Hello all! I had an *interesting* service experience with Assael BMW/MINI the other day. I brought my car in for it's 36,000 mile service, the last free service as I understood. The thing is, I past 36,000 miles a while ago, yet my service indicator was telling me I had several thousand miles left to go before service (back when I was at 36K)

Way back when I tried bringing my car in for service *before* it said it was due, I was told by both Long Beach and Assael that they would not service it unless the mileage counter for service was @ zero or negative miles.

So anyway, I brought the car in to Assael with 39,000 miles on it, and service mileage counter was at -200 miles. First the service rep tried to tell me that the car wasn't purchased from Assael (which it was) and therefore they could not / would not provide a rental car for me... after I firmly asserted that it was in fact purchased from them, he refused to back down but said that he'd get me a rental anyway (awww thank you so much).

Next up he let me know that my car was out of warranty for free service, i.e. my free oil change. The cost of which is a laughable $245... yes $245 for an oil change. Just boggles my mind. The interesting thing to me was that my service indicator said I had several thousand miles left to go before servicing (when I was officially under the 36,000 mile mark)... yet they refuse to service the car when you've got miles left (or at least they did with me). So is this their cheesy way of getting out of giving you a free oil change? Anyone have a similar experience?

One other small thing, my driver's side door lock failed, wouldn't lock without manually inserting the key, wouldn't unlock with the key button, all the other doors locked/unlocked fine. To their credit, Assael fixed that issue which apparently *is* covered along with some other systems until 50,000 miles.

And that's it, 39,000 miles (+ some change) and no other major problems... had the car for 1 1/2 years now, still haven't been spotted Oh and anyone else in LA notice what seems to be an exponential increase in MINIs? In the last 6 months alone the number seems to be growing like crazy... but no offense, most of the new ones I'm seeing seem to be just *drivers* and not too many *enthusiasts*.... i.e. no waving, no smiles, don't seem to be having much fun with their cars.

orb...

 

No experience yet (got 7K miles on my Cooper) but I am curious what happened. Did you end up getting the free oil change anyway? Or did you just say "forget it" and have them only do the warranty repair? What about the rest of the service, besides the oil change? Did they claim that was part of the $245 or did you have them skip that too?

 

The guidline the dealers seem to use on the free service is if the mileage is within 500 miles. We just had our '02 serviced at Long Beach and had 36,100 or so miles with the service indicator at ~100. The oil change was $185 MINI is not flexible at all on the 36,000 mile limit on free service.
If I had known it was going to be so close, I would have had my previous services as early as possible.

 

Yeah, I've noticed the same thing. But I am looking forward to a positive benefit - with more MINIs on the road, I think it will be a lot easier to get independent work done on my car in the future. I really would like to drive this car forever, but I'd rather not rely on expensive BMW dealers for service if a good independent mechanic can handle the simple stuff.

 

Yep, I've seen a bunch of MINI's from Assael, Nick Alexander, and Long Beach MINI in the past few weeks--boat must have unloaded!!! We all know what that wait is like! Of the dozens I've spotted, only one actually had a discussion with me! I pulled up along side them--they had a new Hyper Blue MCS from NA, and they commenting how much they loved my Moss MINI rally lamps, etc.. Pretty cool.

I hear ya on the 36,000 mile thing. It's my understanding that the free service ends there, but they will service it if it's within 1000 miles and under 36,000 miles. So it was quite a challenge to schedule my appointment 2 weeks in advance, and make sure I didn't exceed 36,000 miles yet stay within 35,000-36,000 by the appointment. Turned out I got it to 35925 before taking it in to the dealer.

I asked if they would replace my rear brake pads--since I did the fronts back in March--by myself, since I was several thousand miles away from servicing---note brake pads and even rotors, while wear items are replaced free in that first 36,000 miles--unless you get an extended one.

They told me they couldn't replace the rears because they weren't worn enough. Sure enough, 2 weeks later, my rear brake pad indicator came on, and it's now time for replacement.

No big deal, I decided to buy Mintex pads since a set of front and back cost less than just the OEM fronts.

Oil changes and basic servicing isn't a big deal. Might as well learn to do it yourself!

Oh interesting thing about your mileage. Seems I've got about 38,000 miles and 1-1/2 years of ownership as well, here in LA, and I've been spotted lots of times!! I think it has to do with my go fast vinyl!

