Ok I'm a little P.O'd at mini service department. I get the feeling sometimes that they could care less about what I think.
I have been having problems with the lurching/stalling issue as many of you all know. Well I made an appointment with mini for Monday afternoon.. When I showed up everyone had gone home.. They closed early on Mondays and the guy I talked to had either fired or quit or maybe a little bit of both.. Apparently they had almost no record of me calling them and telling them I was coming in. , so i'm screwed, and the car has begun to actually stall totally, not just threaten too as it normally does, although typical only at low rpm’s. SO I drive over a 100 miles from my house, and they just basically shrugged they're shoulders, like” sorry can't help you? I'm asked them can't I leave it here and you guy get me a rental? They said “we don't give rentals to mini owners unless the car is basically undrivable. I said well i don't know about you but I think my car is unsafe if it going to stall on the interstate even, if it is a low speeds, so then the service girl asks somebody when the rental place closes and just gives up when she hears they're preferred dealer is most likely closed.. She didn't even try to get a rental.... so a little pissed I get back in the car to drive form Annapolis to Bristow va, I assure you quite a long drive... especially if you’re upset.... anyway. I call the service guy at the other mini dealership, the one in sterling... he say that he can't take me for another 2 weeks... and then he proceeded to tell me how other people with this problem have come in and they tried to recreate it and they can't get it to recreate it.. I said yeah well sit in my traffic in the morning and I'll show you.. geez he's basically telling me I don't have a problem.. I request to have the newest computer upgrade.. he says why do I need to bother? I wanted to say look ******* because 100's of other people who have had this problem have gotten it done and it seemed to work for them seems to be a good place to start either way... and i'm still pissed that I have to drive this car another 2 weeks before. I can get it worked on there. seems a problem that causes the car to stall could be a little bit higher priority, than someone’s aero kit installation ? Should I call corporate? Do they have a line I can call???.. I love my car, the shine is still new but this problem is getting a bit old. Still I’d never trade it for anything else. HELP! Any idea what I can do?

 

The best line I ever heard someone use was "Ya see--you're trying to make this out to be my problem. It's your problem."

If it were me, I think I'd call roadside assistance and have them come get it. Make it their problem. If you call and make an appointment and they screw up--that's their problem. On the subject of rentals I don't have advice. I'd negotiate this in advance.

I always try to be pleasant in the beginning, but once people start jerking me around I'm intolerant. [I'd call MINI, N.A. and ask what your options are as well, just in the interest of finding out if the dealer's being straight with you.]

Best of luck working it out.

Jeff

 

I think you SHOULD call corporate. The bad dealers need to get
their butts kicked into getting proper service departments.

 

Yes, call corporate.

But I have to ask ('cause I can't figure it out from reading your prose) if you've tried to go to more than one dealer. It sounds like you're driving from Bristow to Annapolis. Well, Mapquest says that distance is about 80 miles. If you're willing to go between 10 and 20 miles more (in different directions), you could go to either Towson, MD or Richmond, VA. Maybe these places aren't totally convenient and maybe they're not better (although Towson seems to have pretty good ratings)...but if you're frustrated with your current dealer, try them out.

 

Find a good dealer that will do the 33.1 ECU software upgrade...that will eliminate the stalls and deceleration/acceleration stumbles......

 

I feel your pain chollomo!! Do call corporate and demand that they approve a rental car for your next visit. Document everything from the # of stalls, the dates of service or attempted service, and your mileage when you first had the stalling problem. There are a number of us who have had stalling problems and even though I had the ECU upgraded to 32.1 (back in Feb), my car has begun stalling again. There are some cars that have stalled due to a faulty wiring harness and some cars like mine that have stalled and they can't figure out why (yet). They haven't done the 33.2 upgrade yet, so that may fix my problem. In the meantime, I've logged in a complaint to NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) at 1-888-DASH-2-DOT (1-888-327-4236). If enough of us call to report this very dangerous stalling problem, they may investigate.

