Well I baught a usde 2003 MCS 2 weeks ago from a dealership, and the service milage was over by 8000 miles for the recomended service time. I took it to a MINI dealer to get the milage reset because the dealership I baught it from said they had done the service on it. The MINI dealership discovered that the Inspection 1 service was not done on it when it should have been and discovered that there was an oil leak that they would have to find out what is causing it and the strut mounts need to be repaired , the control arm brackets are bad and a couple other small things. They want to charge me over $2200.00 to do this, but I think that the dealership that sold me the car should be responsible for this. What are your thoughts/sugestions? I have been doing all work on my previous car so feel I can do most of it myself if I have to, just looking for some advise.

 

that is why if I buy used it gets inspected before I pay for it, from an independent shop, never trust the salesman

 

If the dealer you bought it from is reputable, they will probably take care of it for you. If you bought it as-is from a nonreputable dealer then you are probably stuck with the repair bill yourself but you might try getting the repairs done at an independent shop to save moolah.

 

Take it up with the dealer that sold you the car, and maybe have it looked at by an independent shop that you trust-the Mini service dept could be guilding the lilly as well. If your state has a buyer protection law this would the time to look into it. I lived in FL once and they have a 30 day protection-return law for things like this. What is the mileage? Strut mounts and control arms being bad sounds kind of fishy, was it wrecked?

 

milage is 40,000. just talked to the salesman that sold me the car and he sugested I bring it into their shop, He says that the MINI/BMW dealerships will try to find any and every little thing that is wrong. I will look into the 30 protection return law thing but don't think we have that here.

 

Is the car not under warranty anymore? When was the inservice date for the car? I bought a 2003 MCS and its in service date was 09/03... If you have a late in service date then all should be covered under warranty.

Unfortunately when you bought the car I am sure the dealer probably had you sign a "limited/no warranty clause" saying that they are not liable for anything. But if you have a factory warranty left then you are all set.

On another note. I would find a independant to do the repairs if you are lucky enough to have one locally.

Good luck, I feel your pain.

K

 

Thanks for the info. it was an early inservice car, no warenty left. I will probably end up doing it all or mostly myself. so I will be looking for alot of info on this forum.

 

If you decide to go with a local independant shop, give Bill at Kensington Motor Cars a call at 222-0444. Tell him Agro from the Sin City MINI Club sent you. He's a good guy and knows MINIs (and Minis).

 

thanks Agro. I am trying to find the parts I need and am going to do it my self.. but if I run into trouble I will give Bill a call.

 

you need special tools to do the control arms, i'm assuming they ment the control arm bushings and not the actual arms though. there is a special puller/installer for the control arm into the bushing and a press kit to press the old bushing out and the new one in.

the strut mounts you'll need a GOOD spring compressor. and i stress a GOOD compressor. compressing coil springs are a no joke thing. and it is probably the rubber on the upper strut mount/bearing is torn. and if you replace these make sure your strut tower, which is the actual sheet metal aprt of the car, make sure that is not bulged upwards. if it is hammer it down with either a soft mallet or a piece of wood.

 

it is both the rubber and the tower mushrooming (fixed the mushrooming last night and installed the M7 STB) Is the rubber replaceable or do I need new struts? I couldn't tell by looking at it. Thanks again for the info.

 

For part #s:
www.realoem.com

 

The rubber guide piece is replaceable. Mark and I replaced those parts on my MINI after the rubber had desicated and torn. You have to compress and remove the struts, but the guide piece you need to preplace is separate. They were about $40 each from Desert MINI I think. It took Mark and I about 1 1/2 hours to swap out both sides. If you do it, a tip is to break loose the nut holding the guide to the strut BEFORE you remove the strut from the car.