I like him too!!!
+1

 

Please can everyone calm down...take a moment and enjoy a chocolate mint.

 

I've seen what happens when you do that!

 

Whelp no call today. This makes me think it's something bad.

 

Iceman, I'm with you every bit of the way brother! I too pay over 600 a month for my Mini, and I would be just as pissed as you are! The thing that was mentioned earlier about them putting you in a loaner car as being a "courtesy". Umm bite me, because you're STILL making the payment on the car every day that it sits in the service department. As far as I'm concerned, it's the LEAST that they could do. It's not YOUR fault that you got a "bad" egg.
You are more than justified in my eyes

I can only hope for you that everything gets settled in the right way and you can start enjoying worry free motoring again!

And in case anyone wonders why I pay over 600 a month, do the math, nothing down, everything but nav on my car, 2.9 financing over 5 years, k?

 

 

Thanks chief.

 

Whelp here is yet another update and I am told they have no idea why. They just told me that cylinder 1 is misfiring. All they seem to be able to come up with is moving around the spark plugs and test it more. I really don't get this because this is the same reason I took in in the first time.

What should I do guys? This is the second time with the exact same problem with a different "reason" from the repair shop. They said the engine was not firing correct the last time but they blamed the high pressure fuel pump. I am really not a happy guy right now.

I mean good lord, I am suppose to keep this car for at least 4 years. 3400 mils into it and this crap. I just don't know. Honestly I am about to say the hell with it and just demand a new car. I know you guys say chill and see what happens but damn I really think this is unacceptable for a new car. It's down right embarrassing. I will tell you what I will probably never buy another mini again. I have never had a brand new car with issues like this. Its just getting very hard to smile and tell people how I love my mini when its in the shop more than on the road. i mean damn the first 10k is when you are breaking the new engine in, this engine and power train hasn't made it through the first 5k miles.

I just don't know........I am at a total loss especially when I hear crap like...."we don't really know what the cause of the problem is" that doesn't make me feel any better at all. Honestly I think it is probably a bad cylinder. These free rentals all drive better than my car has since day one. WTF.

Whats sucks even more is that my salesman Evan is off on Tuesday :( So I can't even talk to him about this mess.

 

Check the lemon laws for your state and see if your situation falls into those parameters. If it does you have every right to ask the dealer to exchange your car.
Maryland Lemon Laws

 

Two things: I'd ask the GM of the dealership for a face to face with your regional service manager. These guys/gals travel a certain region and handle issues in the service area for corporate. They make the call on replacement car/lemon/engine replace/etc. Do that now. And be sure to keep accurate records of dates of service, how many days out of service, when it started, etc. You might even drop that letter to MiniUSA so there is a record of it along with your VIN and any other details.

Second, I'd check the state lemon laws for your area and find an attorney if you need one. You should not need an attorney just yet. Give the sales and management people a chance to respond to what is going on first. But don't let the saga go on much longer.

And for what it's worth, these are great cars, and they are mechanical/electronic gizmos. Things go wrong. Rare to see one totally bonkers like this, but it does happen with all highline and lowline cars and everything in between. Mini is a great driver, so just hang in there, and hopefully the dealership and MiniUSA will do right by you.

Good luck.

 

Actually I just did that and I think I fall way in the lemon law category. I am under 15k, and the same problem keeps me from driving my vehicle and kills the market value of the car. I think early Thursday before I go to work I am going to have a talk with Evan and his manager and see if they want to swap my car before I file an official complaint.

 

good lukc n keep us posted demand what ya wanted..

 

If you are in Maryland... you do not qualify to lemon law your car yet.

They must make four attempts to repair the exact same issue with your car under the warranty program, you've only mentioned 2 attempts to repair this issue. They can send it home with you and do this twice more before you can do anything about it. If, after those two attempts, the issue is still not fixed, call them and tell them you want to lemon law the car. If they refuse, call your state attorney general's office to get the ball rolling on getting your car qualified as a lemon.

Diminished value only comes into play if the vehicle has been in for service for a total of 30 days. So you can't just lemon law your car because you think the repairs are reducing the value, lemon laws do not work like that. Lemon laws do not exist to protect the value of your vehicle, they are there to protect you from getting a crappy one. You have to be unable to drive it for a 30 days first... but I do not believe that those 30 days have to be consecutive. Make sure you fact check me on this one before you do anything!!! If true, this is good news. Go through your records and count up the number of days your car has been in the shop. If it hits 30... call the dealership and tell them you want to lemon law the car. If they refuse, call your state attorney general's office and get the ball rolling on qualifying the car as a lemon.

I'm guessing that your car is passing safety inspections, so those are your only options to get the car to qualify as a lemon.

