First After-Warantee-Work: Don't do what I did
 

I was lazy... and paid for it. My '02 MCS has 69k miles on it, so I'm well past warantee. The car has done great, very, very few problems over the years.

So the latch on my glove box sorta falls apart. Well, that's a bummer... it's gotta be fixed... the door hangs open and that little light in there stays on and drains the battery.

Here's where I got lazy. There's a wealth of info on NAM, I found an excellent how-to thread on the glove box, pics on taking the whole thing apart and putting it back together... and I ignored it. "The latch needs fixing, I'll take it to the dealer and let them do it, less worry for me, it's just a little latch," I told myself. I did not do my home work and I took the easy solution. It cost me $392.97 !!!! :mad: To fix a little latch!

At the very least I should have found out what fixing the glove box was going to entail and cost. I might have decided to have them do it, I don't think so, but at least I would have been making an informed choice. Of course, what they did, was replace the whole glove box... I could have know this had I inquired ahead of time.

Live and learn. :grin:

Oh...I know that feeling!

I bought my car in Canberra....and the unexpectedly moved to Sydney.

I decided to take my car to a dealer in Sydney and get the first 15000km service done. I took it in without asking how much it would cost....

Anyway....I returned to find that the service cost me a shade under $500 aussie dollars (about USD$380).....:mad: :mad: FOR AN OIL CHANGE AND A SAFETY INSPECTION!!! They charged me AUD$120 to change the oil!!! They didn't even rotate the tyres!

To top it off, I drove the car to the top level of the dealer and opened the hood. They hadn't replaced the faulty hood liner that they said they would under warranty (it had a strange corrosion that had spread since delivery). Then I saw that they'd uncliped my Alta Intake Silicon Hose and the end was pointing up towards the hood! - ready to suck anything, unfiltered, into the engine!!!! :mad: :mad: :mad:

I asked other owners in Sydney and Canberra what they had paid for their services, and the next highest was AUD$300...

I voiced my concerns loudly in no uncertain terms as to my displeasure with the dealer in the aussie dealership feedback thread in mini2, to make sure no other club members would get burnt as I did.

As it turns out, the service manager was overseas at the time. He was/is a well known mini enthousiast himself, and has a good relationship with the Sydney mini community. When he got back I met up with him on a run and told him how unhappy I was. He get a hood liner in for me the next day and got it put in. Recently, he installed some aux driving lights on my and minigolf's car for a significantly reduced price - and this more than covered the difference in expense for the service.

I have since voiced my delight at his help in the m2 thread relating to Aussie dealers. What a difference a single person can make to customer satisfaction!

Ouch... You should always get an estimate from the dealer first and an explanation on what will be needed to do the repair. The dealer will always pick the more expensive route.... Thats way too expensive ...

Did the dealer not give you an estimate ahead of time? Maybe it's a California law, but I've always had to sign an estimate when I dropped my car off at the dealer. If the actual cost goes over that they have to call to get my permission to do the work. At least I assume they have to do that since it has happened both at dealerships and at independent shops.

Sorry about your glovebox ($393 would buy a lot of duct tape to hold it shut), but I'm glad I'm getting something in return for living in this crazy, expensive state!

The MINI is a real BMW after all. :smile:

B = Broke
M = My
W = Wallet

I feel your pain Coopdawg. :grin:

(Well not really, as I'm still within the warranty period).

Ouch - that hurts the pocket for sure!!!!:eek: Dang.....sorry....guess we all live and learn some expensive mistakes here and there eh?

Donna:cool: :grin: :cool:

Holy shizzat! Almost 400 bux to fix a stinking glovebox latch? :eek2: :eek2: :eek2:
Did they simply keep the lid and replace the car surrounding it, or what? They should have, for that price. :mad: :mad: :mad:

Did they break out parts and labor? I'd be interested to see how much or each was charged for. My ball joint is loose. Car won't pass inspection. I'm still under warranty, so I think it's covered.

Is it your ball joint that is loose or your MINI's. Are you under warranty or is your MINI. I'm sorry I don't mean to be ugly...I am just laughing so hard :lol: Maybe it's just me:eek: I'm sorry:o

Bob, that ball joint is surely covered... Let's see, $243.75 was parts. (the new box), and the remainder labor... wait a minute... Oh, I had them replace the rear wiper blade... my local mechanic couldn't for some reason... so the labor the the glove box was actually $90.25 and,,, the wiper blade $36.13 plus $8.12 for hazardous waste disposal... :confused:... Whatever...:sly:

Now that was an unwarranted and hurtful thing to say, don't y'all agree? Oh heck, I thought it funny myself :thumbsup:

I love the 'hazardous waste' disposal insult, an automatic percent of sale, hazardous or not.

Supposedly most car dealerships make the large majority of their money in 'service' not car sales. :sly:

Hazardous waste as a % of the total?? Is that a mid-west thing? Haven't seen that type of thing here. Seems steep to ding $8 for an old glovebox and a wiper blade...:roll: Maybe if they flushed a fluid or two.

Live and learn, eh Beagle? But think how happy the service manager is now. :wink:

My glove box latch has been loose for sometime. I had tried taken it to the dealer and they had told me that they could not replicate my problem with the glove box falling open......well thats BS :mad:. So now ive been driving around with the glove box jammed shut, and i go to open it this weekend and it broke. Well turns out mini usa called me on last thursday to do a survey and i let em have it about the dealer and told them what was wrong. Well i came home yesterday and had a message on my answering machine and it was the new Service Advisor from the Mini dealer by me. So i plan on making a phone call to him today and see what he will do for me because the guy before him was a pain to deal with.

Did they even give you a reacharound with that?

So How Does This Work?
 

So with my MINI on order I see ther are a few things to prepare for. First what is the opinion on getting the additional service coverage bumped up to 50,000 miles from 36,000 miles...what would that be worth...as in when does the amount they want for that exceed it's worth? In that same thought I was looking to do some mods...CAI, Pulley, MTH at least and wondered what the dealer will say at service intervals. Especially if I go with a M7 CAI and tubing...will service complain about access for oil change, etc.

M7's intake isnt really "cold air". I have it on my car, and i can say you deffenately dont want to put it on your car bein brand new. Of course thats my $.02. I love the intake and probaly wouldnt go back to anything else. But i have 45,000 on my car so im not to worried about it.

lol.....

Independent Shops
 

After the warranty work is all done...or the warranty has expired, aren't there any good independent shops that can do the work for pennys on the dollar compared to the BMW mentality of the dealership service. I would think by now that some independent BMW mechanics in Southern California would be certified to work on the MINI. Then you end up with a better realtionship and better pricing. Anyone have a good experience or recommendations?