I realize it has been a LONG time since I've posted anything here, which should make most of you wonder why I am. But I thought that I would take a moment to let the St. Louis MINI community know my current enjoyment of Autohaus' service department.

My '02 Cooper now has nearly 54,000 miles on it, and went out of warranty only 4,000 miles ago. At the time, I took it into Autohaus to have the brakes inspected before it went out of warranty, particularily because I was told when I purchased the extended warranty that it covered brake replacement. At inspection time, I was told that the brakes didn't meet MINI's requirements for replacement, and Autohaus wouldn't replace them. I was told that MINIUSA's requirement was 2mm or less to be covered. At the time I was told that all wheels had no less than 5mm of pad remaining. So basically, I had paid $600 for an additional $150 service trip. Now there is some value and savings!

Now, 4000 miles later, I take the Cooper in for a MO safety inspection for licensing and am told that the front pads require replacing (at a cost of $535) and that I should consider also doing the rears (at a cost of $451) at the same time as they will soon need work. In order to not pass MO inspection pads, have to be less than 1/32" or .8mm.

So in the first 50,000 miles I drove off less than 5mm of pad and in the last 4000 miles, I drove off the remaining 5mm. And Autohaus's response is, wow that amount of wear seems unusual. The only thing unusual is the fact that when it was on their nickel there was plenty left, and now that it's on mine, it needs $1,000 worth of work. And since this is my primary vehicle to get to work and back, I have no chose but to pay or my registration expires.

So long and short: Buyer beware. Beware of the fact that you are now stuck with a very expensive vehicle to service and am deceptive dealer to work with.

-Paul

P.S. If anyone has a contact with MINIUSA regional, could you please forward it, as I don't really want to submit my complaint to their e-mail recycle bin on MINIUSA.COM.

 

That is such a ripoff , if all they are changing is the pads it should not cost that much standard pads for front and rear should not cost more than $300 and that would be on the high side. Personally I would buy the parts and change it myself and if you are not able to do that then buy the parts and have a local guy do the job and save about $400 bucks

 

I'm pretty sure that they replace the rotors too as a mandatory part of the brake service. The work is pretty darn easy to do so I would suggest that you hit up Alex at the Tire Rack for some pads and rotors -

 

Or even go after market. If you are going to spend that kind of money I would not spend it on OEM, rather I would go with a good after market set-up.

I have always been leery of the so called "extended warranty". Like I said earlier....no matter what the dealer sells their job is to get the most out of your pocket and the least out of theirs. Sad but true.

Sorry you have to go throught this....but look into making your Mini better with some performance goodies. I know this still will not make up for the bending over you just took.

Good luck...and write Mini USA like you said, their CS dept is there to help.

 

I got a brake job from a terrific independent mechanic in FL when I was on my recent roadtrip. I got Brembo plain-faced front rotors, OEM rear rotors, and Hawk ceramic brake pads. All of that, plus the special blue fluid came to about $595, including labor and an oil change!

Be sure to do some research before you spend more than $1K on your brakes. I believe it is recommended that you change the rotors when you replace the pads, too. Good luck and sorry about them not fixing the brakes when you were still under warranty.

 

Even JCW brake kit, which includes front rotors, front calipers, and front and rear pads, should not come to more than $1K.

 

bbk time

 

Original warranty work is covered by MINI USA, is that right? So, the dealer shouldn't have a problem doing the work. But I take it the Extended Warranty is paid for by the dealer? (Hence their motive to avoid the work?)

 

Oh, another thing..
When we bring our cars in for service and they say something is wrong (or everything's fine---like the brake pads), do we have the right to ask them to show us? This is the "Show Me State" anyhow, right? (Not necessarily because I don't trust them, but maybe I just want to learn something about the car.)

 

I have to say thats a bunch of croc. This is what I posted recently on our psmini site.

After seeing your post Rob. Went out to put my new brakes on, but after checking them I still have 1/3 or better pads left closer to 1/2, and am racing next weekend so decided to wait for a couple more weeks.
I have auto-x'd 20 plus times average 3.5 runs each time. Have Drag raced 18 plus times and have 51,986 miles on the Mini. Gotta say the Stock brakes are pretty darn good. I think the brakes would last 75k plus easy under normal driving conditions.

Does autohaus translate to parts and labor theif. You need to take it somewhere else quickly. This is extorsion the only way you could wear out the brakes in 4000 miles is you have had your foot firmly on the brake and the gas pedal for 4000 miles.
These are the kind of people that give mechanics a bad name. They figure your a easy target. Get your car out of there!!! Take it somewhere else.

 

Sorry to hear that you had that experience, Paul. After reading this post I wish I would have gotten an independant inspection before my warranty expired (5/29).

I would think you can get a Missouri state inspection anytime (even if your registration isn't expiring).

For those not in MO, AAA has service stations all over the country that don't do the work so there is no reason that they would try to sell you something you don't need. Also, you don't need to be a AAA member to take advantage. I think it's $60 for members and $75 for non-members. It's money well spent if you can get some proof that you need work.

 

Oh, and it gets better!

After paying them $862 for maintenance, inspection, and brake work, I'm sitting in my MINI on Hunter Dr. looking at the receipt and see that they charged me $29 for a filter! So what you may say? I have a cold air intake!

Unless I open up my hood and find a panel filter laying on my battery box, I'm gonna be really pissed off!

 

It could be an interior cabin filter, oil filter, or fuel filter.

 

That's good to know. I will go to them before my warranty expires.

So, is it kosher to ask a service person to show you the problem they claim they've found (or not found)?

 

I would say so.

 

And after they do the work ask them to put the parts in a bag for you.

If they give you crAAp just tell them you like to collect the parts off you Mini just like how some people like to keep their toenail clippings.

 

i've had the same brake problem with autohaus- they were fine for my last inspection before warranty- then all of a sudden, the brake light comes on a couple months later. Is there anywhere else in STL to take our Mini's?? I just got quoted $2200 to get my them to get my clutch fixed- it went out last saturday.

 

$2200 for a clutch!

 

I would suggest two things:
1. Call MINIUSA and speak to them about your clutch problem. I know that BMW owners have had luck with getting a much better price by going through BMWUSA, because they want to keep customers.
2. Call Bavarian in St. Louis. They are a really great BMW shop and should be able to do the clutch work, and hopefully a lot cheaper.

Let us know what happens...

Aaron

 

Disappointed to hear the stories, but not surprised. Businesses walk a fine line between going over and above customer service and watching their bottom line. It seems this time they were favoring the bottom line and and going over and above you.

I had a good experience buying my mini at autohaus, but I avoided the extended warranty just because I'm skeptical and I'd assume it's costed out to balance risk vs. payout in their favor. I did get the tire warranty which covers replacements for 5 years for about the cost of 2 or 3 runflats and I'm still wondering if I shouldn't have bothered. If they go flat for any reason but age before they go bald, then I'll be happy. Mainly I looked at it as a way to have peace of mind and not have to live in fear that on any given day I might hear a bump and be out $200 a tire as a surprise.

Hopefully if they get enough negative press they will make it up to you Paul. Lesson learned eh? Buy the next MINI at Indy or Memphis perhaps.

MikE