I did not have a good Friday. my 5 week old cooper got a hole in its gas tank. it was an unavoidable situation, and i ran over a large piece of metal.

i called 911 first, and then mini roadside assistance. the lady at mini put me on hold for 10 minutes (while i was standing 10 feet from a major highway with cars going by at 80mph). when she got back on the line, she said that she could not locate any tow truck in my area. i live in Fort Worth, TX and i know that there are plenty of tow trucks around. she put me on hold again and said she would try some more. after another 2 minutes i hung up on her and had the police call a tow truck for me. she never called me back.

this is unacceptable

i was less then 5 miles from my house so i had the tow truck tow the car there. once i got home i called mini roadside assistance again, and within 5 minutes the guy had a tow truck and said it would be at my house within the hour. the truck arrived and my mini is now at the dealer awaiting a new gas tank ($1,000)

so that is my mini roadside assistance story.
and i don't think its an unusual story, because a woman i work with called them with a TPMS problem and they just told her to ignore it.

Brian

 

I hear ya Brian,

2 yrs ago I was in a friends MINI when he needed MINI Roadside. It was bad, real bad, we were able to get on a friends smart phone and google a tow truck and have it on the way before MINI Roadside could even find us. I hope ours is not the norm, but I think we will find it to be the case.

 

In the beginning - if you read the fine print you saw that - MINI roadside assist was provided by AAA

When I bought my 07 the topic came up and I was told that had changed DESPITE what was printed on the card. (still said AAA)

So I signed up for AAA on my own....still no promises but I feel more confident....

 

I have roadside assistance with my phone via Verizon. We've used it twice with no problems. It doesn't matter who's vehicle it is as long as the phone is present. One time my daughter's Exploder wouldn't start, so we got the phone to her and used it to get it towed to the dealership.

 

Sign up for AAA. Not only do you get excellent assistance (IMO) you get discounts to just about anything. It's just one of those things I think everybody should have.

 

I think it's important to note that regular AAA gives you towing for a very short distance (3 miles or to the tower's). While AAAplus gives you towing for 100 miles (or to the tower's). That has saved both mine, and a bunch of my friends' butts on many occasions. Completely worth the extra money IMHO.

 

+1 Agreed, having the car towed home without extra fees is great. Mini roadside sounds pretty dissapointing, I hope it works well for me when I need it.

 

I also have roadside assistance through my cell phone provider - Sprint - I swear by this service. I have needed to use it twice, with great success. Only $4/month, also it does not matter who owns the car - any car I am riding in as long as I have my phone with me. Once used it in my daughter's new volvo (blowout, and volvo roadside service left us stranded), and once while driving a 40 foot motorhome, pulling a Grand Cherokee. Had them come and get the Grand Cherokee and follow me to my destination. I had no issues on towing distance, never saw a bill.

Also had poor results from GMC roadside assistance, and BMW roadside assistance. So I won't bother with any Manufacturer's Roadside assistance, MINI included. I'll use my cell phone service first every time.

 

Sorry that others have had a bad experience. Recently I used MINI roadside assistance to have mine towed and my experience was good. Maybe I just got lucky {shrug}?

 

The Mini dealer I am purchasing from has a Mini all decked out for mobil repairs. I have seen the car in my area before. Is this norm for all dealers? What types of on the road repairs will they perform? I know Audi, MB, and BMW also have repair vehicles for this purpose.

 

^^zarote my dealership has the same kind of MC decked out as a repair vehicle with 2 different tire sizes mounted on the roof rack and I imagine some other things inside but the windows were blocked out.

Now if one calls Mini Roadside Assistance and the car is broken down within the general vicinity do they forward the call to the dealership to be dispatched?

 

If we (dealership) can help out with simple roadside repairs, ie: batteries, tires, gas and such then they will call us to see if we're available to make the roadside call. If we are available to make the call then yes, the dealership should be out there ASAP to help out.
If you want to stop by and check it out some time, feel free.

 

Excellent to hear that and thank you

When my warranty shifter replacement comes in at Vista MINI I will check that out.