Well, I took my car up to the dealer on Friday since my steering wheel has been slightly off center since I got it in mid-September, and with vacation and all I only made it up now. Fortunately, I called the dealer a day or so after I picked up the car to tell them the problem. That I guess ended up saving me since what was supposed to take 45 mins to 'adjust' the steering wheel, turned into a whole day affair (I got a great PW MCSC with all the fixin's as a loaner!) and THEN turned into a whole weekend affair!!

Apparently, when they put it on the alignement machine (or something) they discovered the right side (caliper? knee? I forget the terminology) was leaning slightly and wasn't straight like it should be. Therefore they would have to keep it to fix it... They don't know how this damage occurred, so i guess it's a mystery... It does irritate me a bit though since you suspect a brand new car to not have a problem like that! Anyway, thought i'd share my MINI adventure this weekend.

Well, here's hoping it's all ready for pick-up tomorrow... I am enjoying the loaner though

 

Well atleast you got a KICK *** loaner. Best of luck on picking up your car tomorrow.

 

Ouch! What a horrible thing to happen on a new MINI! Sorry about your Mini sorrow. Hope everything turns out okay for you.

 

Maybe it happened on the ship from securing your MINI to the deck?

Sorry you had a problem...enjoy the loaner and your MINI will be fine soon.

 

Thanks guys. Well to update, the car is still not ready to pick up - they are thinking either today or tomorrow since the technician had to order parts

Apparently they think it's a defective part since the damage (albeit minor) is what is usually seen associated with an accident that knocks the alignment off. However, they see no evidence of any collision or damage, so they are still puzzled... I am too! I'm thinking it maybe happened on the boat too since I had this whole fiasco of where my car was for a few weeks, while others were on boats to the States who were produced the same time as me... So maybe it fell of the deck or something, haha... I also heard that any damage less than 5% of the value of the car doesn't need to be reported or something like that...

Oh well, good thing is it should be brand new again when I pick it up, it's just been a hassle mostly and kind of disheartening that this would exist before I even purchased it! However, I wouldn't get rid of it for the world! Especially now I couldn't re-order an '06.

Here's hoping I can pick it up today

 

my 06 mcs came damaged and i reported it immediately

1. all rims on my MCS were scraped on the inside of the car. Only visible when you put the car in the lift. Prestige mini denied my claims and basically said they checked one wheel and it was fine. did you expect us to clean all four wheels to check? can you believe that?

2. moonroof frame was chipped onthe inside and visible when the roof was open. i had to wait a month to get it fixed as that was the ealriest appointment. this is typical of bmw and i can see this carried over to MINI. sad.

you did the right thing but also remember your rights under the lemon law. if this is really a bad build, the dealer will have to take back the car. they dont make as much money off you but they still stand to profit selling as used. u know how minis go in terms of pricing so dont feel bad.

 

I thought our MINIs swam over in schools?

 

Well, I'm a little miffed since they have now had my car a week and still no word. I call them every day to check on the status, but rarely get to talk to them, which is really irritating. Last I talked to them was on Tuesday when they said the parts they ordered (a replacement strut) had not come in yet. I called Wednesday and Thursday and even left a message with the receptionist to call me back, and they didn't... Their customer service is starting to go from fairly good to fairly bad... Anyway, it's making me nervous that they are hesitating to call me back and that it's taking so long to fix. I don't know if it's the part not coming in or that there's more damage than they are telling me about...

And to think, I was told it would take 45 mins on the phone to adjust the steering wheel...

 

Stop by and see them, bring kolaches or a dozen donuts, and be friendly - throws them for a loop EVERY time - and the ol' guilt trip DOES work! Heck, I'm in Houston today - want me to check on it for you? Hope it all works out...

 

Haha, thanks for the advice... unfortunately it's a pain to get up there...
Anyway, I finally talked to them and they said the parts came in but another car in front of me is waiting for parts and (for some reason) they have to work on that one first... Mmmm... sounds weird to me since I don't understand why they can't work on my car while they are waiting for the parts of the other car... Grrr...