R50/53 Broke down in Chicago (from NJ)...hellllppp :0(
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3rd Gear
Joined: Nov 2004
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Ok, first the Cliff's Notes Version :
Car broke down - Patrick MINI determined it was a faulty clutch - repaired under warranty - trip covered by MINIUSA Trip Interruption Program.:smile:
(below is the 'extended' version)
ps- Much thanks Patrick MINI, Adam Hein, and MINI tech Eric Olson. Best experience with a dealership I've ever had.
Car broke down - Patrick MINI determined it was a faulty clutch - repaired under warranty - trip covered by MINIUSA Trip Interruption Program.:smile:
(below is the 'extended' version)
ps- Much thanks Patrick MINI, Adam Hein, and MINI tech Eric Olson. Best experience with a dealership I've ever had.
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3rd Gear
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 166
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Here's the update :smile:
Hi all! Greetings once again from the Windy City. My unscheduled 'pit stop' here on my road trip turned out to be one of the more enjoyable weekends I've had in a long time. While I was unable to attend the wedding I came out west for, it turned out that I was able to catch up with some old friends and family in the Chicago area that I hadnt seen in a long time.
'Winston' was flat-bedded to Patrick's MINI in Shaumburg, IL for the analysis/repair on Thursday evening. The following day I stopped by the dealership to check up on Winston's condition. It was determined that the Clutch/Transmission was the suspected cause of 'Winston''s woes and could potentially take a good amount of labor hours if the Tranny was to blame. At that point I thought my entire weekend was in the dumps...
Enter ADAM HEIN of Patrick MINI - aka 'The Man'! He took care of me from the moment he found out about my situation. In no time, I had the keys to a clean loaner MINI (brand new, had 12 miles on it and THE NEW CAR SMELL
). He was upfront about the entire situation - I've never before dealt with a dealership staff member that actually kept me thoroughly informed as to the status of my car. He called me on my cell to make sure I was ok and to let me know where they were at as far as the repairs. I would imagine he might not have time to do that with every customer -that's the busiest dealerhip I've ever seen - but I did appreciate that he was genuinely sypathetic to my situation.
That being said, it was determined that the CLUTCH was toasted. Done. From what I understand, the 'plate'(?) was completed cracked, flywheel smoked, something was warped...basically the worst situation you can possibly imagine happening to a clutch happened to mine. Thankfully they also determined that it was just a faulty clutch assembly from the beginning and therefore covered by the warranty.
That makes sense, because my clutch more or less has felt the same from the first day to the day before this happened. I didnt realize that the clutch on the MINI wasnt supposed to feel that way until Eric from Helix noticed it felt funny. My other car - my first manual - is a Land Rover Defender 90, so unfortunately that was my only reference to 'clutch' feel, and they both felt similar.
So Patrick's MINI, as busy as they were and sympathetic towards my situation, worked some magic and got 'Winston' back to me on Saturday (had it not been done by Sat, I would've had to wait until Tuesday). Eric Olson was the tech that got 'Winston' good to go - good guy, was nice enough to take the time to explain the ins and outs of the repair to me.
In any case, the interruption of my trip was completely covered by MINIUSA ($750 for hotel, meals, and transportation).
Thanks to everyone for their advise/input into my unfortunate situation. It was nice to know that when I was in trouble, that I could turn to the MINI family on NAM for support.
I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend! It's SUMMERTIMMMME BABY!!! Sincerely, Bri
Hi all! Greetings once again from the Windy City. My unscheduled 'pit stop' here on my road trip turned out to be one of the more enjoyable weekends I've had in a long time. While I was unable to attend the wedding I came out west for, it turned out that I was able to catch up with some old friends and family in the Chicago area that I hadnt seen in a long time.
'Winston' was flat-bedded to Patrick's MINI in Shaumburg, IL for the analysis/repair on Thursday evening. The following day I stopped by the dealership to check up on Winston's condition. It was determined that the Clutch/Transmission was the suspected cause of 'Winston''s woes and could potentially take a good amount of labor hours if the Tranny was to blame. At that point I thought my entire weekend was in the dumps...
Enter ADAM HEIN of Patrick MINI - aka 'The Man'! He took care of me from the moment he found out about my situation. In no time, I had the keys to a clean loaner MINI (brand new, had 12 miles on it and THE NEW CAR SMELL
). He was upfront about the entire situation - I've never before dealt with a dealership staff member that actually kept me thoroughly informed as to the status of my car. He called me on my cell to make sure I was ok and to let me know where they were at as far as the repairs. I would imagine he might not have time to do that with every customer -that's the busiest dealerhip I've ever seen - but I did appreciate that he was genuinely sypathetic to my situation.That being said, it was determined that the CLUTCH was toasted. Done. From what I understand, the 'plate'(?) was completed cracked, flywheel smoked, something was warped...basically the worst situation you can possibly imagine happening to a clutch happened to mine. Thankfully they also determined that it was just a faulty clutch assembly from the beginning and therefore covered by the warranty.
That makes sense, because my clutch more or less has felt the same from the first day to the day before this happened. I didnt realize that the clutch on the MINI wasnt supposed to feel that way until Eric from Helix noticed it felt funny. My other car - my first manual - is a Land Rover Defender 90, so unfortunately that was my only reference to 'clutch' feel, and they both felt similar.
