Hello. So, I was driving to NY Friday night to visit a friend and near the end of my trip I went to downshift to slow down for an accident. Well, couldn't shift into any gear - everything just grinded. After a momentary panic (center lane in four lanes of traffic now 'coasting') I finally jammed it into fourth.

Basically, now to get it into any gear is a challange and there are some horrible noises emanating from within. A very high pitched squealing (beyond the power steering noise, or the holy crap it's cold noise) along with general clunking and metal grinding noises.

My main problem is I'm now in NY, the MINI service stations are closed, Monday is a holiday and I have to get back to Massachusetts by then. I don't know if there is actually any advice to be given. But, if anybody has any ideas of what this may be... could it have anything to do with the extreme cold... could it be a fluid thing... should I try to bring it to a local yokal station (I can't imagine this would be a quick or easy fix though).

My MINI is a few months old and I just crossed over 10,000 mi. I drive a lot but am not hard on the car, and have changed the oil once already. Don't know if this matters (probably not) but, just put in some sort of 'quick start' cold weather fluid into the gas tank. No clue how that would be related to the tranny though....

This sux.


_________________
Allison. VR/B '03 MC, trip pakgs, xenon, HK
"Let's be a work in progress. Let's chrome. Let's pierce. Let's frighten boring people."

 

If you call your MINI roadside assistance they are supposed to give you "trip interruption services" which includes, if you choose, a flatbed with a loaner car on it for exchange. You may then drive your loaner back to Mass. while your MINI is repaired in NY. When your MINI is done, they will flatbed it back to you in Mass. and take the loaner.

See, isn't that nice? :smile:

 

Wow really? I actually just called roadside assistance and they found a place in CT. I will call them back and ask about the loaner. Thank you.

 

Your situation is exactly the one described to me by my MA when explaining the roadside assistance. Just make sure you tell them that your MINI left you stranded and you MUST get back for work.

Hope everything works out! :smile:

 

Yep, what OmToast describes is exactly what's supposed to happen...but given that a number of dealers balk at the loaner thing, it'll be interesting to see if they actually deliver and pick up your loaner or will they just give you a rental car cash allowance (or reimbursment). Let us know!

As for your mechanical problem, it sounds like the transmission and/or clutch mechanism (throw out bearing) has died. All of that grinding and squealing indicates more than just a broken cable (which I would have guessed if the problem was just that it no longer went into gear). It's highly unlikely that anything you did caused this problem. And while the cold may have accelerated the problem, it was just your bad luck to get a bad transmission. The good news is that now you're due for a new tranny under warranty and you'll now always know that your transmission is newer than the rest of your car. That's not so bad...and is some compensation for the logistical pain in the neck this problem has caused. Good luck, and let us know how it comes out.

 

I'm all for shiny new parts. Seems I've officially joined the club - the MINI just pulled away on a flatbed. Though, not all roses. After double checking, turns out the service area WASN'T open and "we apologize for the misinformation." Assitance also told me they don't deal with any sort of loaners and you have to talk to the service dept. about that and with it being closed = no loner. I called the dealership but they were no help either. The guy said service WAS open till noon and gave me a number - that never picked up.

At any rate the MINI's going to CT. And I've arranged for a ride home. What I can do is get reimbursed for all my expenses (phone, gas, cold toes, etc.). And if I'm going to be without MINI for a while I'll see if MINI of Peabody will pick up the slack and loan me a car.

I'm due for a nap. Thanx for the responses. It was nice to vent anyway. I'll post back when I find out what's up on Monday.

*note to self: don't have car problems on the weekend*

 

I'm going to guess that your first problem was that your clutch slave cylinder went out on you. This happenrd to me in my MCS and one other car I had years ago. This makes shifting difficult or impossible, just like the clutch is not working, but once you jammed it into gear you broke other things like you might if you shifted gears without the using the clutch. If you were in an emergency situation, and it looks like you may have been, then you could do little but what you did.

In my case, with the MINI, I got in the car to return from a trip and when I put the car in first it was more difficlut than normal. I think I maybe stoped one or two times at lights in the first few miles and had the same problem, then drove the 120 miles to a gas station only 1/2 mile from my house, where after filling up I had a very hard time putting it in gear. I then drove to my house and stopped in my drive, to open the garge door, only to find now that the car wouldn't go in any gear. latter I found that if the car was off I could put it in gear then start it, but it still wouldn't shift.

