Hey guys, just took my car into the dealership. I just thought it was going to be routine service, but just got a call today that they found several issues. Service advisor just sent me this. Just wondering if this was something normal with MINI's? 09 Cooper S bought on 10/31/08. A little less then 56K miles.

checked your dipstick to measure the oil level. It shows very low oil level. Your vehicle have both outer leaks and inner oil leaking. And these are what we found as follows:

Valve cover leaking $751.75
Turbo oil feed line leaking $1301.57
Engine valve guide seals (internal leaking) $6415.89
Engine rehose(due 5yrs/60k miles) $2437.34
Transmission fluid exchange $399.00
Radiator coolant service $299.00
Grand total $11604.55

Fortunately, they are going to work with me on the cost. Since I bought the car there and always brought the car there for service.

Spent 2k back in Sept 2013 for coolant leak. Ugh. This car has been nothing been problems in the last year.

Just want to get you guys opinions.

******UPDATE*******

Service Advisor got back to me with this pricing.

Transmission service $399.00
Radiator coolant service $299.00
Engine rehose $1893.34
Grand total $2591.94

Alot better then $11k, but seriously considering getting a new car in the next year.

 

$2500 for new hoses. Lol

 

I like the valve guide seals for $6400. In any event, that year mini is known for consuming oil. So, how many quarts of oil would $6400 buy?

 

You don't need to replace your hoses. They should be good for at least 10 years if not more.

Go to an independent shop to get your radiator and transmission serviced. It will probably be half the cost.

The oil feed line is a common failure. It's labor intensive. Detroit Tuned sells a good replacement kit.

Valve cover you can do yourself.

The valve guide seals is funny. You can buy a new engine from MINI for less.

 

Thanks for your input guys.

 

OMG! Almost $12k ?! Get a second opinion from an independent mechanic!!! You don't need half those things!

 

Sounds absurd. Were they trying to sell you another car?

 

They were trying to sell him a new car....just the same one twice!

 

Those prices are ridiculous.They are prohibitive , they just want you to buy a new one.

 

It sounds like you've already decided to get the car fixed. Good luck to you and thank you for sharing your story.

 

They were fishing, that's what they do, lots of people fall for it, they can not say NO and dealers love those people. My advise, unless those problems are covered under warranty, do not go to the dealer.

 

I just had my turbo oil line replaced in March. I bought the Detroit Tuned line and had it installed. It only cost me $350 to have it put in.

 

why would his transmission fluid need changing, shouldn't it be lifetime?

btw I know your suppose to ignore that its lifetime.

 

I hate too say it my friend, but someone is trying to "hose you". Some of those costs for services seem ridiculous

I Have an 09' CooperS with 104,000 on it and it's never had all of the engine hoses replaced, "just because".

I had the coolant flushed on my '09 because I bought it used, 24,000 miles, and the coolant in the reservoir was the wrong type. I think it was about $140.00 when I had it done with a complete inspection of the vehicle.

$1300 for the oil line to the turbo. That seems pretty darn high too me. This is essentially a bolt up part. For $1300, I'd get a rebuilt turbo and the oil line and do it myself.

$751 for a valve cover and gasket$$$$...... Negative!!!

At 56,000 there is no reason that you should need a transmission fluid service of any type, unless you're racing this car, except for maybe verifying the level.

$6400 for valve seals?? Just the seals???? For $6K you can get a remanufactured engine, seals included.
This is all top end work and just about any reputable mechanic can do a complete head job for a lot less than that. This is a bread and butter job for any mechanic.
A rebuilt head, seals and valves included, and installed, can be had for $1K to $1.5K. Add another grand or so for labor and you're under 1/2 what they quoted just for seals.

The initial estimate for services almost exceeds the blue book value of your car.

All that being said. It's your update that would have me dropping that place as a service point.

The most serious item on your list was the valve seals and they dropped them as being necessary??? They're either blowing by, or not.
Next was the valve cover. It's either still leaking oil, or it's not.

What they want to do now is just "fluff". $2600.00 worth of "fluff", but still "fluff".
I would tell no, thank you , but no.

"5 Year Hose Replacement"???? I gotta ask about that one.

 

Also, I would check recalls on your VIN with Mini.com (not with dealer). My 2009 had the recalls on the oil feed line (only added a heat shield), turbo aux coolant pump, high pressure fuel pump, and the timing chain tensioner. MINI may authorize some fixes under the recalls. And lastly, time to find a new dealer. Engine rehose and Transmission fluid exchange. Really? They should be ashamed of themselves.

 

Unbelievable!

So the "Engine valve guide seals" miraculously stopped leaking? I think the reason why they chose to believe your valve seals were bad because of the low oil level, your valvetrain suffers the most when low on oil.

Their trying to hose you, I for the life of me don't know where they got those prices! You can get a new engine for $10,000, Mini/BMW's are good when it comes to their hoses, they last a long time.

Get your Mini away from that stealership, go to a reputable mechanic shop even CarMax has low prices compared with stealerships! CarMax Service charged my extended warranty company $1227 labor to replace my plastic water pump with the metal version, thermostat housing. I purchased some BMW branded transmission oil from ECS Tuning and paid my mechanic $50 dollars to change it.

Remember dealerships don't make most of their money selling new cars, in fact where they make their money is in servicing the cars they sell and especially on trade-ins. Usually dealers offer practically nothing for your trade-ins , after I spent $3200 on a flywheel and new clutch components that same dealer offered me $6000 trade-in credit for my 2007 MCS at 54,000 miles. So really they were offering less than half since I just paid $3200.

$6000 isn't going to pay off my $18,000 loan for my MCS when purchased in 2013.

 

Yeah, it's not even worth breaking it down item-by-item. The level of bullsh*t is astounding. Certainly hope you didn't pay for any of that. You need a different (non-dealership) mechanic.

 

This is the second time that I have seen a quote like this. You should post a pic of it on the MINI Facebook page.

 

+1 on the DT Turbo Oil Line Kit. I recently purchased DT Super Kit and replaced it about a week ago. Took about 3 to 4 hours and it was good to go.