There are some things here that need to be cleared up. The dealer, in this case Braman, does not have the ultimate decision on whether to honor the warranty or not. They neither actually warranty the car nor do they pay for the repairs. They are paid by the factory to repair the car and make a profit doing so.

If they do warranty the repair, before payment is made by the manufacturer or even after payment is made, the repair is subject to audit. In the case of an engine assembly, the dealer will normally be required to ship the assembly to Mini where it is inspected for cause of failure. If it is determined to be a failure because of a non-warranty condition such as lack of maintenance, modification, or owner abuse, Mini can deny the claim and the dealer "eats" the repair.

No dealer denies a warranty claim without reasonable cause and fear of not being paid for the repair. They are much more likely to honor the claim rather than reject it simply because an engine replacement represents a very sizable profit for the dealer. They realize that denying the claim will most likely result in a factory case being opened. They will need to justify to a factory field representative the reason for rejection and he will have to concur with their diagnosis. In forty years of operating and owning multiple dealerships, including BMW, I can remember denying a claim on only a hand full of occasions. The reason for denial was always obvious and blatant.

 

This is true but I think that the OP actually stated that MINI was backing the dealers decision. This leads me to believe that they have been involved in the process.

 

Yup...maybe my dealer spoiled me, but in my experance the worst thing they did was lobby me for good numbers on their after work surveys. They were proactive in fixing stuff that was not broken, updated a few items like my ps wiring harness, and even would "fit me in to the schedule, saying, " if you have a couple spare hours, we will do it right now"... When injust dropped in.
All that was said by the member that reported working in the car indrusty seems to be true...denying a claim certainly looses a customer for life, and generates bad PR, but sometimes, it has to be done, or folks can put you out if bussiness by driving up expenses and warrenty costs.
It has been said...there must be more info...what the op did not do is almost more important than what he did do....
He never states what happen leading up to the stoppage, never talks about checking the oil...just he had changed the oil....

 

In my case the dealer kept blaming MINI for the denial of warranty and MINI USA kept blaming the tech at Brahman for the denial. I could never get a straight answer from either party during any of my conversations with them. The service writer emphasized that the history from the key reader, is what they used to determine proper maintenance on the car. It is almost like they ignore the third party part of the service history. As far as a low oil situation, this car had oil changes much sooner than MINI would recommend, thus lending less opportunity for a low oil situation to even exist. Between my own topping off the oil level and MINI checking it during trips to the dealer for other warranty work between oil changes, I don't feel this would have been an issue. Also, there is nothing wrong with the turbo charger itself, the failure seems to be with the timing chain. Don't forget, the people at MINI USA suggested that the car be taken to another dealer and maybe the outcome would be different.

 

When you have your car for one full year you need to call your dealer and have the first annual service done. It does not matter if you only drove the car 100 miles. They will change the oil at the one year anniversary of you owning your car.

The service will be done at each year you own the car unless you put enough miles for the computer to tell you it is time for a service.

If you do not drive enough miles you need to call them when you reach the second anniversary.

Say if you did drive enough miles after the first service like a long long trip and the computer told you to get it serviced you would be eligible for service again one year from that date if you did not drive enough miles from that service.

As to sludge I would guess the third party probably dumped in some 20/50 QuakerState and charged for the synthetic.

Anyway, Why can't they clean out the sludge and not have to replace the whole engine???

 

All this discussion is scaring my MINI. It is now wanting the oil changed at 13,000.

 

Since MINI will provide free maintenance, but you are not "required" to have them do it to maintain the warranty, just proving it was done with paperwork SHOULD have good enough.

Any further info on what happened to the motor?

Unfortunately if you talk to folks who work at MINI shops/dealers, it seems it is very common to have Gen2 cars come in 3 quarts low....scary, but true in a motor that only holds 5. So please forgive us if we (viewers) view any denied warreenty claims carefully before getting up in arms...

 

Pardon my ignorance, really, but how does sludge affect a timing chain? Every time I've changed a timing *belt* it's had nothing to do with the oil, but I've not had to deal with a chain in my cars. Is the timing chain in this car a part that is affected by the oil?

 

Check this thread for pix on the timing chain
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...n-to-snap.html

 

OK. Makes sense to me now. Thanks.

