I brought my 2005 MCC in to my favorite dealer yesterday, thinking that instead of giving my usual laundry list of complaints, which get ignored across the board, i would only list two, and see if they get dealt with. I'm thinking i can get a few done each time properly, instead of getting my list of 20 things blown off completely. I was also bringing in for oil change and inspection.

the two i picked yesterday were the standard getting-into-reverse problem, and the takes-an-extra-two-seconds-of-cranking-to-start-in-summer problem.

For those of you unfamilair with my first problem: If you put the car from neutral straight into reverse (manual transmission, mind you), you're likely to jerk and nearly stall the car. So you have to put it into second, then out of second, then reverse, all while NOT releasing the clutch. Sometimes this doesn't work, and you only get halfway into reverse, at which point, if you release the clutch, GRINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNDDDDDDDDDD until you pop into neutral (even if you stomp on the clutch!).
Everything i've ever heard on the forum said this is "the norm", but i decided that since i hadn't complained about it in about a year to the dealer, i'd try it again. The rep said he'd never heard about it, and i, noting i'd never seen him before, figured he'd just started working there.

anyway, They're replacing my entire transmission under warranty. Got to bring the car back in a few weeks when it arrives.
They say they can't reproduce the cold-cranking problem.
But my theory is working!

Next time, i'll try the cold-cranking again, and also the rattly-chain sound the driver-side front wheel makes when i hit a bump.

so, for my car, this makes:
1) new clutch at 25k miles (i had an integra with over 80k on an already used clutch, so don't look at me!)
2) 2 new sunroof motors
3) 3 sets of window motors at least (and i'm a month or so from needing new ones again)
4) new xmission
5)I think the top will be worn and go well before my 50k limit is up, but we'll see on this one...

Hey, i'm really happy with the service i'm getting at this dealer. I have no complaints - but how is mini making money on this?!

What's your take on this? Anyone else have this transmission problem? Anyone get any of the other ones i mentioned fixed yet? All i ever heard was "those problems are being worked on", but that was awhile ago.

Eric