My wife and i took delivery of our 2010 Chilli Red Cooper S this morning after saving for a while to make it happen.. We signed paperwork, learned about the gadgets and drove off. 9 miles later the car's dashboard lit up with a water temp light, and went into some form of limp mode instantly when the check engine light came on and the car bogged and would not accelerate. My wife pulled off the interstate instantly as I was follwing her, and I instructed her to shut the car off. The car was rattling pretty well and there was a light spray of coolant on the underside of the hood. The car's fan continued to run for several minutes after the car was shut off (while I was on the phone with the dealer).. The resevoiur was empty although other then dry coolant (from the heat) there was no collant dripping ect. The dealer is going to tow the car back and take a look to figure out what is going on. Also I pulled the oil cap off and smoke/steam poored out of the oil fill. The turbo also sounded like a deep fryer.

My concerns now:

1)If the car got hot- what should they be looking at?
2) Where the heck did the coolant go?
3) Why was steam/smoke coming out of the oil fill?

What should I be asking the dealer to test/do to ensure no long term effects will be occuring.. (compression test, oil change ect)

ALSO is it typical for a car to go into a "limp mode" when the check engine light comes on (image was half colored in yellow)

PLease help if you can. I need some advice on this.

 

Did you custom order it or buy off the lot? If you bought off the lot I would talk to the GM and ask if they will swap out for a similarly equipped MINI on the lot. I would not want a car that died on me 9 miles after I drove it off the lot. Check to see if there is a grace period. You might be able to void the entire sale. You will have to read your paperwork to find that out.

Depending on the code, it is not unusual for the car to go into limp mode. It is basically the cars computer system protecting the engine so that you do not do harm the engine by over revving or going too fast.

 

What is the car's history? Previously owned? How many miles on it? Demo? All of this info can help us help you.

 

There is no such thing as a grace period or 3 day right of return or anything else in car sales. Once the papers are signed, money exchanges hands and the car leaves the lot, it's a used car.

Some dealers will void a sale and change the car for another, but the car that failed is a used car from that point on, unless the mfr buys it back. If/when it's sold later by the mfr. it will still be a used car, usually with a branded title.

Your best bet is to work with your dealer and see what happened to the car. If it's going to need major engine work I'd see if they will exchange it for you too. They may do it....

 

Brand new 2010 bought from dealer stock. They pinpointed the issue, and are waiting on a new radiator and cooling fan/shroud.

SO far they are handling the issue well, crazy that this happened with 47 miles on the car (was an issue from the assembly plant).. They are going to "make this better additionally" they claim, so I hope to see the offer of an extended warranty...

 

That's not always the case...it depends on what state yo bought the car in. Some have consumer advocate laws in order to protect the buyer in addition to lemon laws.

 

THanks for the insight. I will keep you posted on the offer from Mini.

 

There are a very large number of laws pertaining to the sale of new vehicles in all fifty States. There is no law in any of the fifty States that allows the consumer to unilaterally cancel a legally consummated sale. That is Federal and dealers spent a great deal of money over several years to exempt their sales as they present a unique retail sale dynamic. The only loophole would be if the consumer was solicited by a door to door salesman and never stepped foot in the physical dealership.

All that understood, I would refuse to accept the original vehicle. It can be returned to stock and sold as new if it has not been titled in the purchasers name. The fact that the engine was over heated, could potentially shorten the engines lifespan and or cause additional problems in the future. Any ethical dealership would accept the vehicle back in favor of a new one under the circumstances. If they refuse, I would first contact MINI directly and if refused assistance, seek legal representation.

 

That's a real bummer. What did they say was wrong? Obviously it was a defect from the factory.

 

You can expect Mini/BMW to do the absolute minimum required by your states law only if you know what that law is, talk to a lawyer and find out your rights, otherwise BMW will try and get away with far less. They are among the least ethical folks I have ever encountered. / just my experience.

 

Yea i'd like to know what went wrong. Talk about a random-*** failure!

 

In fairness, a good or bad experience has as much (if not more) to do with the dealership as it does with the corporation. If it wouldn't take up a page of text, I could relate my experiences with GM about 15 years ago that soured me to dealing with them to this very day. And it was mainly the dealership that caused my bitterness...

