I believed I hit something in my driveway that cracked the cast oil pan such that the car leaked severely once up to temp and under load, so I had it shipped off to New Country MINI in Hartford, whose people I have heretofore held in high regard. I also wanted them to take care of some minor issues while I planned to be away next week and gave them my cell if I was needed. Another task down on my long list and I felt good.

Then I recevied two voicemails on my cell. The first was from the service advisor, Michael "Uberfish" Fisher, which sounded like a status call acknowledging that they received the vehicle and wanted to go over my list; the second was from the service manager, Darren Stricker (sp?), and his request to call sounded sombre and serious. I left return messages or pages for each and went to do some errands.

When the service manager of your dealer prefaces the conversation with "we had an incident with your vehicle" it ain't good. Actually, had I been watching the early evening news on television I might have already seen the residue of the tragedy that had befallen my (once) precious vehicle. Darren explained that the car caught fire while a technician was test driving it, that the front of the vehicle was engulfed in flames, and that it now rested inside a cordon of police/fire tape on an interstate exit ramp as the fire officials were conducting their investigation. The manager could not get within one hundred feet of the vehicle, but he indicated that it is probably totaled.

Now comes the finger pointing and posturing by the respective insurance companies, whose officials will probably recommend that I buy some vaseline and grab my ankles so as to make the settlement go down easier. The vehicle is a 2003 with a hair under 50,000 miles and approx. $10,000 of extras and mods, not including labor (I have every receipt).

Apparently, they cleaned off the oil leak residue and blow-by and topped the oil before heading out, but burning oil does not erupt into the type of flames that were described to me. I had the vehicle on jack stands the day before it was flat-bedded to the dealer and inspected the engine area in great detail; there was no gas smell, no visible damage to the fuel system, or anything else untoward that would lead me to be concerned over a possible fire hazard. So, I am also at a loss as to the cause of this calamity - damage in shipping/unloading? damage at the dealer's service area? All I know is that it left with a dying battery, an oil leak, a major portion of the old Craven Speed dipstick stuck in the dipstick tube with the replacement they recently sent me (that is another story), and winter wheels/tires that required balancing and alignment and now it is dead. For once I can say that I did not do it.

All I want is to be made whole, but I have a very sick feeling that litigation will be necessary to get to that point. It is fortunate that I am attorney with friends who litigate; it may be time to cash in some chips and use some favors to sort this out. Stay tuned.

 

This isn't one of those cases of engine fires for the 02/03 cars?

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...t=engine+fires

 

Oh my! I'm so sorry to hear about what happened to your MINI!

 

PMC...

VERY sorry to hear about your situation. I would agree with you, however, I don't see HOW this could be your fault. Don't despair...yet!

Remember what they told us the first year of law school...something on the order of 95% of all cases settle before hitting the courtroom. Certainly I think I'd put those litigating friends on notice (maybe take one of them out for lunch and run it past them), but if things do get hairy, perhaps a sharply worded letter will sober the insurance co./your mini dealer up in a hurry.

Hang in there! And keep us updated.

Chuck

 

COULD BE ... THE DEALER REPLACED THE POWER STEERING PUMP LAST MONTH. IT HAS NOT BEEN WORKED ON SINCE AND HAS HAD NO PROBLEMS BEYOND THOSE NOTED ABOVE OTHER THAN A P2096 CODE THAT THROWS THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT ON EVER SINCE THE DEALER WORKED ON IT THEN.

 

Holy crap! At least you weren't drinving and everyone is ok.

 

classic post, thanks! keep us informed. sorry bout your car.

 

I AM NOT SURE YOU WOULD SAY I AM OKAY IF YOU TOOK MY BLOOD PRESSURE READING.

 

Oh boy, that is wretched Guess all you can do at this point is get your receipts together for the mods (or somehow tally them up) and wait. At the very least you have friends who can litigate for you if needed. Best of luck.

 

Spread the word - fire is bad; fire is not our friend, Herr Frankenstein.

 

Okay, I have to ask......$10,000 worth of mods? That's a lot of mods. I'm just worried that they are going to say that one of your engine mods caused the fire. You better be ready to defend that question. Hopefully it never get's asked. Hopefully the engine mods were so minor that there's no way the could point a finger at them.