 

I am very disappointed that any customer is treated the way you are being treated. First off, I would do what someone suggested and call Mini USA Corp. Tell them about the problem with the Mini and then go on about the service. As far as getting to be scheduled in, it sounds like the ******* you spoke with does not realize your coming in with a drivability issue. Those issues are supposed to have no wait times. It is not as if your door trim is not on correct, but a real mechanical issue. I like the suggestion that someone posted with call roadside and let them have the vehicle to service. I do not know about your state laws on lemmoning an auto is. Check it out. I had a problem with another vehicle and took it in for service 3 times for basically the same issue. Then I started the lemon law process. After commencing the lemon, issue the dealer has one more time to fix the car. If it cannot be fixed properly then you can be on to your way for a new replacement Mini if you so desire. The process is not so cut and dry as it may be spelled out in the law but another perspective is taken on by the manufacturer and that is if you are successful lemmoning the car they are stuck with a car that will always have a lemon title and the value is not close to true ACV prices. They will usually try to negotiate a settlement with you not to be stuck with a lemon titled car. As far as rental goes that is a decision made by the dealer’s weather or not to provide them as a courtesy to customers. If your dealer supplies rentals then that is great. As I understand, most are not for in service.

 

Thank you all so much...

Jsun quote"If you're willing to go between 10 and 20 miles more (in different directions), you could go to either Towson, MD or Richmond, VA."

Yeah I've thought about that,
From what I understand Towson, doesn't have a shop ( but I can't confirm that just what someone told me.) Richmond is just not the easier way to go.. since its more than 2 hours away... Now that I have contact information I will be calling corporate, I am sorry if some of my typing is bad, I do admit I wrote that when I was quite heated and angry, but I've since calmed down. I actually took mine in to sterling seems they're swamped, but I got a slightly closer date of repair, I'll just have to deal with it then and hope that no accident will occur, I don't think one will. at least sterling will give me a rental car I thought they said they can only do it for one day, what BS, anyway, I heard of at least 2 people getting a replaced transmission, and I don't think I have the mixed up tranny fluid problem but I'll mention it to the guy.. I will not give up on MINI, but MD and I think VA have lemon laws, THe MD is a 3 strikes. I don't know if I have to take it to the same mechanic everytime, but that was my logic behind going to and from annapolis. THank for the input, I'll keep everyone posted. Hey if you live in the region and have had a similiar problem please let me know.

 

And Chollomo, DON'T GIVE UP!!!

Once you knock the service "guys" into getting a software update,
plug wires or whatever is causing your stalling, you are going to
have a long and fun drive ahead of you.

Once it's fixed, have a stiff drink or a dozen, forget the past, and
motor-on.

 

Towson does have a shop, just not a body shop. Try them. My service engine soon light came on this morning. They told me to check the gas cap and if It is still on I can bring it in Tuesday because Monday is a holiday. I have had nothing but help from them. :smile:

 

Thanks Mandy, Cool, I might do that. Since I got an appointment with MINI in sterling I'm going to try it there. plus call the corporate office .. anybody got that number, i'll look in my user manual?. the car stalled out on me again this morning.. I think 've narrowed down some of the problems... the car only stall while braking at very low rpm speeds ( it drops very quickly liek the engien is turning off once in awhile). it bucks when accelerating out of small speeds.. now this is only when the revs drop unexplicabably.. most of the time ( above 2k rpm) I'm fine, you'd never know the car ahs a problem. in fact I don't even notice that often, ( i've gotten used to it I'm sure) I mostly recognize it in traffic in the morning. I've also noticed the buck or stall or whatever else you want to call it , during reverse.

I have a question tho from those with CVT's.. my understanding is the car should accelerate with no feelings of shifting, unless I'm in SD or Man mode.... If this is the case then the car deffintly has another problem, becasue it acts like shifting every once in a while in D... esspecially at the point that I would consider "1st" gear.. I'f anybody else feels this or doesn't then let me know I'd like to knwo if anybody else has felt this problem when I talk to mini corporate, and the service technician..

AGAIN, thank MCO for all you help so far I will continue to keep you all posted.

