We love our 2008 Lightening Blue S Clubman, but after four failed repairs to the bizarre leak in the driver's side seatbelt well, we were offered a trade assist. No mention of money was ever made and the trade assist was offered after the one year that Mass. state lemon law expired. Now the dealer is telling us we will have to pay them $4000. We have had great experience with this dealer until now.

Does ANYONE have any insight/information/support for this? I'm desperate for any more info, and MINI Customer Service said it was a case by case basis. The dealer, when we asked, told us that we did not have to turn in the car until we settled on a new one.

I was really shocked, but feel like this is just not right.

 

Sorry to hear about the trouble you have had with your clubby.
I have never heard of this trade assist before. Sorry I can't be of any help, but hopefully someone on here will help you out. So are they offering a new MINI of your choice but you have to pay $4,000 and give them back your MINI I'm confused.

I hope you are able to get everything worked out to your satisfaction.

 

often the amount you pay is based on the number of miles you have driven. in California there is a formula. there should be something similar in the Mass. state law. Ask them what the $4,000 covers.

I had an X3 trade assist, but you sign papers that state you cannot talk about the financial aspects of the exchange.

PM if you want to know more.

 

This is where the law gets fuzzy in Mass. The Lemon Law term is 1 year (12 months) or 15,000 miles which ever comes first.

But then there is also the issue of is a "Leak" a lemon law problem or not. It seems that it does not necessarily conform to the requirement of the law.

Itallics print is from teh online version of mass General Law Chapter 90, Section 7n.5

“Nonconformity”, any specific or generic defect or malfunction, or any concurrent combination of such defects or malfunctions that substantially impairs the use, market value or safety of a motor vehicle.

Then there is the statement:

In instances in which a vehicle is sold and subsequently returned, the manufacturer shall refund the full contract price of the vehicle including all credits and allowances for any trade-in vehicle, less any cash award that was made by the manufacturer in an attempt to resolve the dispute and was accepted by the consumer, and a reasonable allowance for use, or shall offer to replace the vehicle.... A reasonable allowance for use for all motor vehicles other than motorcycles shall be obtained by multiplying the total contract price of the vehicle, or in the case of a leased vehicle the total amount of payments made by the consumer to the manufacturer under the terms of the lease agreement, by a fraction having as its denominator one hundred thousand and having as its numerator the number of miles that vehicle traveled prior to the manufacturer’s acceptance of its return....

So if the dealer is going to replace the vehicle it does not state that it has to be a new one so in that case i think all they would have to do is to find an 08 with less miles than yours and offer it to you. It does "not" state that they have to give you a "new" car.

As I do not know the price you paid or the miles driven on your car, I will use numbers of $30,000 price tag and 10,000 mile driven

then:
10,000/100,000 = 0.1
$30,000 * 0.1 = $3000 dollars

So using those numbers even if they were to take it back under the Lemon Law you would still have to pay $3000.00 for use of the car. So they would return you $30,000 - $3000 or $27,000

So I would say that they are being fair with you as they seem to have meet the law as the car is (as you said) more than one year old, and they are willing to get you a new car for $4,000.

Now if we think about it you are getting a new car with a full new warranty and that car most likely costs more than the one you already owned.

Again I do not have the true number of what yours cost or what the new one costs. But I can tell you this, I purchased mine in April 08 for $32,000 and to get a new 09 with the same options is now $34,500 so an increase of $2500. If I were to sell my car right now I could possibly get $27,000, (or less) a loss of $5000 (or more).

So you are getting a new car that in the long run would be costing you around $7500 (or more) for $4000.

My suggestion. Take it and run with it.

 

I forgot to ask ask what this is? Not sure I understand where you are talking about, i don't know of any "seat belt well" as the seat belt buckle is attached to the side of the seat and the seat belt pulls out from the B-Pillar and is attached to the bottom of the B-Pillar. I know of know "wells" for seat belts.

Also it it HC or Peabody?

 

Hi all,
Thanks for the input thus far. Sadly, they approved the trade assist after we lost our right to invoke Lemon Law in Mass. We have dealt w/them the whole time in good faith and opted to let them have the "four tries" to fix it instead of invoking the Lemon Law.

This is why I'm so frustrated.

 

Hey Schatzy,
The "well" (sorry, my term) is the base of the B-pillar where the belt coils when retracted. Not going to say which dealer until we meet with them on Friday....it's only fair as they have been great to us thus far, and I want to see how this shakes out.
--South End Girl

 

Understood. I have sent you a PM.