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Mini Cooper

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Ocean of Harrison, TN October 14, 2009

2/28/09 – traded in my 2006 MINI Cooper S for a 2009 MINI Clubman S from MINI of Nashville – John M salesman 3/07/09 – Engine started knocking first weekend on Saturday March 7, 2009 3/09/09 - Called dealer on Monday talked to Gary G he said that it was the fuel injectors and it was normal and to not worry about the noise, I told him this was not the injectors I am very familiar with the noise fuel injectors make and this noise is an engine knock like metal on metal. He said that I should drive the car and see if the noise returns….

3/13/09 Engine knocking again. 3/17/09 Called the dealer again got no where talking to Gary G. (I went on line and found out that there was an issue with the turbo vehicles having an issue with a cold engine chatter that was noted on many of the MINI Forums.) 3/20/09 In a email I mentioned my concerns to my salesman John M and received no reply about the issue. 4/06/09 Called and left numerous messages with the Service Manager Wayne J. He never returned my calls.

I later was contacted by email from two forum members asking for my VIN number and Build date. They also wanted copies of all correspondence I had with MINI of Nashville, I declined to give them the information, I called Gary again airing my concerns he said that I could have the vehicle towed in at my expense (his estimate was 600 for the towing). I declined due to the cost and the spermatic knocking. After questioning him about the chain tensioner issues I had heard about on the forums, Gary said that my clubman was not in the build date parameters.

4/29/09-5/03/09 I attended MINIS on the Dragon and was starting my car up in the public areas and once more the car started knocking badly. I was approached by a MINI Tech from Alabama and he said “Sounds like you have the Death Knock too” he also referred to it as the “Cold Start Chatter”. He said that MINI had a fix for it. The Alabama tech found me again gave me a piece of paper with a PUMA reference 10686850-13 or SIM-11-02-07 written on it and said that I should call MINI USA the next time it happens and complain and have the car towed in at no charge using MINI re-unite program.

5/18/09 My car once again started to knock badly so I called Roadside assistance 5/19/09 The car was towed to your dealer for repairs, it took 2 days for Gary to let me know the car had made it to the dealership – eventfully excessive engine noise was noted by the tech and the Timing chain and all related components were replaced. 5/27/09 The car was returned to me under the MINI re-unite program at no charge. About 2 weeks after getting my car repaired I got a postcard stating that my parts were in and to contact the service dept to schedule to have them installed. I called Gary and he said that he got the same notice and that not to worry about it and throw the card away

9/20/09 I started hearing the Knocking again at cold start up 9/21/09 Once again the car was knocking at cold start up 9/22/09 I moved it out of the garage for about 2 hrs and put it back into the garage with no noise. 9/23/09 Started the vehicle up and the noise was excessive again I attempted to drive it to get to work and for about 1 mile the noise didn’t go away so I returned to my house and I called Wayne J and left a message at 8:00am ET the rest of the day and the next I did not receive a call.

9/25/09 I called Wayne J again and left a message. At 9:30am ET I received a call from Gary Gray telling me that it was my fault that no one responded because he left a message on my number 9/23/09 at 4:30pm which I never got so I went online as we were talking and pulled up my account detail with AT&T and I had not had any incoming calls or messages to that number since 9/19/09 so Gary was not telling me the truth. Gary said my car could not be making a noise because he had already replaced all of the parts. He said that I could leave the car with him but that they wouldn’t find anything wrong it. I inquired about a loaner car since I was told these were available free of charge at the time I purchased the car. Gary laughed and said there was no way I was getting a loaner. And that if I needed another car he would give me a number to Hertz.

9/25/09 After unsuccessfully talking to Gary I went to the MINI of Nashville website to get the email address or phone number of Roger Harrison the MINI Sales manager to see if he could help, I got a pop up asking if I needed to chat with him. I responded yes and it turned out to be salesman Richey S. I explained I was having a problem with the service dept, Richey said I need to talk to Wayne J, I informed Richey that I had already left many unanswered messages with Wayne and that it is not working, Richey said that he would have the General Manger-Russell S call me back. That was last Friday on 9/25/09.