Richard

 

Plantain, I guess if I had been more assertive I *might* have gotten the free oil change afterall... but alas, it was an early Saturday morning and I just wasn't feeling that aggressive. So when he said $245 I laughed at him and said "to hell with that" and moved on to the other issues (broken door lock & free rental car). They did provide the rental for free while the car was @ the shop and fixed the lock the same day, the oil change still needs to be done... So I guess it's a wash, free door lock replacement, no oil change, free rental... doesn't make me want to recommend them for service, but I guess they sort of did their part. All in all I'd say it was an *ok* experience, it could always be worse.

OctaneGuy, thanks to you I did my brakes myself about 2,000 miles ago, I believe it was your EXCELLENT writeup / instructions and pictures that made it all possible. I did the fronts & rears at the same time... fronts were a breeze, rears were like getting blood from a rock. But I managed to get through it... I just replaced the pads with stock pads from the Long Beach parts department, I plan on doing the rotors and pads again soon, but only because I want to upgrade to a slightly better rotor and/or brake package. Maybe even a big brake set for the fronts if I can scrounge up enough to get some decent wheels with good clearance, my 16" stock 5 stars don't have enough (to my knowledge) to clear most big brake sets...

In all the time I've had my MINI I've had maybe 2 people wave at me and one guy in traffic (moving real slow) that actually said hello... other than that I get more attention from people in *other* non-MINI cars, always asking me questions about the car - the best of which was a guy in a Suburban in South Central that asked me at a stop light if I'd driven down any stairs with the car... usually it's just "how fast does it go?" "how much does it cost?" "what's the gas mileage like?" etc...

orb.

 

And... have you?

 

Davn8r, sadly no... but I swear with some of the pot-holes out here I might as well, my suspension gets worked on a daily basis...

 

I've done my first oil change myself, thanks to this board and mini2.com. It was actually quite easy, and to think I was worried that changing the filter was going to be hard and messy; turns out to be one the easiest things I've done, even easier than a Saturn I used to own. I've rotated my tires every 3K miles too, so I at least know how to take the wheels off, but I'm still slightly nervous about changing the pads. Some day I should visit a mini gathering and witness someone doing it in person; I think that would be ideal. But I really appreciate Octaneguy's brake pad writeup. It is the best I've seen so far.

Orb451 - was the hard part about doing the rears compressing the piston? Did you try using those brake tool kits that they sell at Harbor Freight for something like $40?

I get a lot of questions from random people at the gas station - most recently, the mileage question. But I think in general, everyone just wants to peek inside!

I've tried waving to other MINIs, but I think either they are ignoring me or they don't see me. I've *never* had a single MINI owner wave back at me. But I'm guilty of the slow reaction time too - once, I saw another Yellow cooper flash its lights at me while coming the opposite direction. It was only after it had passed that I realized what just happened!

 

Plantain, yes, the hardest part was compressing the piston on the rears... my god it was horrific. I ended up doing it with a C-Clamp after I drilled a hole in one part of it and then wedged a screw in there as well as some needle nose pliers and additionally bled the brake lines (very very messy). So no, I didn't use the tool that you can get... and looking back, I should have! Crike it makes me cringe just thinking about it... If/when there's a next time that I have to do the rears, I'll DEFINITELY be getting that tool...

The fronts seemed a little intimidating too but they're a piece of cake, at least in comparison to the rears.

I was at an install party way way way back at some guys house in the Valley, Ryan (great guy by the way) I think was his name but I could be mistaken. That's where I got my first oil change done (6K miles) by myself (with their help/guidance/pointers) and I agree it was very easy, time to go get the filter and the oil and do it again... hooray

My commute is up the 710 to the 5, the 5 to the 101 and the 101 up to Hollywood... every. single. day.... and each day I see more MINIs. Today in fact I spotted a nice charcoal S, a middle aged woman driving, I pulled up next to her (stopped in traffic) on the 710... looked over and not so much as a glance to see who was next to her... this is in stop n' go traffic and eventually she was right behind me after changing lanes... no wave, no smile, no glance... which is fine. I guess some drivers really are just *into* their own worlds and don't pay attention to anything else but I always get a kick out of being in front of or behind another MINI.

