Quick Preface,
Since the warranty expired...
Water pump failure (the one that "isn't" recalled)
Thermostat Housing failure
Intake Manifold frost issue in cold weather (a redesign, but not a recall)
Trim falling off
Hood latch folded like a cheap card table

Ok, so a couple nights ago my other-half was driving her MINI from home (Maine) to Pennsylvania. It died on the NJ turnpike. It was towed to Otto's MINI in Exeter PA.

Here was the diagnosis...

The Engine Vacuum pump seized causing the camshaft to seize and break, damaging valves, and jumping the timing chain. The Thermostat housing will need to be replaced because it is "loose and leaking" Note, it wasn't leaking when it left here because I checked it, the coolant, and the oil.

Total for repair, is about $6000.

We owe about $9000. We are doing a cost benefit analysis on selling the car as junk and taking the loss, or if we fix it, could we still sell it (trade it in) without taking a big beating. One way or the other, we are going to take a beating, just trying to figure out which one will heal the easiest. This has literally been the worst car we have ever even KNOWN, let alone owned.

Aside from that, does anyone have any insight here? The car is 400 miles away. We are not the kind of MINI owner that bought one for a toy. We don't have that kind of money. It is regular transportation. Good gas mileage yet fun. Now, with a side of nightmare.

The Service advisor said she would talk to her boss and see if they could get MINI to 'help out'. I'm not holding my breath.

 

Get a used engine and put that it in. Have a independent shop do it.it will be a lot cheaper

 

LALALALLALALALALALALLALALA

(Fingers in ears)

LALALALALLALALALALALALALALA

Ugh, so sorry. If this happens to me at 78K I will be beyond pissed.

Stuff like this SHOULD be a recall. Engine dying on the highway? Loss of brake boost?


Yea, I'd make a serious call to the NHTSA over this.

Could this be timing chain related?

 

Thanks.

One thing is, they seemed to have spent a lot of time troubleshooting it, because on the first afternoon at around 3:00, they thought it was the Cam sensor. By Noon the next day, they had come up with the present diagnosis. At $100/hour, I'm sure we have a big bill.

I got a quote for a new engine, complete for just under $4,000 from Way Motors. The Car is in Pennsylvania, I am in Maine. Trying to find a reputable independent shop and make all the arrangements could be difficult. Towing it up here and then having the work done pretty much gets me up past $6000. I'm pretty screwed. We may just have to pay the piper and hope that we can trade it in and recoup the $6K and the $9K we owe on it. Even with a new engine, I'm done with this car. One heart ache after another.

As far as the Timing chain being the culprit, there is no way of knowing. I doubt the Dealer would be upfront about that. That would be a recall issue if I recall. Can you use that twice in a sentence? I may insist on them giving me the failed part for my own inspection. Have you ever filed a complaint with the NHTSA? I have. About the failed water pump and there being 17,000 of them on world wide backorder. Let me tell you, its like farting in a mitten. It really is a senseless act.

 

Thanks for your responses by the way. I'll see if MINI is going to help out. If not, I'll see if Click and Clack, the Tappet brothers have any suggestions. Gotta' love public media! I'm pretty good with social media as well. It will be time to get the word out.

 

Btw, Helix Motorsports is in Philly. They are a well known Mini only shop. Don't know how far deep in PA you are.

 

The car is at Otto's MINI in Exeter. A little west of Philly.

 

Good luck Newfman....hoping you get some help from MINI somehow....keep us posted.

 

They retired in 2012, although NPR continues to broadcast "classic" episodes of Car Talk.

 

Thanks. Still waiting to hear. No news yet, but I will be glad to share the results.

I listen to Car Talk just about every week. I never heard anything about retirement. You can still submit ideas for the weekly puzzler. I guess I have to check this out.

 

How long should a engine VAC pump last?
Do these things break?
I've looked around and can't find anything.
Also, you have 78k miles.....what year?

 

Weird! I don't believe I didn't put that in! It is an '08 S clubman.

The vacuum pump provides boost to the brakes. This is the first car that I have owned or even worked on that didn't just tap the engine vacuum instead of using a pump. I'm sure it is a performance thing. Quite frankly, it is a simple mechanism that should last the life of the car. If not, it should not destroy the engine by its failure. It is as ludicrous as having a failed alternator destroy the valve train.

 

Way sorry to hear of your problems Newfman. Super frustrating. There are several threads on the site about the vacuum pumps giving it up and leaving people stranded. The way the pump fits, keyed in to the camshaft, there is a very small oil hole that feeds the pump "bearing" from the head. From what I've read, the hole gets clogged with whatever debris and starves the pump, it seizes, and starts the catastrophic failure costing a new motors. This kind of falls into the argument category of how often to change oil and filter. Nothing sure, that's for sure. Best of luck with your dilemma.

 

http://www.npr.org/about/press/2012/...ndication.html

 

Helix is about 35 minutes from Ottos Mini. Ottos is a decent dealer. See if they can get Mini to goodwill some of the costs. If not, have it towed to Helix.

 

So, I posted the original message April 12th! Here it is, May 28th, and we still don't have the car. Granted, it is supposedly about ready, but they want to drive it awhile to be sure it is good to go. That was about a week and a half ago.

First I have to correct my post. It has 68,000 miles not 78,000.

So, long story short, MINI stepped up as well as they could. They were going to repair the engine and it would cost about $6,000. They agreed to cover 75%. Considering we are second owners, and the car was past warranty, we can't complain...too much.

The service advisor was very helpful and I think instrumental in getting this done for us. She also crunched some numbers and realized that a crate engine was only a few hundred dollars more. After discussing it with me, she contacted MINI and after a couple weeks, agreed to pay 75% of a new engine replacement.

So, while this is still a ridiculous experience for a low mileage MINI owner to have to go through, legally, they owed us nothing. So, I will take their offering. I'm still leaning real hard towards selling it though. I just have a lot of bad feelings and lack of trust in this vehicle and in this line of cars in general.

It was only fair that I posted MINI's willingness to help.

 

Glad they went to bat for you for sure, but I do wish these things were more reliable. I thought I was safe when I waited to buy one three years into the 2nd generation. Boy was I mistaken. BMW can't get it right with these cars. I was bitten by the timing chain issue, and it seems like these things are ticking time bombs. As much as I love driving the car, I will never buy another Mini/BMW product as long as I live. I will keep this thing until it implodes, because I've put money into it setting it up to be towed behind my motorhome. But when it's over, it'll be over for good.

 

Glad they helped out. Still....

it sucks for sure..

 

Says a lot about MINI and the dealer that they helped out. Sucks that it happened, but just wondering how long the first owner had the car? Who knows what they did to it, especially if you got it without service records. In my book even if you get rid of this one I'd look into a CPOd MINI because it's obvious your dealer and MINI care about having you as a customer. This situation sounds like it really sucked, but it could have sucked a lot more if they didn't value your business.

 

You bought a used car Mini fixes it and........... I think you are right it is time to move on.