As you may or may not know, the right side gas filled strut for the rear barn door failed 3 weeks ago. The strut no longer holds air (Broken chamber) and the door simply rotates freely on its body pivot mounting points Trust me, you don't want either of those struts to go bad on you because the door won't hold open (Slamming right back at ya) and in some cases it will pop open like it did to us yesterday pulling out of a parking space

Evidently, the strut has an important role in helping keep the door stabilized when open and closed against the main latch.

Anyway, its been 3 weeks and the dealer has been unable to get MINI to ship out a simple $30 buck replacement strut. In all fairness, our SA and the dealer have been very diligent in trying to get everything taken care of under warranty, but MINI in the UK and Germany refuses to keep a steady supply of replacement parts for US Clubman customers. It seems to me Clubman parts are almost always in national backorder

If you own a Clubman, drive carefully and pray that nothing breaks on it or some idiot hits you because it seems there are no easily accessible parts for your car in the supply pipeline

The Clubman has been in the US market for nearly 1 year and basic parts are difficult to come by.

If anyone has an extra right side barn door strut or know of a dealer that may have on in stock, please, please, let me know ASAP

I am very upset by the fact that MINI releases and markets a new model in this country and yet to get basic replacement parts is a waiting game of weeks and months to no end.

Very frustrated. Love the car, but I am having serious concerns about parts availability for the first time ever on a MINI product.

 

If all else fails you might send the specs to these folks.

 

I have witnesed similar parts supply problems with our large US car manufacturers as well. When pumping cars out of the production line gets too high; there simply is no parts left to send out for the "repair" sector of the market.

 

Happy ending to this story. After a very polite but firm letter to my SA and service manager, my replacement strut is finally due to arrive tomorrow at the dealer. I have booked a Wed appt to get it replaced.

Big kudos to my SA and my dealer that have once again excelled all my expectations and then some.

MINI really needs to address this problem. I suspect that since the Clubman is still relatively new/low production car, we will continue to witness parts shortages for the time being.

 

My clubman has been at the dealer for the last 3 weeks. I was told that a air bag harness was needed and I could not drive the car. The harness is in as of today and my car should be ready in the next 2 days. I did not like not having my car for over 3 weeks.

 

Jeffwe, did/do you get a loaner for this extended time at the dealer?

 

Hummm I know that in cases like this...we would take a part from a stock unit. I am not going to say that we always do, but in special cases. I hope it works out for you.

 

Yes I have a loaner.

 

Don't feel too bad, I had a new 1996 Dodge Dakota, that in 1999 decided to leave me stranded on the highway from a fuel pump that went bad. ONLY had to wait 30 days to get a replacement under warranty, yes they had the truck the entire time and my coverage allowed me a loaner for 3 whole days.

 

WOW! Please tell me that you were able to get a loaner for longer then 3 day! Damn I am so glad I got out of domestic auto sales & into BMW/MINI.

 

I'm surprised they didn't take it off of a demo or something, most dealers have plenty of Clubbies on the ground right now, and you hate to steal parts, but for something as simple and easy to install as this.........

 

YES!

 

My car is still at Mini of Sterling in VA. This is the second time it has been in the shop for the air bag. The first time it was in for a week.