Talked again with Jim T Tuesday afternoon of 9/29/09 and he said that we should try another dealership and that he had good luck with Shana R at Global imports. I made a call to Shana the following morning on 9/30/09 and left a message I went on Wednesday 9/30/09 and tried to start my clubman the knocking was so excessive that I got my camera and took a video showing the car and knocking. On 10/01/09 I posted the video to YouTube and then called and left another message for Shana R to return my call. Shana call me back at 1:32 pm on 10/01/09 and we discussed my issues at her request I emailed her a link of the video on YouTube. Shana said that she would look at it with her tech and talk to the engineer assigned to my case and then get back with me later in the day. I once more attempted to start the Clubman and it continued to knock and I was unable to drive the car so I returned the car to the garage.

10/02/09 – 2:45pm Shana R with Global Imports called me and asked that I come with the car to Global and meet with the engineer. 10/03/09 Tried to drive the car with my mother and we returned because of the knocking noise. 10/04/09 I tried to warm the car and drive around my neighborhood. see video part 1 & 2 of 10/04/09 now posted on YouTube to see if I would be able to quite the car down to make the drive to Atlanta on Tuesday. The car continued to knock so I returned it to my garage. 10/06/09 Left at 9am for the 3 hour trip to Global Imports to meet with Shana R (Service Manager), Darren (Service Tech), Eric (Engineer)at my 12:30pm appointment. The car knocked all the way to the Hickory Valley & Hwy 58 intersection when I made my left hand turn. By the time I arrived the car would not knock due to it being warmed up. The meeting was not very productive, but hey gave me a loaner Clubman and I got back home about 4:30pm.

10/09/09 I received updates from Brandon the Service Adviser stating that Darren was not able to duplicate the noise. I told them to start the car move it a few feet and shut down for 2 hrs then start the car and move it again then wait until the next morning and it should do it or park it on a hill with the front of the car point downhill. On Friday afternoon I was told that none of these worked but they did change my oil, checked the tolerances in the timing chain tensioner and everything was ok. They also replace a missing door trim piece on the driver’s door. Brandon asked that I come and pick up the car, so I made arrangements to pick it up the next day.

10/10/09 I got up at 5:30am to make the 3 hour drive to Atlanta to pick up the car. I check in the loaner. With all the trouble I’m having I asked salesman Dean about trading in my car. The Sales Manager gave me a price of 21,000 for my car. 10k under payoff no deal. The car started with no noise. I proceeded on the 3 hour ride home and stopped off at the store and got home about 1:00pm. Later in the afternoon I drove 3 miles to the boat dock stayed about 2 hours and returned the car to the garage.

10/11/09 we got up to go to breakfast and started the car and the engine started to knock again. We decided to drive the car and see if it would stop which it did after about 2 miles; we drove the 9 miles to the cracker barrel and back home then to the dock and back. 10/12/09 I got up to go to work and the knocking was so loud that I had to borrow a car to get to work. Called Brandon left a message at 8:08am. At 8:50 Brandon returned my call and told me to go home tonight and try the car once more, if it makes the knock again then to call him either before 5pm or first thing in the morning and they would have a local BMW field tech out to the house to help diagnose it.

10/12/09 5:50pm I tried to start the car and it knocked I took a video 10/13/09 7:10am I tried to start the car again and it was knocking again once again I took a video. Once I got to work I uploaded the video from Monday night 10/12/09 & Tues morning 10/13/09 and emailed 3 videos from Sunday, Monday, & Tuesday to Brandon Doyle the Assistant Service adviser at Global Imports. And then followed through with a phone call at 8:50am and notified Brandon that I gave him the links. He said he would pass on to the engineer and get back with me.

10/13/09 5:47pm received a call from Brandon at Global Imports telling me that the local tech has all of my contact numbers and that I will be getting a call from him around the end of the week. So it looks like I will be borrowing a car for the rest of this week again. So far I have not been able to drive the car for personal use since September 20th. I tried to start the car again tonight and the engine knocked loudly again I took a video of the engine compartment knock and posted to Youtube. This has been going on for over 7 months and BMW is stalling.

MK of VISALIA, CA October 14, 2009

I have an '03 Mini Cooper with 68,000 miles on it. I've had it for 26,000 of those miles. The fluid pump doesn't work for the windshield wipers. The passenger side window quit working and just a few days ago, the power steering began working only intermittently. Looking on different forums on the internet, Minis have these issues over and over and I am beyond the warranty. I have a 1960 Karmann Ghia that is more reliable than this car. I won't ever buy another Mini again.

