Single metallic click. My problem was identical to yours. I'd be extra careful about your car - about 1 or 2 weeks after I noticed the click, the driveshaft failed. I love the car, but quite honestly, I think I'll just trade it for a (boring) Mazda or Honda when it comes back. I have a son now, and my wife and me love to take long drives with him. I can't imagine being stranded at night, again, with them on board... if I was a bachelor, I wouldn't care about it at all. :(

 

I have spoken to a reputable law firm in the San Diego and they explained the following: It doesn't matter if the original purchaser is in the picture that is a mute point. The fact of the matter is that under California law a car owner can bring a claim against a dealership anytime he or she feels that the dealership has not done it's part in trying to fix the problem. IMO this is the very case here!! This poor gal has had the run around by this partiuclar dealership and she should contact Columbus, Ohio (MINIUSA). I have had my own terrible experiences with dealerships whose only concern was to make a buck instead of taking care of their customers. I allude to the discriminatory practice of not providing a loaner car to MINI owners even though such a policy clearly exists for BMW owners.

 

While that may be the circumstance for California Lemon Law actions, that doesn't necessarily apply for Lemon Law actions brought under another state's Lemon Law. California has one of the more lenient Lemon Law statutes. Don't extrapolate California's provisions to other states.

But bssiesmith is not in California.... Do you know where Germany is???? (Hint: it is not located anywhere in the United States of America.) If the original purchaser of the car did not take delivery of the car in California, the California Lemon Law shall not apply to this matter.

I think you are mistaken about bssiesmith's gender; I will let bssiesmith respond if it is an issue. When did MINIUSA move their headquarters to Columbus, Ohio? In the Owners Manual, the address for correspondence is listed as MINI Division of BMW of North America, LLC, P.O. Box 1227, Westwood, New Jersey 07675-1227 (see page 9 of the 2005 Owners Manual).

 

Do you know where Geordies come from??? Some people should think before they speak and type!!! YOU are either lawyer or a used car salesman. This website is supposed to be for MINI OWNERS who give advice to one another. You clearly are not aware of that. Besides this was not supposed to be for your benefit. So as we say in Geordieland not Germany. BUGGAR OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

There customer service center is in Dublin, Ohio, just outside of Columbus if you would like to know.

 

Perhaps you should chill out (or buggar off; it is your choice, however). Giving advice on California Lemon Law to somone who is not able to realize the benefits of California's Lemon Law is actually doing a dis-service to that individual. If you check my prior posts, I think you will see a pattern of providing help to other MINI owners. Perhaps you should concentrate on providing useful information as opposed to telling me to think before speaking and typing. Oh, and FYI, I am neither an attorney or used car salesman. But I did stay at a Holiday Inn recently....

 

Seems like someone needs to take the dog for a very long walk.

 

Well, the story has come to an end.

First of all, no, I'm not female... I just chose bssiesmth as my moniker because it was the first one I could think of... sorry about the confusion. Second, I don't live in Germany, either. I live in Mexico. I wrote Mini of Germany because Mini Mexico is absolutely useless.

Third, the car itself. The dealership tried to charge me $1K for the repairs, stating that they had occurred after the warranty expired. I was absolutely fed up with them, so I told them to keep the car, and get a lawyer. Back and forth negotiations happened, until I stated that I had all the papers that proved that the car had broken down in January, and they hadn't done a thing to fix it until last week, when the warranty (2 years) had expired. I didn't pay a thing, and I picked up the car yesterday. No loaner car, the car wasn't even washed...

I'm very sad to say I now don't want anything to do with either the car, the dealership, Mini Mexico, or BMW itself. Honda treats its customers better, and charges far less (for far less exciting cars - it has to be said). Mazda does the same thing. I find no reason to keep the car other than its performance - but I bought a car, not a toy, so reliability is one of my top priorities.

Long story short - I'm driving the car today to Honda and Mazda. I have an eye on the Civic SI sedan or the Mazda 3. The dealership who gives me the most $ for the Mini wins. I've had it... 3 1/2 months of ownership, and the car has been close to two months at the dealership. Sad, because, as I said before, nothing (well, except for the Clio Sport 172 I used to own - and which was faster, more fun, and A LOT more reliable than the Mini) comes close to the driving dynamics of the S. Oh, well.

