Got some bad news from the dealer this morning. My wife's 2002 Mini has a bad DSC computer (internal short that melted the harness connector). Mini won't call this a defective part and replace it because the car is about 8 months out of warranty (only 43,000 miles however). These computers aren't wear items, it wasn't damaged due to abuse or misuse on our part, let me see a show of hands, how many people would be happy with a $1500 bill (original bill was going to $2400) for this component at this point in your car's life? How many people would call themselves satisfied customers? How many people would ever visit a mini dealer again? These are fun little cars but in this day and age a major system malfunction that isn't covered by the manufacturer on a clearly defective part is well below the expectations of the car buying public.

 

I would investigate. Only 43k and the computer burned? Try to see if you can get it covered under a lemon law or something like that. Put me down as: would be irate

 

I'm fighting to keep my mouth shut until I resovle my own service dept. issues. All I will say is DOCUMENT EVERYTHING THOUROUGHLY.

 

Sad ... but now you know why some ppl have bailed out on the first gen cars no matter what anyone says ... way too many reliability issues.

 

THATS TOTAL BS...

 

I would maybe search for a wrecked MINI of the same vintage/type. Often the computers survived the accident and should transfer. Should be a heck of a lot less than $1500.

 

I'd just drive the car without it, if that's any help.

Zip

 

After reading stories like this, I'm seriously thinking about looking at other brands once the warranty is over.

 

i just hope that was only an isolated issue. Either way it sucks that it happened to you, i would be furious

 

That would be the first one I've seen do that.... 4yrs, thousands of cars I've worked on....Seems that the show of hands on the board shows that too.

Sorry bout your luck.

Chad

 

not good, I'd be pissed too... what rotten luck. any luck with escalating this up? hit a brick wall?

 

My wife and I sat down with the dealer yesterday and worked out a fair trade for her, unrepaired car against a 2006 they had on the lot. They'll hash the repair out with mini and warranty the car to the next person in line and my wife will have a new 2006. Even though we were'nt looking to buy a new car right now it looks as if this might have been the best way to work this all out. Still surpirsed mini balked at standing behind a faulty electrical component.

 

I too would not be happy. I'll add this to the growing list of things to watch out for on my '02. I also hope we hear about the few bad things here at NAM and not those that affect a majority or all of the vehicles. It is a key time however as this first model year matures past warranty.

As for the solution the dealer offered. Since it is a vehicle it is probably acceptable so your wife can have a dependable and safe vehicle.

I once ran into a similar situation with an expensive diamond ring my wife loved. She always took it in for cleaning and inspection, then the day came when they found the stone had cracked. When we challenged the written guarantee, they came back and said she didn't always bring in the paperwork so they could document the required inspections, therefore, they wouldn't honor the guarantee. After she involved an attorney, they did offer her a new stone at cost to be mounted in her setting. I didn't feel it was acceptable to purchase the stone twice and said no. I had to break her heart to stop the loss at the first stone. To be honest, I couldn't see a crack in the stone so it was still worth wearing. I guess I'm saying I don't trust the dealer in this case because possibly fixing it under warranty to resell the '02 benefits them, not you. Just my thought.

Oh, I've never permitted purchasing at that jewelry store, nor any in the chain, since. I'll chime in with one person above that getting a raw deal in the end with a MINI will just mean I'll move on to something else like a VW or maybe I'll go after that new Mustang I've always wanted.