OK, so I have my MINI serviced like I am supposed to. While its in I tell them to look at the wheel alignment, because it seems to be pulling right a bit and just doesn't seem quite "right". They do, and tell me from the test drive they think its the road crown, everything looks fine. OK. So, then I gradually notice a bit more road noise from the back, and hear more than feel a kind of vibration-warble-noise. No odd behavior from the car so I don't REALLY worry about it. Until one day I am cleaning the wheels really good and I find these bulges along the inside tread edge of the rear tires. Yeah. Either one hell of a wear pattern or the tread is separating from the inside out. So, off to the dealer we go.

The result: According to MINI of Charleston, my rear wheel alignment is off, causing the wear. The car needs an alignment and two new rear tires, because they're shot. Anyone see where I am going with this? So, I argue and say why didn't you spot the alignment issue when I brought it up last time? They say I told them about a front issue, this is the rear, but in the same conversation they say ALL MINI alignments are 4 wheel alignments. So I ask why didn't the alignment check they supposedly did find this? They say that the only time they put a car on the actual machine to check the alignment specs is when they are going to do an alignment, since the setup is about 75% of the alignment process. At this point, I am getting nowhere, but the service manager graciously offers to give me the tires at "cost" and cut some money off the alignment, so instead of spending almost $900 I didn't reallly have to spend, I got away with the bargain of spending $750 I didn't really have to spend.

Oh, did I mention that there was also a rear suspension part that was replaced (under warranty, thank God)?

Now, maybe I am just getting to be a bit demanding as I get older, but to me if I am MINI, and a customer brings me a car saying something is off in the alignment, I am going to use the equipment the factory gave me and check it so there is no doubt that it is right, not just test drive it. Because, in my opinion, had MINI checked it like I think they SHOULD have, they prolly would have seen things a bit off, and maybe we could have saved me a pair of tires AND a whole lot of frustration. Not to mention the money. And, did the rear suspension part have some part to play in all this? I don't know.

So, fellow MINI minions, anyone else have this sort of thing happen? Any suggestions on who to complain to? I've already talked to MINI USA, they said they would lodge a complaint against the dealer on my behalf for not using proper diagnostic procedures. No refund, no compensation, I asked.

 

Yup, the Lexus dealer did this with my parents' GS. Told to check because steering suggested alignment was off, said was fine, yet a tire sacrificed itself to prove otherwise. Costly, frustrating, and entirely preventable had the dealer not dismissed the owner's observation!

Hopefully in future your dealer will take your observations more seriously at least?

 

You can try to talk to the general manager of the dealership to see if he/she will compensate you for the price of the tires under a one time goodwill.

 

If it were me, I would have gone to Discount Tire and got a complete set of brand new non-run flat tires and and alignment at a good shop for less than that. Buy a can of fix a flat, throw it in the back and call it a day. I don't see why you'd buy your tires at the dealer. Just MHO.

 

Not directly related to the wheel alignment issue that began this thread, but I've experienced a similar "attitude" from a Pontiac service department when I was having a problem with a 1990 Grand Am I used to own. Their diagnostic computer insisted that the OBC (ECM in GM parlance) was faulty. Trouble is, every replacement ECM also turned up "faulty" not long after it was installed. Their explanation: replacement ECM's are re-manufactured, and they often had to replace several before they got a "good" one. I pointed out it was statistically impossible for several ECM's to fail -- in rapid succession and in exactly the same way -- without there being a deeper, root cause. Now clearly out reasoned, they stubbornly fell back on their diagnostic computer results: ECM is bad; nothing more. Yes, I agreed, I'm sure the ECM is bad -- now; but use the computer between your ears: what's causing all of these ECM's to go bad...?

Long story short, after the third ECM went bad on the way home from the replacement of the second ECM, I angrily insisted that they keep the car until they discovered the actual problem ... which turned out to be a short in a wire junction box that was "frying" the ECM.

The moral of the story is: sometime you just have to be insistent -- very insistent -- to get these guys to take you seriously ... even when you're an engineer (like me) and have reason and fact on your side...

 

This is exactly why I WILL NEVER let a dealer ship do an alignment on my cars.

Even when they put the car on the rack and quote align it they are always off in my humble experience.

Find a local shop to do it for you and it will be much cheaper and the tires will also cost much less.

 

Timfitz, you bring up a situation I posted about earlier. My MINI went through several computer modules after some very wierd behavior, turns out there was a short behind the junction box. The good news in that instance was it was warranty and they kept it until they found the real issue.

Robert, I didn't even think of that. DOH! Do you know if two non-runflat tires on one end of the car would work with runflats on the other? The two remaining tires will need replacing in the not too distant future.