I'm curious if any one else has had an experience with Mini similar to what I had this morning.

I have a '08 MCS. My factory original runflats lasted not even 20,000 miles. Instead of incurring the $1,600 to replace them, I got a set of regular Hankook's and got a Slime flat repair kit to carry with me. Last night I had a blow out on the left rear. Slime wouldn't work on it.

I called Mini Roadside Assistance and they told me they had to have it towed to the closest Mini dealership for repair. Ha! Got the call this morning that Mini won't, and using their words "CAN'T" help me because they can only put original factory equipment on a vehicle. It is a "liability issue" with them to put a non-run flat on my MCS because it doesn't have a spare. Question: I seem to recall that the justacoopers back in '08 didn't come with run-flats as standard issue. Am I wrong on that? If not, why is it okay to put non-run flats on a JustaCoop and not on an MCS?

Now I have to have the car towed AGAIN to get the tire replaced. Gotta tell you, I have a very sour taste in my mouth right now for Mini. Comes right on the heels of a disappointing experience with my last service just so happened to be 1 month past the 3 year warranty and they wouldn't cover it.

Anyone else who replaced their run-flats with non-run flats experience anything like this too? If so, did you have any luck or did you get the same story?

Love the car, but HATE the service! May soon be a former Mini owner!

 

The Justas come equipped with a spare tire, so dealer installation of non-runflat tires is not an issue.

I must confess that I'm somewhat sympathetic to the dealer's position on this one. There's likely some regulation on redundant tire functionality with which they're forced to comply. Might seem silly, but that is what we've devolved to in this litigious society of ours.

Chalk this one up as a lesson learned. If there is a "next time" have a non-MINI service provider like AAA provide the tow. I pay my insurance company $5 every six months for towing and labor coverage and the accompanying peace of mind. I'd only seek out MINI if the issue was clearly related to OEM components.

 

Depending on which runflats you were given on the car that is about normal, especially for the Dunlop OEM tires.

You are correct in your thinking. The MC did not have runflats and if DID come with a spare. So that is why they can put NON RUNFLAT tires back on it.

As for the MCS, it did not come with a spare and did come with runflats on it because the MINI spare tire will not fit of the front brakes on an S so rather than have people complain about all the work it take to change a front tire (i.e. move a rear tire to the front and put the spare on the rear)
they opted to go with run flats.


Why should MINI or any other manufacturer do repairs to a car that is OUT OF WARRANTY. That is why there is a specific time or mileage on the warranty. And it does not matter what car manufacturer it is if the dealer does a warranty repair on a car out of service they will not get reimbursed for it.

I have replaced my Run Flats with non runflats and would NEVER expect MINI or anyone else to cover that. Plus unless you purchased a tire warranty they are not covered as they are a "wear" item and as such do not fall under the warranty.

I am sorry to hear that you are frustrated but in everything you have complained about - trying to get warranty repairs on a car out of warranty and trying to get warranty on an item you replaced is asking "way to much"

 

Obviously it is my frustration calling out here, in case you can't tell. While you two have made good points, allow me to expand further.

I did not realize the MC's came with a spare. I knew they didn't have runflats but didn't know they had the spare. My bad.

As for my prior experience I referenced regarding the 1 month out of warranty, it was not a "warranty" issue but rather the included service (oil change) they give you when you buy the car. They were very quick to point out when I had the car in there for an included "standard service" that they could not do the included oil change as I was not close enough from a mileage standpoint to do it. But yet, they made no mention to the fact that my 3 year time period would be expiring in 2 months. Now is that on me, sure, but if they are so hyped about customer service, I would have thought a nice reminder that my free service period was coming to an end and if I wanted to get it in there for the serivce that I should do so!

I do not expect them or any other manufacturer to perform "warranty" work on a product that is outside of the warranty period. However, that is not to say that I have not had other manufacturers replace a product that I had purchased that WAS out of warranty because they wanted to ensure excellent customer service! Mini is always so quick to ask me to make sure and give them all 10's after my service so they look good. Which, in the past, they did. However, companies have the ability to go outside of the box to provide superb customer service. That was not, IMHO.

As for replacing the tire, maybe I didn't make it clear what I was expecting. I did not buy the tires at Mini, I would not expect them to replace a product I didn't buy from them. The tires are not warranted through Mini and I know full well that they are a "wear" item and not covered under a normal warranty. However, where my frustration lies is in the fact that Roadside Assistance has to tow it to a Mini dealer and then the dealer won't put on a new tire for me (knowing I would have to pay in full for the tire and labor) but instead leaves me high and dry! That is my complaint.

