Ok, I have problems with my car. My transmission makes a funny noise every once and a while. My windows make a god awfull noise when I lower them. My HK sound system sounds like **** (speakers are buzzing like crazy).

I 100% depend on this car to get to work which is a 45min drive every morning. The way I see it, its a factory problem. Not something I caused. Why do my dealer refuse to give me a car? Yet, wow my cousin who got the car from that dealer aswell, got a loaner when something was wrong with his car.

Please share a story of a dealer that gave you a loaner or Rental. Thank u. So I can print and show this to the service manager.

 

Dealers are pretty much on their own when it comes to provide loaner vehicles to their customers. Some MINI dealers (such as yours) at this stage of the game, still don't provide loaners to MINI patrons.

My dealer, Lauderdale MINI in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, has a policy to provide either a MINI loaner vehicle or if they are out of MINI loaners, a free rental vehicle from Enterprise rent-a-car. It works well, and my service advisor always make sure that whenever I need to leave my MINI for overnight service, or even for scheduled maintenance, I am not left out without transportation.

My suggestion is to call MINIUSA but like I said, dealer's are independent franchises and when it comes to loaners they pretty much can do whatever they please.

Talk to the service manager and see if you can get him to agree to pay a rental vehicle while your MINI is in for service.

Let us know.

 

They don't say that they dont offer. They always give me "Mini doesnt have a loaner program" thats what they say. My dealer is the Hassel Mini Freeport NY dealer. I've heard horrible stories so far.......this sucks.

 

My dealer has a loaner program but it seems to me that MINIUSA can not or will not enforce their franchised dealers to adopt such programs.

Again this depends on the dealer and it looks like you are stuck with a bad apple. Even if the dealer does not give out MINI loaners, at the very least, they should offer a free rental car.

Talk to the service manager and see if he agreesm to pay you for a rental vehicle in the mean time.

Any other MINI dealers nearby?

 

A no loaner policy is bad enough, but to give your cousin a loaner but not you is ***tty at best. (1 or 2 Ts in ***tty?). I would suggest bypassing the service pig and politely calling the owner/manager and request the loaner policy (cousin loaner?)

 

Yea, time to tell them your going to another dealer (hopefully not too far away) and that you will never recommend someone else to that dealer or buy another one from them. Actually go to the SALES manager and complain instead of the Service Manager. The sales people can sometimes have some pull as they bring in the money and if the service guys are screwing it up it'll probably **** them off.

 

Did you purchase the car from that dealership? Did your cousin?

 

we both got our cars from there. You know what, im going to contact another dealer, but I hate the fact that I have to drive out of the way now.....................

 

Nick Alexander MINI in Los Angeles will only give loaners out if you bought the car from them in the first place.

I don't know if they give out MINI's as loaners or not, but I've always been given either a 325i or 525i as a loaner. Once they were out and there was a problem they caused so they gave me an Enterprise rental for free.

Good luck with the dealer ... Some of them can be jerks.

 

MINI could be selling twice as many cars in the US if it wasn't for the dealer issues. I have found that "MINI-only" dealers tends to be more responsive that the "small part of a BMW dealer" facilities... But your mileage may vary...

 

No, don't. At least not yet. Call there. When whoever you talk to says they have no loaner program, just politely ask to talk to their manager. If the service manager can not explain why your cousin got one and you don't to your satisfaction, just ask to speak to the general manager. Be polite, but do not take no for an answer. Unless your cousin spent 60large for a 7 series BMW, they won't have much of a good reason.
I have not gotten a MINI loaner yet. But I always get a rental. They may have a sweet deal with a rental place, too. My dealer eats the days' rental fee while I spend my money there. Open that avenue too, if needed.
Good luck.
John L

 

That sounds like a crummy situation Pat. I bought my MCS at Morristown Mini and they've provided me with a rental whenever I come in. Generally they rent me a car from enteprise. I have to say their service has been really amazing.

I'd try to go up the chain of command as well. Stress to them you don't have a way to get back and forth to work and it isn't fair to you the customer if you have to take a day off of work for a defect
Mike

 

I get a loaner for regular service and warrenty work.But they only give me BMWs

 

Brecht Mini in San Diego also has a "no loaner" policy, yet their BMW dealership has loaners for anyone that bought a BMW from them. I questioned this, and was told that BMW builds extra cost into their cars so that dealers can have a loaner fleet for their customers, and MINI does not do this. However I present for your puzzlement the following:

1. Brecht MINI has historically charged 20% over MSRP (only dealer in San Diego County)
2. Brecht is currently selling MINIs for 10% over MSRP
3. As a "valuable customer" of Brecht, and for the priveledge of buying a car off their lot, they added Lojack and Permaplate to my car and socked me with the $1600 bill for those "options". Seems to be their poilcy for cars on the lot.

Mind you, I love, love, love my car, and consciously knew I had choices other that buying off the lot or from Brecht at all, but I went ahead and bought from them. However, with the mark-ups and the non-optional options, seem like Brecht should be able to have a fleet of - I don't care what cars - for their customers. At the very least, they should just cut the bull---- and be honest about their willingness to gouge their customers.

For my first service visit, I plan on calling ahead, turning on the sweetness and seeing if I can get me a loaner. Until then, I will enjoy my car and not focus on the dealer's moral shortcomings.

Feeling superior in SD,
Carol

 

Going to MINIUSA to do anything more than complain about the lack of a loaner policy is a waste of time... MINI has no policy when it comes to loaners, so they won't intervene for you.

It amazes me too, this is the first car I've bought that doesn't have a provision for a loaner car in the warranty. Every GM car I've owned (6 in all) stated in the warranty that a loaner would be provided for warranty repairs that take longer than 24 hours. I got spoiled and actually began to think that this was standard policy in the industry...

