OMG!!! I have to dish out over 4k worth of repairs to get my Mini running again. Is there any way I can do this cheaper? Like, buying used parts? What do I need to purchase and where can I get them? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Below is the list of things that need replacement on my '06 Cooper and the quoted price to get it repaired at the local dealer:

1. AC compressor and drive belt need replacement. $1820.

2. Waterpump leaking, needs replacement. $1250.

3. Oil pan gasket and crank sensor seal leaking. $800.

4. Power steering return line leaking. $340.

Please help! TIA.

 

Are those estimates from a dealer? If so, consider an independent.

 

All those figures look like about twice what they should cost a la carte.
Such is the way of the stealership in many locales.
If done together, there should be a further reduction in total labour.
Let us know where you are and perhaps someone nearby can chime in
with a good independent shop near you.

 

Hmmm. RockAuto is pretty cheap on aftermarket parts, and use RepairPal to gauge the labor; looks like they're about $125 an hour which feels high for Missouri and I'm sure isn't elsewhere.

1. AC: $375 compressor, $500 labor.
2. Water pump: $63 and $400 labor.
3. Oil Pan gasket & crank sensor seal: Gasket is $13, I'd need help looking up that seal, and I've not been under one to assess. Repair pal quoted $550-750 to do the whole shebang.
4. Rockauto didn't have the PS return hose, it's $61 on RealOEM (genuine part), about $200 of labor according to RepairPal.

You say both "repairs to get my MINI running again" as well as "things that need replacement", so to someone like me, who has a too-long history with keeping marginal cars running long enough till I landed another job, those are two very different things .

Get running means: can't drive without it. AC that doesn't work or a minor oil leak can go on for awhile (BTDT). Water pumps, less so, though I nursed a leaking Corolla water pump for a few weeks till I could get some time off to fix it.

As folks have said...an independent shop that works on MINIs would be a great help to you. I'm assuming you / someone you know can't manage some of this without professional help? PS return line, maybe...has anyone done the oil pan and crank sensor seal? I can't speak to that on a MINI, it can be no big deal (just messy) on some.

 

Those prices seem outragious, though I know you have to dismantle the front end just to get to most of those items, even if you were to double the price of the parts that they were sold for, say the A/C compressor is about 800 list (630 for walk in customer, and thats brand new through NAPA!!) they're saying it's another 1000 to replace it, and the belt, as though thats a 10-12 hour job alone. Even taking the others into consideration, it's like they are charging as though each of those jobs must have the front end disassembled each time. I'd shop around.

Another option that could be more fun, is host a fixin' party like we do on our Camaro forums. Supply food and drinks, and try to invite a few close members to come help fix your car Works everytime, and with up to a half dozen hands goign all at the same time, you'd have it fixed in no time.

 

First, go to an independent MINI mechanic - that will cut your bill roughly in half. Next, as was said earlier, only the water pump is an immediate issue. Note: If you've got an S, a water pump issue is a bigger deal as it's driven off the supercharger. If the issue is with the PTO gears, you're looking at replacing/repairing the supercharger.

 

Thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated.

Yes, the estimates are from a Mini dealer in my area. The dealership did say that if I get all the work done at one time, it would shave off about $900. I will definitely try seeking out an independent mechanic. I am in Fairfax, VA if anyone has good recommendations!

Besides the leaking power steering line, the other 3 are imperative to get my Mini running. From what I understand, the AC compressor is locking up causing the engine to stall out. The oil issue needs to be fixed asap since it's not a small leak... oil leaks HEAVILY. I'm not too sure about the water pump but since Eric says it's an immediate issue, I'll have to get it repaired. And yes, mine is a Cooper S.

Now I'm starting to worry that my supercharger is messed up as well!!! Aaarrggh!!! If it was damaged, wouldn't the dealership guys have caught it?

This car has been a major pain in the *** to maintain... It has leaked every fluid possible. A couple months ago it was leaking coolant which I had gotten fixed. Also was leaking freon. It's just insane.

 

Your in Fairfax? you should stop in and see us were near Annapolis. We specialize in only MINI's. Our techs are factory certified and have years of dealership experience. In fact your situation is one of the reasons we decided to do our own thing. Your only choice these days is to bring your car to a dealership and get taken for a ride or take it to an independent that is unfamiliar with the car. Our goal is to provide dealership level quality with independent prices.