 

Sorry to hear that the roadside assistance procedure didn't work out quite as we thought it would (I wonder if anyone has actually had the "loaner on a flatbed" experience that Toast was told of)...but at least your car will be fixed and you can get home. Where did it actually wind up, Stamford or Hartford?

When it comes time to get your car back, and assuming that roadside assistance will not deliver it to you (which I doubt), check out Enterprise rental car. I'm sure that there's an Enterprise dealer near you and they specialize in one-way rentals. I think that Peabody may have a direct bill relationship with them...and if so, that'll save you some out-of-pocket.

 

>>Where did it actually wind up, Stamford or Hartford?

MINI ended up in Fairfield, CT (service dept. in Darien) where he'll stay for the remainder of the week getting a brand new transmission. I didn't get an exact reason why, as of yet, everything went in a handbasket. (Don't even get me started on my trip home.... oh man - it just didn't end. Train to Springfield, MA = missed because of getting lost on the way to the station and then I couldn't get the automated ticket machine to give me my ticket. Train to Boston got me there and I can happily refund my unused Springfield ticket. Trip home got my friend who picked me up stopped for a headlight out.)


>>When it comes time to get your car back, and assuming that roadside >>assistance will not deliver it to you (which I doubt), check out Enterprise rental >>car. I'm sure that there's an Enterprise dealer near you and they specialize in >>one-way rentals. I think that Peabody may have a direct bill relationship with >>them...and if so, that'll save you some out-of-pocket.

After playing ping pong between Fairfield and Peabody, Fairfield ended up handling everything and I have a car from Enterprise (supposedly) set up for tomorrow. The service agent in CT claimed that my car should be transported to me when the repairs were done- but, of course - I have to contact MINI assistance.

Thanx for the Enterprise advice I'll look into it if I get shafted.

Isn't there a way u can update your subject header?


_________________
Allison. VR/B '03 MC, trip pakgs, xenon, HK
"Let's be a work in progress. Let's chrome. Let's pierce. Let's frighten boring people."

 

>>Isn't there a way u can update your subject header?

Yes, click on the pen and paper symbol at the bottom left corner of your original post, and you can edit the thread title.

In case it makes you feel any better, my car is in for a new transmission as well (thread ), and when I brought it in late this afternoon, they told me it would possibly be ready tomorrow, and Thursday at the latest. Once they actually get the tranny in, the job goes fairly quickly. Of course, I don't think my problem was quite as serious as yours.

I'm all for having newer parts on my car; I just hope that the new tranny meshes right with everything (is that a pun?) and nothing else goes wrong for some oblique reason.

Good luck! And definitely stay on the Roadside Assistance people to cover your expenses, especially since they basically left you in the lurch to begin with.

Chris
_________________

 

Finally, two weeks later I have my MINI back. It was just like getting the car all over again. They even reinstalled new car smell which, hopefully won't give me that new car migraine.

Anyway, they replaced (aka rebuilt) the transmission. It was hard to get a direct answer as to what specifically happened. However, from everything I've gleened it failed due to the extreme cold. As an aside, back at my dealer in Peabody, MA the same week my tranny went they replaced eight of them.

Besides being a general annoyance everything went smoothly. MINI of Fairfield is picking up my rental tab. Brett at BMW Darien (where service actually is) was extremely nice and helpful. He even returned my phone calls. And tomorrow I'll dive into getting refunded for my train ticket and gas from MINI Assistance.

I drove down with someone to pick it up since it was only twenty miles away from the reason I was in NY in the first place and it was a good excuse to visit. So, I didn't check into hauling it back to MA. Though, Brett was very reassuring that that's what could be done if I wanted.

As for the one way rental they wanted a $200 delivery fee. Admittedly, didn't ask if that would be covered on the tab. I passed. For the record, a Toyota Echo base model is THE most uncomfortable car I've ever driven. Maybe they'll cover my chiropratic tab too?

And here I am back in NY. Grinnin' over my new MINI again. Maybe they put something in that new car smell that - no matter how many trips to the dealer we have to make - we still love our cars... Thanks again for everyone's advice.

 

:evil: