I wonder if MINI is a fly-by-night operation, sometimes. Great advertising, but shoddy owners lounge (half of the features don't work), for instance. Now the bit about warranty work being capricious. Hmmm...

 

Here's a thread on the same issue that was started last month: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-one-year.html. I'm sorry to hear all the depressing / sad stories from MINI 'enthusiasts'. I hope MINI does the right thing for all of you (which in my mind is at least being objective about evaluating the problem) and helps us to keep the faith. Good luck!

 

The least MINI could do is publish its objective inspection criteria. We have been told about 'hot spots', but not how one recognizes them, nor whether they should be related to other evidence before a conclusion is drawn. What say ye?

 

I recently purchaced a 07 mcs with 19k on it. Had it inspected and it had all the records. So far so good. Went to Sea Ranch this past weekend and had a blast. Came home and smelled some minor burning. Now that I'm reading about this clutch issue I'm starting to worry that mine is starting to go. If it's is the clutch, then it will be out of pocket for me. Hate dealing with the dealer bull crap. Luckily I have a very good BMW mechanic that took care of my 98 M3 and is now taking care of my Mini

V

 

If the dealer wouldn't do the right thing, I'd go aftermarket.

http://new.minimania.com/web/Item/G2.../InvDetail.cfm

(It's a S.P.E.C. clutch and can be gotten heavy duty.)

I didn't realize that for the S an aftermarket solution was already available. I'm hoping when the time comes one is for the R56 justacooper.

 

Dave Dave Dave-- I never said LuK clutches and DMF's were "all" bad, just that they have a "spotty" build and QC track record-- just like the contractor that has supplied the window regulator and motor mechanisms to BMW for the last 3-4 decades, they are just as spotty, build and QC-wise. But low bottom-line supplied costs are probably why BMW keeps using these companies.

But with LuK, case in point: my Toyota mechanic recently bought his wife a used, very low mileage 8-series Bimmer from the 1990s, and the first thing he did? He pulled the LuK clutch/flywheel and replaced both with a H/D Clutchmasters setup, despite the LuK being OK. He just did not want to take the chance with what he called "unreliable" drive train components. Maybe LuK is OK in yr book, Dave, but with other mechanics that do NOT labor under the BMW umbrella, they are considered crap-- that is their "blanket statement," not mine, based on their mechanical experiences.

 

Yeah, it's like the customer is assumed guilty unless MINI proves otherwise. But then my dealer's policy is that they will give the customer the benefit of the doubt the first time it happens-- and it happened to me twice with my 2005 S, two clearly defective clutches (one was a shattered plastic throwout bearing the dealer determined was defective from the manufacturer) and flywheels (broken springs and glazing), and cracked master cylinders. Actually went through 3 of those bad boys.

and not ONCE did they try to pin blame on me. but this was 2-3 years ago, so maybe policies have changed....

But then my friend in AZ whose 2005 S was built the same week as my old S in Aug 2004 has clocked over 90,000 miles with no clutch or DMF problems--but like me she's been through a slew of defective master cylinders. I call that "spotty."

 

SPEC clutch kits start at $390.00 for a stage 1. For stage 2 clutches add 75.00. There are also OEM kits that start at 220.00, but I wouldn't go that route.

V

 

Has anyone thought about bringing on a class action suit on MINI. Sounds like there are plenty of users with the same problem and MINI seems to be taking advantage.

Here is some info I found re: what it would involve.

What is a Class Action?
A class action suit may occur when many different people combine their similar complaints. This saves court time and allows a single judge to hear all the concerns at the same time, and come to one settlement for all parties. If the court agrees to certify the complaints as a class action, all class members should have equal say and rights to any monies or remedies ordered by the court.

What factors must be present to start a class action lawsuit?
There are several requirements to consider when attempting to form a new class action case. Simplified, these are:

• Numerosity - adequate number of plaintiffs
• Commonality - common damages and legal issues
• Typicality - each class member's claim must come from the same event, and must make the same legal argument
• Adequacy of Representation - the representative plaintiff will adequately protect and represent the interest of the class
• Viability of Defendant - although it is not a requirement of the court, it is reasonable to assume that if the accused does not have the means to compensate for the alleged damages and legal costs, it would be difficult to entice a law firm to represent the class.

