There are two major threads in this forum that you need to give attention to.

1st: The Yo-Yo Chronicles
People in this thread have had v. 36 installed and *still* have the Yo-Yo problem. They are posting their VIN numbers.

2nd: It's time for a progress report on a thread you started. The post was made on July 15th and promised to keep us updated of any details. It's been 6 months today, so an update seems to be in order.

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Private Message DiD

 

Thank you for bringing up the windshild problem as it had been put on the back burner as a result of the stumble/yo-yo. I am concerned with the premature cracking PLUS the TERRIBLE pitting that has occured . I am on my 2nd windshild and it looks like a windshild from a 10 yr old car.!! The glass appears to be way too "soft" and I concerned regarding visual distortions cause by the "pits" in bright sun light. Also would MINIUSA please comment on the "fix" of reinforcing the pillars so the windshields would not "flex" and cause the "unexplained cracking,? Will 2002 and 2003 be offered this "fix" free of charge? :???:

 

Yes. Thanks, Dave, for your efforts. I just had my windshield replaced, and on the ride home, I received new pits already! The quality of these windshields is really inferior. I hope that MINIUSA will re-design them and recall our poorly-made OEM windshields.


Clo/Wanda

 

Still no response to either thread.

 

No responses from MINIUSA Engineering through the dealership either! Is MINI intentionally trying to avoid customers?

 

Fellas,

You can't directly ask MINIdivision for help. I've tried and have gotten no response. You have to wait for MINIdivision to pop up like a genie to solve your problems with a reference number if you are so lucky

As for windshields, tomorrow I am paying "out of pocket" for my stress fractured windshield to be replaced since MINI is not honoring the warranty provided with my new car.

Since I am paying for a windshield that I should not have to pay for, I told my glass company NOT to order the OEM glass as I do not want MINI/BMW to profit from their poor windshield design and refusal to honor their warranty for a known common problem.

 

Gee thanks. Now that you've mentioned that, we probably won't even get that satisfaction.

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Private Message DiD

 

Where's Mark at? Doesn't he have some connections at MINIUSA?

 

Mark has already contacted MINIUSA for us.

 

It's truly a shame..... that MINI Dividion is not more responsive to the inquiries and comments made here.

I continue to be in awe.... of the expressions of loyality and enthusiasm to this car ... by the many members of NAM.

Peace,
D

 

I've learned from my experiences with Land Rover, VW, and now MINI that I can love a car while simultaneously being very disappointed with the customer service that I receive from the manufacturer.

It is unfortuntate that my insurance company and I have to foot the bill for MINI's refusal to honor their own warranty, but it does give me something to gripe about

Sorry DiD if my previous comment might scare MINIDivision off. Feel free to delete or edit as you see fit

 

I'll leave it as is. It needed to be said anyway. MINI Division can reply to the specific threads without needing to deal with the comments directly, but they should still know about our underlying frustration with their follow through.

Dave

 

yes, Frustration - does that explain the steam pouring from my ears?

:evil:

 

As a post over in the windshield crack thread suggests, I think it might be a good idea for someone (preferably someone who has had significant experience with this particular problem) to start an online petition on windshields...and then to beat the hell out of the bushes to get signatures.

Despite the negative attention of their legal department, I do not think that BMW (via MINI Division) pays much attention to this -- or any -- online forum. They seem to assign a single staff person to browse the forums periodically and then to offer pat responses that I doubt are really reviewed anywhere in the corporate heirarchy beyond the MINIUSA offices. And as we all know, the folks in the MINIUSA offices - bless their hearts - are as ineffective and unknowledgable as they are effusive and upbeat. It's not their fault...but you need to reach over their heads.

Online petitions seem possibly to convince BMW that there's more to an issue than the opinions of a handful of Internet geeks (which is I think how they may unfortunately view NAM and MINI2 even). Also, petitions seem to more easily grab the attention of the legitimate media...which in turn DOES make the issue more important than our NAM opinions.

It's hard to admit that we're not as important as we believe...but if you want this issue addressed, I think you need to strategize a way to become bigger than this forum. Not that there's anything wrong with this forum, mind you.

Now, what would a petition actually ask for in this case?? That's the first challenge.

 

Yeah and then how lucky are you really??? I was once given a reference number by the MINI GENIE here for a problem I was having. So I called up MINIUSA with the number. To my surprise the reference number actually referred to the problem I was having. Unfortunately, that was about it. They offered no help whatsoever. Their suggestion was that I bring my MINI back to the dealer and try to get them to do something!

