Hello all,
I have a '08 Clubman S. I've been fortunate in that it has mostly been trouble free. It's just over 3 years old, with 23k miles on the odometer. So, it's no longer covered for free maintenance, but it is still covered under the warranty. Nearest dealer is 2.5 hours away.

I'd been gone on vacation and the car sat in the garage for over a week. It wouldn't start when I got in it to go to work on Monday. I'm a gal who likes to take care of my own cars, but I don't have a whole lot of experience at it. I jump started it and took it to an auto store where they tested it. One tester read the battery as "weak", while one read it as "good". Sidenote: batteries have been dropping like flies in my area after the awful hot summer. Anyway, they said it probably just needed to be charged by driving. So, I drove it around for about an hour.

Later in the evening, I did my research here and found that the autozone H5-DLG battery was a good replacement.

The car started sluggishly the next day so I went to autozone and got the battery. Did the install myself and the car started and ran just fine the rest of the day.

The next morning, I was sitting at idle at a long stoplight close to my office when car "coughed" a bit and the the red battery light came on and then the light almost immediately went off. Checked the owner's manual -- "alternator malfunction" and it said to get the car looked at. Car ran fine after that hiccup and I drove it on to my office. As soon as I got to work, I called my dealer's svc dept and told them the battery saga and about the red alternator light. They told me to call roadside and have it towed in. So I did (took 4 hours for roadside to get to me -- glad I wasn't stranded on the side of the road).

Service advisor just called me to tell me that any diagnosis work is not covered under warranty because the car has an aftermarket battery. What??? The service advisor said I should have had it towed in when it wouldn't start on Monday. I think that is just wrong and completely unreasonable. Why would I choose to have it towed 150 miles, be without my car for day(s) -- all for a battery that I would still have to purchase and then pay them to install??

Anyway, I'm hoping that they will not give me any more flak about repairs not being covered under warranty b/c of the "aftermarket" battery. I'm not happy about having to pay for the diagnosis work, but can live with that. If they tell me I have to pay for anything else, I'm going to be plenty hot.

Husband & I have purchased 3 MINI's from this dealer in the last 3 years. We had planned to be MINI drivers for life. Can't believe they will risk alienating a good customer over this battery issue, especially when what I did can be considered completely reasonable.

Thoughts? Strategy advice?

 

They cannot say the work is not covered under warranty because of aftermarket parts. The Magnuson-Moss Act covers this.

Here are some links for your reading pleasure:
http://www.impalaclub.com/naisso/magmoss.htm
http://autos.aol.com/article/warrant...rmarket-parts/

For them to not provide warranty work, they must prove the aftermarket part is what caused the problem being claimed under warranty.

I'd start simply with this information and state what the act provisions. Then if they continue to fail, a lawyer would be a good friend.

 

Thanks, proximo. I will be armed with this information.

Their whole attitude has really aggravated me -- our MINI service department should use a little more common sense when dealing with out of town clients (e.g., their unreasonable insistence that I should have had the car towed in when the car was not throwing any codes and seemed to be a simple battery issue). Over the years, I've read on NAM of many complaints with MINI dealers unreasonable or just generally unhelpful with their out of town clients. MINI as a company has room for improvement in that area.

 

When you test the battery, did you test the output of the alternator itself?
Seems like the car may have a faulty alternator as the new battery is already losing charge.

- Erik

 

No, I didn't test the alternator output -- the auto store only tested the battery and even with that they received inconclusive results. They did not offer to test the alternator and I didn't think to ask them. Doing it myself is a bit beyond this gal's skills at the moment.

The stealership just called me and told me that the alternator in my car is a Mitsubishi brand and that MINI doesn't use that brand alternator. They told me that the alternator has been replaced "aftermarket". That is total BS.

I ordered the car back in April 2008, impatiently awaited it's arrival, have only had it serviced at MINI dealerships and babied it for 3 years. The car does have a new hood because of a big ding from some road debris. I had the hood replaced at a very reputable body shop and I just got off the phone with the body shop owner and he said he'd sign whatever affidavit I needed him to, stating they did NO engine work on the car.

I absolutely cannot believe this. Does anyone here know of any other 2nd gen MINI's with Mitsubishi brand alternator??

 

As far as I'm aware, this line uses generators, not alternators (minor differences in the internal workings). The Mini parts list three generators (no alternators) for this line. Two are made by BMW (110A and 120A) and the other is made by BOSCH (150A). The BOSCH I think would be in the Clubman because specs show it having 150A for the electrical system. That does not guarantee that at the time yours was being built that they had a shortage of generators and had to "borrow" one. I've seen it in other mfg vehicles, but it's uncommon. Mini replacement costs for the part runs ~500-700. Aftermarket (made by BMW and BOSCH) you can buy for a lot less.

I'll check ours later tonight for you as I also have a 2008 MCS (non clubman). If I happen to find any information on any Mini not using one of the two brands I mentioned, I'll also let you know.

 

All you need is a multimeter.

Ok, this would be were I'd grab the keys and head to another dealer...
Or go to an independent MINI shop to have work diagnosed and completed.

