I have not been on NAM for a while now but I figured I would post up that our 08 MCS Clubman is no longer with us. Let's see, where do we start? Back in April when we first took delivery of our Clubby, it took 3 weeks for it to leave at Pt. Charleston due to the fact that the guy driving the car off the boat hit the left front end so the car had to wait for repairs. This irritated me greatly but this was the 3rd MINI I had ordered and this little mishap wasn't going to ruin my excitement for our new Clubman. The dealer was also great in the fact they gave us driving lamps and installation for free due to the inconvenience. About a month later, we had on going issues with the faulty sensors. It was in and out of the shop about 4 times within a month and I live 1 hour from our closest dealer so this was getting annoying to me. They finally fixed the problem and all was well. This past October, we were driving down the road some sort of debris hit the bottom of the car and tore my radiator hose off. We did not know that it tore off. After we heard the sound of the debris, about 10 minutes later our temp light came on, then about 5 seconds after that our engine check light came on, and then about 5 seconds after that, our engine shut off. It all happend so fast my wife did not even have time to react. So I called MINI Roadside and our car was towed off to the dealer. They said the engine was shot and we needed a new one. This was going to cost 10k. I filed an insurance claim and they would only pay 7k of the damage. I had to cough up the remainder. So I did and finally 5 weeks, yes that's right, 5 weeks after the car broke down, I was finally able to go and pick up the car. The day after we got the car back, it broke down again. So now we get towed back to the dealer and they had the car for a week. They said it was a software issue and they ran the car for about 3 hours and everything was fine. So we go and pick up the car, leave the dealer, and about two miles from the dealer, the engine light and temp light both come on. We stop and it gets sent back to the dealer. This time it's in for about 5 days and they said it was a faulty thermostat. They fix it and said this time they will drive the car to our house so we won't be inconvenienced for driving over there again. We get a phone call from the mechanic and said that the engine light came on again. So he was taking it back to the dealership. The next day I threw my arms up in disgust and requested for them to give me my money back on the car. This thing was jinxed from the day it came off the boat. So now my wife got into an 09 V6 Honda Accord. She loves it and we were able to trade straight across for it due to the fact we owed nothing on the clubman. My MA really felt bad for us because we have been great customers of theirs. I just wish the GM of the dealer would of had the ***** to say that he was sorry for all we've been through witht the car seeing that I was getting emails from other dealerships that knew about our problem. Because of all this, I will be getting rid of my 05 MCS Cabrio hopefully today. My classic Mini was sold last weekend to a friend of mine but that sale had nothing to due with this. I just did not want it anymore. The funny thing is, I thought my classic Mini would of been the one to leave me stranded, not my 08 Clubman.

 

Wow, sorry to hear. It does seem like the car was jinxed from day one. Personally, I would have waited for another one, one without any extra baggage.

 

 

holy mess batman~ sorry for all the troubles you had. but glad that you and your wife are both happy now.

 

have fun with that honda... the car seems jinxed.. but you hitting the debris in the road.. really isnt mini's fault.. not checking it after it got hit.. still again not mini's fault.. you have to unfortunately own up to that one..
it getting damaged while offloading.. unfortunate , sorry to hear it, but you did say that mini compensated you for it.
the faulty sensor. minis fault and would have driven me batty.. but not all of it was mini's fault..
sorry you had issues with your car.. enjoy your next ride

 

If the car had a real temperature gauge instead of an idiot light, the OP would have had a better chance to catch it before the engine was damaged. So I count this as MINI's fault too.

Sorry to hear of your problems but happy that you got a car that you like.

 

I would think that hitting something on the road would have been a bigger indicator to stop and check the vehicle, even more so that a temp gauge that doesn't light up as the temp goes up. Let's face it, most people don't look at gauges either, but a least the light suddenly going on gets people's attention. It did in this case, but obviously too late due to what I'm sure was the complete loss of coolant. Let's not try and play the blame game here, I don't think anyone can draw concrete conclusions.

That being said, road hazards really stink and can happen to anyone. I'm very sorry to hear about the problems the road hazard caused. If you haven't ever hit or been hit by debris, thank your lucky stars and pray it doesn't ever happen to you.

 

I don't really understand the getting rid of the 05. Is it for spite? Who is getting hurt by doing this?

 

I agree. When it comes to water temps I prefer a gauge. My ford explore sport has gauges, oil, water, ammeter. It also has a light that says "Check Gauges" comes on when one of the gauges goes off scale. I scan my oil press and water temp gauges when I check my speedo. To me a light by itself is not enough ! When I get my Mini I will install a water temp guage. With that dinner plate speedo there is plenty of room for a oil pressure/Water temp guages. And a real fuel quantity gauge.