Yes, we live in a very litigious society. I do many things where I sign a waiver of my rights to either participate in an event or have something done. Can a good lawyer plow through those waivers? Probably so. In todays world, customers have certain expectations when they deal with a company. I evaluate how the company met, or exceeded those expectations. And in this case, knowing that I would pay for a new tire and labor to replace it, and then find out I am left high and dry, Mini did not meet my expectations. Therefore, I am a very unsatisfied customer!

 

Agree with the rest here. You took the car out of specs when you went with regular tires. MINI is only going to fix items that are stock and nothing more. Even if you wanted to pay for it they really can't do it as they aren't a tire store. I'm sure they offered to sell you 4 new tires to put it back to stock but they won't go buy a tire they don't carry and install it for you. You simply made the wrong choice. You should have had the car taken to the closest tire place and bought a new one for it. Simple enough...

MINI roadside is for MINI related warranty issues. Your tires are no longer covered so you should have had it towed yourself rather than call them.

 

I sure did!

I have to disagree with your assessment of roadside assistance. I do not agree that it is reserved ONLY for related warranty issues. If you need assistance with the vehicle, that's what they are there for.

I will chalk this all up to a lesson learned. I'm certainly not looking for sympathy here, just seeing if any others have experienced anything similar. Obviously not!

It is currently being towed to the auto repair to have the tire replaced and I'll be back on the road soon. As to what the road ahead looks like for me and Mini, that has yet to be determined. As I said, I currently have a sour taste in my mouth, but, like a good burrito, that too hopefully will pass!

 

Disagree if you want but that is what it is for, not for you to use for anything you like. The idea of it is that if you do have a problem while in warranty that you are towed to the nearest dealer to get it fixed so you are not left stranded. It isn't setup so that you can call to have it towed where you please. It is a MINI related service only... If you really want that service then you might want to consider staying stock and putting the tires back to run flats or contacting your insurance company to see of they have a tow service (mine does).

Just an FYI, but this isn't a MINI thing. If I got a flat in the Subaru with non-OEM tires they won't help me either. In fact, they saw my tires once and wanted to replace them with OEM tires at a lovely cost of 700 USD. I told them that I would pass.

As for towing... Why did you tow it again? Why not just take the tire off, toss it in another car and go get it fixed? Might have saved you a few dollars. I'm sure they wouldn't have cared if the car sat on the lot for a few hours.

 

So if that is what it is for, then why is the warranty period 3 year/36,000 miles yet the roadside assistance is good for 4 years? Gee, I guess you are just SOL for that extra year according to your assessment. Sorry, you lost me on that one!

Yup, you are right, if I had the time to go back up there and get the tire, take it and get it fixed, bring it back and put it on, I would have. This damn work thing gets in the way. Hindsight is always 20/20. Had I known then what I know now...

 

The standard MINI warranty is 4 years/50,000 miles. The 3 year/36,000 miles is for the included maintenance plan.

 

Alright, I'll shut up now! Guess I don't know as much about the maintenance plan and warranty as I apparently thought I did.

In spite of my apparent stupidity (thanks to all of you for pointing this out ), I'm still mad! Guess a flat tire at midnight will do that to a person.

Motor on!

 

Hmm... I guess "to make money" isn't good enough for you. If you take your car to the dealer out of warranty you are asking to get ripped off.

Time off? Taking a day today to get my MINI repaired. Not going to the dealer either. Tis part of life.

 

Dont beat yourself up on this one. There is so much junk in life we have to deal with (work being a big one) that sometimes remembering the details of car warranty details, services etc. just fall by the wayside when you are sitting by the side of the road with a flat tire.

And by the way- I agree with you on the oil change just outside the free period. Sometimes it takes me a few weeks to get an appointment with my local dealer and having to do the change before the last day is just splitting hairs, its not like you were trying to have it done 6 months later.

I have a Volvo Suv which has had lots of problems but I keep it because the dealer has bent over backwards to take care of me. Its way off warranty now, but I plan to keep it just because of how well I have been taken care of.

The run flats are another story- I have heard that Costco wont switch out a car with run flats to not run flats, so its not just MINI.

Im not a fan of run flats either, my wife has them on her BMW also and they are expensive!!

 

My semi-related anecdote. A few years back, my Porsche Cayman S had a blowout with a big bolt stuck in tire. They come with non-RF's and no spare tire. I called their roadside service and a nice guy with a flatbed was there in less than an hour on a weekday evening around 10PM.
He wanted to take me to the dealer but I insisted he just take me home as we were much closer and I knew I could handle this myself. He grudgingly did so but kind of softened up on the drive to my house and told me "if you'd opted for the dealer, I'd get paid more. One tow to my storage lot for the night, another to take it to the dealer in the morning. This way I'm only getting paid for one." But he did it.
The next day I located a tire in town, pulled the wheel/tire off in my driveway, threw it in the back of the MINI, and took it to get changed out. End of story.

