How would you handle my situation: Before the warranty ran out, I notified the dealer that the top seemed to be getting pinched in the folding mechanism. The dealer said the burnished mark on the fabric did not warant top replacement and service request was denied. The request and denial was recorded on my service ticket.

Now at 56k miles, the top has developed a hole in the burnished area. I called the dealer (different city) and the service adviser was less than helpfull and never called me back. How should I go about getting the top replaced under warranty (as the cause of the problem was there before the warranty ran out and I notified them)? Should I call MINI directly? If so, who?

Thanks in advance for any advice given (good or bad )

 

If the SA isn't being helpful, I absolutely would call MINI directly (not sure of the number tho). I had to replace the top on each of my past two Eclipse Spyders, both of them under similar circumstances, and in both cases, the dealerships fought it tooth and nail. Not sure how much a MINI top costs, but the ones on my Spyders were just over $3500 each not including labor, hence the fight. Both times calling Mitsu directly got me the results I was looking for after pointing out the warranty visits that were ignored by the dealer, and in the 2nd case also pointing out the existing TSB for that exact issue, which the dealer conveniently claimed he couldn't find in the system when I first went in.

If MINI NA works anything like Mitsubishi in this regard, the dealer will suddenly warm up to replacing the top if they know MINI is reimbursing them for it. Some dealerships just don't like having to make the argument for an out of warranty repair themselves (regardless of circumstances) in my experience.

 

Do you have pics of the hole? I'm curious as to where the burnished area was located.

 

I agree with MiniFlea though you might want to add in one more step and call the service department manager before calling MINI USA. Most dealers dont like scrutiny from the manufacturer and the service manager might be more likely to deal with your issue rather than ignoring your concern.

 

I agree with all post on this, start by calling the SA and tell them the issue was reported before, If no results check with the Service manager, than Mini NA. THe service manager at my dealer was helpful where the SA was not able to help. They replaced 2 wheels on my car the were damaged at the dealer. The SA didn't or couldn't approve the new wheels, the manager told me he would rather spend the money and keep a customer then loose the customer. If you have to replace the top your self you are looking at about $2500 for the top and $1000 for install.

 

I had a similar problem with mine. I was advised by another person to go to the dealership where it was purchased. MINI USA advised this as well. So I drove 4 hours one way to get to the dealership and they did it without any hassle at all. To me, it was worth it to drive all that way and not have to fight with the two closer dealerships. I hope the same thing doesn't happen with this '08 that I have. Otherwise I'd have to drive about 1300 miles one way to Texas! JK... I'd definitely fight over that one! Good luck.

 

I spoke with the dealer service manager and he said he could do nothing until I brought it in for them to look at it. I suppose I understand their position and now have to find time to get down to SA. I will post an update after my visit.

Sorry, I do not have a picture at this time.

 

Davidf- where do you live?

Some dealers have issues with it and some don't. I went to Tom Bush MINI in Jacksonville and it was REALLY easy even though it was out of warranty. Maybe you can call a couple of dealerships that are around you and see if they all say the same thing.

I had one dealer that I didn't want to work with anymore (of course it was the closest one )... the next one wanted me to come in and they would take pics and have a MINI USA field person come in and inspect before making a decision and Tom Bush MINI just said, "Come on up!". No hassles at all. They even found that the first adjustments (due to TSBs) were not done properly and had missing bolts and stuff.

I had wear parts on the top points near each side rear window and that's what I thought I was annoyed about. But when I was taking pics to send to the dealer I saw that I had two holes... one under each side of the rear window... right on the seams.

Good luck.

 

I have the wear mark and now hole just behind the passenger rear window about mid-way up the top. I live in Austin, TX so no dealer here...closet is SA, then Houston, then Dallas. Since I have a service ticket with my top concerns documented with the SA dealer, I am going to try again to go through them. My plan is to get there today.

What burns me up is that the SA dealer did nothing to address my original concerns. They did not even bother to try and find out why the top was being pinched in the mechanisms and then make a repair that might have saved the top, now it is toast in my eyes.

 

Stopped by SA dealer today. Service Manager said he would email MINI USA area rep with issue and inquire about assistance. I said I do not want "assistance", but the top replaced under warranty since the problem was pre-existing and documented. He said he would see what he could do and get back with me. I guess I am not surprised, but will wait for the response.

 

Damn, I'm really having flashbacks now . Mitsubishi called it "assistance" when they replaced my tops too. I made the exact same argument (it should be considered warranty repair, it was a pre-existing condition they ignored), but they continued calling it that in an effort to make it sound like they were going out of their way to help me.

At least the SM is contacting MINI for you (neither of my Mitsu dealerships would), hope they get it all taken care of without any further hassle!

 

Did they ever do any adjustments to your top BEFORE the hole? If you had adjustments... maybe they didn't do them properly. That hole is in a weird place.

Just so you know, dealerships have the "One time Good-will Warranty" option at their discretion. I don't understand why these SA and SM are so...

 

I am not the original owner, so I am not sure whether the top has been worked on or not. Even the service rep said he had not seen this kind of wear/problem before. They did replace the rear glass and interior headliner under warranty due to a popping noise while the top went down. So I assume they also made some adjustments, but not sure.

The picture does not do it justice, but it seems obviouse to me that the fabric is being pinched in the folding (scissor) mechanism of the top.