Because you're getting the run around of them trying to squirm out of a warranty claim or wanting to upcharge the replacement work.

- Erik

 

Thank you so much. I had also checked realoem.com and saw the brands mentioned as generators.

The stealership basically acted like I was lying to them or that the body shop owner is lying to me. They will not consider the possibility that MINI might have temporarily used a different brand.

Engine newbie question: how difficult is it to look at the alternator and detect it's brand? My son has a 2008 Justa (probably April '08 build) and I thought I would call & ask him to look too. I checked realoem.com and it lists the same generator for the MC as for the MCS.

I am still dumbfounded that the stealership would risk alienating a good customer for life with their shoddy handling of this.

 

Good to know. Thanks much.

I'm thinking I'll be picking the car up on Saturday (earliest I can get there since it's a few hours away) and will bring it home to a reputable independent shop in my hometown. If the car won't make it home, I also have AAA 200 mile towing and I can get them to tow it on to the hometown. I'm skittish about taking it to another Dallas area dealer -- after all, this is the dealer from whom we've purchased 3 vehicles and if they treat us like this, how will a dealer with whom we have no connection treat us?

 

If I remember correctly, it's located on the passenger side near the front below the oil dipstick. I think you'll need a snake camera to see all around it, but I've not looked at at area in a month or so. Half of it should be fairly visible if my memory is correct. How readable, that's another story. Hope that helps.

 

With no previous history, they may bend over backwards to earn new business.
Dealers love to fight over a client who swapping from one to the next.
Go in, see what they say; you may be surprised.

- Erik

 

Found a good photo. I think this engine is from the 2008 clubman (at least it was in one of the 08 clubman forums):

http://www.ausmotive.com/images/MINI-Cooper-D-02.jpg

Looks like the visibility will be not easy. What you'll be looking for is on the engine side I believe (where the components connect to the generator). It may be somewhere else, but that would be my guess. My Challenger's alternator label is clearly visible from above and is on the housing (in the parking lot: I ran out and looked).

 

All cars nowadays have Alternators. Your confusion may be the difference in European terminology. An alternator has a diode bridge to make the alternating current made by an alternator into Direct Current as needed by the battery. In Europe they call our alternators, generators and they call what we call generators, dynamos. Car manufacturers haven't had generators (as we call them in North America) in years.

Dave

 

Actually, I work on vehicles (Dodge, Ford, Mercury mainly) non-professionally since the late 80's (Mini now since 2008 -- being my wife's). The Mini parts list actually distinguish the R55 as having a generator -- not an alternator. Thus why I said it as I did.

 

MINI can call it what it wants, it is still an alternator, they are a European company after all, and should be excused for misinterpreting American terminology.

Dave

 

Before towing the car all over Texas, there are a few other steps I would take. You actually have two issues. One is the non-OEM battery and paying for diagnosis and two is the alternator.

The first issue is most likely a poorly trained Service Adviser and the second could be a real mystery. I would ask first to speak with the Service Manager in person and if that does not work satisfactorily, the General Manager of the dealership. If that fails, call MINI customer service.

As previously mentioned, unless they can prove conclusively the non-OEM battery caused additional problems, they cannot legally refuse warranty repairs. My suspicion though is they will prove MINI never built cars with the Mitsubishi alternator and therefore they have no responsibility. If that be the case, someone is not being truthful.

 

Thanks for your advice.

As to who is being truthful, I know I am and I've had a family relationship with this body shop owner for 35 years and I would never question his truthfulness. I can't tell you how frustrating it was to feel like I couldn't convince them to at least investigate this with MINI before pointing the finger at someone else. The service adviser wouldn't even consider the possibility.

We escalated it to the Service Director (by phone -- can't easily do it in person since we're 150 miles away) and also asked the Sales Manager to see what he could do to help. We were going to wait a bit before contacting MINI customer service because frankly we were not sure if we wanted to involve them -- the whole thing was starting to feel like a "cover-up". I know that's dramatic, but it has really felt strange.

To give an update, I started a new thread on this over in the R56 forum -- hoping more people would see it and also figuring at this point it's more of a dealership issue. Anyway, here is the latest:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...186-post2.html

In a nutshell, it turns out that MINI did indeed use Mitsubishi alternators for about a 30 day period. If you have a minute, though, check out my post link above to read of an example of terrible customer service.

 

Saturday's are hit and miss in regards to who is working at the dealership. Unfortunately this being a Friday evening it would be too late to call and figure out the RIGHT person to talk to. Often finding the right person to talk to is most important. Be prepared to climb the hierarchy of employees if you wish to have goodwill bestowed upon you. Sounds like you have done so to this point. Most of the time employees have no problem going over their head if they have had the opportunity to do their job since usually the employee has taken the complaint to their boss before you do. Be polite, reasonable, and in control but prepared with the facts of the situation. Also understand what it is that you actually want them to do. If after all this goes down they still refuse to assist you then tell them how disappointed you are and if it will actually result in a loss of your business tell them and stick to it. After purchasing three vehicles from the dealership they should be willing to eat the cost of an alternator and battery in order to retain you as a customer. You are not being unreasonable according to what I have read.