What's the best way to reach Mini USA anyway? Email through the Owner's Lounge? Social Media? Just trying to get my ducks in a row in the event my SA calls back and tells me they won't cover more than 70% of the bill and I need to take matters into my own hands.

 

I just dealt with my dealer because they did all the work, contact your dealer and if you had it fixed at a non-dealer call Mini USA.

 

Sorry to butt in, but can you give me any leads on indie shops in Marin? Need a timing chain assb install. Cheers!

 

I own a 2011 Countryman ALL4 S. The New Vehicle Warranty for a Mini is 4yr/50,000 miles. My MINI is now at 57,872. I have not extended the service warranty as it is a 5 hour round trip drive for me just to get to the dealership. The last month or so my Mini has shown symptoms of what I thought was a spark plug misfire. I had thought perhaps the spark plugs were going bad as I had read issues with other Mini owners having a bad batch of spark plugs, and having them replaced. Today I had my mechanic put in new spark plugs for me and test drive my car. He is only 15 minutes away from me compared to a 5 1/2 hour round trip drive. I told him what was going on with my car and asked him if he could check the codes as the engine light had come on before. Currently the light was NOT on as when I turned the car off, and back on the engine light would turn off. Before changing the spark plugs he test drove it, got the engine light to come on, and with his equipment it brought up the code P0015. After looking up the code he told me that it has to do with the timing chain. Back in Jan 2013 Mini supposedly addressed this issue by replacing a "seal" to prevent leaking. We discussed the tensioner being the potential problem, and he confirmed that in fact something was throwing the timing off and that I should call the dealership. I did a search online and found this thread with loads of info and sad to say see so many MINI owners with these issues! I, personally, have not received a "service campaign" letter in the mail. I did call my dealership, told them the symptoms of my car, and the code that the mechanic had brought up. I scheduled an appointment for next week to bring my car in. I told the person on the phone that I saw I was not the only person with these issues and if there was a service campaign regarding this. She said she didn't have any information. I asked if she could find out and she told me I could speak to a service advisor about it. Conveniently both service advisors were busy so I left a message. My question is going back to the whole service warranty expiration thing: Do I need to have an active "service warranty" on my MINI for the replacement of the chain, tensioner, etc to be covered, or will it be covered no matter what?

Thanks in advance for any info that will assist!

 

I called a mini dealer today to find out if my car has any recalls. I have a rattle I'm guessing its this timing chain tensioner problem. I have a 07 S. I got the car 6 months ago.

I asked the mini dealer on the phone about the timing chain recall or campaign and she said she knew about it but my VIN doesn't show up as being affected. I asked about previous things that have been done and apparently something with the timing chain was fixed from the previous owner. she said the work has a 2 year warranty, so maybe they can fix it again? also she said a leaking cam shaft was fixed. the aux water pump and tail pipe have been previously fixed too.

I'm going in monday to get the heat shield recall done.

 

I am dumbfounded that your VIN isn't included, but when the dealer fixes the timing chain under warranty for some reason Mini removes the VIN from the campaign since it was already repaired. The only problem I have with that is Mini installed the defective tensioner when they repaired it, so it shouldn't exclude anyone that has already had the timing chain cassette replaced!

 

Thought I had posted my issue before but I must have made a mistake as I don't see my post. Here's hoping I do it right this time!

I am currently having this same issue with my 2011 Countryman. Waiting to take it to the dealership on Tuesday. Unfortunately warranty was up at 50,000 miles and my MINI is at 58,000. January of last year I had to have my MINI towed to the dealership. The engine light had come on and the fan would continue to run after shutting off. They replaced a faulty temperature sensor. I also noticed on the paperwork that they replace a seal for the chain tensioner because of leak. While still under warranty, July of last year we were on vacation out west. We had to take my MINI in to the nearest dearlership we could find, because the oil light flashed on and off and the car had barely any power to go up hill. The dealership said they couldn't find anything wrong with my car, yet my MINI had thrown all sorts of weird codes, including codes for the camshaft. They printed me out a copy of said codes. Nearly 2 months ago while driving my MINI it seemed to buck or misfire. This happened only if you pressed down on the gas for a little extra power. 4 times the engine light came on. Each time I turned my car off and back on the engine light would turn off. When the light WAS on there was a definite loss of power. Max speed of 35 mph going uphill! A few days ago I took my MINI over to a local mechanic I trust. He is 15 minutes away from me, compared to 2 1/2 hour drive each way to the dealership. I was hoping the issue was just faulty spark plugs, and nothing more serious. I told him what was going on, and asked him to check any codes the car may have from the engine light. He took it for a spin, got the engine light to come on, came back and checked for codes. The code P0015 came up. I have been researching and looking for known problems like this for the Countryman. This is how I have come across this article. I have found a ton of info regarding other MINI models but not for the Countryman..... I am hoping the dealership will have answers, and that if this is the same issue as the other MINI models, is will be covered. I will not be a happy camper if I have to pay out of pocket for something that shouldn't be happening to a fairly new MINI!

