OK, so my 2008 Clubman S is at the dealership after being diagnosed with a bad timing chain by an independent repair shop. After some hemming and hawing, they ripped down the engine and discovered the guides are snapped in my car. Here is the catch...my car (2008 Mini Cooper Clubman S) is not on the "recall" list. Mini USA stated only 27000 cars were subject to the...ahem..."service bulletin". So now my car is in parts in a dealership garage, they are trying to get Mini USA to do a good will repair. This dealership has serviced both of my Coopers (also both 2008 "S" models) in the past. My service advisor was a little sketchy on if they will get it approved, but after ripping down the whole front of the motor, I cannot imagine they will let the car leave without doing some kind of repair. I offered to pay the diagnosis fee to keep things moving. I talked to CS at Mini USA the other day. The agent that answered the phone was very nice and transferred me to a supervisor who, lets just say, is not qualified for that position. Utterly useless is a better way of putting it.. I know with goodwill repairs it depends on who you talk to, so any advice?
Thank you

 

Sorry to hear about your problem, but glad that the dealer is at least trying to fight for you. Not sure that you can asks for more than that. When I bought my '07S, new, I ran into the intake manifold icing problem. MINI Corporate at first wouldn't acknowledge it as being a problem. I was persistent and dealer tried to be helpful. It was frustrating that they couldn't do much but it was a fault of Corporate not the dealer. After a year Corporate came around.

Stick with it and hopefully you get it resolved in your favor.

 

I have had my share of MINI coopers and I will say Classic MINI in Willoughy, ohio has taken very good care of me both in and out of warranty.

 

So far they have been cool. Not sure if it rests in the hands of Mini USA or the individual dealer. I mean I live in Vegas, so if I have to grease someone I will. If they want me to buy, say a wheel alignment or something stupid like that, then spending 200 to save 2000, its a great investment

 

1800 831 1117 BMW-mini
customerrelations@bmwusa.com

call this number its BMW corporate, they can help you
i just had my vacuum pump replaced, the corporate paid for the parts ( 700.00+)
and they told me just to pay for the labor ( 250.00 ) .. i did not complain abt it, cuz its a good deal already,
but the reason i called them , was because the mini dealer damaged my turbo oil line, when they installed the turbo heat shield, ( dont know whats happened) but my car was OK trouble free, before i brought it there...

Good luck

 

I can honestly say that from all the limited knowledge I've gathered with talking to most people and reading many forums to just keep pushing. As annoying as that sounds, keep calling and keep bugging them, things will keep escalating and most often than not someone in the higher positions will just say ok, get 'em off our back. Other than that, best of luck to you. Keep us posted.

 

Mini USA will not honor any repairs on my car. Spoke with them after speaking with the dealer service advisor. They are basically OK putting a stretched timing chain and broken guides back in my car and sending me on my way. WOW, I love how no logic is even being applied to this situation. Also being told that once a decision is made that they will not reverse it. Second Mini I have owned and the second one that has started to fail before 75k miles. I am even offering to buy the parts if they cover the labor. Waiting to see what response I get on that. Amazing. A month without a car, and no resolution in sight...

Why do I keep buying these things?

 

Just called the 1800 number for BMW-Mini. Spoke to Molly, who was the same girl that customer relations at Mini USA escalated me to. Very very nice girl but unable to help me because, as she put it, "a decision has been made already". She suggested I talk to the service manager at Desert Mini to see if they can resubmit with my proposal of offering to pay for parts while Mini covers the labor...We will see

 

So the service manager at Desert Mini has said that the recall only affects the tensioner and not the timing chain which I find interesting. I have reluctantly agreed to have my car fixed there because the guides are broken already. They are replacing the timing chain packet, and friction drive. It has been a week without any communication from them as to if the repair is done or if they found anything else wrong. Honestly I am not impressed, but I did get some Mini credit card looking thing in the mail that is worth 1000.00 off various services (1000.00 not all at once unfortunately). Will see how it goes...