 

Hope you are satisfied with whatever car you decide to go with. One thing that you might want to consider in your decision process is the reputation in Mexico of the dealer/manufacturer service organization in Mexico. You got burned by the MINI organization in Mexico. I doubt you want a repeat experience on whatever car you change to.

 

Agreed... the car was fine, the service was terrible.

I know this will start to sound like a troll, but the dealership scratched my car, too. It came out with a bit of polishing, but I still was pretty angry.

While driving to the dealerships, I was having second thoughts - I mean, the car is a pleasure to drive...

...and then, the ABS warning light turned on. I swear I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. I parked along the road, turn off the car, turned it on, and the light came off.

Honda made the best offer for the car, and I chose a red Civic SI.

Sad thing is, I just know I'll miss the Mini. It's a very special car. Mini Mexico is a complete disaster, though...

 

Funny how things go... Today, I received a call from Mini Mexico and an e-mail from Mini Germany. The guys from Germany said my problems would be over. The guy from Mexico told me to bring the car to an specific dealership, and that plant technicians would fix everything that was wrong with it! Honda offered me $16K or so for the car... I was about to take it. As a matter of fact, this Friday I'd finish off the deal. I think I'll wait a bit more on Honda and send the Mini to BMW. The worst thing that can happen is that they take the car for a few weeks and fix everything that's wrong with it... the best part could be me keeping it - if they fixed it properly. Today, the ABS warning light turned itself on, and the car almost stalled at a stoplight (yeah, completely unrelated issues to the driveshaft and tranny). It's very hard to make rational decisions when it comes to the Mini. That's for sure. Any other car... I'd have sold a long time ago.

 

Funny how MINI's can grow on you.... Hope you get the car repaired and get to enjoy your ride.

 

Update....

The dealer has had the car for a couple of days now. He called me today... his first words were...

"Unfortunately..."

I didn't know whether to laugh, or cry. I mean, this is the 4th time in 4 months my car is at the dealership. It has spent more time with them than with me. I was hoping the dealer would said something like "your car exploded and we have to pay every last cent to you back", or "we can't find your car, we lost it on our parking lot"... or...

Long story short. The dealer says now the other driveshaft is busted. So, at this point, I'm looking at two broken driveshafts, one broken tranny, and a loose connector.

I know this sounds like a troll. But it's not. BMW is honoring my warranty, so I won't pay for the new driveshaft. At this rate, I'll probably have a completely new car by December, which can't be that bad. Unless Mini says "enough is enough" and stops paying for out of warranty repairs.

I'm very happy with BMW and Mini now. They are really trying to make things right for me.

But I'm really worried that someday, all these repairs will have to be paid by me. As of today, BMW has paid something close to $4K for repairs. This, after 8,500 miles.

So, I guess my question is... my car is somehow defective. Can it be fixed, or will I have to live with these kinds of repairs for the rest of its life? I'll be honest - I'm actually ashamed to sell my car by now, because I fear whomever buys it will be buying tons of problems.

Or, is every Mini a lemon to some degree? Are the 2nd generation cars better built?

 

you are having some muck luck. if MINI will replace the transmission, let them. the auto will be terrific once you get this sorted out. and it should be something that can get sorted.

 

Why do you think that your car is out of warranty?

I personally wouldn't come to the conclusion that the car is defective. It has had one primary issue - the transmission throwing driveshafts. In the U.S., that usually involves a complete replacement of the transmission. You have had a bit of bad luck with being able to get traction with a correct/competent repair of the transmission issue, but that seems on a path to resolution.

Or, is every Mini a lemon to some degree? Are the 2nd generation cars better built?[/quote]

 

.

"And to think, I traded in my 2003 MINI CVT at 50,000 miles because I was worried about the tranny failing... thinking that a 2006 MCSa with the Aisin tranny would be a more reliable endeavor. Hope so!"

I have a 2003 Mini CVT that after 3 years and 15,000 needed the tranny replaced. Fluid was leaking and after one patch up it leaked again- so they replaced the entire tranny.