Recap: Took delivery of new adorable Mini Oct 29 (PS/BLK-CVT-Sprts/Prem/Cold pkgs). Problems started on ride home from dealer: stalling, bucking, xmission slipping, almost all warning lights on solid, inclding trans program error. Woe is me.

1st repair attempt: flush defective trans fluid & replace trans computer module. Problems came back one week later. Back to dealer for two weeks.

2nd repair attempt: CVT expert flown in from Belgium says tranny OK; he sends computer to Jersey to be re-flashed. Problems came back two days later & how. Back to dealer for...

34 (!) days & several emails/phone calls/legal paper filings later: dealer says car is fixed. Says they finally found & replaced a bad engine wiring harness. Been driving it for two days now & so far, so good.

BELIEVE IN OMENS? Left dealer's shop 4PM Fri, got on Manhattan's West Side Hwy northbound, trffc heavy but moving. Moved to left lane & wound up behind an MCS (SG/WHT); 1st time I'd seen another Mini while driving. When he moved right to head west, I pulled along side & gave him a thumbs-up. He nodded & waved. Then the sun broke through, its rays beaming down through a break in the clouds. A rainbow appeared spanning the Hudson River & a flock of doves swooped down to fly along side me. ---- Just kidding about the sun/doves/rainbow, but thats how I felt.

Negotiations concerning the replacement of the car, compensation, reparations, etc still ongoing but I have affixed the personalized plates I ordered weeks ago: MYT LITL. Meanwhile, I figure I'm driving the most throughly inspected Mini in the Western Hemisphere. Should I keep it? BB

 

Congrats Bigbud on getting your MINI back!

You deserve extra cudos for your grace in putting up with a 30+ day delay in the repair. Many here (and elsewhere) wouldn't have.

First, to answer your last question...my answer would be YES. If you like the car and want a MINI, now you have one. It works, and it is probably "well inspected" as you note. The liklihood of anything else of this magnitude going wrong is slim.

Second, you should go to another dealer. Unless you've somehow bonded over the exceedingly poor service shown by this dealer, there's absolutely no excuse for these morons to have kept your car for 34 days to solve a problem. Any problem. We've heard other cases of MINI offering to take back cars when they've not been able to diagnose a problem for this length of time. In those cases, they seemed to have been actively trying for that length of time. My guess in this case was that they were simply not trying too hard. Repeated (incorrect) attempts at resolution don't constitute anything. IMHO you were just being ignored.

So, good that you have your car and are happy. But take it someplace else next time unless you want a similar type of dealer performance in the future. Was this MINI of Manhattan? They seem to have a terrible rating as evidenced by other people's posts on this board...

 

>>Recap: Took delivery of new adorable Mini Oct 29 (PS/BLK-CVT-Sprts/Prem/Cold pkgs). Problems started on ride home from dealer: stalling, bucking, xmission slipping, almost all warning lights on solid, inclding trans program error. Woe is me.
>>
>>1st repair attempt: flush defective trans fluid & replace trans computer module. Problems came back one week later. Back to dealer for two weeks.
>>
>>2nd repair attempt: CVT expert flown in from Belgium says tranny OK; he sends computer to Jersey to be re-flashed. Problems came back two days later & how. Back to dealer for...
>>
>>34 (!) days & several emails/phone calls/legal paper filings later: dealer says car is fixed. Says they finally found & replaced a bad engine wiring harness. Been driving it for two days now & so far, so good.
>>
>>BELIEVE IN OMENS? Left dealer's shop 4PM Fri, got on Manhattan's West Side Hwy northbound, trffc heavy but moving. Moved to left lane & wound up behind an MCS (SG/WHT); 1st time I'd seen another Mini while driving. When he moved right to head west, I pulled along side & gave him a thumbs-up. He nodded & waved. Then the sun broke through, its rays beaming down through a break in the clouds. A rainbow appeared spanning the Hudson River & a flock of doves swooped down to fly along side me. ---- Just kidding about the sun/doves/rainbow, but thats how I felt.
>>
>>Negotiations concerning the replacement of the car, compensation, reparations, etc still ongoing but I have affixed the personalized plates I ordered weeks ago: MYT LITL. Meanwhile, I figure I'm driving the most throughly inspected Mini in the Western Hemisphere. Should I keep it? BB
>>


No I disagree. Return it. They are simply trying to "Stall" you out of any legal proceedings regarding the return/replacement of the car. To me that car is somewhat "Violated", is no longer new, nearly every piece has been replaced on it.

Remember: They robbed you from your new car experience.

Force them to take it back and stick to your guns. You no longer want the car and you still deserve a replacement. They are buying time to see if you go away. If 6 months from today the stalling happens again, then you'll be screwed as your window of opportunity to act under the Lemon Law provisions would either be greatly minimized or closed for good.

Don't take chances. Let them worry about what are they going to do with the car after they take it back from you. You paid for a brand new spanking untouched car and the new car experience. Make them take it back.

Another 2 months waiting for a new one (Albeit even better build quality) make it worth it in my book.

 

jsun, you make a very good case and it would certainly be easiest for for all involved if I kept the car.

But, Cooper4us, I think you're on the right track. I told Mini Division I want a fresh start with a new Mini, not a car I'll always worry about. They'll get back to me.

Meanwhile, even though the new (or fixed) engine wiring harness seems to have cured the slipping, bucking, and assoc'd warning lights -- there is still some jerking/hesitation at low speed (10 MPH). I think a small amount of this may be normal for the CVT but I don't recall my test-drive car (back in October) acting like this. A damaged tranny? Dunno, but let it not be MY problem.

It is a nice drive but I'm sick and tired of the trip across the Tri-boro bridge, through Harlem and down the H.Hudson pkwy or Riverside Drive to Mini of Manhattan in the BMW bldg. It is starting to seem like a commute. BB

 

You could always leave the car running in the Bronx...

 

>>You could always leave the car running in the Bronx...

 

>>>>You could always leave the car running in the Bronx...
>>

A car left in the Bronx with the engine running could only be a police sting. But hey, I was born and raised in the Bronx (Pelham Parkway area). It is a great borough full of parks and other green spaces (nickname: The Borough of Universities). And, it is the only NYC borough with the word "the" in its name. So there.

 

But do you know why The Bronx is the only borough with "the" in its name?

Because it used to be The Bronx Family Farm, way back when, if you were "Going to The Bronx" you were visiting the Bronx Family. Learned that on a Circle Line cruise in third grade!

Or how about what makes Manhattan such a good place for building tall skyscrapers???

The entire island has an underlaying layer of extremely stable stone known as "Manhattan Shist" It's this layer of stone that allows for the construction of Manhattan's famous skyscrapers... Learned that on a school field trip in second grade!