 

>>
>>It is unfortuntate that my insurance company and I have to foot the bill for MINI's refusal to honor their own warranty, but it does give me something to gripe about
>
"Now, what would a petition actually ask for in this case?? That's the first challenge. "

My answer to this question is ask, no tell MINI, that they need to make the fix retroactive and give back all money spend by owners and insurance companies, at least a percentage. Maybe just back to the date they really knew there was a PROBLEM.

Earl

 

The want to build a community around the car and heavily market it that way to new customers. But building a community requires an open line of communication. Which in reality doesn't exist. Most of us are very forgiving of the car and readily open to BMW working out any issues or explaining items that we have questions about. But with BMW refusing to address items, it is slowing building up a wall between us the consumer vs. them the manufacturer. Which is slowly tearing apart any form of large community and creating these forums as a consumer community.

A good example is the stumble issue. They denied there was a problem for quite some time. Then v.36 came out to fix the stumble as indicated in the v.36 notes from BMW. Did we ever see anything sent to us that states heah we see the problem also and we have released a fix. I never got a letter about it although I complained a lot about it. Just a total lack of communication. The issue would have been a much smaller issue and I think most of us would have been very sympathetic to the issue if BMW had just issued some communication. What are they scared of. BMW wants a community but doesn't want to get to close to us.

The windshield is another excellent example. All we hear from half the shops is that the crack is from road debris. If this is the cause we need to find this "intelligent" piece of rock that is appearing all over the country and hitting our windshields within a +- 5mm section of the windshield to start the crack. Come on BMW. Admit to the problem, fix it and no big issues. Denying this problem just makes everyone angry.

I have had absolutely no communication from BMW on any matter including recalls, which the dealership only told me about after I took it in for service. I love my Mini and the community of owners, but I think BMW is dropping the ball on this, and I only see the eventual outcome as being negative. If this path continues I don't see any positive aspects for BMW, so I am not sure why they want to continue this path.

 

We should start an online petition that not only encompasses NAM but Mini2 and also Mini owners not associated with these sites.

I would also be very curious as to getting a couple of experts to examine these cracks and determine if there was a safety issue relating to this. If we could show that a problem with the windshield could cause an increase in harm to the automobile occupants as well as have a very large petition, I think it would wake up the BMW giant.

Mark was able to get some news stations to talk about the whole MCO name issue, so if we could do the same it would help our cause significantly.

 

Hmmm, maybe they are not seeing this thread due to its stickiness!

I'm going to bump the other one and them maybe the genie will come out of the bottle with one more warm and tender "I feel your pain" response.

I can't even get an explaination from them one what the TIS Survey (involving stress cracked windshield) results are/were.

 

BUMP: MINI Division is Online. Hopefully they see this. (can't tell if they have or not from my unanswered PM's).

 

I know I am not around much anymore because i work too much but I do browse from day to day.

I would love to hear some response from BMW on this but it seems they don't care. The only thing that a large corporation will recognize in the end is something that threatens the bottom line.

Until this problem is resolved just pledge not to buy any accessories from MINI or BMW or take any vehicle to any of their dealerships for service.

 

bottom line eh? How about if all of us claim Lemon Law! That'll make them pay attention. That would be a situation where the cost of the fix would be dramatically less than buying new cars for everyone!

Wake up MINI - I've already done half the work on the Yo-Yo FOR YOU, how much more cost-savings incentive do you need?!

 

>>Wake up MINI - I've already done half the work on the Yo-Yo FOR YOU, how much more cost-savings incentive do you need?!

DREW

 

>>No responses from MINIUSA Engineering through the dealership either! Is MINI intentionally trying to avoid customers?


Especially customers that know what they are talking about and demand action.

 

I’m with MINI USA. Honestly, we are not avoiding you. We love all the input from our MINI enthusiasts, and we're sorry if you’re feeling neglected. We work hard to respond to as many of your questions and concerns as possible. Here’s what we know so far.

If you are having problems with your windshield, contact your service advisor for any current updates. As for the future of our windshields, stay tuned, and we’ll report anything new that we learn.

Regarding the "Yo-Yo Chronicles,” we have read all of your posts and passed them along to our engineers who are looking into your concerns. We will follow up with you as soon as we have any new information.

So, please, stay on board, keep talking to us, and we'll continue to work with you, your dealers, and Engineering. We promise to post any follow up or new information as we get it.

We offer our 866.ASK.MINI number as both your avenue to our assistance and our way of getting more detailed information from you. If you don’t call us, we can’t help, but please don’t think we’re avoiding you. We'll be here, reading and reporting back. Thanks for all your good input.