miles. Like yours, my car had some problems but now it's all good. I have nothing but good things to say about my service department, I was there today for the v39 software upgrade. I got my car back and to my surprise they also inspected the brakes, changed the oil and filter for the 4th time and gave me a clean car back. Motor on.
:smile: