That is good news (about your cracks being covered under the extended warranty)! You might want to consider inspecting the strut mounts maybe once a month going forward. And, isn't it great to have the extended warranty picking up the freight? How much are you into the cost of the extended warranty? (Figuring ~450 per strut for the repair.) Not to wave a red flag in the face of those that advocate against geting an extended warranty....

 

The MaxCare warranty I bought was $1,800 for 4 years / 48k miles, that's $450 per year, guess I got my monies worth this year.

I will be keeping a very watchful eye on the drivers side from here on out. Nice thing is, being that this one is covered then so is the other. One less thing to worry about.

 

And, this year is not over with yet.... It is 4 years from date of purchase, right?

If it were me, I would memorize the coverage terms (either list of covered items or list of excluded items) and once a month, go over the car to see if something needed fixing.

I am glad you were able to get the strut mount repair covered.

 

Driver's side. 11400 miles. Fixed today.

 

I had no idea these MINIs had so many problems, might not have bought one if I'd found this forum first.

Also, in the little over two months I've owned this car I've had to have a fuel guage sensor replaced, an oxygen sensor replaced, the drivers seat frame replaced and the dash taken apart to find and fix a rattle. I thank God I did not have to pay for any of it.

That's a darn good idea. I've got a copy of what is covered and what is not and it's also all listed on CarMax's website.

 

Add me to the club. Passenger side is cracked pretty bad.

I'm having both replaced by my independent mechanic for a total cost of $300.

I figure I might as well do the driver's side as preventative maintenance.

 

That sounds about right for an independent guy. The dealer would be about twice that.

I noticed that the new mount has a depressed cup where as the older drivers side is pretty much flush all the way across. Not sure if this is a big deal or not, the car sits level and drives fine. Wonder if the new mount will level out now that their weight on it.

 

Although we don't have a dealership here in Birmingham, we are incredibly lucky to have Stephen's Garage to work on our out of warranty MINI's. He's a MINI owner himself, has spent a lifetime working on BMW's, and always does quality work for a fair price. He's also a great guy!

 

That's great!

 

Design flaws (if proven) can fall under latent defect laws) the warranty does not have to be in place with a latent defect issue! Just mention the words and most dealers cringe! Then of course a little letter or mention of the NTSB can sometimes work wonders.

if such a flaw does exist, it can cost a company a fortune by a forced recall and bad publicity!

Has anyone called Miniusa...they are the best company I have delt with yet! No stonewalling!

Luckily my dealer (did not even purchase the MCS from him) has been great on every issue I have mentioned! They only toughen up on cracked windshields it seems!

 

gizzer777,

Another friend of mine suggested I call MINI on Monday before I pay for the repair on my out-of-warranty MINI. However, I'd rather have it repaired by the local mechanic I trust than one of the nearby dealerships that I don't trust.

It's worth a call, but I'm not counting on it.

 

You should compare notes with Skiploder on this forum regarding how easy MINI USA is to deal with.

I rather doubt that MINI USA will be doing a recall anytime soon. Also, if you think they can be compelled to do a recall, think again. The only one who has the resources to compell MINI/BMW to do a recall is Uncle Sam. Even with the mushrooming event (and collateral mis-alignment, etc.), it is going to be an uphill fight for a consumer to get MINI/BMW to be compelled to issue a recall. Personally, I think the owners with spontaneous combustion issues have a better chance of getting a recall out of MINI - at least there is a precedent for that (talk to any owner of a SAAB that is more than 3 years old....)

A good dealer relationship is worth its weight in gold (maybe more than its weight in gold). If you have found a good one, stick with them like glue.

 

Even though my drivers side is fine I'm calling the dealer tomorrow and am going to pay to have it done. That way both sides are new. It'll be about $220 parts and labor so that's not too bad. I will try to see if they'll cover it but I doubt it. The drivers side looks very flat and does not have the same depression in the mount as the new one does.

 

AS QUOTED ^^^...

Quote:
Originally Posted by MSFITOY
Of course, the cheaper solution is to use the steering wheel and agility of the Mini to avoid pot holes:smile:

That's the path I take

MEEEE, TOOOOO...!!!


"THAT'S TWO THUMBS UP!!"

 

Well, I just talk with the Ford mech that lives down the street and he said don't bother wasting the money replacing the good one even though visually the new and old look different. He said just to keep and eye on it and everytime I take it in for service bug them to replace it.

What do you guys think? Replace the drivers side so it matches the new passenger one or let it be for now as there is nothing wrong with it.

 

How badly do you want peace of mind? If you want peace of mind more than you want your $200 (the est. cost to replace the drivers' side mount), then it would seem like you should go ahead and do the replacement.

 

Peace of mind is winning out. It's constantly bugging me so I am going to make an appointment for early next week to get the other replaced.

Looking at the shape of the new one compared to the old, the old is flatening out. They won't cover it until it cracks but I don't want to wait. So it'll be $150 out of pocket, a small price to pay for the peace of mind.

 

Funny how peace of mind wins out over economy sometimes.... I have found that there is a tipping point of sorts in the peace of mind decisions: If the cost of peace of mind is less than ~$250, peace of mind wins in a heartbeat. But, if the decision involves possibly getting stranded (like when the extended warranty will not cover an alternator bearing that is making noise but hasn't actually failed), the tipping point gets raised.

Oh, and if you are looking for a way to justify the expense (to your rational side), think that you are "investing" in keeping the car from getting the dreaded mushroom....

 

So true. It's a tough call and the more expensive it gets, the tougher the call.

I'm going to call MINI of Irvine and talk to them about the difference in appearence between the new / old mounts to see what they say. Maybe the design just changed over the years and that is why one has a depression and the other is flat. If that's the case I may just wait.

 

I called MINI of Irvine and spoke to the parts guy and then called back and spoke with my service advisor. Between the mechanic down the street, two people at Irvine MINI and the guys at CarMax everyone said the same thing, replace the drivers side "if it makes me feel better". Other then that there is no reason to replace it. So, I'm going to save the money and just keep a watchful eye on the older strut mount, if it starts to crack, I'll get it replaced under the extended warranty.

My service advisor at Irvine MINI said the difference between the old and new is nothing more then a design change.

 

Add me to the list --fx'd upper strut hat with PSS9

Known problem with these

 

I just love it when they minimize the difference between old and new.... Why did the design change in the first place???? Answer: Because the original design resulted in an increased failure rate. (Which would result in unacceptable warranty replacement costs....)

 

Oh, I'm sure that's exactly why the design was changed. Of course when I asked my advisor if these things are known to fail she said I've rarely come across this problem.

Of course, she could be right, after all I would guess the average Joe MINI owner would most likely never look in a spot like that and notice the problem. It's mostly guys like us, on forums like these, the bring the problems up. If I didn't see that "mushroom" thread I'd never would have noticed the crack.

 

I just love this game of tennis in my head. Another mechanic neighbor I just spoke with said replace it as soon as I can, esp. if they have redesigned the mount, there's a reason behind it.

So, I'm done arguing in my head about this, I'm just going to drop the coin and get it done next week and put this issue behind me.

He said Acura had a huge failure rate with their mounts several years ago at about 25k miles. So, MINIs aren't the only cars with these issues.

 

Personally, I would agree with your decision to get the drivers' side mount replaced even though it hasn't cracked yet. For the amount of money that is involved, you can get on with enjoying your car.