 

San Antonio dealer said they cannot offer any assistance. Gee, why am I not surprised! I guess my next step is call back MINI USA and go from there.

 

Well, MINI/BMW threw me under the bus and totally denied any assistance at all. They claimed it was normal wear and tear. How is that possible when the "wear" only occurred on one side of a sysmetrical top? Total BS. They then said that the SA dealer Service Manager said it was not getting pinched in the mechanism. How could he know this as he never even looked at the car, not once!

So, yesterday, I opened the top in stages and peeked behind the headliner. Sure enough, the top was getting pinced between two arms of the top mechanism. More precisely, the lower arm has a 2" x 3/4" "finger" that I suppose prevents sideways motion on the top while it is being lowered. The top fabric is getting pinched between this "finger" and the upper bow shaped cast iron arm of the top.

So, MINI did not stand behind their warranty and calls it normal wear and tear. I suggested to MINI that that was like saying if one wheel had brake pads that wore out way before the other (on same axle) there was nothing wrong and it was normal wear and tear...total you know what.

So much for being a loyal BMW Owner for the last upteen years! I am so mad I can spit.

 

Make an appointment with said service manager and show him the pinching you described and see if he concurs. Be polite, until the final answer is no, then you can express your feelings.

Or, take a short video of the pinching and ask MINI USA where you can send it so they can see what you are describing.

 

Here is a photo of the top being pinced between the "finger" and upper arm. Seems that both my MINI and MINU USA/BMW NA are giving me the finger. Sure normal wear and tear and "I mistreated the top somehow" What a crock of ****

 

That sucks. Can you take a little movie of that area while the top is getting pinched?

Personally, I've always dealt with the Service Manager when there's a problem. Some Service Managers are easier to deal with than others. I had a fiasco with Orlando MINI with my seat continually moving out of place (see "Deterred Seat Clunk" thread for details). The SA couldn't do anything, the SM couldn't do anything and so I called MINI USA while I was there for HELP and it seemed promising until MINI USA talked to the SM and he told MINI USA that HIS seat did the same thing! He continued with me after though that his seat only does it once and then it's fine. Well, I left from there with no help from ANYONE. I was so po'd! I ended up taking my front seat out to figure out what was wrong. I was glad that I had the '05 version here for comparison.

My point in telling you this is that I feel your frustration. And when it came to the '05 having holes in the top, I had the two closest dealerships giving me crap about it being normal wear and tear. The third one- in Jacksonville- told me they "didn't need permission from mommy and daddy" and so I could bring it up there and have it taken care of. It was a haul but it was better than having to deal with all the drama from the other two dealerships.

So are there any other dealerships near you? Any within say a 4 hour drive? If you haven't called any other dealers, you might be pleasantly surprised to know that there are other dealerships that will help you. And it's a good excuse to go for a little road trip!

I would make a video of the top pinching though. It would be hard for the dealership or MINI USA to deny that it wasn't happening and call that "normal wear and tear". They could fight you with just a picture though... since they could just say that you pushed it in there for the picture. Know what I mean?

 

Sure, I could take a video. I wrote a letter to the VP of MINI and copied the President of BMWNA. I cannot let this go as I feel the value of my car has been greatly reduce due to poor design and the resultant damage to the convertible top...

I will wait for their response and update the thread accordingly. I really hope it turns out positively and if so, will heep praise on them for doing the right thing in taking care of their loyal customers, if not, I will take my fight further.

 

first time you've owned a rag top?

mine were (various vehicles obviously) a 67, 83, and 95 owner for a total of 22 years.

soft tops hit wear points - or are cut by vandals - or just pull out of attachment points.

this is a cost of ownership ..... but good luck with your approach

 

Uhmm...hitting a wear point and getting pinched in the mechanism are to totally different things. Did you even bother reading my posts?

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles. Mini should really replace the rag top. Making a video recording is a good suggestion.

Don't give up. Stay the course and fight Mini.

Btw, I'm gonna check mine. How do you remove the headliner?

 

You do not have to remove the headliner. Just stop the top at various different positions and take a look. The headliner pulls away enough on its own to allow you to look right in.

 

Davidf-- Just wanted to share some advice with you. I know everyone LOVES to give advice...

Keep doing what you are doing. Be persistant. Be nice. I can't stress this enough, and I REALLY do understand what it is like when dealers refuse warranty repaires. They get a lot of pressure to refuse repairs if they can put the blame on you because it saves them money. I know this is obvious, and I hate to blame "the economy" and gawd knows they were doing this long before the global finacial markets went sount. These people are just employees. It is a job to them. Most don't even drive MINI's to my knowledge.

While I don't know this, and it is purely educated speculation on my part, I would not be surprised if dealerships with the lowest number of warranty repairs get perks or rewards or something. It is entirely possible.

This might be a case of "The squeaky wheel gets the grease."

We all know you were not abusing your cabrio. Clearly this is a design problem and should not fall under the realm of normal wear and tear. You have your documentation and have cited it so clearly you are on the ball here so to speak.

Keep us posted!

 

Update!

Received a phone call from MINI of San Antonio. It seems MINI USA approved the replacement of my top at N/C. So, thank you to everyone that offered advice. And like I said earlier if MINI USA did the right thing I would let everyone know and heep praise on them, which I am now doing. My faith in BMW has been restored fully and I appreciate the customer service more than I can show with this post.

I have an appointment next Wednesday to have the top replaced.