 

The rest of the story ...... After Brahman refused to work on the car, one suggestion from MINI USA was to bring the car to another dealer. It didn't make much sense to me at first, but what the hell, I gave it a shot. I had the car towed to Lauderdale Imports. The service writer could not have been more courteous. Knowing the history from Brahman and after a review of the paperwork, he took the car in and processed the claim. He kept in constant contact with us regarding the situation. He informed me that the timing chain tensioner had failed, which led to piston to valve contact. They needed a little time to continue to research what else may have been damaged. Once they had determined what was needed to fix the car, they started ordering all the necessary parts to do the repair under warranty. It's almost hard to believe how different the two experiences could have been with the same make of car.
Brahman is a huge dealership and I know it probably means nothing to them for me to bring my business someplace else, but I tell everybody I know what they are in for if they do business with them. Anyone in the area, that needs service should stay away from Brahman. The may look impressive, with their new facility, but the service people suck big time!

 

Well this story certainly worries me. I bought my Mini at braman and that's where I have taken it for service. So far I've had great service from them. I had to take it in a couple of times within the first month I owned it for some fit/finish issues and while it was there they proactively fixed a broken part that I hadn't even realized was broken.

Fortunately I haven't had any major warranty issues and the minor issues I had were very well taken care of by them but now I'm a little worried about what might happen if I do have any major mechanical issues.

Hopefully the OP's experience was an isolated one and I won't have any issues there.

 

Thanks for the update and glad things worked out for you. Your first post was in November. You mean you were without a running car for over 6 months ????? That totally sucks

 

Bramans service department doesn't have the best reputation around here...I bought my car used (R53) and took it to braman to get cleaned up, oil changed, make any necessary repairs, fix oil leaks, etc.

I basically had to get most engine work re-fixed at a different dealership (Mini of Orlando) through warranty because the underside of my car was COVERED in oil. Fine, no problem, apparently it was the gasket, not the work. (I asked MoO to recheck everything just in case) Once I was back down in Miami my shift cables became misaligned (loose bolt from an attempted short shifter install, not torqued properly, not cause of braman) and I took it to get fixed.

On my way home from the dealership the belt tensioner broke -.-, had to get the car towed back to the dealership. Next day I go to pick it up, everything seems fine...This was a month ago. About two weeks in my car developed a rattling noise that seemed to be coming from the tensioner, this past week I went in to get it fixed at Braman, under warranty since I had just replaced it, turns out one of the bushings in the little piston was completely gone, and the bolt was just kinda rattling around in the sleeve.

I asked them to fix it out of warranty, I get a call back saying that they can't fix it and have to charge me again, saying that the only reason it broke was because I had too many aftermarket mods on the car. (ATI damper stock size, changed outside of the dealership because oem one had a tear, and a 17% pulley) Wanted to charge me $240 for the fix, charging me only for labor, saying it was "the lowest they could go".

I took my car to PAW and Luis was kind enough to say that he would fix it for free, seeing as it was just the bushings that needed to be replaced because the belt tensioner was fine. He didn't have any bushings in stock, so now i'm waiting for my new powerflex bushings to get here via UPS today (Thanks Way :D), So finally after a week or so of not being able to drive my car, i'll finally have it back at the latest tomorrow :D

Moral of the story: Avoid Bramans service department.

 

My only other option down here is South Motors Mini and I've heard they are even worse. Have you ever had any work done there?

 

It depends, the problem with South Mini is that they're understaffed, they only have three mini mechanics. I actually went to them first for the tensioner problem(they're closer to me than braman), and they kept the car for three days before they told me that they couldn't do anything. The SA that helped me wouldn't answer nor return my calls, even when she was left a handwritten note on her desk by the secretary (I called so many times that she felt bad...lol)

But I mean, if it's under warranty, service there should be fine, just make sure you make an appointment early, and don't expect the car back till the afternoon. (I had another car that I bought with South Motors, and besides taking forever, service there was fine) With South Motors it's not really the service department that's the problem, just the way its run...

 

Obviously Mini USA knows their service sucks too - that's why they told you to take it somewhere else! But also quite obviously, that dealership sells a LOT of cars and no mfg will ignore that!

 

it's been a while since I last lived in Miami but having had bad experiences with both Braman and South Motors I can say that getting a csr serviced is NOT something I miss about Dade county; nor buying a car there. I learned from others that it was worth driving north of Palm Beach or to the west cost of Florida rather than try to buy in Dade. The drive saved thousands of dollars - but this was b4 MINI . . .

Sounds like nothing has changed