Who pays the lawyers in a class action lawsuit?
Lawyers who represent a class for money damages are generally paid out of the recovery. Attorney fee awards are subject to court review and approval. Twenty-five percent is a typical amount, although the award may be adjusted higher or lower by the court.

Is my complaint too small for a class action?
Small complaints can lead to successful class actions. For example, a successful class action was mounted against Blockbuster Video for overcharging on late video returns.

What if my complaint is not a class action, but only applies to my problem?
LawyersandSettlements.com welcomes all types of complaints. Many cases involve personal injury or other individual cases. LawyersandSettlements.com will attempt to find you a lawyer no matter what your case is.

What happens to my registration?
If you have registered for a pending class action, your information is forwarded to one of the law firms handling the case. In most cases, your registration is not a requirement to be a part of a pending class action, as you are automatically part of the case if you fit the class description, and must "opt-out" if you do not want to participate. Submitting a registration on this site does not imply communication with an attorney handling a pending class action.

Please note: if the information you fill in on the form for a pending class action does not match the description of the class, it will not be forwarded to the law firm handling that particular action. We will, however try to find a lawyer to review your complaint.

If you are registering a complaint for a possible class action or an individual case, your registration may be forwarded to one or more attorneys. An attorney will contact you only if they are able to pursue your case, or if they need additional information.

Please note: there is no attorney-client confidentiality implied when you submit a registration to LawyersandSettlements.com

Vince

 

OK,

So the dealer wants $2,500 for clutch & installation.

If you can actually find 25 Mini owners out of the Million or so sold with a problem.
That would amount to $62,500 in damages.

The lawyer gets 1/2 of that.

That would leave each owner $1,250 to get the clutch replaced.

vjaramillo either must be a lawyer or he is the best friend any lawyer would ever wish to have.
Class action suits are a lawers dream. "FREE MONEY for them" not much left or the individual.
Ronnie948

 

LOL!

Not a lawyer. The only Lawyers I know are my kid's classmate parents, and the guy who represented me when I got hit by a semi-truck while riding my road bike (cycle).

I just threw it out there since it seems that a lot of owners were getting ripped off. I went to my mechanic today and he gave me an estimate for labor only on the clutch change. According to his software it's estimated that it would take 10hrs to complete the work, and labor would be 1120.00. He also stated that these times are padded and if it takes less time he would charge me accordingly. So if my clutch burns out I plan to get a SPEC stage 2 or 3 and have my guy do the work. Screw the dealerships with their over priced service.

Ronnie948 you have a good sense of humor

Vince

 

i have a few lawyer friends. If i was being messed over like this i would be sure to call them. I am quite tired of mini service and support the are worse than HP. For instance my GF laptop brand new mac one of the usb ports was bad after 9 days old. Take it in swap her a brand new machine no hassle all sorrys wished this had not happened let us know how we can help you again thanks for choosing apple. They looked it over came to a logical conclusion and fixed it. Mini it seems does like HP call a foreign country bad language transfer get disconnected 8 hours of trouble shooting latter and yes ineed the power plug is frayed i said that from the start of this call. This is how i see mini service and that is not a good light. Car and computers are leagues different i understand but the way you treat your customer should be about the same with the upmost care and attention and fix little snags that do not appear to be the users fault, or seem out of the ordinary. I will never recommend HP laptops to any one but you better believe i would recommend apple after the care they showed me also had the same treatment with lenovo. Like msft xbox 360 mistakes in production and design happen yet no one will not buy a 360 after there horrid track record why cause they stepped up ate and made it right.

 

I remember last year I saw a similar thread from a guy whose clutch started to wear out at exactly that mileage around 18k-19k and dealer didn't cover.

Although I don't have the mini anymore, I did have 3-2 grind which lot of owners complained about. Did you (OP) notice anything similar? Did you hear a grind when you shifted from 3rd to 2nd (or 2nd to 1st) ? Mini of Towson is usually great with service but their response did inspire any confidence at that time.

