Hi Dreamweaver,
Sorry to hear about this. I know exactly how you feel. I once brought our Buick in for an oil change where I was notified that the steering rack was leaking and needed to be replaced. Only problem was the car was less than 100km over warranty. The dealer wanted to charge me $1500 + labor. I told them to put it back the way it came and I will deal with that some other time. The dealer didn't want me to drive the car out without the work. Needless to say, I went ballistic. They "reluctantly" put it back and I went home. Then called GM and gave them a piece of my mind. A few days later, said dealership called me back and apologized and fixed it as a warranty repair as Goodwill (the accounting term).

You might still get your clutch and tranny fixed under warranty. Hope you don't have to get too upset with the dealership.

 

I'd hate to get upset with my dealership becuase I know them so well and have enjoyed my time with them.

 

I was being facetious because I used to hear it all the time when I was a manufacturer but I sure as hell would honor a warrantee that was ten days out!

 

I had the clutch go out on my 02 Cooper go out at 8500 miles. I had the car towed in on the weekend. Monday they called to say it was the clutch and they would order the parts. A few days later they called to say the parts were in and needed authorization to have it fixed because it was not covered by waranty.

As others have mentioned, ultimately it is up to the dealer. I would talk to the highest person you can. Be firm without getting angry. Keep calling on a daily basis.

In the meantime I would call MINI HQ and have them put pressure on the dealership. I would also start putting messages up on every board you can find. MINI monitors these boards and does not want bad publicity. They sent me email and called me to try to ease my mind. However they kept referring me back to the dealer.

I would leave the car there and keep on them. If you take the car away they will certainly not help you.

Good luck.

 

Guess I need to read my warranty. I never heard of a 3 year 25K warranty. I thought that if it was covered at all, it was for 4 years or 50,000 miles. What, besides the clutch, falls in the 25K or 3 year category?

 

resmini - the older MINIs had a different warranty then now.

 

I thought our standard warranty in 2002/2003 was 3 Years/36,000 miles, whichever comes first? I bought an extended maintenance warranty at time of purchase, which increased mine to 4 Years/48,000 (or is it 50,000?). :smile:

I'll have to find out, since I'm on the opposite coast and only 4K short of 48K!


Clover

 

Seems to be some confusion on the warranty, both mileage and time. My MINI was built in August of 03 and i picked it up in September 03.

I'll get my warranty book out today and take a look at it. I need to know when i should break my clutch.

OK, got out the warranty and Service book for my 03.

Page 30, The Mini Division of BMW warrants US spec vehicles against defects, bla, bla bla.

Next paragraph, The warranty period is 48 months or 50,000 mile whichever occurs first.

The 36 month 36,000 mile warranty is mentioned on page 2 but only applies to the free scheduled maintainance.

If something that's covered breaks the warranty is 48 months or 50,000 miles.

If something about the clutch or transmission broke they should fix it. If it wore out then you may have a problem per the paragraph on the right hand column of page 30 which specifically mentions clutch disk and pressure plate as a wear item, only subject to warranty repair due to defects in material or workmanship.
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Sounds like it's pretty much up to the dealer.

 

It's not going well so I might see that M7 go in as anticipated.

 

'Weaver, I know what you're talking about . . . BUT I think that it's funny: sure it's all handshakes and smiles--when you're writing checks and stuff. But as soon as they have to do something a little out of the ordinary, it's like they don't know you anymore.

The only warranty experience I've had, fortunately, was with Acura, and they were pretty cool. They fixed a malfunctioning side window, even though it was a couple of months out of warranty. That's Acura, not BMW, though!

Hey, I really hope things work out for you. Know about many BMW dealers, I'm already trying to work up some contingencies w/ regard to repairs and non-routine maintenance. I will probably go to Kahler's BMW, Porsche and Mercedes for a lot of my stuff.

 

I might have some bad info then - my MA told me when the MINI first camoe out it was a 3/36 warranty...seems like it may just be more of his BS, I think he was wrong about more than he was right!