So Patrick's MINI, as busy as they were and sympathetic towards my situation, worked some magic and got 'Winston' back to me on Saturday (had it not been done by Sat, I would've had to wait until Tuesday). Eric Olson was the tech that got 'Winston' good to go - good guy, was nice enough to take the time to explain the ins and outs of the repair to me.
In any case, the interruption of my trip was completely covered by MINIUSA ($750 for hotel, meals, and transportation).
Thanks to everyone for their advise/input into my unfortunate situation. It was nice to know that when I was in trouble, that I could turn to the MINI family on NAM for support.
I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend! It's SUMMERTIMMMME BABY!!! Sincerely, Bri
5th Gear
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 618
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From: Chicago, Illinois
I stopped by @ Patrick BMW/MINI on Saturday to order some CF goodies for the MINI and to show Adam my new CF hood..
While talking to Adam, we went to parts dept. and I noticed an MC40 sitting in the bay..Adam and I went back there to look at it and then I remember this is the 'Winston' that BriNYU was talking about...Eric showed me the clutch and indeed it was pretty much disintegrated..
Im glad that your MINI is all well, Adam is a great guy and Eric is the only person who works on my MINI when I get anything done there...they do great things.
and to show Adam my new CF hood..While talking to Adam, we went to parts dept. and I noticed an MC40 sitting in the bay..Adam and I went back there to look at it and then I remember this is the 'Winston' that BriNYU was talking about...Eric showed me the clutch and indeed it was pretty much disintegrated..
Im glad that your MINI is all well, Adam is a great guy and Eric is the only person who works on my MINI when I get anything done there...they do great things.
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3rd Gear
Joined: Nov 2004
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PS - I think my ECU got reset to stock...and the GIAC that Helix upgraded me is no longer in effect and Winston isnt running very well. I've called Perfect Power over in Libertyville and I hope they can re-install the GIAC programming before I drive teh 800+ miles back to NJ.
I'm glad everything worked out for you.
It's great to hear your story. My MINI, purchased from Patrick btw, will be in good hands if some thing is ever to happen to it.
Did you get a chance to have any deep dish while out here?
Have a safe ride home BriNYU!
It's great to hear your story. My MINI, purchased from Patrick btw, will be in good hands if some thing is ever to happen to it.
Did you get a chance to have any deep dish while out here?
Have a safe ride home BriNYU!
Coordinator :: Gulf South Motoring
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 430
Likes: 4
From: Hammond, Louisiana
Bri that is great that everything worked out the way it did. And to answer om's qustion I was referring to with the warranty was the cluch is covered by the 4yr/50k warranty and if she WASN'T riding the clutch or showing a few of her friends how to drive a standard and they(the mini dealership) deemed it to be a faulty clutch (which is what it was) then it will be covered. It's listed on page 28 of the 2005 service & warranty information guide. Bringing the sticker in was a figure of speach. Didn't mean it the way I said it I guess. lol If it was my mini and since I don't ride my clutch and would never show any of my friends how to drive a stick "well not in my mini at least" I wouldn't stop till it was replaced. But at least everything worked out just like it should have!!
Originally Posted by OmToast
wildone...
Unless I'm missing something, nothing on that sticker's warranty/maintenance list puts MINI on the line for covering wear items. A full maintenance warranty suggests that your maintenance is free -- not necessarily wear items. And the 4yr/50K warranty is limited -- generally "limited" excludes wear items unless, as someone else pointed out, the wear item is showing some type of defect of material that has expedited it's wear.
I'm not saying that they shouldn't cover it -- indeed, it would be a nice backing of their product if they did -- just that they probably don't have to. It's likely at the discretion of the dealership. 18K on a clutch is absurd... assuming Bri isn't habitually riding her clutch. I don't mean to suggest that she's anything but a fabulous driver, but look at it from a dealers perspective: perhaps my left foot never leaves the clutch pedal, I routinely slip the clutch to hold myself steady on hills, and I've just taught 6 of my closest friends how to drive stick using my car. My clutch craps out and I take it in, demanding warranty service. Should the dealer be on the line for that?
Sending in a sticker clipping which doesn't expressly state warrantied wear items, along with no payment, will likely get you nothing but a brief interaction with the repo man/woman...
Unless I'm missing something, nothing on that sticker's warranty/maintenance list puts MINI on the line for covering wear items. A full maintenance warranty suggests that your maintenance is free -- not necessarily wear items. And the 4yr/50K warranty is limited -- generally "limited" excludes wear items unless, as someone else pointed out, the wear item is showing some type of defect of material that has expedited it's wear.
I'm not saying that they shouldn't cover it -- indeed, it would be a nice backing of their product if they did -- just that they probably don't have to. It's likely at the discretion of the dealership. 18K on a clutch is absurd... assuming Bri isn't habitually riding her clutch. I don't mean to suggest that she's anything but a fabulous driver, but look at it from a dealers perspective: perhaps my left foot never leaves the clutch pedal, I routinely slip the clutch to hold myself steady on hills, and I've just taught 6 of my closest friends how to drive stick using my car. My clutch craps out and I take it in, demanding warranty service. Should the dealer be on the line for that?
Sending in a sticker clipping which doesn't expressly state warrantied wear items, along with no payment, will likely get you nothing but a brief interaction with the repo man/woman...
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