Marj of Dexter, MI October 4, 2009

First of all, I love my 2003 Mini Cooper. I purchased it used in 2004 with less than 10,000 miles. Currently it has 63,600 miles, a combination of city and highway driving. In the past 6 months I have had to replace the AC compressor (1,800), power steering pump (1,100) and both the driver and passenger power window motors (900). The dealer also replaced, for the second time, the driver buckle mech. so the airbag would work properly (350). Today the fan for the radiator stuck on. I've pulled the fuse but it's fried my battery.

In reading other issues with Mini's, I learn that the entire transmission may also be ready to fail soon. All this without any recourse through BMW to stand behind their product and certainly nothing through the dealer. They did a poor job finding problems I asked about when my car was under warranty and are impolite at best when I say I'm not accustom to cars having this number of problems with such low mileage.

Service is definitely not part of their vocabulary when it comes to sharing the excessive and unreasonable costs of repair on my car. I'm not looking forward to discovering how much this next problem will cost.

I routinely own cars for a long time, well over 150,000 miles and I'm now realizing my favorite car of all may not even make it to 100,000. If BMW would admit some responsibility for poor quality in the form of , I would continue to invest in this fun car - when it's working well!

Wade of San Antonio, TX September 23, 2009

I bought a 2003 MINI Cooper Automatic/CVT back a couple of years ago. This weekend, I backed the car out of the garage, went to go forward, and found out that the car would not shift into Drive - the stick physically would not move into the "D" position. Got it towed to the shop, and they discovered that something in the transmission had gone out. At only 88,000 miles, I joined the ranks of many other MINI CVT owners who had their transmissions fail. They quoted 6,800 + labor to put in a new transmission, or around 3,500 + labor if they could find a used one. Apparently MINI/BMW does not make the parts to get into the transmission and repair them - replacement is the only option. I owe about 7,000 on the car, so I really can't afford to put 5,000-8,000 more into it to repair a transmission that should NOT fail this early in the car's life. There appear to be serious issues with the 2003 CVTs that MINI/BMW are ignoring.

Melissa of Bloomington, IN September 23, 2009

My parents and I purchased a 2003 Mini Cooper brand new. Within the first year of having the car, the leather on the steering wheel started to peel off, the radio/cd player went out, and the passenger side window motor had to be replaced. Luckily the car was still under warranty. I have had the windshield replaced twice, both times the Mini Dealership quoted me 1000.00 for the repair and instead I went with an independent person to fix my windshield and each time only cost 250.00. Once my car hit 80,000 miles the car overheated and I had it towed to the nearest mini dealership (I was in Atlanta visiting my mom). They could not figure out the problem and sent me on my way saying there was an electrical wire loose. Six months later, the car overheated again and I had to get it towed which cost 300 and had to get the cooling fan replaced which was 1200. I ended up paying for the repairs but they also told me that my electrical unit was out which is why my gas light and other warning signals would not turn on and quoted me 1500 and 500 to fix the passenger side window for the third time which went out again. I neglected both of those offers since I just paid 1200 for the cooling fan.

Three months later my car overheated again, this time it was the radiator that needed replaced. Keep in mind the majority of the miles on the car are highway miles, the car is kept in great condition, and I don't drive it hard. The repairs totaled 1300. Over the course of the next few months, the car would turn off completely when I was sitting at a stop light. And a few days ago as soon as my car hit 103,000 miles the car would not drive even though the engine was running. Again the car was towed to the dealership and they told me that the drive axle seal of the transmission needed replaced which is 538 and after they repair that then the tech can determine if the front drive axle shaft assembly is damaged which would cost 738 to repair. I told them to go ahead with the first repair because I need a car. Today they called me stating that the clutch packs inside the transmission are blown and needs a new transmission and with the first repair plus the transmission the total would be 10,741.00 which is double the worth of the car itself.

Blair of London, ON September 11, 2009

2003 Mini cooper. Like everyone else...Transmission shot. Over 5.000 to repair/replace. Get real! Cunning...very cunning.

david of Bellevue, WA September 10, 2009

Our 2004 mini with manual 5 speed has 29,000 miles and the transmission is gone. Driven only by cautious and conservative women, this hardly seems possible. We tried to change oil more often than required but the dealer in Fife Washington refused, saying it was not necessary.

Paula of Tofield, AB September 9, 2009

Long email I sent to BMW's director of communication. It details dozens of problems, small and large I've had with my 2007 Mini Cooper. Corporate communications is my profession, so I thought I'd get some level of action from a man with a vested interest in making his brand stronger. No reply - not even a courtesy call. That's how much BMW backs their product. So much for communication. I also sent this email to BMW's help line. What a joke. Save yourself grief and don't buy either a BMW or MINI Cooper.