Any one know of other Countryman owners who may be having the same issues?

 

I took my mini in for the heat shield today. I asked if they could print the service history they said they can't cause its privileged info. he said my VIN isn't part of the timing tensioner recall. he did say that the tensioner was fixed from the previous owner for leaking oil. shouldn't all 07 S coopers be included? I don't get it...

they are going to inspect the car to check for problems. I'm sure they will say something about the timing chain. I have a 3rd party power train warranty with $250 deductible. so its not a huge deal I guess. It would still be nice to save 250 though..

 

Yes, if the tensioner has been replaced, probably after a certain time period, by the dealer, the chain campaign won't flag your car for inspection. Privileged information is something that might be dealer centric. I have never had any problem getting the historical data on the 3 MINIs in my extended family from the dealer.

 

ok, thanks.

if I ask another dealer for the service history they probably wouldn't have any right? since all the work has been done at this dealer. I guess they would only have recall and service campaign history?

 

A dealer performed service, maintenance or recall\campaign action is available at any dealer. They can access the all the data with the VIN last 7 numbers, but they can plug your key in and get the information as well automatically. Fairly sophisticated database it seems. You can bet they track a lot of stuff!

 

Last time I was at the dealer, I asked for same as I'm the second owner of the mini. Got the same response, but said he could show it to me on the screen, which he did. Kind of an odd response, why would it be privileged info, heck it's my mini..

 

It's some legal crap. Ran into the same hassle when I called the original dealer that sold and serviced the car for a record of out of warranty service records and they blatantly told me no even though I'm the current owner of the car as reflected by MINI USA.

 

That's BS, the day I received the registration I went to the dealer to get the dealer history report knowing full well I had to prove that the car was in my name before they could release any info about my Mini. I have a print out of all recall, campaign and service records. Is it going to kill anyone to know if the timing chain service was performed previously, I don't see an issue. It's a simple yes or no! Hardly any information with any real detail about previous owner.

Seems here that Mini is protecting Mini, they installed the same defective tensioner yet again and don't want to take responsibility! I also have a 3rd party power train warranty with $200 deductible (wish I got $100 deductible) and before I went that route I went to Mini to see if they would pay for it, I was denied because the dealer had records of the previous owner declining an oil change. Oops looks like Mini just provided me with privileged information, Mini will use any info to swing it their way with lies and BS! Who's to say that the owner had it done by themselves or another service center?

 

I went to pick up the car today and heard the guy drive it up, its making a clicking noise after the heat shield install. I drove it around the parking lot and heard it from the right front wheel it sounds like. it clicks faster the faster you go. they only did the heat shield service. I don't know how the car is making this noise now. I looked around the right front wheel and noticed a rubber hose hanging with water it looked like dripping out onto my finger. perhaps some other part of this hose is rubbing against the wheel. they washed it so maybe something got blown into something. I told them about the noise and left it there.

 

I've got an update on my 2011 Countryman ALL4 S. As I had mentioned before I had thought perhaps the issues with my car had to do with the spark plugs. I had my mechanic near me replace them with spark plugs he said he got from the "DEALERSHIP".

Even after the new plugs the car still acted up. if I tried to accelerate at a faster rate it would buck.

Had my appointment with MINI yesterday. They said they couldn't bring up any engine codes, my mechanic must have cleared the data, and that they could take it out for a test drive. I told them there's definitely something wrong, and to floor it when they drive it. They came back and said it needed spark plugs and the coils were bad! I told them we had the spark plugs replaced last week, so I knew it couldn't be spark plugs. He told me that they were the wrong spark plugs, not from that dealership!

