Whelp guys I think I am at my wits end with the mini I own. I have not had this MCS for 4 hot months straight. I don't have more than 4k mils on it yet. But yet I am now going in for my second engine light issue. First time a few weeks ago I went in and they had my car for a week. They said I had a bad high pressure fuel pump and something else broke. Come to find out the tech broke something while trying to fix the pump. I get my car back and my JCW rear bumper looks like it popped out in the rear. I have not hit anything and nothing hit me. Just a spot on the left looks like when the teck was putting everything back together he just did no push it all the way in and the clips poped out. Also the check engine light came on again yesterday. Now it doesnt seem to change gears correctly all the time. I just don't know what to say guys. This is my first mini and as a matter of fact the first car I have ever had that had to be taken in one let alone twice for some kind of issue in the first few months. I don't know how you guys feel but personally I think its unacceptable. I am paying an assload of cash a month for this car. Now I gotta take it in monday and be with out a car all weekend. I spoke to my salesman and told him that I wanted a new car. Lets see what they come up with Monday. I just think this is a bad one. It came right off the boat, wasnt even in inventory yet. The car had no miles on it. I tell you one thing, they better not put me in some crappy standard mini. Those things have no get up and go at all.

BTW my dealership is Mini of Towson. I am gonna tell them I posted on this site to so people in the club will know whats going on. I know they don't want any bad press. Bad enough the BMW of Towson has the worse ratings of any BMW store in MD.

 

Odd... I've always had great service from MoT.

And odd... my JustaCoopers are great fun to drive and have plenty of guts. Of course, the right driver can get more out of a car than the wrong driver.

Sorry about your bad luck with your MINI. Sounds like you got a lemon.

 

I think I got a lemon too. When it is driving right I love it. But check engine lights scare me. Especially when they tell me that it wasn't anything that I did to cause the issues. Honestly I would rather them say...Hey you goof you did this and it caused this. But to say"ooops we are sorry we have no clue as to why you had to have this thousand dollar worth of repairs done and to top it off you gotta come in again." This really bothers me. So if they give me another car they are gonna have to reimburse me for my tinted windows. I am not gonna enjoy dropping almost $300 to get that done again.

 

Start with your salesperson but dont be afraid to climb the ladder quickly to get some answers. That is why they have service and sales managers and owners. If you havent done so already document everything and check out if your state has a lemon law and what the law says.

 

Erm...wow. I was planning to order my Mini from the Towson dealership, because it's the closest to where I live in PA. I really hope they can come through for you! Please keep us posted, because I'm now slightly wary about the quality of service!

 

ITA...keep us posted

 

I will keep you guys posted and will tell them how they treat this deal will definitely have bearing on how some others choose to buy. I am sure they don't want that. Gonna make sure they see all my Nam charter membership stickers and badge.

 

I wouldn't blame MINI of Towson too much for a lemon MINI you bought new.

How they end up handling the situation, however, that will be the real test.

 

If you stayed away from a retailer every time one customer complained, you'd never buy a thing.

Their service department gets rave reviews from the majority of those of us in the DC Metro MINI club. Many people who live closer to the dealership in Annapolis come up to Towson for their service.

 

ICE,

I used to work in a dealership, both selling cars then as a service writer. I always found the best approach to be to try to play nice at first. You are more likely to get farther if you seek their help rather than demand their cooperation. Rest assured there will always be time to become the squeaky wheel. My two cents from my own experience and it does sound like you have been cooperative up to this point.

Cheers.

 

Dont be so quick to blame the service dept. I work in a service shop as a service advisor and have ran into issues before that cannot be duplicated or are extremely difficult to diagnose. Im sure the tech(s) did everything that they could to diagnose the problem. A service engine soon light could illuminate for a number of different reasons. It could be bad O2 sensors, injectors, plugs, cat. converter, fuel issue, bcm, tcm, ebcm, ecm, etc. Vehicles nowadays are so hard to work on just b/c of the number of modules or computers that are put in. There are modules that control the abs, the airbags, the speedo, the door locks, the alarm, the engine, transmission and on and on and on.

All that I am saying is give them a second chance and just remain calm and patient. Im sure they are doing everything they can to make your experience alittle better. Hang in there, it will get better.

