Save the semantics.

FWIW a premium vs. Honda etc. etc. etc.

Merriam-Webster:

Main Entry: 1pre·mi·um
Pronunciation: 'prE-mE-&m
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin praemium booty, profit, reward, from prae- + emere to take, buy -- more at 1 a : a reward or recompense for a particular act b : a sum over and above a regular price paid chiefly as an inducement or incentive c : a sum in advance of or in addition to the nominal value of something <bonds callable at a premium of six percent> d : something given free or at a reduced price with the purchase of a product or service
2 : the consideration paid for a contract of insurance
3 : a high value or a value in excess of that normally or usually expected <put a premium on accuracy>

 

hardly a good excuse for a car that should be lemon'ed

 

I thought you had more than one problem? Did they resolve any of them?
Also not being washed and damaged during repair doesn't sound like the Morristown I deal with?

 

I've been reading this thread and here's what I think. Call the dealer and talk to the service manager. Tell him what's going on with the car. Take it back in and tell them what you want/needs fixed. When you go to pick up the car, make sure someone goes over everything with you to make sure they addressed each problem. Go over the car with a fine tooth comb before you drive off the lot. If there is anything you are not satisfied with, make them explain/fix it.

Trust me, I took my WRX into the dealer twice and once someone scraped the rear bumper so I had them repaint the whole bumper. The other time, the exhaust was making a terrible noise when I came to pick my car up after service. A gasket broke on the exhaust. I made them replace it even though it wasn't their fault. I told them it wasn't like that when I brought the car in for service.

Sometimes you have to be a little hard on them. Just make sure they fix everything before you leave. That way you don't have to keep going back.

Good luck!

 

Ditto, What's up with that

 

I know it may be a bit of a trip but I suggest taking it down to Princeton MINI. I bought my car there and while I don't care much for the dealership's lack of enthusiasm for the MINI culture (I don't blame them because it seems like everyone in Princeton owns a MINI and few if any are enthusiasts, its just considered a hip car there...) they are very good about making sure you have a great service experience. When I took it in for service they must have asked me 10 times to give them a perfect service rating and they did everything they could to make sure I was happy.

minimc, take it easy on chows. If you knew his history with MINI you wouldn't jump on him as he is far from a MINI apologist. Lets just say he doesn't own a MINI anymore partially due to quality issues (you can search some old threads for some of his accounts). I don't think he was condoning the failure of the dealership to fix the problems but was just pointing out that certain brands tend to have a higher probability of problems than others. For example, my family has owned many Volvos over the years. We love them for their dependability and quirkiness despite their frequent but minor problems. Anyone that does proper research prior to buying a Volvo would know that they will have some annoying issues. As Volvos have become more popular over the last few years, I've noticed some people that are used to more reliable Japanese brands switching to Volvos and hating them.

I think MINI is similar in that there are attributes that people love so much that they are willing to overlook some of the problems. I can't complain because a year and 13,000 miles later my MINI is still problem free (aside from a couple squeaks and rattles), but ultimately the response to your problems will just depend on the individual dealer. If you have major complaints about your dealer you should contact MINIUSA and hopefully they will help rectify many of your problems.

 

They have by far and away the worst reputation of the 3 dealers in NJ. I'm glad it worked out for you but the general consensus in NJ is to avoid them.. If he's not getting satisfaction at Morristown, where it seems he is going, he needs to kick his complaints up the chain to Fred (Service Manager) and Ed (Sales Manager).

 

Well, I had a disagreement with Ed and Fred on the blatent quality issues on my car. The engineer was scheduled to come down September 7th to look at my car.

However, good luck would have it that I stumbled on an 07 Subaru Legacy 5spd with the right options on a GMC lot with 2000 miles on it, so I jumped on it and traded away the Mini. Im definitely happy with my decision. I feel bad that my ownership of the car was such a poor experience. I hope Mini improves the quality of the R56 sometime this year, because I know now what its like to drive something with the build quality of a .. well.... just leave it at that.

Im happy with my Subarus.

Thanks for your help and patience and advice everyone!

-Mike

 

ouch bend over and take it where it hurts I guess

I would have at least lemon'ed the car and got all that cash back

 

The dealer I traded in gave me only 600 less than what I paid new. I actually got a check cut back to me because the cooper was worth more! Thats the only reason I jumped on it so fast!

 

Mike621 , sounds like a good deal , dont you wonder why the Subaru was gotten rid of with such low mile's ?

 

He didn't do enough for that.
NJ Lemon Law
"A new motor vehicle is presumed to be a lemon if it has one or more defects that continue to exist after three attempts at repairs, OR after the vehicle has been out of service for a total of 20 cumulative calendar days. The Lemon Law requires that the consumer write to the manufacturer giving notification of one last chance to repair the defect (see page 3 for more information about this process). To qualify under the Lemon Law, the defect must substantially impair the use, value or safety of the vehicle. However, the Lemon Law does not cover defects caused by an accident, vandalism, abuse or neglect. It also does not cover defects caused by attempts to repair or to modify the vehicle by a person other than the manufacturer, its agent or an authorized dealer."

