I'm going to try and keep this as short as possible... It's 3am, and today has sucked...

I park in an underground garage at work, staffed by civilian 3rd party attendants. They have my spare key, in case they need to move my vehicle. They leave at 7pm. I get to my Mini at 9pm, and find that my gear shifter is loose. Loose loose. Like holy crap, I'm making it do 360's loose. No note from the attendants, but it does seem to go into gear, but not reverse... So I open the door and stick my foot out pushing backwards, get clear, and pull forward to the top of the ramp. By the top of the ramp I've figured out the only gears I have are 3rd and 4th. I can't drive like that, because the clutch is already smelling something fierce.
9:06pm, call BMW/Mini roadside assistance.
<skip 4 hours of about 10 phone calls, and false promises of towtruck arrival times>
Get to dealership to drop the Mini off, and WTF IS THAT!

They didn't fasten the Mini down properly. During at least one or more bumps driving down the highway on a flatbed at 65+, the rear chains came loose and the Mini rolled into the back of the flatbed, hitting the bars that protect the cab. There were a few bumps on the freeway where I winced, but every time I looked back the car looked fine. Now I think I know when it happened, but it doesn't matter now.

My M7 scoop is dinged and chipped, there is a HUGE crease above my grill, but below the scoop, large enough to stick the pointy end of the Mini key in, and the the vinyl stripes, mini badge, and the front aerokit (aerokit damage had pieces rubbing the tires...) are marred/scuffed/scratched/hosed. Hood crease goes in about an inch at the worst point.

I ask the driver what needs to be done. He hands me a blank reciept with the towing companies info on it, and says call Abe in the morning. I confirm his name, and he drives off. I now realize he didn't even give me a proper reciept for the tow.

Rather simplistic, but I suppose I have all the info I need. On the way home I call Mini Roadside and let them know, and they said they are submitting the issue to BMW claims... Upon getting home I called USAA and filed a report with them just in case something goes cooky with all of this.

So now I suppose I give this Abe guy a call in the morning, and see what he's going to do. If he does nothing, I suppose BMW should step in... If they don't, at least I've talked to USAA.

Tony Nuzzo event is next weekend, and the Dragon is shortly after... I sure hope everything is in order by then...

This sucks.

Sorry no pics atm... Cell phone pics only, and the software is on my laptop which has crapped out on me recently.

 

Oh man.....you sure have had your share of misfortune, lately. I am so sorry! The tow-truck company will need to cover that damage, sweetie. And what about the folks who damaged the transmission? I guess USAA will handle all of this mess for you? Good luck for a speedy resolution to this. mad:

 

Man, that sucks huge! Condolences, surely but as you know, there are some issues you have to deal with. 1) The parking issue. I don't know if you can ever trust parking there in the future. I hope retribution to the scumbags responsible is swift and certain because, obviously they know who was on duty then. Clancy's "Debt of Honor" comes to mind. Once the shifter issue is raised with the parking higher-ups, you have a pontential retaliation issue to be concerned with as well as the culture of freedom these guys feel they are in to just f... with peoples' cars. i don't know if other parking arrangments are possible but if so...
2) The tow issue. Hopefully, that seems to be on its way to resolution.
3) The Batmini is scared and confused right now after your recent run of bad luck. He needs love and reassurance once he is all fixed up. I hope you all can get that at the Dragon.
I hope it all gets worked out and you're done with your bad run. Once it gets right and the whine of the SC is filling your ears, the bad will fade to black. Keep your chin up!

 

Holy crap MAN!! Doesn't crap happen in 3s? Like 3 accidents for the BatMINI...and hopefully no more.

 

Sorry to hear about more "bad luck". There must be a conspiracy against the Batmini.......
The Lil Red Rocket has had it's bad luck too.......damaged a $1000 rim, defective Sachs racing clutch, keyed....I think my 3's has passed....

 

It is time for you to research other parking arrangements, where nobody but YOU touches your car. You may have to walk a few blocks to work, but so be it. It'll be healthier for both the car and you. A bit more hassle, yeah, but obviously, you cannot go back to this parking garage anymore. They're a bunch of idiots, who don't even know how to drive a stick shift, even though they lied and said they could on their job application...

Did you ever see "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"? Remember the scene when they drop off Cameron's father's Ferrari at the parking garage?

Have I scared you enough yet???

 

Holy Crap! I'm pissed now! Dude when I talked to you last night you were waiting for the Road Side (dis)Service at 9:30 pm.

Towing and parking guys are the worst! When I owned my then brand-new 1999 BMW Z3 Coupe - my parking guy managed to get my VW key stuck in my BMW iginition - he evidently didn't see the VW logo on the key. That necessitated a tow to the dealership - the tow company ripped all the ABS sensors off my rear wheels when they chained down the car to the flatbed. When I got the car back the airbag cover popped off in my hands. All in all the car was in the shop for two weeks for a stupid screwup.

