So I took my Mini in for a few warranty repairs last month. Had a list of five things I wanted them to take a look at/fix.

1) Cold start issue
2) Sunroof sticking in hot weather
3) 'jerky' window
4) Clutch making intermittent chubaka type squeaking noise
5) Tire pressure monitor keeps coming on

So I get the car back, they fixed issues 1-3, can't duplicate issue 4, and can't find a tire leak so just reset the monitor for issue 5. The friendly service advisor also mentions that I'll be getting an email survey, and they'd greatly appreciate that if the service was satisfactory I give them all fives.

Now when I started the car, I got a bit of a shock. The radio was at it's highest volume, blaring a rock station. There was absolutely no gas in the car, (tach said I had 10km to empty), and my mpg/100l showed 13.9. (It was 8.9 when I gave it to them).

I didn't think too much of it, because I figured they must've taken it for a test drive to duplicate the clutch issue - and there was less than a quarter tank of gas when I dropped it off. Also they must've driven it fairly hard to get the mpg that high. It's a lease, so I laughed it off, the car drove fine, no harm no foul.

Then yesterday, I opened the hood to refill the windshield washer, and wedged into one of the little divets in the engine, is a 'bowl.' Not a bloody cereal bowl, but the type of bowl that you fill with ganja and attach a pipe to the end of. Not small enough that it can get in there without someone opening the hood, but small enough to be left behind obviously.

At this point, I've put 2 and 2 together and I'm fuming. Luckily for my service department it was a Friday night. I'm going to call them Monday morning. Any ideas on how I should handle this? Or is it not that big of a deal?

*PS* as an aside, does anyone know where I can get an ipod wire for the mini without paying the $100+ that Mini are asking?

 

You now have excellent blackmail material ... well in Virginia it would be excellent material, but isn't that sort of thing a little more liberal in Vancouver?

Tell them you will submit the pipe to the police and file a report with them and Mini and I bet you will get new clutch, free car washes whenever, a JCW rental when having service, and maybe some free gear.

Good luck, wish I found that in my ride.

 

It is a big deal and you should let them know about it in person and when you fill out the survey. Just for the heck of it you should demand a free ipod wire for your troubles.
That's just my 2 cents.
Please keep us updated about this issue.

 

I see all 1s on that survey. That's disgusting.

 

wow i guess that would be something to talk to the service manager in person about


they do take those surveys very seriously. Ive gotten phone calls from them with apologies the one time they washed my car w/o my permission lol

 

And when I left a ton of 1's and 2's with a check mark on 'please contact me.' I got nothing.

 

My experience is no where near as bad as yours. However, I did check the survey to please contact me...that was over a year ago. I think the dealerships must have a way to pull negative surveys out so they aren't counted.

 

This story is so crazy I actually laughed! If I were in your shoes, I would for sure call the service manager and *I* would call the GM of the dealership! The good news is that no real harm appears to have been done but I would flip OUT anyway simply to see how responsive the dealership is.

 

I would file a complaint with the GM of the dealership, the service mgr and let them know you are contacting Mini about it

Then file a report with Mini directly...

 

No I don't think this is normal and I sure would talk to upper level management about it, maybe it will get you some freebies, who knows.

 

I gotta watch this thread to see what happens!

 

This thread is delicious. Please keep us informed. This is even more entertaining than Jersey Shore.

Funny thing... my '08 MC (before ending our love affair) had ALL the same problems as your car. The sunroof experience was the worst. It hardly ever worked, and the trim around it was warped. There was also a broken spring/clip in my clutch.

 

 

+1

 

Please keep us posted. This is a great thread. I got a good laugh from it. BTW my dealership called me when I gave 2. Guess I'm lucky.

 

I always get mine back with something missing if I was so foolish as to have left something in the car (last time a vw cigarette lighter flashlight) with the A/C blasting and the radio on some channel I hate. Always seems to be a few extra miles than whats on the service paperwork. Nothing gets fixed either. Love my dealership.

Oh yeah they seem to have left a locking wheel lock off my car with my last service. Guessing I'll have to buy a new set now.

 

Wow... are you a MINI Richmond or MINI Yaletown customer? I've never had an issue with MINI Yaletown, but then again I've only been in twice.

 

I don't think so...i had one negative comment in my first service and i think i hgave them a 4 instead of a 5..and i got an email fro mthe service manager...and then fro mthe owner making sure it was taken care of. This was all the same day i filled it out.

 

So in answer to your question: Yes, it is perfectly normal to find marijuana paraphernalia under your hood.

 

UPDATE:

Thanks for the replies and suggestions. So I went to see the service manager today, spoke to him in person.

You guys are going to LOVE this.

So, sat down in his office, told him the story - and gave him the bowl. His eyes almost popped out of his head, and he just kept repeating that 'there's no way that could be one of his guys'.

Then he asked me to show him where I found it. So we went out to the car, I opened the hood and showed him. Guess what we found right in the same divet? Mouse droppings. TONS of them. Found the same in just about every other little divet in the engine bay. I must've been too interested in the ganja bowl I found to notice them the first time. The manager told me how he sees this stuff more often than he likes, and he once pulled a bloody nest out of a vent. We poked around the bay with a flashlight, and didn't find any frayed wiring - so thankfully it seems they hadn't done any damage (yet?)

At this point, the bowl was the least of my concerns, I was freaking out about the mice...but the service manager (who has probably never before in his life been relieved at the sight mouse droppings) said that the mice probably thought it was food and brought it in to the engine bay. It is somewhat believable because mice do stash food, and the bowl is about the size of a large bottle cap. Then again, it's made of porcelain. Must've been one ******* mouse.

So to sum up, he blamed the marijuana paraphernalia on a mouse.

Btw does anyone have any ideas to stop these little fahkers from getting cozy in my engine bay?

 

A mouse huh? Interesting...

I think my response would have been, "So, I wonder why one of your guys didn't find this during the service call? Did they even look under the hood?"

Concerning those surveys; I gave my dealership highest marks across the board and got a call from MINI corporate a few days later to ask if there was anything else I needed. I was pleasently surprised by such a high level of service from both the dealership and MINI USA.

 

Maybe put a very small cat under the bonnet? (Sorry, had to say that)

 

Funny, the manager actually said that - his techs would've definitely seen it while working in the engine bay.

Yaletown. My first issue with them.

 

So, what was the conclusion? How did they fix the timing chain tensioner without finding the mouse's drug paraphernalia?

I imagine the bowl had a strong odor to it, and a mouse might have found it irresistible. See any teeth marks in it?

A mouse made a nest in the heater of my 1990 Integra. I had left the windows down while the car was in my garage, and a mouse got into the garage...

A friend has an ongoing problem with mice building nests in the fresh air filter for the heater of his Porsche.

I used to think mice were cute, now I think I prefer snakes.

 

Mice can move all sorts of interesting stuff but a "bowl" is a new one...

I'd write the service mgr and the GM of the dealership a letter saying thank you for finding the mice problem, but asking them HOW they did the service without noticing Micky's stash?