A loaner/rental from the dealership... A white Kia Optima. :/

 

Quick! Someone post that puking smiley!

 

man, they really down graded you on the loaner. Not only do you have a truly terrible experience but you get to drive around a really cheap car too. Thant really sucks.

 

Typical Tate

 

Soooo many jackasses in this world.
I feel your pain. Good luck getting your MINI back and soon!

 

Almost understandable, as it takes brute force to overcome the spring tension in mine to get it into reverse.... (but certainly not enough to twist the shift **** right off)

For all of you, let Wagnbat's very unfortunate experience with the towing serve as a warning: the only safe way to tie down a MINI is to use tire straps that Golden Child was referring to. If the tow operator only has chains to hook to the undercarriage (and that is too often the case), send him/her/it home.

Wagnbat, hope all is made right!

 

Wagnbat was lucky to get any loaner at all, there.

 

Really? I have never gone there for service without getting a loaner or rental... MDSBrain had a loaner for a month from them as well. Maybe you had issues prior to the new service advisors?

 

Poor batmini

That is a story out of my worst MINI nightmares. I hope everything is taken care of as quickly and painless as possible.

 

Gak... last time i had CoopahS in for service i was given a Pontiac Vibe... i had a friend almost refuse to meet me for lunch in it... what a POS!

Lots of positive Mini "vibes" your way on being all set for the dragon

 

Could be.

 

Bill @ Tate Mini is killing me. The garage is killing me. ###hats are killing me!!!

The initial problem was that the parking attendants stripped the shifter. On Thursday I had Alta overnight the shifter, and Bill called and said they got it Friday morning. Friday late-morning he calls, and says it won't fit. Ignoring the obvious, figuring it was obvious, I call Alta and verify they've never used any model except the one I had and have in there. They confirm Tate needs to loosen the adjustment screw, slide the shifter down, and tighten the screw back down.

I call Bill (Service Advisor) back, and he says 'oh, I'll tell the mechanic that'. THE FRICKEN THING COMES WITH INSTRUCTIONS $(@%(#$&@)*%)@%*(#$%&*@#@!!!!!!!!!!!!! So you'll have it done today? He says probably not, they've already tried to install it twice. That's a bunch of horse****, but whatever.

Monday, no call. I call and speak to the other service advisor whom is nice and friendly and has a clue, and she says she'll have him get back to me. So he calls 2 hours later to tell me he doesn't know what's going on, but that he'll call me and tell me later. So he calls a while after that, and says he doesn't think they'll get a chance.

It's a SHIFTER! A single straight piece of metal with a fricken ball on the end! They installed the first one! The one in there now matches exactly!! Take it out, make the new one match, and put it back in, done!

Today, Tuesday... He calls at 2pm, and says they havn't had a chance to work on it yet, but might get to it today. I'm so aggrevated I have nothing to say to him. So I call BMW next door, and express some of my frustration at the Service & Parts manager. He apologizes, and says he'll call me back in less than 15 minutes. That was 30 mins ago.

Have I mentioned the garage is refusing to take responsibility for the damage they caused? The military officer responsible for our contract with the garage refuses to help me, and advises contacting USAA with regards to the (what should be) $450 bill.

I have not even got my car to a shop to get estimated for body repair yet, because Tate is hogging it, and leaving me in this poo Kia Optima. OMG, I'm so pissed off. I was supposed to go to the Tony Nuzzo event in Virginia this weekend, so I'll have to go in a poo car or a beat-up Batmini.

NOT HAPPY.

 

When I was in the market to buy a MINI I called all three dealers and ask about them. Two of the dealers were helpful, the third was not.

Still looking, I called all three service departments asking about some technical details concerning the JCW TC. TWO of the dealers told me one thing ... the third told me another thing. I called JCW and JCW confirmed that the other two service departments were correct, and the third dealer was wrong. You can guess who that third dealer was.

Wagn, I am truly sorry about your hassles but you have reinforced that my buying decision (as to where to buy) was correct.

 

Well, long story short... Tate installed the Alta short shifter before with no problem. Now they have a new service advisor, and they suddenly cannot install a replacement alta short shifter. That does not make sense in so many different ways. It's the SAME!

Does that mean I should have bought elsewhere? Tate is still the closest, and MiniUSA tows to the closest, no?

 

I swear WagnBat you and I get the shaft alot .

I had so much bs with Tate and then today I had a runflat replaced (At a Goodyear dealer). $364

 

Yes I believe they do. So if the car was in DC, it goes to MOS? correct? It depends upon where you break down. You work in DC so I would imagine the closest is MOS ... am I wrong? How often do people break down in their driveway?

It just seems to me that you and MDSbrain kind of live there and there have been many threads about their service issues. The fact that they were the only service dept to get a technical question they should know right ... wrong ... was disturbing to me and I knew NADA about MINIs.

I hope they make it right and wish we well in the body damage too. Get that car FIXED before May 2 dude ... you cant miss the Dragon!

 

Yep, you're wrong. Tate's closer. Cutoff seems to be somewhere around Wheaton. To the north and west it goes to MOS, south and east to Tate.

 

Welcome to Tate. I know and feel your pain!

 

I have a body shop lined up... Just need Tate to fix the durn shifter. It WILL be done by dragon... I just may be missing some bonnet stripes.

 

How can that be? I don't know exactly where Will works in DC but lets say he was the President, for now. Do a mapquest to both dealers ...

MOS 28.27 miles
Tate 35.99 miles

I guess it depends exactly where in DC.

 

In the spirit if Peter Pan - post smilies if you believe!
Post smilies if you believe! Post smilies if you believe!



C'mon, BatMINI! You'll make it to the Dragon! You just have to believe!

 

.... and I will do an Italian Witch spell .. the BatMINI MUST be at the Dragon !!!

MD STREGA2
GS 22
Motoring ID Open 22

 

Well, they towed me to Tate, which was preferable because I live 11 miles from them.

Long story short (because it's pretty much written out above) Blue is me, red is Tate, green is Alta tech support:
Fix the shifter
Ok... Oops, wait, it's stripped. We can only temp fix it.
Damn. I'm having one overnighted. (thurs night)
(friday morning) We got it, working on it.
Cool.
(friday afternoon) Dood, it won't fit.
What?
It's 4" too long.
Damn. [calling alta] doods?
It fits.
Tate?
It doesn't.
repeat process for 4 days.
(thursday morning) Tate?
Doesn't fit.
Alta?
It fits.
Tate, I'm coming out there.
But the cars not ready.
I don't care.
...
These 3 screws, unscrew them, and move the shifter up 4 inches, then tighten them back down.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HHHHHHHH!!!!! Those screws.
...
Glad you're leaving happy.
...

There you have it folks. Black n white short story... Err, red & blue... & green. Meh.

And now for the homecoming pics:
http://mappage.net/mini/apr06dmg/PICT0003.JPG
http://mappage.net/mini/apr06dmg/PICT0004.JPG
http://mappage.net/mini/apr06dmg/PICT0006.JPG
http://mappage.net/mini/apr06dmg/PICT0010.JPG

Off to the Tony Nuzzo event in Virginia on Friday with a banged up Batmini, then off to the body shop next week...

 

dealers aren't so smart some times....

it must be nice to have it back!!

pic links seem to not work :/

 

Anyone else see them? I clicked again, and they work for me...