Hi everyone,

Just thought id do the ole' first post, heres my new car post =p

picked him up used (i say him cause comon, its a mini. its like having a buddy out with you on the road right? I'm leaning toward naming mine Charlie. Like Michael Caine in The Italian Job =p). Paid 19k. 49k miles. Single Owner (it was a lease, verified by carfax).

Heres the obligatory pic



I tracked down the original selling dealer by calling mini and got them to send me a vin report as well.



REALLY glad i decided to spend for the bumper to bumper extended used car warranty =p. my local mini dealer said they will work with them as well which is a load off my back.


Things I love so far:

Holy crap this things fun to drive!

turning on the heated seats in southern california for one of your passengers is one of the greatest car gags in the history of ever.

I REALLY dig the color combo this car has.

Things that bug me so far:

Ok who orders the iPod/bluetooth kit but doesn't get the center arm rest? the guy that ordered this forgot to take his crazy pills that day.

wow, the boost cd system sounds like poop. i really wish this had the nav system.

previous owner removed the original bonnet stripes =(

----------

since i was at 49700 i decided to take it down to the mini store with concerns about how the clutch feels, the engine sounding funny somehow, and the suspension seeming a little off.

the original warranty being about to expire was purely coincidence i swear =p

anyway, hi everyone. I'm the new guy.

nice to meet you all. you'll be seeing me for at least 60 months

 

Nice! Congrats!

 

being the mini noob here. obvious open invitation for anyone in orange county that wants to meet up to take a look at it for me so i can find out about any nastiness it might have that i might not otherwise be aware of without mini ownership experience =p

 

Since it's still under warranty have the dealer pull the work records and find out if the 'timing chain has been replaced' (issue with the type S's), one part that is suppose to help prolong it is the new longer adjusting bolt. Also if it's ever had the thermostat replaced. Those are the only 2 things that failed on my used 07 MCS. No big deal.
Also, check your oil regularily, if you run the car hard it may eat some oil.
While checking the oil check the coolant level also. That's about it,
Enjoy it and I'm sure you'll love it. I haven't regretted buying mine at all.
Mine had 58K when bought and now has 65K.
Oh, and welcome to NAM---great place for info and help.

 

only thing that concerns me is the dealership i bought the car from had the rotors resurfaced. when i showed the invoice to my service guy at irvine mini he was like "they did what? man mini rotors are already on the thin side. we've NEVER resurfaced rotors that have come in here. we always replace them. I'm going to have them measure them to make sure she's safe to drive"

that has me kinda scared. I'm still 2 weeks out on my down payment i gotta come up with. having to pop for all new rotors and pads will be brutal if i have to do it.

 

Wasn't trying to put any fear in you, just letting you know of some of the issues. There was another thread recently about rotors and I wasn't aware that the newer ones are considered throw-aways and shouldn't be surfaced. I was from the old school I guess.
I replaced my stock rotors with Zimmerman cross drilled and EBC redstuff brake pads and wow, what diff.
Hopefully, yours will be ok for awhile. Probably but I'd drive it easy and try not to hard core the brakes too bad until you replace them.

 

Welcome cerebrix! Are you in SoCal? If you are, you should check out SCMM.org - large MINI club in Cali.

 

[QUOTE=drsimmons;3458043]I replaced my stock rotors with Zimmerman cross drilled and EBC redstuff brake pads and wow, what diff...QUOTE]

I need to replace my rear brakes and really have not done a lot of research. I don't want to go expensive but at least better then stock. Did you get them from WMW?

 

Cars still at the dealer.

Looks like they are doing the timing chain, A tensioner pulley, something with lubing the axle, and replacing the clutch pedal.

They kept it an extra day to make sure all the pulleys were running to spec. I guess the mechanic wasn't happy with it just before they were about to release it.

See I like a through mechanic that wont release a car till its right. Score 1 for irvine.

Btw is anyone on here going to their roadster event this weekend? I guess they said some mini clubs would be there

 

[QUOTE=MiniBOL;3458062]Yes I did.