MINIUSA's policy... "we'll show you the way to the sidewalk when your car is in for warranty repairs..."

Thankfully most dealers have decent policies when it comes to loaners, now if MINIUSA would come out with something to get the rest of the dealers in line things would be much better...

 

I agree, talk to a manager. Ask what programs do exist: loaner, rental, other.
Mention about your situation with needing a car. Some dealers do have loaners but you have to ask for them and sometimes they are booked out.
Your insurance might also have a rental program for when you car is out for repairs.

In the end a yummy snack gift helps (those are their faces when they see you coming with a box of cookies).

 

I have never gotten a "loaner" from any dealership.

I have however have gotten a rental. It was a provision in my extened
service contract. Did you buy extended warranty on your MINI?
If so check and see if there is a rental clause in it. If so use it,
Hope this helps some.
Cheers

 

You know, all BS aside about what MINIUSA or BMW NA will or will not do...it seems that this is a topic of conversation that keeps growing and growing amongst the MINI community. I think MINIUSA needs to take notice and actually make a policy for the MINI owners. But hey, I'm generally an optimist, and realize it just won't happen anytime soon...but you'd think this would be the case. There certainly have been enough complaints. MINI has been doing business in the US for over 3 years now, isn't it time they put all this crap aside and just started giving out some kind of free rental, MINI or not? Just my .02. The story DivaMac was told by the BMW dealership guys building the cost of loaners into their vehicles sounds like typical horse manure to me...but I gotta give them an A for effort in the quick "cover their ***" reply department

Dave.

 

My dealership gives loaners only for service but you have to reserve a loaner ahead of time. My mom has a mini and the dealership by her said that mini doesn't do loaners crap...so who knows

good luck

 

MINI of San Francisco has a rental program for warranty repairs. I got a Ford Focus, but it got me around when my MINI was in the shop.

 

Is there such a thing as a MINI only dealer? I have not seen one yet, and there are 14 MINI dealers out here...

Doug

 

I have to put in my 2¢. Went to MINI of Irvine Sat, I was late, and the SM did not know I was even coming. I spoke with my MA, he spoke with the SM, said that he knew I was coming, and I drove a long way (over 2 hours ... I was mostly out there to go to Disneyland). Gave the SM the list of problems (none mechanical, really just cosmetic, well, 1 washer jet was not working properly...). It was about 3pm by this time, and they close at 5pm (by bad, left late, hit allot of traffic on the way, but, hey I was coming from ventura county). My MA gave me a MINI Cooper convertable loaner (basic, anetnna was even broken, but, hey, a convertable). See it here:



Later, when I went back to get my car, about 6:45, they could not get my car out of the parking space it was in, because someone's 325 was parked in front of my car, so, once again, they gave me a loaner MINI, another convertable, this time an S (my MA said, "I won't make you drive a Cooper again"). I explained I can not even come back until next weekend. So, now I have another convertable MINI loaner, for the week. Interesting, women seem to like convertables, took two home from church Sunday. Oh, and here is the 2nd loaner (wow, 2 in 1 day! Drove 3 MINIs that day, haha):



I know some of you might me thinking "that's ridiculous! Having to go back next weekend!". Well, actually, they where not able to fix all the little problems, because they needed parts, so, hopefully, since they will have my car for a few days, they will fix everything, and wash it again, as the wash job was not that good. So, we'll see . I can not say I mind "testing" out a convertable for a week. Oh, and he gave me a convertable, because, like so many MINI Dealers, they have ALLOT of them, hard to believe with the nice weather lately...

Doug

 

Seems pretty crummy, but there are a few things to consider.

As many have said, MINI does not mandate any loaner program, so you should find out about your dealer before making any investments. Before I bought my MINI they specifically told me that I would get loaners for any factory warranty work.

well, as it turned out, the first time I went in, it was for a paint issue. They said no loaner for non mechanical issues. So i argued with them and told them, why does it matter if it's mechanical or not. fact is, I don't have a car, it's the factory fault, I was told I would be given a loaner. After arguing a bit, he went to talk to the service manager who finally decided to give me a rental. (I think the only reason he gave me crap was because of my age, 19) In the end i didn't take the rental even though it was offered.

next time, it was a transmission issue. Told I would be given a loaner, which turned out to be a galante, but I needed someone 21 or over to get it. I'm not sure how old you are, but you may be getting crap if you are under 21 or even under 24.

Overall, try to argue it out with them. Talk about how it doesn't make sense, mention your cousin and other people who have gotten loaners from them. Mention other dealers in the area with loaners. Finally, if you decide to go to another dealer mention your dissatisfaction and that you will report to every MINI board that they have horrible service and that other dealers are better. Also, as someone has mentioned, your insurance might have a rental program, I know mine does. If in the end, if they don't cave, i would find another dealer. You may be better off building a relationship with a dealer with better service.

 

Yes, there is! When I say "MINI-only" dealer I mean a dealership that has it's own building, it's own staff, etc. It will share ownership with a local BMW dealer of course, but at least you have a dedicated staff - not people whose top priority is the BMW customers...

I bought from a MINI-only dealer and drove 3 hours to get there. Now I go to a MINI-owner dealer for service - even though a BMW/MINI dealership is about 1 mile from my office. I tried to work with the one near my office, but they were just too difficult to buy from - and to get service from. I will admit - they do have 2 MC(CVT) loaner cars. Complete with Siruis too - but you have to book your appt like a month in advance to reserve one of their loaner cars...

 

There not giving me ****. I argued with them politely. I'm finding a new dealer by my job. F HASSEL MINI