 

good work. everyone should take a lesson off that. stand tall, the tow company certainly can't MAKE you go somewhere you don't want to go. even if they insist on a dealership

 

$1600 for replacement tires??? Not to be a nitpicker, but DAMN taking the Mini to a dealer for TIRES??? Tire rack has several sets of RFT tires for less than $900, and non RFT tires can be $400... For a set... Granted there will be shipping and mounting, but that's usually less than $150 total...

 

The reason MINI won't put a non-runflat on your car is the liability issues. You can thank the ambulance chasing lawyers for that. By the way I'm not criticizing all lawyers, the majority are great but there are a lot that would pounce on any little thing to sue a major corporation knowing that they will pay something just to avoid the exposure and court costs. Buy the way it's not just the auto manufacturers / dealers that won't put non-runflats on a car that came equipped with run flats. A couple of years ago I purchased an '02 MCS that was already converted to non-runflats. When I went to replace those tires at a tire dealer I had been doing business with for years the would ONLY install run flats on my MCS even though it currently didn't have them because that is what it came from the factory with and "they didn't want to deal with the liability issues". I ended up buying my Yokohama Avid ENVigor's through Tire Rack and using a different shop to mount them.

 

I don't think this has to happen. We have 2009 cars with the factory run flats. My wife's car got 36K on the run flats. My car is at 26K with at least 10 to 15K more on the tires.

The key is to ensure that they are properly inflated (check weekly) and you MUST rotate every 5K like clockwork. If you track your car then all bets are off of course.

At least this was our experience.

 

I don't think you are stupid, and I completely sympathize. I would have expected that "Mini Roadside Assistance" would tow me regardless of what tires I had on my car. It would not have occurred to me that they would insist on taking it to a dealer rather than any close tire store, or that the dealer would refuse to put a new tire on because they are not run flats. I did not realize that Mini towing would only relate to a warranty issue -- I would have just thought it was a towing benefit, kind of like AAA.

I think, since the dealer probably has a deal going with a tow service, that they could have at least offered to tow the car to a nearby tire store at no cost to you, just to get you on your way and make a customer happy. Would have cost them next to nothing, and probably kept them a customer.

Thanks for the post. I plan on changing my run flats to regular tires. I know now to call AAA rather than Mini.

 

Yup, would have done the same thing. Now I know. So while you feel (OP) you got the shaft on this deal, you actually have helped a others not to get in the same situation.

So thanks!

 

+1

 

Meh... just run by there, grab the wheel, take it to where ever you purchased the tires, have them mount a new tire, go back to the dealer and install it. There, easy fix.

I myself do not have high expectations from my dealer on any service and I am never disappointed. I do my own oil changes and tune-ups, and the only time I go to the dealer is for warranty repairs or recalls. Personally, I would never have called roadside assistance (mainly because all they do is tow to the nearest dealer) to begin with and just fixed it myself but I am a resourceful kind of guy. I've got towing covered on my insurance so I don't need their "free" service should I ever need a tow. MINI Roadside is for MINI work, period. Not a free tow service to their nearest competitor. Did you seriously expect a MINI parts department to source a Hankook tire just for you, and then install it?

 

Uh... yes they CAN. When MINI is paying the towing bill, why would they cover towing to anyplace other than a MINI dealer?

 

When I bought my new 2009 MCS I had the dealer remove the brand new run flats and install new Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus non run flats that I bought from Tirerack. They gladly did so with no talk of liability BS. Of course this was 2 years ago and when a new car sale is at hand ..... I sold the run flats and have never looked back.

 

I got about 25k on my dunlops. I then purchased pireilli p zero run flats off of this marketplace from another member. They were brand new takoffs, got them for 400.00! Went to Americas tire bought free replacement warranty for 100.00. If blowout or nail in tire you get a new tire for Free! Done deal, and I am happy. And they ride better than the dunlops!

 

Yep. probably didn't get across what I meant on that. The post I was commenting about was not MINI roadside assistance, or even a post relating to a MINI at all. It had to do with a porsche. Anyways...you can read back through the thread to see what I'm talking about.

If you call any towing company, they will most likely try to take you where THEY want to go. aka, where they make the most money. This isn't if you call MINI, this is if you call a towing company directly. Obviously we have already exhausted the fact that you shouldn't be calling MINI roadside assistance unless you want all stock parts repaired/replaced (run flats). But thanks for taking the time to extremely capitalize the word "can" so people can see it from 3 states over.