Sorry for the sales pitch, were just eager to prove ourselves

 

Question
If your an independent shop. How did your techs become
Mini certified. Did they leave the dealership?

 

yes we migrated from the dealership. I don't belive there are any new cert's out there so until the rocketmen (or whatever the third gen will be called) comes out. It's fair to say were fully certified.

 

I am no where close to you and unless I am traveling and have a problem, I will not be stopping into your shop but I am curious as to what your prices would be for the same repairs, just to gauge the difference between independent and dealership prices. I know that final price is dependent on what is actually found during the repair but I would be interested in your prices.

 

Moon, if possible I'd have OXS or someone else take a look at it. I'm no expert, but usually the AC fails when the clutch won't engage. I've never heard of one failing with the clutch locking up (and even then, that just means the AC is on, unless the compressor is seized.
Did they give any details as to the water pump? Are they saying it's leaking out the weep hole, or what? Again, I don't think I've heard of that alone failing.
If the oil pan gasket is leaking that badly, I'd just check to make sure the bolts are snugged up.
Of the things you list, usually the WP would be the only critical item. I'd give the dealership quote a big just because it sounds strange.

 

you might as well buy a new motor for that price

 

I was thinking the same thing.

The makes my Porsche ownership seem cheap...

Do you have a local MINI club chapter in your area?

 

First of all, join www.dcmetrominis.org Then get suggestions for local MINI specific independents. OXSpeed has post to our website, as has MachV in Sterling.

 

First off if you do an oil pan gasket and the A/C compressor there should only be a charge for doing an evac and recharge since the A/C compressor has to be removed to replace the oil pan gasket, so there's $800 off your bill.
Then again there should be a discount on the water pump labor since the car will be in service mode to replace the oil pan gasket and compressor. Also you'll want to replace the intake seal when doing the water pump.

In short do some shopping around the dealer isn't your only choice.

Also I can sell you a used compressor to save you a bunch.

WAY

 

Good stuff there WayMotor

 

I was thinking the same thing.

The dealer was providing estimates for each job seperately.

 

Definitely have the supercharger lubricant level checked when changing the waterpump. The gearbox on the back end (which drives the waterpump) has a habit of loosing lubricant and then self destructing. Everything that is removed to get to the waterpump needs to be removed to get to the supercharger. When we changed my waterpump, we decided to check the supercharger and found that the back gearbox was bone dry. Fortunately, we cauight it in time as there didn't appear to be any damage.

 

pdflint, what was the failure mode (assuming it failed and the replacement wasn't preventative) of your water pump? What died?

 

If you'll do a search, you'll find that many times, the crankshaft position sensor o-ring is the leaking culprit, not the pan gasket. Lots less labor and less than $2 for the o-ring.

 

Hi Moon (OP),

Call up MachV in Ashburn/Sterling (fastmini.net) and talk to Matt to diagnose how much this would cost. Their hourly rate is about 30% less then the dealer rate, also everytime the dealer diagnoses something for me they're never quite right. They've been saying i've had an oil gasket leak for the last 3 years and MachV take a look and say it's fine, the weeping is normal.

This last time i took it in because i had oil spots under the car and instead of needing a gasket replacement it was just a o-ring issue. I had the car in to get the radiator fan replaced (which was about 30% cheaper then at the dealer), so they only charged me the additional labor to replace the o-ring since the front-end was already off the car.

These guys are like a 40 minute drive for me but i don't take my car anywhere else. my suggestion is that you talk to Matt and figure out what to do first, since you have so much to do it might make sense for you to bring it in and do 1-2 things and have them diagnose the other stuff to make sure you really need to do them

 

Actually, the water pump didn't fail. We were replacing a bent radiator and AC condensor along with a broken core support. All were damaged when I hit what I thought was a clump of snow. Turns out it was ice. We thought it best to replace anything inexpensive we could while it was so far apart. Really dodged a bullet with the supercharger.

 

oh, another thing you should double-check, if your ac condensor is bad, its possible it's due to over-heating from a failed ac radiator fan/power steering fan. on the early models these two were tied together and when the ps steering fan failed, it would disable the ac-radiator fan--which also happens to cool the ac condenser when it's hot and you're moving really slow. if you're doing the other work the ac radiator fan would also be a good thing to do at the same time. you need to repalce the ps fan too, but that can be done anytime as it's easy to access.

 

hey where do you live? maybe i can help you out...