I have a '05 MCS Conv. w/ less than 8,000 miles. The top is showing some rub marks when closed, that are just plain ugly. I showed it to my dealer & they said it was normal wear & tear. Some of you have had your tops replaced. What are the magic buttons , I need to press to get my dealer to replace my top?

Thanks all,

Geo

 

Hi Geo,

How long have you had the MINI? Was it new when you bought it? Where are your wear marks? Do a search & you will find pictures of what some of us have had.

I am on my 3rd top in 4 years, my dealer has never batted an eye when they saw the wear marks. Some dealers have been difficult to work with however. Is there another dealer in your area that you can take the MINI to?

You may want to remind them that there is a service bulletin on the early build Cabrios (05s) for a roof adjustment that was causing the wearing.

And if all else fails you may want to take MINI USA to task.

Good luck,
Lois

 

Geo:

I just had my top replaced (picking her up in an hour ), and there were no questions. I am the second owner, but took it to the dealership where she was bought, and showed them the wear marks. You have to look close, but it is just some slight fraying. My SA looked at it, hit some buttons on the computer and said it would not be a problem at all.

He defined it as a 'silent recall' which makes me believe they will do it as long as someone brings it to their attention.

Hope this helps.

 

Like the others said, we approached the dealer and let them know that we were aware of a service bulletin on the issue. They said it had to be approved by a MINI USA rep, and made an appointment for when he would be there. Then when he actually wasn't there that day, we made another appointment for a day when he was going to be there. Then he authorized the replacement and ... badabing ... new roof.

The new wear marks started showing almost immediately, BTW. However they told us only one new roof per car.

 

Guess they forgot to tell my dealer

Lois

 

Fraying seems to be the key though. Just shiny spots from "wear" may not get you another top . . . you'll have shiny spots in 2-3k miles again.

What you should do is get out and drive -- put more than 8k miles on an 05 and you'll be fraying in time to have the warranty cover it.

 

In my case, there was no fraying, just shiny spots. The top alignment recall was done before I bought the car, and the service lady agreed that any wear on the top (the shiny spots) because of the alignment issue called for a top replacement. It is indeed a silent recall, they won't do it unless you bring it to their attention. You may need to be more firm with the service rep and mention that this is not normal wear (especially if the shiny areas are where the top curves by the top of the windows).

The service lady at the Omaha MINI place didn't mention at all about a limit on replacements. As a matter of fact, when they replace the top they give you a two year warranty on the top, labor and any alignment issues. Mine was misaligned after replacement, and the top started to scuff again after a couple of times. I took it back, and they spent an entire day realigning. Now it's perfect, no evidence of scuffing after at least 50 up/down cycles. So, imo, shiny spots are not normal for a properly operating top, no matter how long you own the car.

 

Those who've had roofs replaced, what were you told re: putting top down after replacement? I was told to wait 2-3 weeks to let the fabric stretch. I made the mistake of trying the sunroof portion and the cables snapped (11 days after replacement.)

I'm hoping MINI will still do this as a warranty item - I thought they said the top couldn't go down because the pins wouldn't align, not that I had to let the cables stretch out. Any other experiences would be helpful in case MINI wants to make me pay for the repair.

 

+1

 

My SA told me I was good to go the minute I picked up the car. It had spent a couple of days in the shop, I guess stretching it maybe. I put the top down that very same day, no problem. Two weeks seems excessive to me, and the cables snapping imo have nothing to do with the fabric (unless they overtightened something). I'd take it back and have them look at it.

This definitely sounds like they need to still fix under warranty.

 

Btw, not quit OT but related, mine also had the dreaded semi-circle scratches on the rear windows. The car spent most of this week getting those done, and they were a pain according to the mechanic. Finally, what seems to be the problem is some of the original moulding was scratching the windows when they went down.

This actually took a PUMA request (all the way to MINI national hq) for approval. I don't know why, they originally said it wouldn't be covered, but then they changed their decision. I guess I could have argued that the scratches caused visibility problems and made the car unsafe if it came to brass tacks. The SA also assured me that replacing the windows and all parts related (they actually replaced everything chasing the problem) did not affect the top, especially the alignment. I will test and watch it like a hawk for any signs of scuffing. The last time they got it perfect, so now I know for sure there should be no rubbing whatsoever with a properly aligned top.

Kudos again to my SA (Kim) for duking it out with hq and getting my windows replaced. Imo, if you need your MINI fixed properly, there's no better place than Markel MINI.

 

thanks 2xMini. The more I think about it, the less the 2-3 weeks makes sense, plus the cables snapped simply opening the sunroof which shouldn't have anything to do with the fabric needing to be stretched.

I can't imagine the cabrios coming off the assembly line sit around for 3 weeks to "stretch out" either. Sadly, they can't even look at the car until July 7th! so I'm losing some quality open-air motoring time.

 

I hear ya, I just got mine back yesterday. I think I've been putting more miles on loaners than my car since I bought it in february.

Here's hoping everything works out for you.