It seems the problem might be related.

 

I hate HP but I dont love Apple either. I bought a Macbook for my office and it has gone through 3 batteries, 2 logicboards, 1 airport card, 1 power socket in 1 year!

The worst part is I have had to diagnose the problems and tell them what is wrong most of the time because the "genius bar" was not that genius to begin with.

No apologies from apple or offer to replace it with a new one. It is a terrible product but unfortunately I have to buy Macs to test our software. I never recommend it to any of my friends. Its an expensive product with poor quality and really expensive to fix. However, due to the "cool" hippy look people tend to move towards it.

PS: Sorry for the digression. But I really hate Apple.

 

Hi ccs8c,

Pls check post Burned clutch after one year???
as many people offered advice to help me. What a horrible experience I went through but at least my car is certified ok as far as the clutch is concerned as it was determined nothing was wrong with it in the first place. What a run-around and the negotiations lasted weeks. I have lost all joy in driving and owning the car as several other problems had to be fixed but were covered under warranty. What next? I'm afraid to find out.

 

I mean i hate hearing that. I have always had the best service at my local apple store. at that point they would have replaced my computer.
I think the real point was the fact that i feel i have great service from apple as compared to what i know is horrid HP. Mini has treated me worse than acura. i can measure that difference. My acura had trany trouble had sun roof issues had seat issues, brakes worped early. The main diffrence is when i pulled into the service center i was greeted with a smile a what brings you in today. they listened said ok we will look at it and if i had set it up give me a loaner. they then would call me promptly to inform me about my car. Never once did the imply that the issues were in any way my fault. They did not say sorry except for the tranmission cause it took them longer than they had estimated to fix. I was never given a hassle when i brought in TSB for fixes i knew i needed.

Mini on the other hand i have the car what 2 months i get a check engine light, take it in on a saturday cause of a light is on. they call and say they want to keep it but no loaner car for me till monday and that i should not be driven. I go gee thanks. The "fix" the issue late monday when they call to tell me to come get it. I go uhh ihave no ride you have my car.
The issue comes back they reset the computer so the car will be out of limp mode so i can drive it out of town. Bring it in can not find or fix the issue that set the computer off the second time.

I am starting to wonder is it mini is it dealers what is it about this car that makes me love it and hate it. I always loved my acura it was sporty but there was just something missing from the experince of the drive. I have the feeling while driving i saught but now i have more trouble than i think i might have bargined for.

If acura ever makes anoter small hatch i think i know where i will be headed. That is not a slam on all you mini owners. I just kinda in the same boat. I love the car if it ran as designed and the quality was like just a smidge better it could not be beat. But sadly i think there are to many fish and chips and pints in my car. most the pints lol during the build

 

The numbers there are correct but the thing is it would a min send a statement and create more bad pr than it is worth.
it is not would the suit win or loose of if the numbers make it worth the effort, it is the effect it will have on the company. If some one were to file suit i am not saying do it, and it happened to get picked up by a gawker media outlet or some other blog group you do not think that would send a small chill down mini spine. They are a big company but before you hit this board that is really no bad press about them. They are being praised for the E and this and that. It would be more of a Pr blow than anything. Worst case owners would get back 50% of the cost of the repair. I just do not see a lose in this scenario. Big companies are bullies and mini and BMW are in the league of the worst some one has to throw rocks at them to make them do the right thing. The whole scenario plays out the same for the sun roofs, the cold chatter, and any thing i am forgetting that is a wide spread issue and results are not meeting customer expectations and customers have been more than flexible. Before some suggests i am sue happy i would ask them have you had the issue with the car have you delt with mini and gotten results if so how? Before you judge think about that. I know some people have a wonderful mini and mini experience but those of us who have not are the worst. I just want to see some sort of resolution for every one and these sorts of ideas as crazy and outlandish as they seem could work could not but something has to be tried. The adage of call mini HQ just does not seem to be getting the job done.

