Does anyone else feel like they spend more time getting their MINI serviced than driving it?

- My sunroof is chirping like a damn cricket.
- A light over my license plate is out (not that the car told me about it, no idea how long it has been like that.
- My engine power has dropped out, had to rev it up to 4K to get up a hill in first gear the other day. It almost stall quite a lot while trying to move away from a stand still, and it is running really rough.

Service on Friday.....fingers crossed

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles ... hope they get you squared away quick.

If there's one thing that irks me about the whole MINI experience, it's the service. The folks at the dealership have been great; but anything you go in for that isn't routine maintenance seems to take a week. First they have to diagnose the problem, then contact MINI USA to report their findings, then wait for MINI to get back to them to confirm those findings (which on one visit took 3 days), then they can actually go about fixing it. Luckily this car hasn't had to go in for anything. But the wife's clubby had a passenger safety issue with the passenger seat (wouldn't activate the air bag with my 100-lb stepdaughter in the seat). It was in there for a whole week, and then when she got it back the problem is still there. MINI really needs to get their sh^t together in that regard. But that doesn't have much to do with your problem, does it ...

 

I

 

At 52,000 miles my service engine soon light came on so I took it to Northwest Mini and was told that it would need to have the head and gaskets replaced at a cost of $4500! This is a 2005 Mini Cooper that has been serviced regularly,oil changed every 5,000 miles and all highway driving. They also don't have loaner cars available and you need to go through Enterprise rental to get a vehicle. I have had other problems with this Mini when it was still under warranty mainly huge oil leak that took Mini 5 days to repair. Dealer trying to blame me for latest repair saying I must have used "bad gas" and did not put in a cleaner every 3 months. What kind of car requires you to put cleaner in the gas tank every 3 months??? I use the high octane gas and don't buy from grocery stores which they are trying to say I did. I will not be buying a Mini again.

 

I get my MINI serviced by Otto's MINI in West Chester PA. Props to them, they have never skipped a beat in servicing my car. My only fear this time is that it is my word against theres. I am very observant, highly detail oriented and **** about my car. I know there is something wrong with it. I can state symptoms, but unless they throughly test it; i'm not sure if they will come and say everything is normal.

I too would probably not buy a MINI again, but I would definitely work with Otto's again.

 

They will probably check the turbo to make sure it is functioning properly.... That general area gets really hot, and the lubrication tubes tend to get gummed up if oil changes are not frequent enough. As you can imagine, the lack of lubrication is not good for them.

They also may check for carbon build up. If you do a search here regarding the criteria you mentioned, you should find them ok.

 

Hpfp.

 

DChap -this thread came up the other day, maybe it's your HPFP? https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-for-hpfp.html

 

I got the letter but i don't know if it is that. The letter says that the check engine light would come on and you will experience reduced engine performance.

What would the symptoms of a fuel presure pump be?

 

Good call guys. Dealership checked my fuel pressure and low and behold it was low. Fuel pump was replaced to correct the issue.

 

a quarter of the time i've owned my mini has been spent at the dealership :( and i have to go in again tomorrow

 

problem wasn't fixed....calling to make an appointment to take it back tomorrow.

 

finally got it back to the dealer today....

they found that an oxygen sensor after the cat was bad so they replaced that. i talked with my brother though, who is a mechanic, and he says that it wouldn't have any effect on the car.

we'll see

 

So far i haven't had any problems at 2,xxx miles. However, i'm a little worried hearing all this repair/car in shop often stories . I hope i'm one of the lucky ones and got a gem.

 

well put it this way....i am thinking about selling it before my warranty expires....at this rate this car is gonna cost me a fortune

 

Our mini 2008 S - with under 20K has had the high pressure fuel pump, water pump and the cam timing chains all replaced. Hood scoop is also warped. Good thing we leased never would buy this car or want to own outside of warranty, cant understand how they hold value This rep will catch up to the brand eventually. Sure we will go back to Audi at the end of this lease. With 6 Audis never had anything other than scheduled service - with MINI all emergency service. I guess that is the reason this car is so cheap.

 

Sad thing is, the car ISN'T cheap. 30k for a car the size of the MINI is a bit steep. I bought mine used with 21k on it - it had a clean record of service and was owned by an older woman. The dealership sold it as a MINI-Next certified pre-owned (thankfully). The car now has 29k on it. In 8,000 miles of ownership it's been inspected for new rattles several times, received a new transmission, flywheel, clutch, and timing chain tensioner fix (complete). I still love the damn thing, but still it worries me. It's going in next week for an oil change and standard scope. Tell ya what, maintenance isn't cheap...

 

Your right, car sure isn't cheap especially after all the installed options.Fortunately my '07MCS has been pretty trouble free other than a creaking noise from steering which my dealer took care of with a new transmission mount under warranty.I have concluded that its not only the Mini but if you go onto Honda,Nissan,and Toyota forums you will find a boat load of complaints both small and large.I really believe that yes some cars come off the assembly line "broke" through negligence and others have not been properly maintained.I have been a fanatic about changing all fluids,rotating tires/pressure,changing air filters and just generally keeping an eye/ ear for the car....so far so good... I'm approaching 50,000 mi.and I purchased extended premium bumper to bumper w/ $100 deductableI we'll see if it goes beyond my Audi at 150.000...time will tell