All said and done we had them replace the spark plugs and the coils, and I plan to take the supposed "dealership" spark plugs that my mechanic put in and have a little chat with him.

My MINI is now running like a brand new car with lots of power and smooth acceleration! I'm SO relieved to say that it was spark plugs and coils, not the timing chain!

 

the dealer says the clicking noise was from a loose o2 sensor so now I have to pay $170

 

I once had a dealer charge me $300 because they discovered that the clicking noise was due to a loose wheel so instead of being nice about it and just tightening the nuts, they charged me like 2 hours of "discovery". Idiots. I fought it with the service manager and got a refund, but that was a hassle.

 

I signed a paper giving them the ok to do the $170 diagnostic, and if they found the noise to be from the work they did then I wouldn't have to pay. I havn't gone to get the car yet and pay. it wasn't making the sound when I left it. they claim they didn't cause the sensor to become loose. it could have already been on the verge of coming loose. they have a big speed bump there and when they drove it in to do the heat shield it could have come off. I don't know.

 

God, I hate dealers. I'm in that honeymoon period now where everything (which wasn't a lot, at most $400 of work over the years, believe it or not, besides the timing belt recall) that had to be done under warranty was done, the warranty ran out a few months ago, and the car runs perfectly at the moment - and I dread anything going wrong because that'll open a can of worms for people to poke at stuff and find things that are wrong.

Sigh. /rant

 

Just tell them you want your car back in the condition you delivered it, with no noise. Tell them you don't buy their BS answer that it could have been coming loose, stand up to them! I always tell my dealer to return my Mini in the condition it was delivered in, I also have the service manager inspect the car for dents and they mark any dents noticed on the worksheet so they can't say later that there was a dent already there. Last week when I took it in for a brake flush they wanted me to sign the diagnostic sheet and I said, "first we're going to have a look at the Mini and to mark any dents they see, they mark zero dents".

 

that part about it could have been coming loose is my thought and the perhaps when they went over the speed bump it came completely loose. its possible, but its also possible its 100% their fault.

they claim they didn't cause it to come loose cause the heat shield install wasn't near the sensor.

 

Then if the dealers bumps are causing things to come apart they need to remove the bumps to prevent this kind of thing from happening again to another customer. I see right through the holes in swiss cheese, I also see through the holes in the dealers bs story. It's highly unlikely that a single bump caused threads to turn enough to come loose, I wasn't born yesterday or the day before that. I just don't buy it. 2 cents worth.

 

I read a lot on this forum, but don't post a lot...so new guy here. 2010 Clubby S, which bought it used. Love it! I'm in Boise and had the car into the closest dealer in december for some work. This dealer told me they couldn't tell me the car's build options or the maint history, same story.....priviledged info. Long story shortened.....I was seriously disappointed about the work this dealer did. And when it came back the windows no longer worked. Their answer was that they didn't do it.

Sooooo, since the warranty will be up this coming sunday 4/6, I made an appointment with Seattle MINI to deal with the window issue. Got the car in last week for the appointment and the service advisor was fantastic. She listened to everything I identifed as an issue and documented it perfectly. I hung around the showroom for a couple hours waiting for the verdict on how long it would take to fix the windows and check a couple of other things I asked them to look at. Here's what they fixed ..... new timing chain assembly including dropping the oil pan to remove guide chunks. While they were working on that the tech noticed an oil leak so they replaced both the turbo oil feed and return lines. They also replaced the high pressure fuel pump. They updated all the modules with the latest code, which fixed my windows issue and tore apart my sunroof, realligned everything. My cost was $18 for a couple of lugs. When the tech removed the front pass wheel he found some gorrilla had over torqued the lugs and stripped the lug threads. They were able to run a tap in the hub threads and said they were ok, just had to replace a couple of lug bolts.

AND the service advisor hung around after hours to meet me and go over everything they did because she knew I was from out of town and couldn't just come back in. I was amazed and obviously extremely happy about the service I received. Big kudos to Seattle MINI. Restored my faith in the dealers....after my bad experience with the other one.

Oh.....and I explained to the SA that the other dealer refused to provide info on my car....she immediately responded "I'm printing you a copy right now".

PS....and the car runs great now. Having more fun driving than ever.

 

Damn I'm moving to your state! Here in SoCal it's a different story.