 

My 05 has a real temperature gauge. It must've been an option for that year (I bought it used, so who knows?), so is it still MINI's fault if someone opted to NOT get it?

 

What's up with the darn fuel gauge? It takes forever to remove the first 2 bars and suddenly it speeds up. GIVE ME A PROPORTIONATE FUEL GAUGE!

 

Wow Dude, what a story! Sorry you had such problems.

It's a bummer to hear that you had what was clearly a very problematic MINI. You are right to return to car, but to completely give up and then sell your other 2 sounds like there is much more there than just the first MINI problems?

It's also interesting how a single story opens the gates for a flood of problems? I have been scanning and reading a great deal of threads about the Clubman and MINI's in general for the last several weeks, and thankfully these types of threads are few and the exception.

I am not taking away or minimizing legitimate problems, nor am I saying that real problems should be ignored or silent, absolutely not. It is interesting though, how a single story can cause a momentum in a single direction....

Good luck with your future Car!

 

Terrible story, and don't blame you for jettisoning that particular Clubman. If you do come back on here, I'd love to know why you got rid of your MCS, too.

Best wishes in your MINI-less life!

 

I'd probably be in the same boat if my MINIs had given me much trouble, but they haven't...not an ounce. Good luck!!

 

+1. I'm with Otra, interested in your rationale for ditching the '05 MCS Cab. A little voice is telling me that it's a decision that you may regret once you have time to reflect on your reaction to the whole situation.

It's a bummer about the '08 and the dealer support -- seems like things were jinxed from the start. Too bad this one vehicle left such a sour taste.

 

Like you I'm on my third MINI. Sorry to hear that you had so much trouble with your Clubman. My wife and I still love our MINI's and its no reason to sell your MCS unless you where having trouble with the dealer. The lack of temp gage is the why I'm getting temp gages for both of our MINI's.

 

Robert,

That so sucks... I drove by the new dealership this morning (I was down there getting my tires balanced and rotated) and saw you car there. I was shocked to see it there - now I know why. Sorry dude that was such a cool Clubman.

joe

 

+1 on a temp gauge. A full gauge set should at least be an option on all MINIs, despite the fact that MINI thinks we're too dumb to know what they mean.

 

Ditto....... in your emotional state you may regret this or was this preplanned before the Clubman issues?

 

That lower radiator hose is kind of exposed. Just look up under the front air-dam and there it is, just waiting to get hit by road debris or a high curb... Another reason not to remove that little plastic air-dam in the front, some people are taking those off....

 

The reason I got rid of my classic Mini was due to the lack of driving it and I was offered 11k for the car in which I only paid 6k for it 2 years ago. I almost doubled my money. As far as the 05 MCS Cabrio goes, I've been kind of planning on getting rid of it anyway due to the fact that every frickin person in my town is getting MINIs. They are no longer unique to me. I got rid of it yesterday and bought a gorgeous 06 black on black Lotus Elise that is still under factory warranty. The cabrio was just a weekend driver. I bought it in December of 04 and it only had 20k miles on it. It was a great car and never gave me any issues even with the loads of mods I had done to it. Someone will be getting a sweet car.

As far as the Clubman goes and being able to get off the road right away was impossible. We were on I-95 heading south towards Viera,Fl and their is major construction going on there. They are widing the freeway by two lanes in both directions and they have concrete barriers on both sides of you for about 3 miles. There is absolutely no where to pull over. Luckily, the lights did not come on while we were in that section of road. They came on about a short while after that and when the first temp light came on, the damage was already done because the car shut down literally about 10 seconds after the temp light first came on. Oh yeah, this is also not the first time that those lights have come on. Every time we had the sensor issue a few months back, all, and I mean all the dummy lights were lit up in the car. Even the gas light was on even though we would fill up the tank. I learned to except the fact this car was a peice of crap from the get go. I will warn all you other Clubman owners and R56 owners, beware of that radiator hose because I know of at least 3 other cases that were reported at Florida dealerships where this exact thing had happened just in the past 4 months.

 

Well, your Lotus Elise is, shall we say, certainly a horse of a different color!

Enjoy yourself and take care, too.

 

Robert,

I was over in T'ville on Christmas and my niece (a MINIac) wanted to go out and find your house (she and I didn't know what had transpired).

I'm still bummed about your clubman. I wish there was a work around for the lower radiator hose. I wanted to mod mine with the M7 crossover kit and drop the car, but I'm cautious because of what happened to your car. Roads around here stink.

Good luck with any future MINIs.

Joe

 

Sounds like,if it wasn't for bad luck,you wouldn't have any luck at all.Sorry to hear about your problems with the Clubman.Q

 

I'm going to look at wrapping that lower radiator hose with something to protect it, maybe some kind of mesh or something like that...