Keep us posted.

 

Thanks for all the advice guys. Rest assure I have not gotten nasty with them yet. The key word is yet. Actually part of the first trip in one of the techs that was working on the car actually did break something they told me that. Thats why it took longer than planned on the first repair of the high pressure fuel pump. But I was cool with that because it did not cost me anything. But to be back not even a full two - three weeks later. To top it off I really don't drive it much. Witch bothers me. But I spoke to my saleman Evan and he was dissapointed about the idea that I have been in twice for major work. So he said he is gonna work on getting me a new car also I have an appointment for the service department monday morning. So lets see what happens. I will keep you guys posted.

 

Whelp here is a little update. It looks like my salesman Evan got me in to the service department faster with a loaner. So today I dropped my car off. They had a loaner Mini Cooper S. They know I don't like those regular Mini Coopers. So right now they get a thumbs up. Now lets see whats actually wrong before I go off.

Also as a note, Evan from Mini Cooper of Towson is a great salesman and I highly recommend him. If you go to him tell him I sent ya. He deserves it.

 

im sorry your having difficulty with your mini.. things like this happen... you can't just blame the dealership and say they better or i am.. blah blah.. threatening them with im posting this on the nam forum and some people wont buy a car here if you don't fix it, sounds juvenile to me..
and they better not give you a crappy non S mini you dont like them.. well WAHH will ya? jesus they don't have to give you a loaner.. its a courtesy.. be happy that you get what they give you..
then all the sudden you take your car in.. and they give you the S.. and your a happy camper.. other then your car still isn't squared away.. and I noticed as soon as they did that.. you had the kindness to post.. oh yeah and Evan from Mini cooper of towson is a great salesman.. highly recommend him blah blah, tell him you sent them.. so on and so forth.. when your first post or second can't remember.. stated im gonna tell people.. that i posted this.. bad press is bad news blah blah... so .. hm.. wonder how you will feel when you get your car back and she is fixed... compared to if its not fixed how the rest of this goes...
as the mini turns,
as an end thought... I realize NAM reaches a large mini community.. you do realize.. its not God.. nor Godlike.. and throwing the name out.. and putting stickers on your car.. stating you possibly post on NAM (120 posts to be exact), doesn't miraculously wave the fixmyminicooperwandorimcryingtotheminicommunity WAND and make it all better.. sounds more like.. if i dont get what i want right here right now.. (mini vs miniS) then im taking my tonka truck to another sandbox.. want a popsicle or lollipop and a bandaid to make it all better?

 

Good lord. Lemme tell you this. When I pay $600 plus a month for a brand new car I have every damn right to ***** and moan. They are not doing me any freakin favors daimit. Thats for starters.

Second you say I should not blame the dealership. Well I put blame on the repair division the first time...Why, well they told me that they broke something which caused the duration to take almost two weeks to get my car repaired.

Third, I have never bad mouthed my salesman. As a matter of fact thats why I did go back and say what I said. Sales people have absolutley nothing to do with maintnence department. I never said they did so why you bitching on me for saying Evan is a good guy?

Forth....What pisses me off about you higher than thou *******s on these sites is that you ***** and moan when people are making valid points. Isn't this that what communities are for. To tell each other the different experiences they are having? Then you dare tell me not to say I am a member. Lemme tell you something about customers. When you **** one off they all have 400+ others they tell about what they are going through. Thats life. If you don't like the fact that I posted about whats going on with me then don't read the post and don't respond.

Fifth....When it comes to my loaners. Why should I not demand to get at least what I was driving? I pay premium for BMW's and Mini's and cars of this nature for this service. So damit I want what I drive or better. I could go buy a crappy neon and get no loaner but I pay for this service. It comes with my car. It is not just the dealership doing something nice. I pay for it so damit i want it right.

Like I said from the start, I am gonna be nice right now. But damit this is the last time i am putting up with a damn new car that is barely driven to have thousand dollar repairs every month. I mean come the heck on this car is not even 4 hot months old. What should I expect in a year or two years time. Let alone 4 years? So dont gimme that crap. I am not being childish just realistic. Sounds like your being childish. Maybe your cash growns on trees. This is a damn expensive car not a burger I can just toss and take a damn loss. So you can **** off. Your a real *******.