 

>>I have a question tho from those with CVT's.. my understanding is the car should accelerate with no feelings of shifting, unless I'm in SD or Man mode.... If this is the case then the car deffintly has another problem, becasue it acts like shifting every once in a while in D... esspecially at the point that I would consider "1st" gear.. I'f anybody else feels this or doesn't then let me know I'd like to knwo if anybody else has felt this problem when I talk to mini corporate, and the service technician..
>>

It sounds like your CVT is experiencing the infamous lurching. In D or SD, you shouldn't feel any shifting, only in Manual mode. This is a software issue and others have reported that the 33.2 upgrade does take care of the lurching problem. In my MINI, 32.1 pretty much eliminated the lurching. Find out what version of the ECU your MINI is running. Good luck to my fellow staller.....

EDIT>> In case you haven't found the corporate number yet it is (866) ASK-MINI or (866) 275-6464
_________________

 

You need to get software update version 33.2 as I did a week ago. Car is running like a champ. Also if you dealer gives you a hard time, contact Jenn at MINIUSA at 1-866-ASK-MINI. Her extension is #8474.

 

BIG UPDATE!

Ok here it goes. dropped my mini off at mini of sterling on Thursday night, the owner of sterling personally made sure that I was taken car of with a rental car (Jeff Harris is a god send I thank him sooooooo much for staying at enterprise late to get me in a car that night after hours.) I also am surprised by the head manager making sure I got a rental and everything, up until then I was weary about the service at sterling, sometimes just one person can ruin an experience for you. anyway... so I left everything there and the car got worked on.. I had them check the lurching hesitation, I had them check the whistle in the air conditioning, they gave me a new wheel cap which had fallen off or gotten lost or maybe was never put on in the first place.. they didn't check the lurching in reverse but I'm happy to say that for the most part I haven't noticed anything bad.. yet.. Monday morning in traffic I'll know for sure... I'm not willing to drive at 15 miles an hour everywhere just to find out. I've now got the 33.2 upgrade and NEWSFLASH... the service guy said on the phone to expect another upgrade to the computer system by labor day. I was told another piece of information that you all should know.. When my cared stall the engine light came on, but went off when I restarted... well I was told that the dealership can't tell what wrong because when I restart ( because I'm stuck in the middle of traffic) the computer engine check log resets itself,,, thats kind of stupid isn't it.. but hey I just hope I never see it again.. C yall later I'll let you know of any problems in the next week. hopefully this problem won't come back like it did last time. *me feels happier that I'm not driving that rental sentra, I'd rather drive abroken mini than that again!*

 

Glad you the service you deserve!

Only one other comment, and that's that I believe your service person is WRONG (or your interpretation of what he said is wrong) about the "computer engine log" resetting after just one restart. I'm not sure how many faults it stores, but it definitely stores faults. You should be able to restart your car, drive to service, and then they can use the OBD to read the stored fault (error code). I'm afraid that someone reading your post will be encouraged to sit with a stalled car, afraid to restart it for fear of service not being able to diagnose the problem.

 

>>When my cared stall the engine light came on, but went off when I restarted... well I was told that the dealership can't tell what wrong because when I restart ( because I'm stuck in the middle of traffic) the computer engine check log resets itself,,, thats kind of stupid isn't it..

Say what?! If that's true it's a huge flaw in the program. The ECU should store 'check engine' codes in non-volatile memory.
Can anyone confirm this, or is the dealership blowing smoke?

 

>>*me feels happier that I'm not driving that rental sentra, I'd rather drive abroken mini than that again!*

I know how you feel. My MINI has been in for four days now and Enterprise gave me a white Chrysler Town and Country Minivan that I call Orka. The best thing I can say is that the air conditioning works great.

Good to hear that you were treated well, but I'm skeptical that the ECU upgrade fixed the stalling problem. In my reading and conversations with MINIUSA, stalling problems are a result of a faulty wiring harness and there have been situations (like mine and yours) where no fault codes were generated when the car stalls. Let's hope I'm wrong. Enjoy your baby again!!