I was dropping my MINI off today and happened upon some marketing folder titled: "Why To Look Before You Pump"

It went on to talk about the importance of what gas you choose. It also said our warranties maybe voided if we don't use top tier gas (details in our owner's manual). Here is where you can find the retailers for this level of gas: www.toptiergas.com

Among that list were: Texaco, Chevron, Shell

And if you aren't in an area where top tier gas is available, then they will happily sell you a gas additive PN# 82 14 0 413 341. They request that we add this every 3000 miles.

I found this eye opening to say the least. And not that I use high quality gas (Shell, Chevron), I didn't know it could affect our warranty. Interesting.

 

It's so that MINI techs can claim your issue is bad gas and not need to fix problems until you prove it's not the gas, sort of that guilty until proven innocent approach.

But in all fairness, a tank of bad gas is difficult to diagnose if you don't know the onset comes shortly after a fill-up, as the symptoms can be fairly random.

They put out a Service Bulletin on Top Tier back around 2006, with the new model design it became part of the warranty.

 

I didn't think it was possible to void a warranty with the type of gas you use. I stand corrected. I've maybe put one tank of Costco gas and that's it. Yet I still have the carbon build up when I did my 30K service. My MSA happily included it in the warranty work.

 

Whatever! Put any type of gas you want in it and just make sure that it isn't e85 and or anything over 10% ethanol then seafoam it every once in awhile.

 

How would they prove that you didn't? And how would you prove that you did? You have to keep your gas rec'ts now too?

This is getting out of hand.....

 

It seems like the wind blowing in a particular direction could affect our warranties, so I'm not really too concerned. I naturally buy gas brands I recognize, just because there isn't a large enough price discrepancy to warrant saving $.50 on a fillup.

 

I was thinking the exact same thing. Though I buy my gas with a debit card so I could pretty much pull my bank account history over the last two years and I could prove to them I use Chevron pretty much exclusively.

I just find it a little troubling that they can put this stuff in a warranty. And I'm with you proving one way or the other would be very difficult to prove by MINI.

 

There is about a .20¢ difference between regular unleaded and premium unleaded around here ('course it varies a little). That would be a whole $1.60 to $1.80 a tank.
Hardly a deal breaker.
I do believe the tattle tale would be stored in the OBC. I think I read that they can get peak RPM, fastest speed, and timing dynamics out of it.

Somebody call me out or back me up on this one. I can't remember where I got that info......so I may be wrong.

 

There is no warranty requirement that any particular brand of gas be used.

Top Tier gasoline is a MINI recommendation, not a requirement.

You may want to actually read the "details" in the owner's manual.

 

I just put Chevron 89 grade. It is the midgrade in CA. Car runs smooth and mileage is te same as 91 grade.

 

Interesting...I don't have my manual with me at the moment. Here is what their brochure says word for word:

"And since you've committed your MINI Owners' Manual entirely to memory, you know that fuels containing 10% lor less ethanol will NOT void the applicable MINI warranties covering defects in materials or workmanship. Go above 10%, however, and you may be mortoring without backup.*

*Please see your MINI Service and Warranty Booklet for details on warranty coverage. Sorry for the interuption "

They sure do imply that the warranty might be effected by choosing gases with 10% or more ethanol. Marketing ploy to buy their fuel additive perhaps???

 

They say gas with MORE than 10% ethanol is bad. I don't think you can buy gas like that in most states(?). There's no brand of gas that will void your warranty. The owner's manual recommends 91 octane, doesn't require it at all. You can safely buy your gas at Costco people. Lighten up.

 

I merely posted this information for discussion purposes. Afterall this is a forum right? Where we can freely discuss things?

I just find it contradictory to have a statement like that in the manual, and then have brochures like this distributed.

Thanks for your input though!

 

I've always been under the impression that you should stick with the same brand of gas, as opposed to just swapping brands (even between top tier products.)

This is usually because each brand has different additives to the mix, so it's best to stay consistent with one high quality brand and just go with it. I use Chevron, mostly because the pump is closest to my house.

 

I don't believe that a car company can void your warranty arbitrarily based on what gas, oil, etc, that you use.

This situation came up with a Ferrari Enzo a few years ago. Ferrari said that owners had to use a specific oil that cost $60 per quart (and it used 12-15 qts, IIRC!) or their warranty would be voided. Of course, if you own an Enzo, an $800 oil change shouldn't be the end of the world, but IIRC, someone complained and Ferrari had to back down. The premise was, Ferrari isn't paying for it, so they can't say you HAVE to use a certain oil.

I imagine the same goes for MINI. You can use whatever oil or gas that you want and they can't void your warranty based solely on that. However, if it can be proven that your choice of oil/gas was the cause of a problem, then they can deny you warranty coverage.

 

My brand new 2010 owner's manual "recommends" 91 octane, and does mention that use of fuel with more than 10% ethanol may void your warranty, but the legal amount of ethanol in fuel in the US is 10% anyway. It makes no mention of Top Tier whatsoever.

 

I'm sticking to the only non-ethanol, gas I can find. 94 octane and $$$s though

 

In Southern California all gasoline comes from the same three refineries.
Shell, Chevron, Mobil, Costco, and 'Thrifty Mart' all get their gas from the same place.
Since there are so few refineries in this country, I'd imagine the story is the same elsewhere, too.
Pay 20-cents more for Chevron if you just gotta have 'Techron,' but, the gas is probably "fresher" at a high-volume seller like Costco than it is at a more expensive "gas station."
And, all this talk about non-top-tier gasoline voiding your warranty is bunk. Seriously.

 

Ok...I'll check mine too. But I don't remember my manual talking about top tier gas, gasoline with more than 10% ethanol, etc. That's why I find this borchure strange. I wish I could scan and show which one it is. Oh and I think it has a 2007 copyright on it.

I think this borchure is for the purpose of wanting you to buy their additive. Plain and simple.

 

One more thing as to why I find this brochure a little mystifying is that when I brought my MINI in for service and they cleaned up my carbon, they asked me what type of gas I use. I told them Chevron and Shell (maybe once at Costco and once at Mobile1). And he said the reason for carbon build up was the gasoline I used. Well if you look at toptier.com they both mention Shell and Chevron.

My SA insists that the type of gas I use is the problem. LOL.

I know that Seafoam will do the trick and plan to take the preventive measures as needed. I just find it laughable that SA's are pushing something that can't be proven to be the cause of my carbon problem.

 

So you just canceled your whole statement that not using top tier would void your warranty. E85 will and it is offered in the states because it is based from corn. So it is offered in the central part of the country. As one SA told me in Hawaii the MINI was not designed to run off of anything that has ethanol and that is why the offer the fuel system cleaner (basically seafoam).

 

Touche' mcm. they only say to check the ethanol content b4 U fill. TT is only a guide, and a shaky one at that.

But what about the MINI owner out in the middle of Bumsquat America who only can choose from Diamond Shamrock (a good brand, btw) or Shitgo or some other non-TT gas, w/o having to drive 100 miles to do so? what happens when his/her HPF fails and they attempt to blame it on NOT using TT?

They can't enforce that.

 

If they tried to do this to me, I'd be on the horn to MINI corporate so fast their tensioners would spin ragged. I would not put up with this lame LAME BS.

 

Honestly, I don't know why anyone expects fair dealing and honesty from a dealership as it is. It's common knowledge that they love to shift the blame onto the owner and make them pay for costly, unnecessary repairs.

 

My doctor doesn't scold me about what I eat nor does my dentist lecture me about sweets, but I have to worry that my pimple-faced MINI service advisor is gonna yell at me about what gas I use? What happened to my country?