Ohhhhhh I almost totally forgot about this girl on the 710 south bound one afternoon about a month ago, driving a yellow S with bonnet stripes, she didn't wave or glance over at me but I know she saw me, we had a little bit of *spirited* driving... but I couldn't tell if she was doing it out of competition or just to try and prove that her S could kick my butt (which it didn't) but that's probably because I drive like an A-hole teenager when someone challenges me (yes it's an *immature guy* thing) and I'm almost 30 so I've no excuses...

99% of the time I'm a mellow driver... I swear officer!

orb.

 

I have issues with Assael and do not have my Mini serviced by them anymore, nor would I ever buy a car from them. I happen to live closest to Assael, so it made sense to use them for my Mini service center (at least while still under warranty). I ran into problems with the first visit...and yes, I was told that regardless of indicated odometer mileage, free service would not be performed until the service mileage indicator zeroed out. I give them high marks for being clean, polite, curtious, etc., but I don't think their mechanics are very skilled...or they have been told not to address certain issues with the Mini that are endemic. I was denied a loaner car (because I didn't buy the car from them) while my Mini was receiving a replacement ("reconditioned") transmission (at <10,000)...it had a bad 2nd gear synchro. It took them a week to make the repair. They flat refused to address the knocking at 3000 RPM issue (they say all the S models do this ). They "fixed" the yo-yo problem with an ECU flash update that, yes fixed the yo-yo problem, but totally wacked the throttle response in the midrange. They replaced my HK stereo receiver when the display became intermittent with a "reconditioned" unit , and repaired the squealing driver's side window servo...which has now returned to squealing like crazy again when opened or closed. I now have a left rear wheel bearing that is going out with 18,500 miles on the car, but I'm trying Universal City Mini for the service this time...we'll see. The Universal Mini service manager told me some time ago that my yo-yo problem was "pre-detination" and that I should stop using Arco fuel . Maybe I'm in for more of the same with this dealer...we'll see. The bottom line is that we all are going to have to be more pro-active and self-supporting with respect to the maintenance and care of our Mini Coopers...they're worth it!

 

wow, that really sucks so many of you had a bad experience there! i picked up my MCS there in april. i actually had them replace a scratched fender with zero problems upon delivery. no arguement, nothing! when i took it in for replacement, they got it done within 40 minutes. i am going to be taking my car to bob smith for servicing however since it's closer to where i live. anyone have experience there?

 

I'm glad I read this thread last week - our '04 MCS is due for it's 36,000 mile service; the appointment is for tomorrow (scheduled a week and a half ago) and our mileage is right around 35,875 or so. The dealer is about 65 miles away. Long story short, the MINI has been parked since our last MINI5280 motor last Sunday to keep the miles under 36K - it's murder not motoring, but it's a lot better than paying $180-250 for an oil service!!

Thanks, fellow NAM members!!

 

Little late on this subject, but I too use Assael for service as it is the easiest and nearest MINI dealer to me (damn, it's still a good 40+ miles!!). My first time there I had an airbag light on, the appointment taker said there earliest opening on a Monday (my only day off) was in 4 wks. Turned out that the light indicated that my passenger airbags would not have deployed in a crash.....I was a tad upset, seeing how I transport my boys to school most mornings (I guess they didn't feel it was an urgent enough service....). They did fix it the same day (there was a factory TSB on this subject, so they had the parts available), tho it took a good 7 hrs (no shuttle service back to my house!). My second visit also took a couple weeks to get in, my drivers window just quick working (thankfully, quit while up!!). That took only 1 hr. Both visits were covered under the warranty. So far, two visits and I am batting .500 I burned them on the first CS report, but gave them much better marks on the second one.

My 2 cents.........

 

Wow!!!

Like a re-occuring nightmare.

Ferman Mini of Tampa Bay is exactly the same. Bunch of ******* !!!

If I wanted a BMW, I would have bought one. My entire family drive BMW, my brother has an '88 M6 and a 2005 M6, my Mom drives a 750il, my Dad has an 850il. I want a Mini. These dealers look at mini owners like they are BMW wannabees. I am 100% sure that if anyone here wanted a BMW we can and would have bought one.

Call Mini USA and spend an hour being the whistle blower.. i.e. be very grumpy.
As an owner we are the best PR that they can ever buy we drive them and reccomend them to everyone that looks at us when we park or are driving down the road.