Honestly, I am fed up with BMW brand, Mini Canada. I am once again filing a formal complaint. In addition, I have blind cc'd my lawyer and cc'd BMW Canada's director of Corporate Communications, K. Marcotte. I assume computer system will have the list of ongoing problems that have occurred with this particular Mini. In addition to the rubber/chrome problem noted above, my car has now had: (1) a catalytic converter replaced due to a factory recall; (2) a defective sunroof replaced; (3) rear wiper mechanism replaced; (4) defective battery replaced; and (5-12) many reprogramming issues fixed, which included reprogramming the air conditioner that mysteriously and suddenly stuck on high cold during the dead of Alberta's winter and one scary incident while travelling at night through the Rocky Mountains.

In addition to other issues surrounding substandard customer care at Edmonton Mini -- I have now received unprofessional service from Richmond Mini. This indicates to me that a systemic problem is happening with BMW's Mini brand. BMW has no quality control mechanisms in place to monitor its entry level brand, Mini Canada.

Sadly, this ongoing level of customer care service has been my experience dealing with all Mini Canada dealerships. It is clear to me that Mini Canada lacks corporate quality control over its network of dealerships. Internal communications systems at both Edmonton and Richmond Mini dealerships clearly lack the internal checks and audits.

I'm not saying that the customer is always right. What I am saying, however, is that the customer deserves to get their vehicle -- not to mention which is still under warranty -- back from a dealerships' service department in the exact same -- if not not better condition -- than when it arrived for servicing. To arrive yesterday and find my car in worse condition is upsetting to say the least. To find the passenger side rubber sealer on ripped off and lying on my passenger seat of my car and the chrome on both the passenger and drivers side visibly loosened, is not good customer car.

It is not a good customer experience. This gets around offices. It makes potential buyers reconsider both Mini and BMW. Me? I was clearly mad. I removed the passenger side chrome in a fit of rage as it was dangling there, flapping about. I had had it with Mini Canada, as this ongoing substandard level of customer care is simply not acceptable - whether it is from Mini Edmonton or Mini Richmond.

kerry of orange, CA September 7, 2009

I took my Mini in for service on 8/10/09 due to the temperature gauge going up and down. I was told the "radiator cap was not holding pressure". They replaced it for approx 300 and sent me on my way. On 8/17/09 the same problem returned. I was then told it was the "Thermostat", which I was certain it was not because I had recently had it replaced. They kept my car for the remainder of the week, calling me with various "possibilities". Over the course of the two times my car was in their care I had been told it was 4 different problems, basically everyone was guessing at what the problem was yet wanted me to pay for each (guess)repair. I refused to pay for these speculations and told them I would only pay when they knew what the actual problem was. On 8/21/09 they stated it was a "possible blown head gasket" in which the estimated cost was 4700.....more than what I was told my car was worth should I trade it in. Then they told me it would be a minimum of 1000 to "go in and see if that's the problem". By this point I had already paid for a diagnosis(8/10/09) that proved worthless and a radiator cap that didn't fix the problem either. I was completely frustrated,felt helpless and stresses. I tried talking with the controller, CEO, Managers, lead techs and no one seemed to be able to give me any clear answers to what was going on. Skeptical of their ability to help and not wanting to keep paying them,I took my car to an independent repair shop and found the problem was a simple one: air in the coolant system. I paid a total of 150 to that repair shop. Not only did I feel I was being taken advantage of, I was completely shocked that the dealership was so incompetent at diagnosing their own cars. I work in community mental health and I don't make enough money to keep paying for what they cannot figure out.

Thomas of Berkeley, CA September 7, 2009

We bought our 2003 MINI Cooper, new, with a CVT type transmission. It has about 57,000 miles on the odometer, all easy miles: no hard driving. We really like our car and it is well maintained at all the proper intervals. Last weekend it developed strange noise that our mechanic, Bay Bridge Motors of Oakland, tells us is coming from the transmission and can not be repaired and can either be replaced with a used "junk yard" transmission, a remanufactured transmission or a new transmission. All of these alternatives range from a minimum of 5000.00-8,000.00. Our mechanic said that BMW has stopped using the transmission that our car uses and it is no longer under warrantee. This seems like an excessive expense for a car with so few miles on it and it is frustrating that there is no alternative or remedy provided by BMW/MINI.

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