So, I found the Mini of my dreams out of state. I paid a local garage to do a inspection. They raved about the car and said it had only one problem. It was ready for a clutch. The seller claimed that he was one of the largest Mini repair facilities in Florida. He offered to replace the clutch including the fly wheel for the cost of parts to consumate the deal. I bit and got bit back.

When the car was delivered I noticed a odd smell from time to time. I went to see a friend the other day and he had a super steep driveway. When it was time to leave the Mini did not want to back up the hill. The more gas I gave it the more smoke surrounded my car. Pretty soon I was engulfed in a thick fog of disgusting smelling fried clutch. The car had stunk from time to time but never gave any feelings that the clutch was not working correctly. Now it slips and feels as though it is about to bite the dust.

I am 64 and have been driving sticks since I was 16. I never put a new clutch in any of my street cars and I keep them a long time. You can imagine how I feel about turning around and dropping 3 grand in a clutch with less than a thousand miles on it.

There is a Mini repair shop by my business that does great work. I asked them about how they felt about me buying a aftermarket clutch and getting them to install it. They said they would but would not guarantee any thing about it unless I used Oem parts. I asked what the warranty would be in that case and he said two years. I like the idea of the heavier duty clutch in my 2010 JCW Clubman BUT I like the two year warranty more.

Have any of you ever heard of a clutch doing what mine did?

 

Are you sure the clutch was replaced by the seller? I would verify that first before doing anything else. Also, do you have any documentation from the seller that says a new clutch was installed?

 

I am thinking that the Florida Insurance Commissioner also handles consumer complaints. File a compliant on a "business" in Florida and they will put some heat on the guy. BBB is another avenue. If the business is any good they don't want a bad BBB rating.

 

Who did the repair? Maybe someone else had an experience that will prove useful to you.

 

I am not sure that the clutch was replaced. When I received the car it had a badly fractured fly wheel in the back. I thought at that time that there was no way to determine that the fly wheel came out of my car.
Even after hiring a independent garage to inspect it I realized that I was taking a risk buying out of state. I am not sure that I could have seen any thing wrong with it even if I looked at it my self.

Here is the thing. The car is beautiful and even with the price of a new clutch I am still way under the value to me. How many 2010 JCW Clubmans have you seen for 10,500 that only had 53,000 miles? I have spent a few bucks on things like trim pieces and I had a custom paint job done even though it did not need paint. I love the car and a few weeks after I get the clutch fixed I will be a happy camper.

There is no point in me persuing the issue legally. The car went to the paint shop for a year and that is why I have added so few miles. No used car lot is going to be held accountable for a used car sold that long ago.

I will post pics as soon as I figure out how.

I am motoring on!

 

Florida with all the retired people is very big into consumer fraud. I lived there for 25 years. Up to you on how to proceed.

 

+1 on that, tried to screw me over many times in my few years in FL. Glad to be far away.