 

My Mini mech. is the same way. Very through and makes sure everything is right so you don't have to come back. Haven't had to so far. Very pleased w/ Mini of Pensacola.

 

ok got the car back from irvine mini.

man are these guys through. heres everything they took care of for me under warranty. its amazing how much better the car drives now.

- crankshaft rear main seal leaking verified oil leak coming from transmission housing. removed transmission to verify oil leak coming from crankshaft rear main seal. r&r rear main seal and verified.

- clutch pedal and bushing warped found clutch pedal warped and bushings worn causing clicking noise and rubbing issue when depressed. r&r clutch pedal aper repair instructions. verified repair

- chain tensioner and friction drive/water pump drive wheel faulty verified noise from engine, per sim 11 02 07 connected battery charger, interrogated fault memory, removed chain tensioner and measured. found chain tensioner at 67mm r&r chain tensioner per repair instructions. upon removal of chain tensioner felt/heard timing jump. removed valve cover and checked engine timing. found timing off, performed engine timing procedure and verified repair. also heard rattle from friction drive and water pump drive wheel. r&r friction drive and water pump drive wheel and verified no further rattles/abnormal noises.






man these guys really took care of me. aldo was amazing to work with, and c j is quite possibly the coolest salesperson/mini fanatic I've ever met in my life.

i wonder if she's single lol =p

 

Hey cerebrix...just curious...what bumper to bumper extended warranty did you get? I'm thinking it might be a good idea for my recently purchased 09 MCCS, which has had some extensive repairs done by previous owner.

 

I don't own the clubman anymore.

Interesting footnote to this story I probably should put down here.

After I got the mini back from warranty repairs, a few days went past and I got another check engine light. I took it back to irvine mini service for another diag, at this point, now past 50k miles. They tell me its timing is slipping and its backfiring. This was the point where I started to worry a bit. I was wondering if I just got a bad one that hadnt been cared for properly and would only have issues later on. I knew I needed to get out of the car, I just didnt know how... Until my dealer called to tell me they couldnt get my loan bought at the interest rate they had quoted me. In California, there is no cooling off period. Meaning, its almost impossible to unwind an auto deal once its been made. That is, unless the dealer cant honor the terms in the contract.

So my plan was, to get out of the clubman, and buy a CPO mini from Irvine Mini. So while I was dealing with all this I decided to go back to irvine mini to have a look at whats on the lot.

Now up to this point, when I had been talking to the sales people it had usually been CJ. Shes amazing. Loves the cars, loves cars in general. A real motor head. My kind of people. But CJ wasnt there that day. So the sales manager set me up with this guy...



George Martinez

George asks me whats going on and I tell him what had happened up to that point and how I had bought a mini from a hyundai dealership that I believed to have problems down the road. I told him that I had also been talking to my credit union and that they were about to get me into a loan at a much better rate I could take there.

I guess knowing I had been talking to CJ he proceeds to tell me this....

"I dont think you want a mini. They need someone with a lot of money because they have a lot of problems. Maybe you should buy a honda instead". Then blows me off.

I'm at that point, pissed off, floored by what he said. Whats really sad is, I really like mini's. I really dug CJ more than any auto sales person ive ever dealt with. But after that. There was no way i was going back to that dealership. The whole thing put a really nasty taste in my mouth.

I still knew I needed to get out of the mini I had, so after going to the bank to find out they approved me for 25k at 2.9% interest. I went back to the hyundai dealership to unwind the deal.

I get in there, and were going through the motions of unwinding the deal. They ask me to take one more look at the lot and I see them pulling a car that I had liked as much as I liked a base non S mini.

This guy...



She still had the shipping paper on her, and she had 4 dock miles on her. thats it.

So I ended buying that, exteding the 60k bumper to bumper (it already came with 100k powertrain) to 100k and spending just under 25k out the door.

I'm posting this basically as a warning about irvine mini and george martinez there. If you have to deal with service, youre golden. service department is great there. if you have to deal with sales. talk to CJ ONLY. Avoid George Martinez like the plague. That guys an ******* that cost that dealership a sale.