So, after almost a month of waiting we now have the "official response" from MINI. What are they going to do about this problem? Nothing!

Why are they not going to do anyhting? Because of all the people who just re-ordered without insisiting on any compensation. Just insane!

 

Last week AskMini had promised to get back to me early this week. It's Thursday evening and I still haven't heard the official word on this issue. Today I was told by them that they are still looking into the option or retrofitting the mfsw. Is a month not enough to figure out if retrofitting is possible and practical?

 

I think they are punting the issue downstream until they get enough good publicity of the launch and hope it just goes away. Had they really thought a retrofit was possible, they would have told us so right away and not had so many reorders, or they wanted the extra cars for the US launch instead of the cars being commited to a sale.

 

I think we have yet to see somebody affected by the problem receive their car. At that point there has to be reckoning - we'll give you this as compensation, or take it or leave it, or what ever lies in between. Until then its just limbo.

I must say that the issue with the upper storage compartment sounds encouraging. It sounds like it was prone to rattle so they were closing them off with promise of a fix. The steering wheel is a bigger issue no doubt, but I see good faith there. Sooner or later we'll see what happens.

 

My steering wheel came in wrong even though it was on the order correct but the dealer told me MINI just released (this was tuesday) a memo to dealers that a retrofit will be available in a couple months. While I was there they called "corporate" and PROMISED me I would get a new steering wheel. I also called ask-mini to confirm that a retrofit would be availabe and they confirmed it. For everyone's sake I hope this is true.

 

Wow. That sounds like promising news.

 

Question: The MFSW option costs $550. Did they subtract that from the price you paid? Please don't tell me you paid them for an option you didn't get.

 

...and if you did not pay for it, what will they charge to install it later (if at all).

 

At this stage even if retrofit is possible, I would much rather wait another 2 weeks to get my correctly built Mini rather then have them pull the one without MFSW apart to retrofit.

 

I agree with Pepper white, and in fact posted something in this thread to that effect a couple of weeks ago. I would not want them tearing the vehicle apart to get to a buried harness, splice into it and retrofit MFSW. That is setting yourself up for future gremlins down the road. I want my Mini as designed and tested, not jerry rigged.

 

To each there own, but it should be no more than a minor stereo install and similar to how it was done for the previous generation. They will test it the same way it was done on the line. Press a button, see if it works. I think MINI may have just blown smoke down the sales line to discourage the retro-fit. Mikey over on MINI2 has done 5 times the effort on his stereo installs and I think he quotes 8-10 hours of time.

 

Just got off the phone with Doug at MINI. They will be doing the retro-fit at the dealership at no additional cost, (duh!). Either before delivery or after (guess it's if you want to wait). No info from him on compensation being offered to anyone that had to re-order.


He also said my car should be at the dealer sometime Sat. !

Update: My MA just emailed me that MINI wanted to retro-fit at port but my car was on the way. Not sure how this may affect those at port now.

 

Why is it that I get the impression everyone is replying to the same poster under different name disguises?

 

I just got off the phone with Sunny at AskMini and he was not aware of the retro-fit. Can anyone else confirm or deny this???

 

I just emailed my sales guy to confirm as well. If this is it - the"official" solution - then I suppose this is about as well as it can end. If they can install the wheel, and do it for no additional charge, then all that remains is a small inconvenience of the service time. I hope this is the end of the story.

 

Before I decide to take the originally ordered car with a retrofit I'd like to know how the MFSW controls are installed??

I mean having the Dash taken comepletely apart may CAUSE rattles. Also if things need to be spliced etc into the main wiring harness this may not be the best way to go. I think I'm just going to wait for the second car unless those questions can be answered.

 

If you have another car on order then don't look back.

Its fine for me because I am ambivalent about it. Dash boards come apart all the time, and I swear when I've worked on my cars I find more loose fasteners than I find tight ones!

I'm also not **** about creaks in my cars, so I doubt I would notice.

 

I'm not looking back either. My other order is "at the dealer" according to MINIUSA's OL, however when I reordered I also changed my upholstery to one I wasn't sure of to one I like very much, so there's no point if MINI wants to offer a MFSW retrofit on the initial order. I do expect at least a set of floor mats for free for the 1 month delay however, I feel that's reasonable.

 

I'd like to not 'look back' but I'm currently driving my wife's old new beetle to work...

 

Ryephile, even though you aren't taking the originally ordered car, do you think you could call your MA to ask if it was actually built incorrectly or not? Because from what my MA said there is a chance that they might actually have been built correctly.

 

Update on price. My MA said they are charging me the $300 on the sticker for the leather wheel and no additional when the MFSW is installed. Picking it up tomorrow afternoon.

 

Hmmm. That's a nice discount for the inconvenience.

 

So, you're paying $300 now for an option you didn't order, based on their promise that, sometime in the future, they will get you what you originally ordered.

I think they need to take $550 off the price and I'll pay them the $300 when & if the retro-fit ever happens.

 

If I pay them now, they owe me. I'll get it in writing and perhaps make it transferable to future owners if I should let it slip or sell the car after a week. I think I'll also add in something to fall back on if they should for some reason not be able to get the parts in a timely manner though I'd imagine creative complaining would work just as well at that point. Hopefully the dealer will have written something up that covers some of these points already. If I was neutral on the MFSW feature your way would be better if possible.

 

My car is IN!!!!! I'm going to see it today. My sales guy said it came with no MFSW... I'll take some pics. He still doesn't know if the retrofit can or will happen. We'll see. I should have a definite answer this week.