I took delivery of my 08 Clubman (pepper white, hot choc. interior with wood grain multi function wheel and NAV/voice recognition) back in February.

The car is great, but the darn NAV/VR did not work when I showed up to pick up the car. The dealer told me that they would let me know when I could get the NAV/voice recognition replaced.

Fast forward close to three months and I still haven't heard from the dealer. I've sent an email about every two weeks... same response everytime... "we are still waiting to hear from MINI about a fix for the problem."

WHAT THE HECK?!?!? WHY CAN'T THEY JUST ORDER A NEW NAV UNIT AND REPLACE IT?

...can anyone offer some insight here? Is it possible to have the wood grain multi function steering wheel and NAV system?

I'm really losing my patience.

 

Take the car in, leave it on the lot. Ask for a loaner and tell them to call you when it's ready

They didn't waste any time taking your money, the car should be 100% at delivery.
FYI you are far more patient than I am............3 months

 

From what my dealer told me, the wood steering wheel is not compatible with NAV. I tried to do the swap and NAV was the only thing I could not add if I went with that steering wheel. That was the instruction from the factory to the dealer. Sure this does not help but FYI.

 

Could you send the name of your dealer and MA? Maybe the idiots that sold me my MINI could speak with your dealer... it certainly sounds like they are more knowledgeable on the subject.

 

say what?

 

joebeenimble - my dealer is Mini of Murray in Utah. I spoke with the sales manager regarding this. You can get his contact info from their website miniofmurray.com.

They offered to install the wood steering wheel at the dealer, but after calling the factory found out I would loose some functionality with the NAV and possibly bluetooth as well. After playing around on the configurator, it is the NAV that does not interact.

 

MINI attempted to put the NAV system in knowing that the car would also include a wood grain MFSW. I have a wood MFSW and a NAV in my car... it is just that the NAV/VR doesn't work.

 

JoeBeeNimble -

Do you have the integrated NAV or the portable (Nuvi) unit?

 

You got a problem it sounds like. Unfortunately assuming that your dealer would know if the Nav and wood sw are compatable (or not) is not a given. You should have read the myriad posts by someone who got the Nav and iPod integration installed early on. That was a nightmare. One thing seems clear: your dealer has thrown your issue under its bus. They probably have cars to sell, cars to service, jobs to do. Your problem could be beyond their expertise. I'd suggest you ask to give them the car back and let you order another one that works right. At their expense.

 

You can always call MINIUSA - 1-866-ASKMINI and bypass the dealer....maybe you'll get some response then....

Donna

 

OWG... the NAV that I ordered is integrated into the car.


Newt... is there any precedence for making them take back the car? That seems a little harsh... but on the other hand, they ordered the car and should have known that it would not work. All I know is that when I complain, all I hear are <<crickets>>

They are definitely not as interested in fixing the issue as I am.

Can anyone speak from personal experience about bypassing the dealer to complaint to MINI?

 

Yes - that is why I posted for you to call them. That's usually what it takes to shake up a dealer and make them understand that YOU DO HAVE an issue that needs to be taken care of and you ARE NOT getting any satisfaction from your local dealer...

Donna

 

Yes;

I agree. I had a BMW motorcycle and sometimes that is what it took. Find the name of the regional BMW representative and contact him. This is really a case of customer non-service....they recieve the service bulletins like all deallers.

Hope this helps.

 

Why the heck would you take delivery of a broken product? If you must, get it in writing with a due date and the penalty if they don't fix the issue.

But, I would never take delivery of a broken production. They would have fixed that in a couple of days or less if you left it.

 

I bet he didn't know the voice command didn't work when he took delivery (I bet most people don't mess with that until they get home). And I'll betcha it'll take them more than 2 days to fix it, especially if it has to do with having the wrong MFSW installed. But I hope not.

 

You're gonna take home a 25k+ item and you're not going to make sure every item isn't working correctly ?!?! HAHAHAHAHA.

I test drive, highway and street, make sure ALL controls are functioning, all fluids are topped off before signing anything. Granted, the voice commands are a bit more involved but it shouldn't take more then an hour more to get that working. Or better yet, have them to demo it for you. A few hours up front will save you much hassle later on. You're in control until the sales agreement is signed. You're at their mercy after that. I bet the OP won't make this mistake again. Lesson learned.

 

So once you test every single item on the car (including VC on the Nav.) and sign the sales agreement that's it, huh? You're at their mercy if something doesn't work right after you get the car home? I think not. You're OK for about 3 years the way I read the stuff. He's just looking for some suggestions from us if we can help. You didn't offer a very good one IMO.

 

Who has the time to evaluate every function to this level of detail? I hop in and start driving then save up my issues for the first service visit, or until there are enough of them to warrant a special warranty trip.

 

In this case, it seems MFSW = ***** F-ing Steering Wheel

 

You dont say whether you have blue tooth...

My Dealer (BOB Smith Of Calabassas, Ca) tells me that the VR is NOT functional without it..

However ASK MINI says it is...

I have yet to find anyone without Bluetooth with working VR.. if there is... PLEASE CHIME IN...


So I am in sort of the same boat as you.. but then again.. If I dont have it, I am not missing it..

 

Thanks for the help everyone... worst case senario, I'm going to demand that they return the $2k for the Nav system. The only problem with that is that it is a pain in the **** to navigate the sound system with the NAV screen but without VR.

If they won't do that, I'm going to take the leave-it-there-until-it-is-fixed route next time I am in the area.

Smoke...thanks for the helpful advice. I don't know why I feel compelled to respond to you, but I do....

I am four hours from my dealer... the dealer called when the car showed up on the lot... they did not run it through the inspection until I showed up at the lot (same day they called me). After 4+ hours of waiting, they finally ran it through the inspection (around 4pm), then I demanded that my MA run through all of the items on the car as you suggested that I didn't. We discovered the defective NAV/VR unit when my MA ran through the systems... unfortunately, by that time it was 9pm and I was four hours from home without a way to get back.

The dealer promised to send a truck to piggyback my MINI back to the dealer when they figured out what was wrong... the problem now is that three months have passed and I haven't seen a dealer truck in my driveway.

 

LOL, I know, I'm an ***. but I'm really a nice guy.

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. I really am. I know how excited you must have been and also you must have been so tired. You must have just wanted to get out of there. Call them up, demand a loner, then drop it off. Bring a friend too, just in case.

 

Thanks... I think that is a good plan.

 

wait a sec? why would the wood rim around the edge of the steering wheel keep the navigation from working correctly? its the same MFSW as the other ones just with wood. i understand that nicoblakes dealer told them that the parts are not equipible as with say chili red and redwood lounge leather interior. but then how did joebeenimble get it then? i dont think its a case of the trim of the wheel keeping something from working, probaly just that somethings broken. - sry if that last part was already established didnt read the whole thing.

 

I agree, Peter... what further supports your hypothesis is the fact that MINI attempted to put the system in my car knowing that I had a wood grain MFSW. What would really help would be if someone out there that has a wood grain MFSW and a functioning NAV/VR system would speak up and say so. (probably not many of that combo out there)

To clarify the problem with the NAV/VR... VR doesn't work at all... NAV works for a few seconds, but it sounds like the disc is scratching as it spins and the system throws an error after a few minutes of operation.