I just bought this car from the private party 3 weeks ago: 2007 turbo mini with 53K on it. Seller told me that he did full check on the car at Mini of Pennsylvania less than a month ago. Being a trustful person i believed him. Since i wasnt able to connect my phone ( it would always get stuck at "checking pin/password" ) i dropped it off at the dealer for them to take a look at it.
So, today i picked up the car from the dealer. You can see dealer's findings in the file attached... I think i'll live without bluetooth for now, and sunshade is not a mandatory for me as well. Gotta do turbo fix ASAP, but probably not at the dealer. Any takes on where to go to for that in DC/MD area? Tires will have to wait another months or so.
If there are any suggestions on bluetooth, i'd gladly read it (Navigation unit). Thanks all.

Max

 

I'd also maybe get a second opinion. The dealer probably thought "Hey, let's see what all we can get this guy to bite on" and dropped all that in there. Especially the "Recommended" thing. Take it to an independent shop perhaps and have them take a look.

As for the tires, well, you should have been able to tell that yourself, but nice of them to put it in the report.

 

Wow, I need to look up what all is involved with replacing a $62 oil pipe that makes it a $700 labor bill ... it should be _that_ hard -- that's like 6 hours work. They must be tearing apart a majority of the engine to do this or something.

What tires do you have on? 745 should be a four set replacement?

The only part I can tell you about the bluetooth is it's a 400-600 cost (depending on which module is being installed) ... this is the only one I see on relative par (giving an hours work max -- but should be a 20-30 minute job).

 

I had both pipes replaced going to my turbo and my end result was just north of $1k. The amount of labor is ridiculous. They need to take off the whole exhaust manifold just to get the new lines in. It really is a process, $700 doesn't seem too bad.

And yes...I realize I was ripped off I have a local mechanic I trust with everything but since I knew it was an in depth process I decided to go to the dealer thinking that they would know more about my car....however, they were very careless in putting it back together. Forgot to tighten some hose clamps and bolts. Also forgot to plug in my recirculation valve sensor so I lost boost for two weeks before I had to fix it myself because it was "up to MINI spec". They tried to blame it on my tune, which I conveniently took off before bringing it to them to work on and it was running just fine. Just make sure you check your car over thoroughly when you get it back. I think my example was unusual.

 

That is a lot of work ... I wouldn't think 6 hours worth though. Wow, that's just crazy.

 

Wow, goes to show that when buying a used car you really should get it checked by someone BEFORE you buy it.

-Why does the oil line need to be replaced? Cracked, leaking? Good Mini mechanic can do it cheaper than the dealer.
-Tires? Good time to get rid of the runflats and get regular tires, cheaper and you'll get a better ride.
-What's wrong with the sun shade? Broken, torn? You can replace that yourself.
-Sunvisor? Broken, vanity mirror door broken? Again, get the part online and replace yourself.
-They always tell you you need an alignment, take it to Sears or someplace like that.
-Bluetooth? Did it have bluetooth before or is this to add the module? There are cheaper ways to get bluetooth these days, there's stuff you plug in to your cigaret lighter and tune in through a radio station.

Good luck!

 

Well that makes me wonder about buying the extended warranty?
Any thoughts when you purchase a new mini. Does anybody recommend the extended warranty?

 

Don't do any of that at the dealer. You're getting seriously ripped off. If you're any good with cars, buy a good set of metric tools and take on the job yourself. If anything it will be a great learning experience and possibly save you thousands.

Also, don't buy runflat tires. Those will drive the price up quite a bit.

 

Ditch the runflats! As the others have said, you can 4 new tires, and good ones too, out the door for less than the price you were quoted. Plus they ride better.

 

Thanks! My new mini will be here west coast port around 4-11, they come with the run flats, but when I race them down to replacement time, I'm hearing a lot of chatter don't stay with run flats
There is a lag time on going with the warranty up to a year I think so I just get freaked out when hearing the high quotes for repair.
Saying that this is a great support group that answers all concerns
That's better than the warranty!
Thanks again still looking for the out of range glorious express to make it through the panama canal

 

I dont know what exactly is wrong with the turbo, dealer didnt tell me.

You are right about tires, i am going to get something NORMAL . Looks like right side of the sliding sunshade is missing a plastic tab and the mesh material itself got loose. I was told that it cant be fixed but need to be fully replaced. I havent gotten around it yet, but i'll look over the weekend - perhaps some super glue will do the job.

Sunvisor - i dont care about it - i dont even see what is broken there, really.

Alignment - of course will do as soon as i change tires.

Bluetooth: car has navigation, voice control and bluetooth. Navigation and voice command are working. However, when pairing a phone, bluetooth and the car see each other, and ask for a password/pin. And thats where it stops for a while and then "pairing unsuccessful" message comes up.
If bluetooth dont work, it should not see the phone at all, right?

 

When it comes to dealer service, MINI = BMW when it comes to parts pricing and labor costs. My son's MCCS is at almost 50K miles. He is in Columbus, OH at OSU and I just mentioned to him this past weekend that he needs to start looking now for a good independant repair shop because he can't afford the dealership service once he is out of warranty. You know how you shop for a good primary care physician before you get sick - the same goes for looking for a good independant mechanic when you own a MINI.

 

Not their best foot forward. If you are gonna give a cough inducing quote, perhaps you should spell check it.

Just curious, is that $745.00 just for the frotn tires?

 

I've no idea, but i am definitely not buying them from the dealer.

 

About oil line: I haven’t looked myself. Dealer didn’t give details.
Tires – definitely getting something NORMAL and not from the dealer.
Sun shade – sliding sunshade looks like missing plastic tab on the right side and as the result mesh material is loose. I didn’t have time to look at yet, but perhaps something like superglue will fix it. Dealer gave me replacement quote.
Sunvisor – have no idea what is wrong with it J
Alignment – is a must after I change tires.
Bluetooth – that’s where my expertise area is lacking at. All I know is that car has navigation and voice command that are working perfectly well ( including live traffic and etc ). When the Bluetooth is on and in paring mode, it see the phone and asks for the pin/password to be put in. After that, it gets stuck in “checking pin” and then tells me “pairing is unsuccessful”. I am not so sure how Bluetooth works, but it seems to me that it might not require the whole thing to be changed.

 

I don't think you understood the satire The price sheet said "frotn"

 

lol i was so amused with NUMBERS that i didnt even pay attention to the spelling!!

 

In order to pair the phone with your car you have to enter a password on the device that is asking for it, whether it is the car or the phone. Once the password is entered on that device it then must be re-entered on the other device for the two to pair to one another.

Password choice is yours, I usually enter in 0000 when doing mine to keep it easy.

 

i've tried every possible way, and i am sure at the dealer they have had tried too. Always ending at the same place with the same result.

 

I bet the password the dealer wants to see for proper pairing is 79400

 

rofl...i should try it as an password actually

 

Make sure the software is up to date on your phone as well. I had massive trouble with my wife's Samsung, it took 3 tries after a massive software update.

Gotta love the Iphone, worked first time.

Check the phone forums to see if your phone is having issues, try to pair another persons phone preferably and Iphone for poops and giggles to see if you can get it to work.

 

Detroit Tuned I believe sells the oil cooler pipes as they note on their web page it's a common problem. They sell them as a kit.

 

I've tried couple of Iphones and other phones - all the same.