Will - do you think the parking misfits screwed up the linkage or was it a TATE issue?

 

Urgggg..... I feel your pain.....I sure hope you can get this straightened out without much hassle...

Donna

 

Good god man!! You and the Bat have not had good luck lately! Just remember, be a hard-a.. with both the parking people and the towing company. None of this was your fault so you shouldn't have to shell out one red cent for anything. Keep us updated.

 

Don't Doom the Man! He's already had the "third"
2) Parking garage. 3) Tow job. Enough is enough!

 

So sorry to hear. My bf had his MINI towed about a month ago through AAA. Tow truck driver did the same thing, didn't strap it down correctly and when he stopped short (apparently he didn't see that big red light in front of him) the MINI went flying into the back of the truck. I mean hard. We were both in my MINI behind the tow truck and heard the crash.
Anyway, a month later he is still trying to get the $2000 from the tow company to get his car fixed (needs a new bumper, hood respray, new grill, etc). AAA had to step in because after a week the tow truck driver told his company that there was no damage done to the car.
Be careful and proceed with caution, documenting everything (every call and correspondence). Good luck with the fix!

 

Wow, that really stinks. I'm sorry to hear about your mini!

 

Man, that's terrible. Good luck, man. Let me know if you need any help, I'm just a couple hours south of you.

 

He already had a run-in or two with an accident/collision. This would actually make the 4th.

1st I believe was when he hit a slick spot on a round about.
2nd Reended.
3rd Parking Garage
4th Tow job :impatient

 

I'm reading your story and, believe it or not, am getting a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. The tow-truck episode is utterly deplorable (I sure hope Abe is honest), but what to you think happened to your tranny?

 

I HATE how there are people out there who CAN'T respect other people's things! ESPECIALLY THE BATMINI

Take the parking attendents:
Obviously they thought you left them complete privileges to the Batmini instead of just a "spare"/"in case you need to move it" key. And HONESTLY, you'd have to have never driven a manual car or be very malicious to wreck a transmission that bad!

Take the tow truck driver:
From pictures I've seen you have an amazing looking car, especially with the new wheels. How, in anybody's right mind, could you not check and re-check everything when towing a car like that?! I could more understand if you were driving an 87 civic which was rusted and about to fall apart anyway.

I'm sorry all of this happened to you and wish for you the best of luck in all the formal procedures and B.S. that you have to go through. It simply sucks at how long it takes to get someone to fess up to a blatent mistake. (or malicious acts against your car)

One more angry face for good measure and good luck against those jerks.

 

True. Though I wouldn't count the parking garage as an actual accident, because it was operator error/mechanical failure, and they were operating the vehicle at the time.

Don't know. I already had a service request in to Tate because the linkage was loose... It has popped out before, and was still driveable, but last night was a lot different. I do think the parking attendants forced it, as well as failed to notify me or leave a note or anything.

Yup, Mini Roadside uses AAA... And aparently washington DC AAA only dispatches 1 company to a tow request, and last night that company only had 1 driver. I can understand how he was stressed and failed to tie it down properly, but that doesn't make it right. I think Mini Roadside needs to have a chat with AAA about procedures for hauling Mini's.

 

Sorry to hear about your run of bad luck. I hope it all gets better soon

 

man, Will...that totally sucks I hope you get it all worked out....

 

sorry to hear of your misfortune....hopefully things will start to pick up for you.

I hate the idea of parking attendants having the keys to my car. I'm always reminded of that scene from Ferris Bueller's Day Off when the parking attendants take that guys Ferrari for a joy ride......always makes me nervous.

 

My thoughts exactly.

Let's hope Batmini is back in form within a few days (very few days). As to taking it up the chain of command at Parking Central, it needs to be done, and you're just the guy to do it. See if there are videos of the attendant "moving" your car.

 

This sucks, I am so sorry it happened at all. I hope everything gets fixed quickly and with as little stress as possible.

 

WOW! That really sucks. I've had a couple run-ins along the way with tow guys and their take on a vehicle is that it's just painted sheet metal with an engine and wheels. They don't get it.

Hope you get it all worked out and back in the fast lane soon.

 

Yeah, my bf was stuck in queens and it took 4 hours for the tow truck to arrive (apparently their only flatbed was in CT at the time) and by the time we got to the MINI dealer in NJ it was after midnight. I know your pain.
The kicker in our situation was that after the car hit the back of the truck the guy still secured it the same way (even at our suggestion to do it differently)
Again I hope for a speedy recovery for your MINI.

 

Ug, I feel ill from the situation too :( What else to say but best of luck with it all.