 

Try to imagine my suffering if I had agreed to pay the $2,500 they originally told me it would cost to fix the clutch. They called me to tell me the problem was the clutch and that they would charge $700 just to go into the thing to "determine" whether or not it was "user error". After weeks of negotiating, they dropped the charge by half. What if we had agreed? Many customers might not have even questioned the first price. Even burned up pressure plates can be the result of improper installment or adjustment.

Another thing that came out in my original post. Dealers across the US dealt with the problem in non-consistent ways. Some gladly replaced the clutch, no questions asked. Some went through various negotiations and had it replaced free also. While others just went ahead with the dealers original diagnosis, paid, and didn't even question it.

It's important to know what problems people have with cars and their dealers. As more people realize this and other sites exist, you might very well see more posts show up. After all, these are new cars. I would love to know how many others have clutch or other major problems a year or so down the line.

Some people might be trying to sell a mini and perhaps saw my original post as a threat to a successful sale. I am sorry about that and I hope they were finally able to sell it. Believe me, if it was feasible, I would sell my 2008 mini s also.

 

\

no, your clutch is covered under the 3yr/36k maintenance program.



happyheartmom - you posted links to your dead clutch thread in two different threads today but every time i click either i get a page not found.

 

Hi MotorMouth,

Try going back to the stockproblems/issues page, and then back a page or two from there until you find my original post. Seems like I have received quite a few responses today.

I see there have been over 4000 views so the topic must be of some interest and value.

 

I found it that way. Also the links are working now. Not sure why I couldn't get them to work earlier.

 

Thought I would share a positive experience regarding clutch failure. I purchased my 07 Mini (all JCW parts short of wing) with about 5,000 miles on it and since have placed about 14k more miles on it. Last week I noticed an inconsistent throttle, and my RPMs would jump 10K RPMs and immediately drop.

Called Knauz Mini (North of Chicago) to set up an appointment to one, inspect why my engine was acting up, two fix the cold start issue.

It was five days before I could get in, and low and behold, after sitting the car for the weekend, I drove to and from work Mon-Tues and was losing more and more power. Tripped no CELs, and was able to determine it was the clutch, and it was going fast. It died next morning on the side of the highway. Had it towed to the shop where they confirmed my suspicions

Mind you I do not track the car, I have been driving a stick for 15 years, and know how to properly handle a manual in stop in go traffic. Granted driving on the highway in Chicago is not the best conditions for the car, but I have had several other high performance cars, and have never come close to blowing a clutch in worse driving conditions. That said I have no idea what the original owner did. Did I mention the car was an import from Italy?

Having read all these horror threads, I expected the worse. I could not have been more wrong. Knauz gave me a loaner and the next day my MA, Steve, who has been great ever since I bought the Mini, called me to let me know all the repairs are covered by Mini, and I could pick it up the next day (tomorrow). There were countless apologies for my inconvenience by several people at the dealership.

Lesson being, if your clutch acts up, be honest and courteous with the dealer while explaining the situation. Bad mouthing the car, dealership, etc will not with you any friends. That said, not all dealerships are the same and may be less flexible/understanding then others.

 

Well IMCBParker,

I'm not in this to make friends.

In my case, the car was smoking and it was towed to the dealership where it sat for several days before I even had a phone call from them. It was then they told me in no uncertain terms it was the clutch and that it would cost $2,500 if, after it was opened up at a cost of $700 & if they determined it was determined to be "user error" or abuse or however they phrased it. It was finally reduced to half. And finally, the clutch was determined to be fine as something apparently got in there and caused the smoking.

My particular scenario had nothing to do with how "nice" we were. Some nice folks might have given the ok at the $2,500 figure and drove away with a much lighter wallet. Or succumbed to the $1,250 figure.

But yours is a case in point showing great disparity in how these cases are handled. Discrimination in how the cases are handled, hopefully not determined by the dealership's evaluation of the customer's friendliness. Very interesting for the rest of us to know.

These threads show a consistency of tactics used to deny responsibility for a manufacture's quality control issue or sub-standard product. Our cars are relatively new, Yours an 07, mine an 08. Let's give it a year or so to see what problems show up.

Best wishes and good luck.

 

WOW!

 

Tell me about it MotorMouth. Felt like an airflow issue at first, but after a while, it was clear the clutch was going.