I may not have thousands of post ...but does that mean I can not tell whats going on? I just got my mini. Unlike people like you I do a lot of reading and I dont respond just to **** others off and inject pointless talk. To top it off I am a paying member. So i can sport my badges and stickers damit. I also have the right to mention that I am a member to my dealer as well. Why? Because many many people here use them, many people here will continue to use them and to top it off often the club even meets there.

Maybe you need to keep your comments to yourself and if you dont have something thats gonna help the situation keep it to yourself.

 

As you said.. open forum.. able to voice my own opinions.. not sure what kind of mini you got.. that costs you 600 a month.. my first didn't cost me that much a month and neither did my other.. one a S the other justacooper... so not sure how that comes into play.
I never said you didn't have the right to @#$# and moan as you put it.. more power to you.. but.. it seems as .. as long as you get your way your feeling a little better about.. perhaps you didnt say anything wrong about your SA.. but you did say that you were posting it here, to let people know , and that you would let the dealership know you posted it.. of course yanno threatening with bad press.. will certainly help you get your way... and I did say i was sorry you were having issues with the car..
I never said you weren't a member.. slow your roll a bit and reread.. if you didnt want anyone to perhaps post against what you were saying, if you can't take the good and bad.. then perhaps you should be the one to consider what your posting... as a community to me thats the great part of the forums.. to see the good and bad, be able to formulate our own opinions and put them out there.. as you said.. you dont like what i posted.. then why bother reading it?
you will be ok, im sure.. when you get your car back, its the way you want it.. then it all will be just a memory of being a pia.

 

 

Well, at least I know who to ask for when I order my Mini from them! LOL...thanks for the info, iceman! I appreciate it and I'm glad things are working out for you and your Mini!

 

The dealer's job is to make sure you are a satisfied customer. You deserve to have your problems rectified. But its also a two way street. If you ***** and moan about everything, you are less likely to have care about having you truely satisfied. Just be persistant, but also nice, and eventually it will get fixed.

 

Of course you are entitled to your opinion, but it would be nice if you didn't offend a large percentage of the community. I like to think my MINI is not "crappy". It also has quite a lot of "get up and go." Especially since I haven't once had to take it into the shop and so many "s" owners have had to. More part=more things to break...

Now I don't want to get into a this one is better than the other argument, because I don't think that is true. They are all MINIs and they all have their advantages and quirks.

 

iceman, you have every right to expect a brand new car to work IMO. If I'd had the problems you've had with yours... I would have been on the phone with a lawyer. My dealership is a six hour drive from here and there is no way in heck that I would tolerate having to take it over and be without it for constant repairs like this.

That said, we've had the s and not s debate so many times on this forum it's not even worth going into. I drive a justacooper... and to add even more insult to injury, I have an automatic... and LIKE it. I don't think mine's better than yours, but I also don't think yours is better than mine. That sort of stuff really shouldn't enter into it. You drive what you like, and I'll drive what I like and we can both be glad that we still hang out in this absolutely awesome place to talk about our rides.

Besides, as has been established by the scientific community, it's not the car. It's the driver.

 

Hey guys I do apologize for blasting the non-S Coopers. That just came out in my anger. I guess its like buying a Hummer and they put you in a Saturn truck. Its just a matter of principle. Not to say the Saturn truck is bad or to **** anyone off. The Cooper is a nice car and again I am sorry for pissin you guys off.

I am just angry as hell that my car is having these issues and you guys are like the friend I go to and get it off my chest that actually understand me.

 

No worries. *big hugs*

Sometimes, people need to gripe, just direct it more appropriately at what you are really angry about.

 

Read that back to yourself.

Then maybe you'll understand when I say, "you should have just wrote the second paragraph and left this crap off your post".

Wow. You really don't have a way with words or people, do you ?

 

Ya I agree read that back, still comes off as an insult. But anyway I appreciate the apology. I hope everything goes better for you. I can't imagine how frustrating it is to invest this much be excited and then have to deal with this. I hope your MINI start rewarding you, or they give you one that will love you even more!