I went to take delivery of my MCS tonight and immediately noticed a paint bubble right above the drivers side door handle. Its about the size of a large pinhead in a spot where I'll see it every time I open the door. The drivers side door also had a noticable chip in the edge of it. So much for Mini quality control. I'm surprised this could have escaped the factory.

The consensus was that there is contamination at the paint level, below the clearcoat. They're going to send it to the body shop and have it wetsanded to try and remove the blemish. I'm not too concerned about the chip in the edge of the door, but the paint bubble bothers me and I won't buy the car if it can't be removed.

I know enough about paintwork to know that this bubble probably can't be fixed without a repaint of the door. Wetsanding the flaw means sanding through the clearcoat which doesn't sound like a good thing.

Has anyone else had or seen a similar situation? Does Mini have local reps that take care of customers when there is a manufacturing problem like this? What can I expect Mini to do?

 

I would have done the same... Let them try and fix it, if it meets with your approval, then buy it... otherwise, see what options they offer you.
I found the quality to be very good when I picked mine up, other than the dealer prep getting some tire dressing spots on the rubber.

I refused my xB when I went to pick it up last Feb. The dealer made a trade with another dealer to get the color I wanted. It arrived with 75 miles as they drove it up and a front license plate screwed into the fascia (no front plate required in NC).
They wanted to replace front fascia, said no deal.
They ordered me a new one, arrived in two weeks with 4 miles on it and no problems....
Once you write the check, your stuck with their fixes...
Good luck with it..

 

If the paint flaw bothers you a lot, reject the car and re-order. The paint chip could have been caused during transportation, not before the car left the factory.

One of the main functions of the VPC is to ensure that the car meets BMW quality control standards. If something escapes the factory, or the car sustains minor damage during shipping, the VPC has the obligation to fix the flaws.

I have custom factory ordered 3 new MINIs ('02 MC, '04 MCS and '05 MCS) and never have encountered any problems with the factory paintwork.

If you haven't signed the papers and money hasn't been exchanged, you are not obligated to take this one home. Re-order and move on.

 

If this is something that can't be fixed and I do have to reorder, would it be unreasonable to expect that they let me drive this car until the new one arrives? This seems to me like a fair resolution to a bad situation. I would expect this cost to be bourne by Mini and not the dealer. How good is Mini at working with their customers to fix problems?

 

I doubt they would let you drive it when they will touch it up and sell it to someone else. Hang in there, they can do wonders with paint fixes and you might get this settled quickly and to your liking...

 

If they "Let you drive the car" it implies that you are accepting it, paint flaws and all. All they can do for you is to find you the first available production spot at the factory and get the new order processed as soon as possible. BMW/MINI is like any other car company in the world as far as I am concerned. If you reject the car, you will have to arrange for transportation until the new one arrives in 4-6 weeks. The dealer may give you a loaner vehicle, but don't get your hopes too high.

True, the paint flaws are not your fault, but in the big scheme of things they do not render the vehicle unsafe or undriveable.

When you plunk down over $20K for a new car, it better be as close to perfection as possible. If they have to repaint that door, I say, forget about it! You don't want a brand new car with a re-paint job already. Think, resale value down the road.

Good luck and let us know what transpires from the situation. I am still inclined to think that you will be better off re-ordering the vehicle.

 

I would advise against getting a brand new vehicle with a paint respray. If he wants flaws, then buy it used!

 

I agree that accepting the car with a repainted door is not an option.

I would expect some concession from Mini if I have to wait another six weeks for another car. I'm not sure what that should be though. Once a car is delivered to the dealer, is any negotiation only between me and the dealer? For example, is there a BMW level rep that could say something like take this car and we'll give you $500 to compensate for the flaw?

 

If you reject the car............you wait for the new one to come in. I would highly doubt they give you a loaner of any kind. If they do you are very lucky. I would wait to see what they can do to resolve the flaw. You might be "jumping the gun."

Good Luck

 

I agree that I might be jumping the gun, but want to be prepared with what I should do when I see the car again.

 

Again, I doubt MINI will give you a discount on the next one for the incovenience. The dealer will fix it up and sell it for sticker price in an eye blink. All they can do for you is to get you the next available factory spot and that's it.

These cars are hot commodities and high in demand. If you don't want this one, someone else will and that's that.

The factory reps only get involved on actual warranty claims when you have actually taken delivery of the car, not in situations where factory/shipping flaws are detected and you have not yet taken delivery of the car.

 

Gobble, You are buying a car that is to be delivered in a new condition. You will always KNOW about the blem door even if they do a re-paint.

Can you live with the fix? Me...it would probably bug me to know end...but most people could deal with it.

 

you might be luck and they will throw in some floor mats.

As far as the dirt nib goes you may get lucky and they can wet sand it. If its repairable they wont go through the clear. If they do it will be obvious to you when they try to present it as fixed. The chip probably came durring transport from vdc to the dealer or at the sealer.

Dirt in the paint is unfortunatly not all that uncommon.

Give em a chance to make it right, if they dont fix it to your satisfaction and dont act as though they are truly concerned, tell them to keep th ecar, get your deposit bak ( if you had one ) and buy the car somewere else. there are always options.

I bought mine from ohio because I didnt want to wait and refuse to pay over sticker for any car.

 

Ask them if the car was repainted at the VDC. Many cars get damaged along the way to the port and are fixed at the VDC up to a significant degree - perhaps you can find out if yours was. I've heard of quite severe damage/fixes done there that they do not reveal, and frankly if there was a hint of it I would think twice about the car just because of the potential headaches with the fix/paint in the future.

 

It is not at all uncommon for a car to have a paint flaw or be damaged in shipping. You will be guaranteed to get a stone chip in your first 100 miles of driving the car! There is absoloutely no reason that the defect can't be repaired to like new or better than new condition. There is no secret formula that the factory has. Paint is paint and metal is metal. All you need to find is a body shop that knows what they are doing and cares enough to do it right.