My '05 must go! Bad air conditioning, bad throw out bearing, bad passenger seat heater and poor customer service by MINI.

For sale '05 MCS 7000 miles best offer.

I cannot stand the attitude of my local dealer. They will not accept my insurance payment for the broken windshield ($105 per hour labor rate!!) I must pay for it myself and use original MINI parts or there is no warranty. I have to wait almost 2 weeks to get the damn car into service! The entire MINI one dealer per state crap philosophy is flawed.



I need a drink.

 

Really sorry to hear of your troubles - a good dealership is key to a good MINI experience, if you have any issues.

BTW, there is no "one dealer per state" philosophy.

 

Maybe it's one dealer per a certain number of population? Or maybe it's based on BMW demographics. LA seems to have several dealers and so does the SF Bay Area.

 

There are lots of other places in your area to get a windshield replaced. I wouldn't ask a dealership to do that. I haven't had any problems with MCM, but then I haven't had any problems with the car either.

Good luck!

 

If only MINI had the "one dealer per state" philosophy. . . then I'd have a local dealer in my state to go to!

Sorry you are getting the run-around with your dealer.

 

Motor City Mini? Try Classic Mini in Cleveland...

 

Whatever you do don't pay them to install an OEM windshield. Aftermarket glass is far superior to OEM glass & they know it plus aftermarket only costs $250-$300 ish. The only part of your warranty that will be voided is A-pillar coverage & any future windshield damage but frankly that isn't really covered anyway unless it's a stress fracture which Mini denies it is most of the time. Stress fractures shouldn't happen & rock dings are much better tolerated with aftermarket glass. (A tiny speck of a pebble took out my OEM windshield. My aftermarket one got hit by a rock 1/2 the size of a golfball & is A-OK)

p.s...If you really are trying to sell your Mini you might wanna point out if all the broken things on your list have been fixed

 

I am cooling off a bit now, perhaps because of the torrential rain that just ran through SE Michigan.

We only get one dealer here. I bought my car in Cleveland for the same reasons I dislike the local guy.

I will do aftermarket glass, thanks for the tip! That way only the $100 deductible applies.

 

There are also glass places that will pay your deductible so you should look out for that as well.

 

I know how you feel rrudorf, you can find my thread here titled "I am starting to dread my MINI". I've not had any bad CS just a bunch of things go wrong in a very short amount of time and that was starting to get to me. It'll get better just give it some time and try to find another dealer or mechanic you can deal with.

Best of luck to ya!

 

dealing with dealer service is not always a pleasant experience. at least we hae the forum here to vent. nothing good ever comes from venting to the service manager.

 

Yo' rrudorf!!

Chilll.... have a drinky-poo and cool down a bit...

Now, I have three dealers here in NJ all about a hour away from me. I too have to make an appointment for any work done, and yes, it can take a week or more to get in the door. So don't take it personally. As far as your windshield is concerned, either go with the oem glass - or pay for it out of pocket. Personally, I'd go with OEM at this point since your car is so new. If I were in your spot with my car, I'd just have a auto glass repair service do it at my office, pay the 250 bucks and be done with it.

True, the air conditioning is not as powerful as a Buick's. But hey, what's more important? - having a great handling car or having an efficient refrigerator you can drive around? It's a small car and its 'challenged' from a 'room under the hood' point-of-view. It's also incredibly hot these days, and the AC probably wasn't designed to deal with such high temperatures.

Just do what my dad always told me to do, back in the days when cars DIDN'T HAVE AC at all..."adjust your internal thermostat"!

Good luck - and hope you stick it out

- - m

 

Well buying your car somewhere else isn't going to help you when you want service asap. I have a friend that's a higher up in service at a high end dealer (not MINI). He says folks who bought from them are serviced first. The others are serviced, but not before his customers are. My guess is that's whats happening with you. My friend tells me that's pretty much standard at all dealers. Classic is a long drive, but it may be better to take it there. Good luck & don't dump your MINI.

 

Nah. Its just a crappy dealer. I bought my first MINI there and still didn't have good service.



...And I thought MCM was supposed to be improving

 

I have owned 17 cars in my life and MINI service is the second worse I have experienced (Saab by far number 1). The air isn't just bad, it quits working randomly. I had a 330i a couple of years ago and they would fall over each other to make things right, I expect that now even though I have spent less money.

 

As I used to tell friends who asked if my MGB has AC, "Sure! A whole skyfull when the top comes down!"

Bad throw out bearing? *Devil's advocate mode on* Are you riding your clutch? Keeping it depressed while at stops or feathering it in traffic? If so, you killed it. Not the Mini's fault.

 

Is it bad to keep the clutch depressed when sitting at a light?

 

Yes...avoid doing that...

 

Only if you want to replace your clutch very soon.

 

Of the 17 cars I have owned, 16 were manual transmission, never a clutch plate, never a bearing or adjustment or sound or smell or concern.

Please, some credit for knowing what I am talking about! I have been driving 29 years.

 

WHOA,
I have been driving only stick shift/manual transmission cars since 1959. I have always kept the clutch in when at a light or stop sign--stopping in general, AND--I downshift 98% of the time and have never had an issue with a clutch. My last few cars C5 Vette/Z28 Camaro/5.0 Mustang/911 Porsche/VW GTI/a sweet '65 Chevelle Malibu, and numerous old VW bugs/MG's. Thanks for letting me share my experience.

 

While that is old school, read here http://www.cartalk.com/content/colum...August/06.html

That article was 10 years ago.

In general, I would imagine it better to leave it in neutral, and I do, in fact, its aint 1958 anymore.

On the other hand, MINI clutches seem to go very early and, in fact, my MA TOLD me it would go at 40K miles (while trying to sell the extended maintenaince warranty). That is ridiculous but seems to be backed up but the numerous complaints on NAM for early clutch replacements.

I guess what can you expect from a low-end British car

 

Couple of lucky people to be sure. But the fact is, any physical object subjected to continual stress, like keeping the throw out bearing pushed against the pressure plate will wear them out sooner than expected.

Give me some credit. A degree in Automotive Technology and many years working in BAP/Geon and NAPA auto parts stores.

 

I quote:

Second, the clutch-release bearing today is much larger than necessary. These clutch-release bearings are designed to go one million cycles (pushing the pedal down one million times). So people can feel free to leave their foot on the clutch pedal today at stoplights with no negative repercussions

Response ...

But if you have a car without a self-adjusting clutch, you should leave your foot off the clutch pedal when you're not actually using it to change gears.

That doesnt sound lucky to me. It sounds like cars with self-adjusted clutches need not worry. MINI, on the hand, has so many "quirks", as we lovingly call them, .... its not throw out bearing wearing out but the clutch itself (which is also ridiculous)

 

Usually it's the pressure plate that breaks, but I have seen my share of seized and burnt throw out bearings.