Tough call, but I gotta go with Alonso

 

I'm finding that out....I happened to check it recently and it was down a quart! I had it in for service last week and asked them to do an oil change (mid way between scheduled, so out of my pocket). I mentioned it was down and the svc mgr said that the MINI burns oil, you should be prepared to add a quart every 5k miles or so.

 

Hmmm, my MA said "...these things don't use (read: consume) oil"

 

I changed the oil at 5k and now it has almost 10k and no oil has not been used. On the other hand, my old mustang used a quart every 800 miles.

 

OK - (Not to hijack the thread, but this is directly related to the conversation) - So, what brand synthetic does everyone run/recommend? OEM? Mobile1 Synthetic?

Since I do an oil change at the dealer every 5000-7500 miles, I haven't been keeping oil around to top-up with... but from what I'm reading, I think I will start.

- - michael

 

Mobil 1 here

 

Redline oil used here for 58,000 miles, never have to add oil between oil changes. Spirited driving in the 5000-7000 rpm range and I change it every 8-10 thousand miles.

I mentioned the oil I use because this brand is supposed to resist vaporizing like other brands do from the extra heat that comes with driving hard.
alot of people on here seem to be ok with the fact that their MINI uses alot of oil. Mine and most others do not, why?

 

That's actually a huge guaranteed thread hijack, so much so that I'd like to respectfully ask people PLEASE not to respond. There are a bajillion threads ad nauseam on this topic, and this is an important thread that shouldn't be derailed by 5 pages of who uses what oil.

Please people, I beg you!

 

Amsoil 5W-30, of course. Nothin better!

 

I give up. Stick a fork in it.

 

So what's the lesson learned? Don't rely on idiot lights to tell you your engine is about to explode?

 

You get the Official Tattman Unsung Hero "A for Effort" atta-boy award, for TRYIN'.

That was NAM-Patriotism for sure.

 

chrisnl - CHILLAX!!!

It's like , OK, maybe we should just keep talking about idiot lights for 5 more pages?....cheeez.

- - m

 

Sorry if this is a little late.

I don't think the it tests the quality of the oil because I changed the oil at 5k miles and the service mileage indicator still is the same.

 

The car was fixed yesterday, today, it's dead again.


I will refuse to take the car back now.

 

Ouch! Sorry to hear you're having such a nightmare.

Can you elaborate on the repair? Also, was it performed by MINI Service? Was it covered under warranty? And, what's wrong with it now?

 

Are the Swedish MINI techs that inept?

 

After reading the whole thread, I need to make a couple of corrections and comments:

1. The engine does not test the oil. Your Oil Service Indicator simply ticks down in 25-mile increments. You can reset it yourself, if you're so inclined, and it will happily believe it has another 15K miles until the next change.

2. The Tire Pressure Monitoring System will not let you ride on 4 flats without dinging. I changed my tires all at once to a just barely larger size, and got dinged. When I put the old wheels back on, it dings. It is very sensitive to change.

3. Some car manufacturers advertise maintenance-free cars. I believe it was Honda that made an ad showing a hood being welded shut. We, as consumers, have been lead to believe that we can drive 100K miles without touching the hood-release.

Yes, it has traditionally been the responsibility of the owner, but we have laws that govern our advertising, and when the advertising is false, people get sued. So, no, it is not 100% the responsibility of the owner to maintain the bits under the hood.

MINI has gone out of its way to advertise the 15K mile service interval. If anyone should be held responsible, it should be MINI for making so bold a claim. Kudos to those of you who frequently check your oil, but it is not something deemed important during the walk-through at delivery, nor is it something important enough to warrant more than a cursory mention on pages 98 and 99 of the owner's manual.

I would venture to guess that the vast majority of the motoring public do not frequently check their oil. Are we to believe that they're irresponsible idiots? Or should we recognize that the automotive industry has convinced us that owner maintenance is a thing of the past?

I, for one, wouldn't jump down fj0's throat for not checking his oil. His dealership made a change to his car that they don't want to admit, so they've pushed the responsibility of double-checking their own work off on him.

It is reckless, rude, and dangerous.

 

This is what I said on MINI2.com



They replaced the engine and gave me the car yesterday, about 60miles and 1day after(today), the car started making a noise, I immidiatley stopped and shut the car off, I tried starting it again but it didn't start, nothing happened, no start engine no nothing. It smelled like some electricity was fried, when the flatbed came and tried to get the window up it didn't work, no electricity. So I had to flatbed it to Solna(bad dealership), I wanted to send it to Borgs Bil(better dealership) but they were closed so we couldn't get it there and park it outside with the window open. I'm going to Solna tomorrow with my brother. I will refuse to take the car back. I want my money back.

 

But have they? Yes they may do so in the US, but the original poster is in Sweden, NOT the US. If he was an American and this incident happened in the US I'd be inclined to agree with you...

But, anybody who reads this board and MINI2 on a regular basis quickly learns that just because MINI does something in the US, doesn't mean they do the same in the rest of the world...

Honestly, when it comes to the warranty issues surrounding this car, I don't think anybody outside of Sweden can make any authoritative comments...

 

Again everyone.. Please remember that Mario lives in Sweden in Northern Europe....

 

You had to throw in Northern Europe in the end didn't you?

 

Mario, how the "Rejection" laws work in Sweden? In MINI2.com I have read about "rejection" stories from UK residents but how is this handled in the rest of the European Union? What are your consumer protection laws?

It seems to me the biggest screw up here is your local MINI garage...

 

Ok Mario.... "SCANDINAVIAN" Europe

Seriously, most Americans are not very good in Geography and may get "Lost" when a foreign country is mentioned, hence my further references to "Northern Europe".

 

Actually it would let you run on four flats and tell you everything is fine. It is highly unlikely, but possible. It works by monitoring the wheels rotation in relation to eachother. So technically if they were all loosing air at the same rate, the monitor would see the relationship between the tires stay the same, and not warn of a flat. (at least thats how it worked on the 03's and older, I dont know if they have changed the system for the newer models)




fj0 - Sorry to hear your nightmare is still going on. Keep us posted.

Nik