Bottom line is every car manufacturer will often do only what they are legally bound to do -- and very little else -- unless you have an "inside advocate" on your side (i.e., the dealership). The problem with these sorts of situations is that it isn't always illegal to sacrifice ethical treatment of the customer, which is how the dealership enters into the equation: they can either choose stand up and support your case to their corporate headquarters, or turn their back on you... And I'm here to tell you: that sort of duplicity isn't confined to BMW/MINI...

 

Here's hoping they do the right thing by you. An extended warranty might be a good thing considering...it may be hard to know if there is any long term consequences. But that potential failure will always be nagging in the back of your mind. If things get ugly, you might try contacting your local news team...bad publicity like this can be a powerful tool.

 

I am being very cautious about this situation and barking too loud on the internet. I will say that it was an assembly issue initially, but with what happened yesterday, that initial issue may have caused what I feared, additional issues.. Ironically the car is back at the dealer again, due to the same original issue, plus an additional stalling issue.

I am really giving the dealer the opportunity to do the right thing with this car. But unfortunately my wife and I are really feeling like 2 dealer visits after 225 miles, 3 seperate issues within a few days.. This particular car seems to have started life off on the wrong foot, and concequently now is causing my family grief.. It breaking down initially robbed my family of the joy of picking up a NEW car and feeling confident that it was the right choice...

I wil keep you posted as we continue to work with the dealer. At this point I really feel that they should just start us fresh in a new car..

 

Keep the faith.

Contrary to what others may have experienced, I've found Mini to be very accomodating. Treat them professionally and be calm and reasonable.

I've had a couple of issues -- including one when the car had just a few hundred miles -- and their conduct was exemplary.

 

I agree. I had an issue with my brand new MCS with less than 250 miles on it. I wanted to go in there screaming I was mad & disappointed. But I gave them a chance to let them do their job & was calm & polite.
End of story...they fixed the problem & were extraordinarily great about it.

 

Thanks for the encouragement..

 

They should def start you out with a new car. I was going to trade my MCS in for a newer model and the one I test drove had 87 octane gas (lower grade) in it. On the test drive the car was giving out in its acceleration and the lights would flash on and off. I advise them to check to make sure the car had QUALITY PREMIUM GAS in it. Turns out, one of the maintenance men had not put the correct 91 octane gas in it. About 2 days later I got a call back and they told me that this was the reason for the cars behavior and thanked me and so forth. I don't know if this will help in your situation but this same thing has happened to my friend who put regular gas in her car (hers actually completely shut off and had to get towed) and same with mine because I did not put TRUSTED gas provider into my tank. As for the oil smoking and turbo I'm not for sure because my friend and I both own superchargers.

Best of luck with your car!!!!

 

UPDATE: MINI is AWESOME! They are going to rectify the situation! I talked to MINIUSA and they communicated with the dealer who really acted as an advocate on my behalf, they REALLY did have my interest at heart.

I am so glad that they care enough to start our relationship over with them. This speaks so highly about our local dealer, and MINI as a Manufacturer. What a relief!

 

That's very good to hear! Hope everything goes smoothly from here on out!

 

So. did you get a new Mini or are they repairing again and giving you additional warranty

 

They are going to find us a New Mini that has the same/similar package.

 

That's great news.....I firmly believe that in the initial stages any complaints about any products should be dealt with in a reasonable and calm manner.....no matter how upset you may be...one can certainly rachet up the frustration level if actions taken are not appropriate to the problem. It worked out well for you here.
Philip

 

Just a followup, we took delivery today of our "new" New MINI S today. I am blown away with how well the dealer/Manufacturer dealt with this. Especially the local dealer, they are amazing people to deal with.

We are looking forward to many years of Motoring with this new car, and even though we had a rocky start, the dealer made this a WONDERFUL experience for my family.

I am going to write a letter to the dealer and thank them.. We will be repeat customers of the dealer for sure.. After all the horror stories you hear, it is nice to be part of a success story.

 

2 BIG THUMBS UP for MINIUSA and your dealer. Nice to see all involved did the right thing in replacing the defective car. Many happy MINI motoring miles ahead!