Good luck on this. I hope they actually fix it so that you don't have to go through heck. The process of qualifying a car as a lemon takes a while and you will be without transport while that's happening because the dealership doesn't have to give you a loaner while you're waiting for calls from lawyers.

 

I'm hoping they quickly figure out what the problem is and make it go away forever. My HP fuel pump went out in December, but the car finally wouldn't start at all (after taking several tries to cold start off and on for a month before that). If they "can't figure it out" what I'd push for is a new JCW. No way it can happen again, and you like the car and the folks at Towson. I wouldn't shoot the Mini brand down if they'd either fix it for good or replace it with a new one. And they have insurance for stuff like that because s*#* happens to new cars everywhere. Too bad it happened to yours.

 

I am not going to get into a battle of what the law states. But I have a copy and you obviously did not read it. The law states this and this is a direct copy from my Maryland web site. "If you suspect your car is a lemon -- for example, if the dealer has tried once or twice unsuccessfully to repair the problem and you believe the problem substantially impairs the use and market value of the vehicle"......"[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=2]you should write to the manufacturer immediately. You do not need to wait until the dealer has made the four repair attempts, or until the car has been out of service for 30 days."[/SIZE][/FONT] BTW this is a direct copy from my attorney generals web site.

Please get your facts straight. So I can still start the complaining. The dealership doesn't want anyone to even start this process. It's bad enough that BMW of Towson has such a bad rep. I am sure they don't want yet another complaint to the Attorney General on them. Once I file the official complaint they then have 30 days to completely fix the issue.

 

Are you serious?

 

about what part?

If your asking about BMW of Towson try googling them and see what you come up with. For example...
http://www.dealerrater.com/dealer/BM...n-review-1998/
GStevens
1/1/2008 11:50:07 AM
Reason for Visit: Service

I recommend this dealer: No

My Review of BMW of Towson:
Everything is fine, until you have a problem with service at Towson. They accept no responsibility for anything that they have done wrong, and basically blow you off. It is a real shame that BMW would allow such a lousy dealer to represent them. Don't be lured in by their promise of a free loaner...this is done just to get you in the door. There are plenty of other good BMW dealerships, Towson is not one of them. My note (this is the same problem I have had with loaners. they have denied me service because they claimed they had no loaner which is hard to swallow when you have two lots of minis and bmw's. Heck my dodge dealership gives me a new durango off the lot if they don't have any loaners)


Or are you referring to the law on lemons?
http://www.oag.state.md.us/Consumer/lemon.htm

 

Thanks! I was referring to Mini of Towson's reputation. I saw some positive and some negative reviews online, but I guess I'm being so picky about it because I want to make sure that if I buy a Mini from them, that they'll take care of my new "baby."

 

To let you understand how bad they are in Towson I know people that will drive to Annapolis or Owings Mills just to buy a BMW and they live closer to Towson. This has been a known issue in Maryland for countless years. I would never buy a BMW from them. But when I decided to buy my mini I did not want to drive to Annapolis to get it. But again as that guy said in the post before this and as I have said, the sales department of Mini of Towson is awsome and the sales department of the BMW of Towson is not the best either. Just not half as bad as the service department. Luckily Mini of Towson is leaving Towson and moving up the street from me and is going to become Mini of Owings Mills!!! So they will get their own service department. So they won't be grouped with BMW of Towson. I really think they loose business because they are on the same Lot. I am sure thats one of the reasons they are moving.

 

I posted the law in my earlier post as well. I think the once or twice is when you initiate the proceedings for the lemon law claim, you are not yet entitled to a replacement vehicle until the 4 attempts/30 days occurs. Perhaps Townsend MINI will offer a replacement sooner to appease you and so that (and this is the underhanded part) they can spend plenty of time to diagnose and fix the car without it legally being declared a lemon so that they can easily resell it as a lightly used car.

 

So this will be a free-standing MINI only dealership not conjoined or sharing building space with any BMW dealership? Cool, I didn't think BMW would let that happen (I guess they hoped young people buying MINIs now would trade up to BMWs later.)

 

I just can't understand why folks are always putting down the non-S and you do see it often. If I am not mistaken the S came second and for a reason like racing. It is almost like the S owners feel like they have the only real Mini. Odd.

Jim

 

beware towson! the iceman cometh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Justacooper's fun, S is silly fun. I'd have no problem driving a Cooper as a Loaner for a day or two, but much longer than that and I'll be going through boost withdrawl, it would be like your Cooper's in the shop and you have to drive a Civic around, it's not a bad car, respectable in it's own way, but it's sure no MINI.

 

I will take a pic of the huge bill board they put up in my neighborhood next time i drive by it. I actually drove by it when they were putting it up. I was so excited especially since it will be only like 5 mins from my house!!!! Also it will be a convenience for them because its about a block or so away from the very high rated BMW of Owings Mills.