I've been going back and forth for sometime trying to decide what car I want to purchase. I thought I had made my mind up. But the nearest Mini Dealership is an hour away. with traffic, it could be an hour and a half each way. It occurred to me that for an oil change and service, I would be spending almost a whole day in the car, and waiting areas. Having a 5 yr old, and a 2 yr. old, and a husband who travels most weeks, makes this a less than appealing option.

How long does it take on average for an oil change? do most Mini dealerships offer loaner cars?

 

My dealer is an hour away without traffic, and it's taken me over 2 hours to get there before (won't leave at 5 again). Your MINI shouldn't need a lot of warranty work, and service should be once a year. It wasn't too hard for me to figure out a way to get a lift to and from when Lewis did need some attention. Most dealerships do offer loaners, but their policies will vary - some give them to anyone, some only to people who buy the cars there. The service manager has offered to get me an Enterprise rental in the past when there were no loaners available. If you schedule service ahead of time most will work with you to get you something to drive, or at least a shuttle to the nearest place that can entertain you for a couple hours if it'll be that long.
Best way to know is to call and talk to a service advisor or the service manager, though.

 

thank you for your reply.

by "should only need service once a year" do you mean oil changes? or things like fluid flushes, filters, etc? I've been taking my vehicle into the dealership every 3-4 months, or 3000 miles, for oil changes, and everything else that seems to break every 3.5 months for the last 4 yrs. I think I'd faint if I only had to do that once a year.

 

My dealer is over an hour away with out traffic and could be two if there is traffic. I am lucky though and the dealer is in Boston so there is always something going on to do if i have to wait for it.

The one nice thing is that i have only had to go in twice and those were both for items that were back ordered from when i purchased the car.

Oil changes are very year or 15,000 miles if you go with Mini's schedule and as for other maint. there really is not much.

For oil changes of less than 15,000 miles you would have to go to the local oil change place anyway at cost. It is a lot cheaper than going to the dealer.

 

so the Mini schedule for regular Oil changes is once every 15,000 miles? this car, keeps getting better, and better.

 

Actually there is a computer in the car that tells you every time you start it how many miles until your next oil change. My car has 5500+ miles on it and the computer states in can go another 13,000 miles or a total of 17,500.

The computer bases the recommended oil change interval based on the type of driving (hard, conservative), outside temps and relative weather related stuff.

I would not recommend that the oil interval schedule be followed and have it done every 5000-7500 miles at a local place, just make sure they use a full synthetic oil not conventional oil.

There are also other warnings that tell you of service intervals for certain items such as brakes and those kind of things.

 

My dealer is 70 miles away. I need to go there to have the airbag system fixed, the power outlet in the boot fixed, a plastic rivet installed in the passenger door (it was missing upon delivering), and one of the little plastic caps that covers those rings in the boot replaced. However, since all of these things are minor, I'm not making any special trips to get the issues resolved. I figure I'll waste an entire Saturday getting it taken care of at some point in September when I head down to Boston for a concert.

 

I would change the oil every 3-5000 miles at a local shop!

 

My dealer is about 3 hours away ( MINI of Pittsburgh ) and they just sent someone to pick it up, left me a MINI loaner, and brought it back 2 days later. I realize that is unusual and I was actually surprised they would do that, although they told me when I bought the car there it was part of the deal. Great customer service though!!!!

 

Not a clubman owner but.. my dealership is a six hour drive from my house. I plan to drive it over to the dealership once a year for warranty service checks and did discuss this at length with my MA before I purchased the car.

MINI will only pay for your oil changes under the service plan once a year. It's not what they recommend for oil changes per se. It's just what they will pay for. They will also only pay for replacing your wiper blades once every two years, even though wiper blades should really be replaced twice a year... you get the idea.

You can always take your car elsewhere to have regular maintenance performed on it without voiding your warranty. You can also perform this maintenance yourself. Your right to do so is protected by federal law. This is how most folks get by with living so far from the dealership and still keeping their warranty on their cars.

If you do decide to go elsewhere for service, just avoid national chain oil change stores, because they buy whatever oil is cheap and may not necessarily have "castrol" in their "castrol" dispenser the day you go in.

One hour commute to the dealer... wow... I wish I lived so close. I wouldn't have to pack a cooler and find a dog sitter. You have no idea how good you have it.

 

10 minutes for me.

 

Now that is service!

I live anywhere between 15 minutes and 40 minutes away from mine depending upon traffic jams.

Do check about the loaners - it's a great thing when you need it.

 

Unbelievable! They do this for everyone?

 

My dealership is 2 hours away, no traffic, 90% highway driving.

A good 120 miles.

But, I don't mind because they are the best!!

 

Mine's about 5 miles away, and there's a good reputable aftermarket shop only a few blocks from them too..........

 

5-6 minutes away, very close, very convenient.

Terry

 

Must be nice!

 

Mine is right at two hours away, 90% highway. Don't know about loaners. I plan on getting to know the SA/SM so that I'm a known quantity when the occasion arises. I'll plan the regular service trips in advance.

As far as oil changes go, just search on "first oil change" or "oil change interval" and you'll get all the info and discussion you would desire. Don't need to rehash that here.

 

250 miles away. So far, I haven't had anything at all wrong but if I start, the 500 mile round trip won't be the fun road trip I counted on.

 

Our dealer is 15-20 miles from us. However, it can take well over an hour to get there, depending on our lovely California traffic...

Donna

 

Mine's an hour away and I've just booked the car in for an early oil and filter change at six months - because I don't like the idea of leaving it longer with a new car, but I'll probably let the computer decide from now on.

They collected from my home when I had a minor issue with radio reception and left me a Cooper Clubman to play with for the day (interesting, if only to confirm that I prefer the diesel!) and returned mine in the evening in showroom condition again. All at their suggestion and FOC under warranty.

 

a hour and a half away but Ikea is there(yeah!)

 

You don't need to change the oil but once a year. They invented synthetic for a reason.

 

An hour isn't bad....Mini dealers are few and far between (never have truer words been spoken, if I do say so myself!). I live in Rancho Cucamonga (CA) and my dealer is in Santa Ana--that's about 62 miles. Add some traffic and you've got a good hour's drive to get there. Oil changes depend on how hard you drive the car, but usually, the first oil change is somewhere around 12,000 miles. Most of us change oil between 7,000 and 10,000 miles--once again, depending on how hard you drive the car.

 

I'm lucky....my dealer is 11 miles away.