 

The thing that pisses me off the most is that the dealership never informed me on a warrenty extension! I had the car in there in Feb for a new gas cover and they didn't tell me about my upcoming warrenty expiration or an extension! That really burns me up.

 

Hmmm, someone should rat them out for missing an opportunity to sell ya something! Extended warranty/service contracts are big dollar items, too. That IS unusual... Compare to my Dodge dealer where madame's Caravan is serviced - they NEVER failed to mention the availability of extended warranty coverage, when we were there for recalls & such!

 

Where did this 3 year 25K maintainance warrarty come from. I never heard of sure a thing.

What's wrong with the 4 year 48,000 mile warranty?

 

Resolution!!!!!

So we got the call back from Mini today after having the marketing team look into the situation. Apparently, after further investigation, my transmission was going, which caused the sudden wearing of my clutch. As stated before, the transmission is cover under my warrenty so they agreed to pay for my transmission and clutch!

I LOVE MINI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When we brought the car in the first time, the maintence person, nice guy, said he thought it was the transmission. I thought the same for 2 reasons, I didn't beat up my clutch and if the clutch went, shouldn't I still be able to reverse or drive in second gear?

Either way, I'm happy as hell! Mini F@#!in' rocks! I'm so happy now. Can't wait to get it back on Wednesday!

 

It happened to my '03 MC at around 12,000 miles, grinding noise. Started in 3rd & 4th for me. Took it in, all the synchronisers in the Midlands Tranny had gone belly up! Of course they put it and a new clutch in under warranty, nary a problem since, but they did say in dec. of '03 that it wasn't the first one they'd seen in central Ohio.
Good luck!:smile:

 

 

So I remember reading this thread months back, and was hoping that my transmision if it were going to die, to do it BEFORE my 50,000 mile warranty was up. This past week, I noticed some unusual sounds and feeling from the transmission, but thought it had to be my imagination. The feeling that I had was a sort of indescribable loss of "connection" when the clutch was released--like engagement wasn't distinct anymore.

Today, I backed my car out and noticed a strange clanking noise I hadn't heard before. Then about 10 miles later, as I stopped at a stop light, and proceeded to start off in 1st gear, KA CHUNK!!!

Uh oh, that didn't sound or feel good. Tried again--KA CHUNK!!!.. Ugh, I pulled over to the side, and tried starting off in 2nd and 3rd gear--KA CHUNK just as I released the clutch and engagement was to happen. Didn't sound good at all.

I'm at 43,000 miles, AAA came out---cost me $117 to tow to my dealer (20 miles--AAA pays only for 7 miles)

Now my precious car which has been problem free for the last 2 years is sitting at the dealer--waiting for the diagnosis. Note on the flatbed, there was transmission fluid all over the flatbed by the time we arrived at the dealer.

I've been driving stick for over 20 years, and have always been very careful about my clutch, so I'm pretty certain it's not the clutch. Guess I will find out tomorrow.

Richard

 

Damn Richard,

That really sucks. Hope everything turns out ok. Keep us posted.

 

Ditto! So sorry about that, Richard!! Good luck with it and hope it's fixed ASAP!!


Clover

 

Sorry to hear that as well Richard, I know the feeling. Hopefully everything will work out for you. If it's the clutch, make sure MINI checks the transmission because the transmission caused my clutch to fail.

Keep us posted!:smile:

 

My tranny let go really fast. Well an axle seal let go because of extreme cold.
It happened while I was motoring into work, 50 miles.
I noticed a bad grinding noise when I stopped at a red light.
I phoned work, said I would be late, and motored to the dealer, about 10 minutes away.

The axle seal was dumping tranny fluid when I got there. The tech. came out when I pulled up, had a look and said new tranny for you.

He then drained, flushed the tranny. Lots of metal bits came out. Refilled the tranny, and I drove it for 3 weeks, 500+ miles a week for me,and it felt normal.

I now have 15+ k miles on the new tranny, and all is good.

 

I will sell before hitting 40k. No doubt.

 

Thanks for the posts everyone. I'll update you hopefully tomorrow after I know more.

Richard

 

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