Sounds to me like it was one, maybe 2 attempts to fix and even after the 3 repairs or 20 cumulative calenders days out of service you have to prove the impaired value/use/safety aspect. The Lemon Law is there for your protection but it's not a slam drunk easy return by any means.

I'm sorry that you had a poor experience with the car, MINI and obviously in your eyes the dealership.
Hopefully the Subie treats you better thought I wonder if a traded 07 with 2k miles is the Subie equivalent of your MINI pawned off on a different model dealer.

 

and NAMers: Friggin lighten up! The "Ball and Chain" joke was funny! Or has all humor left the boards....

If you want some interesting reading, go to the NTHSA website and start looking at car makes and models by year to find complaints and the like. You will find that Mini has a surprisingly few complaints (After you skip all the windshield ones). Some of this is the relativly low car volumes, some of it is the fact that the cars overall don't suck.

Look at pretty much any "premium" brand. Many have pretty poor initial quality ratings because of all the "premium" featurs that have hicc-ups!

Look at the statistics of any car. If you have one part per million defect level in the car components, then you pretty much assured that every car is flawed from the factory. If you count defect levels per lines of code, they're all "broken" when they leave, as none are perfect. Such is the nature of complex things.

That said having issues with a new car sucks, and with Minis, it's compounded by the distance to service centers for many, and the attitudes of the some service centers don't help much here either...

Anyway, good luck with the new Subie, and at least you bought a car (the Mini) that didn't cost you too much when you changed your mind.

Have fun! Hope to see you back in the Mini world soon...

Matt

 

I think another factor responsible for the relatively low complaint factor is a phenominon reflected often in NAM: The MINI attracts enthusiasts more than the typical car and many of those enthusiats are willing to accept the car's ills as the price of owning a MINI. Much like the Beetle fans of yore were willing to live with losing races to snails and freezing in the winter. Most of MINI's issues are not that significant, but the situation holds...

 

FWIW, over the past 6 or 7 years of being a member of numerous motor-head related internet forums, I've found that it's not unusual to find that the majority of threads are "problem" related.

I don't see that as all that unusual, since forums provide a venue to vent one's problems, and hopefully find a remedy.

 

moaning wet windows and exposed clips? gadzooks, you've aroused me!

 

First, I think the enthusiasts expect more of thier car than one that just wants an appliance. Second, I think it's much easier to biatch on the boards. and Third, I think most car owner don't really know that it's easy to register a complaint with the NHTSA (Heck, I didn't know how easy it was until I was looking at complaint stats for the 02-06 coupes).

But the "coupling constant" of those that complain in threads and those that register the complaint with the gov is practically zero.

Matt

 

I think they are more picky about the appearance and performance (as in speed, cornering) than rattles, etc.

 

If you want anecdotal evidence of the toughness.....

I rolled over 70K miles last night.



Manufacture date of June '05

I figure that in just slightly over two years she has seen 12 road trips, 18+ track days and been used for commuting 4-5days / week !

Consumables used ?

2x Windshields
3 pairs of front rotors
1 pair of rear rotors
5 sets of front pads
2 sets of rear pads
3 sets of wheels (not necessary, but added to the list)
endless tires (at least 6 sets)

I have had exactly ONE out-of sequence dealer visit and that was to replace a bad O2 sensor that threw a CEL at 34K. Minor rattles have come and gone as have other things.

I have a groaning wheel bearing at the moment and the front brakes are once more ready to be replaced and the front tires are shot and the windsheild is pitted and.......

Other than a couple of minor driver errors resulting in minor damage the vast majority of my miles have been accomplised with a heck of a silly grin !

 

Yep, some Minis suck from the factory. Yep some Minis get ridden hard and put away wet and just ask for more and more. Learn some statistics.

And NAM, this isn't a proud day for beating up Mike on what OBVIOUSLY was a joke! Just because she didn't enjoy here ownership experience isn't a reason to get all "psyco-analysty" on her! I can almost here the mental gears turning "Oh my! Someone didn't like the Sacred MINI! I've detected a crack in the verbal defenses due to what could be constrained as abusive references if I completely turn off my sense of humor! Engage attack mode, even though her car did have problems! We'll get her now!" There are those that have gotten another mini that weren't too happy with parts of thier ownership experiecne (any owners of torched minis out there?), and those that have left the marque. So what? It wasn't for her, maybe because of the particular car she got, maybe because it just didn't meet the expections of the ownership experience.

Sometimes I'm not to proud to be part of the Mini community... This thread is a perfect example of us on our bad days....

Matt

 

You make it sound like all you have to do is yell "Lemon" and it's all taken care of. It just doesn't work that way.

 

Mike621 is a male. Just a heads up.

 

I thought it hit this

 

ohh but it does, it simply does, I've done it, you simply have to know the rules and connect the dots on all the proper paperwork

dealers have every chance to NOT let it happen, but some just cant/dont/wont

 

holy crap ... is this typical? in 70k miles? yikes.