 

I have had these mods for some time with no issues at dealer and no real problems beyond an electronic glitch on an early Unichip that was replaced long ago. I plan to go on the offense, but my defense is ready.

 

The horror, the horror ...

 

I'm sorry your car burned & am glad the mechanic escaped unharmed. Keeping your receipts was a good move. You will have to fight, but I think you already know that. Good luck.

 

Oh no, PMC! My first thought was the same as Chows': I wonder if this is similar to the other fires in earlier MINIs? Be sure to read this thread.

 

In any event, there are enough points of responsibility to make this interesting.... The dealer could be accused of negligence in the conduct of the test drive.... MINI could be accused of having another spontaneous combustion car (that should have been recalled but was stone-walled by MINI).... There are probably some addiitonal claims that could be lodged, but this is what immediately occurs. If PMC has full coverage on the comprehensive section of the auto insurance policy, then it is time to chill, sit back and let your insurance company fight it out with everyone. Afterall, from the description, no one was injured. While having your pride and joy immolated is certainly a downer, it pales in comparison to how you would feel if you were in a burn ward.

I think that a realistic expectation for a settlement is somewhere around KBB private party sale value on the car. If you want to stay in the MINI family, you should be in a great position to negotiate with the dealer for great deal on a new MINI.

 

Someone I know who had a M3 (emphasis on had... read on), got a call from the dealer service manager later in the day after dropping the car off for its 2,000 km post break-in service. It seems that the service tech was taking the car for a test drive and got in an accident that severely damaged the car. The fight is on over whether the car gets totalled (guess what the insurance company's position is - no f***ing way are we going to total a $58,000 car!) or repaired and if repaired, who pays for the diminished value....

 

PMC - There just are no words. I missed this original post. I'm truly sorry to read this post...

I'm sick to read about yet ANOTHER issue - and I can say first hand, good luck with the litigation. Maybe you will have better luck than we did!!!

In this thread, someone has posted our original thread if you care to take the time to read it all...

For well over a year - we did everything possible to fight MINI/BMW - they finally settled out of court with our insurance company (USAA) - gave them 75% of what they paid out to us. It was better than nothing - but not good enough in our eyes!!!! We found out very quickly that we obviously didn't have the funds big enough to fight MINI/BMW.. And to this day, MINI refuses to acknowledge there is an issue - gee - big surprise there...

I wish you the best of luck - and please keep us all posted.

Donna

 

I expect that from BMW/MINI from what I have read on this forum. However, the dealership was test driving the car, so its insurer is involved, as well as the good name of the dealership, NEW COUNTRY MINI of Hartford, Connecticut. This dealer has always been great to me; now I will truly see what they are made of. I will keep all well apprised.

 

Does anyone know if the insurance will cover the $10K in mods. I know from a loss on a previous car that my aftermarket stereo was not covered because it was not a "factory" installed item

 

Have you filed a comp claim with your insurance carrier ? You should get reimbursed for the ACV minus your comp deductable. Of course, the value of the mods is another story. You're going to have to battle it out with your insurance company (not likely they'll cover them), the dealership, and/or MINI over the reimbursement for your mods.

Good luck and sorry to hear about your loss !!!!

 

My insurance company has told me that as long as I keep receipts add-ons/mods are covered (although I'm guessing it would be adjusted and have to be within reason; there is always the option if you have a rare or really modded or specialized car to have a policy for a certain value, but that does cost more).

 

thankgo for insurance

 

Can't say this is what happened to you... But my wife's car dealership had a brand new CRV go up in flames as the lady was driving away from an oil change. The technician forgot to take off a part of the seal when putting on the new oil filter, and the seal caught on fire, catching the oil on fire, catching the engine on fire. I think she made it 1/4 of a mile from the dealership. Needless to say, lawsuit, especially since children were in the vehicle.

Point being, if theres exposed oil, or something that can help ignite the oil it will burn. Maybe they left a rag in there?

Ditto. I called my insurance company, USAA, for a rider policy for my mods. They said they don't offer rider policies, and anything, including mods, permenantly installed in the vehicle is covered.

 

I am very sorry to hear about your MINI. Hope it goes well with the Insurance Company. Keep us posted!