Seven months ago, I made the worst automotive decision of my life. No, my mistake wasn't buying a Mini. I love my R60. It's got character, quick handling, and a slick stick shift. So. Much. Fun. All this fun comes with some cost. Yes, maintenance is expensive. That's just part of the Mini adventure.

My mistake was burning money on a shiny new set of coil-overs from a company called Flatout Suspension. When I first found Flatout Suspension, it looked great. Nice website. Reasonable reviews. Lots of technical information available. I ordered their GR Lite coil-overs for just under $2,000. I was excited. Life was good.

After months of waiting, my beautiful new coil-overs and finally arrived. Does anything beat the feeling of unboxing new car parts? I think not. Anyone who mods their car and buys online knows the joy.

The day after delivery, I raced down to my mechanic's shop (I accept my limits and work with people who know wtf they're doing). Two awesome bros installed the suspension and related components. "Hooray," I thought. "Cool build," the mechanics said.

On the drive home from installation, my joyful bubble burst. I had a noise coming from the front end. And not just a little noise. Every time I hit a bump, there was a loud "clunk" that reverberated through the vehicle. It sounded like the top of the coil-overs were unscrewed and bouncing metal on metal. Not good.

Next day, I went right back to the mechanic shop to see the awesome bros. They were truly awesome. They checked everything. Over and over. They spent 4 hours trying to diagnose and find any reason for the noise. They found no reason. They said the parts were installed correctly.

But maybe the awesome bros didn't know wtf they were doing. I decided to get a second opinion. I went to a specialty shop that specializes in modified German cars. They work only on Audi, BMW and Porsche. Basically, if a Porsche doesn't handle well enough for you, these are the guys to see.

It only took them an hour. The shocks are no good, they said. Talk to the manufacturer, they said. F#*%, I said.

And so begins the last chapter of my story. First Flatout Suspension ignores my issue, then responds with ineffective 'fixes', then promises new parts but doesn't send them, and now is ghosting me. It's been going on for months now. My money is gone. The Flatout "warranty" is bull. I burned $3,000 buying from this company.

If you a Mini enthusiast searching for coil overs, I hope you find this post. I hope you feel the anticipation and the pain of loss. And I hope you spend your money on parts you like for the car you love.

As for me, buying from Flatout Suspension was the worst decision of my automotive life.

 

Thanks for the warning.

Kind regards,

Charlie

 

Sorry to hear about that, but Ive never heard of Flatout.
My recommendations: Return them, and buy a set based on the recommendations on this forum.

I know you cant go wrong with the JCW kit, or even KW.
If you decide to stay away from coilovers, H&R make a very good "Cup kit" matched dampers with springs.
Call the guys at ECS Tuning, they are the go to part supplier here on NAM.

 

Credit Card?

Can you dispute the charge?

 

Wow, thanks for the info. I was thinking about buying it but before I was looking for their reviews. Thanks for saving my money.