Greetings NAM!

So my MINI ('13 R56) is almost at 10K and after reading some horror stories on Yelp, I am becoming really scared to take her in for that free oil change! (I've done my own oil change twice at 1200mi and at 7000mi) Which SoCal MINI's service dept do you think is the most dependable for routine oil change/service?


Also, does anyone here get engine rattle noise at around 1500 RPM? My engine rattles at around 1500 RPM and seems to disappear when you go above/under 1500 RPM... I can only replicate the rattle when I place her on D... Could this be a transmission issue anyone?

 

What part of So Cal?

 

I love Mini of Camarillo. They have been nothing but helpful to me there and Travis(service manager) is full of knowledge. As well as with talking with him they seem to be very mod friendly as well.

As far as the engine rattle, I seem to get it as well on occasion, but I always forget to ask them about it. Almost sounds like something is loose or something to me, but it goes away like you said when you get above 1500 rpm. I first noticed it going through a drive through with my windows down, but it seems to usually happen going very slowly through a drive through or pulling into a parking spot or something.

 

I bought mine from Irvine, so Irvine has my vote. Monrovia is literally 10mins away from me, but their service is trash..

 

Irvine has my vote as well, however that is quite a trek from Palmdale...

 

I'll likely be taking mine to Crevier, as that's where I bought the car, however I find the people in the service department very difficult to talk to.

Perhaps it's because I'm from the UK and missing some subtle cultural clues, but they seem unable to hold a conversation.

They only speak when prompted with a direct question, giving nothing more away than the bare minimum of an answer.

Which ultimately leads to us both standing there like a pair of lemons.

 

I work in a dealership. I can tell you it's because we're instructed to answer ONLY the questions customers ask, and add nothing else that will cause the customer to change their minds on the vehicle or the service or the part, or the people working at the dealership.

So basically, we have to keep our mouth shut unless you have a specific question.

This is because of the corporate image -- we're the face of the dealership, so we all have to present the same uniform front. Also, you have to think about the liability, lawsuits and loss of service.

There's a reason why salespeople who can talk about anything and not drive away customers or cause an incidents are so prized at dealerships.

EDIT: I'd like to say that not all dealerships have the same policy. Mine does.

 

That's very weird, and definitely a cultural thing.

Across the pond, I used to go into the Ford dealer (when I had a Ford) and the Mini dealer (when I had my Mini over there) and be able to have a chat with the service technician about my car and generally have some kind of social interaction (not just someone who stands there like it's their first day at school)

Perhaps it's because we don't have the worry about being sued.

EDIT: This makes me think less of the dealer, as it doesn't feel human or that they actually care.

 

Definitely Mini Irvine, that's where I go! The parts department gave me a discount on my cross drilled and slotted sport rotors, they took it upon themselves and offered it.

 

I go to Mini of San Diego, they give excellent service.

 

I hope the service department at SD Mini is better than the sales area.

The MAs there were not knowledgeable and found them to be lazy. When asking them questions about features and options they didn't know much. Didn't know specs, differences between MCS and Justa features, different builds. All from a MA that has been there for years. They also they didn't know about how the April 2013 spring cleaning sales event worked ($500 off even on ordered cars when they only said only non ordered). I saw several MAs were they sat in their chairs spacing out and head on desk even on a Saturday afternoon. I wasn't too impressed. I ended up buying in Orange County because I was even less impressed by Escondido Mini.

I hope SDMini service department is better.

 

I was going to Nick Alexander's service dept only because i had developed a good relationship with one of the service writers. I was there 3 weeks ago and found out he was no longer working there and ended up speaking with another writer. I had him order some trim that was coming off of the roof (warranty replacement) and he said he'd call me when it came in.

If you didn't catch it, i was there 3 weeks ago. I have yet to hear from him.

 

The Camarillo dealership I've found to be thorough and their Service group headed up by Travis has years of experience going for it. If you were looking for non-warranty work, Scott McIntyre at Motoring Magic in Thousand Oaks (http://motoringmagic.com/) is a MINI owner/enthusiast that has built a solid reputation for solid service at a fair price. You would also find the So Cal MINI Maniac club to be a great resource for all things MINI (SCMM.org). They should be able to troubleshoot your rattle at 1,500.

 

I've had good experience at Monrovia, which is where I bought my car. I live in between Monrovia and Ontario Mini. I always contact both places to get quotes and Monrovia always has the better deal (I don't mention what the other dealer quoted me when I call/visit).

 

I was not particularly fond of my first trip to MINI of Ontario. I brought it in on a Thursday afternoon for a failed thermostat housing (routine repair). I had an appointment that allowed them more than 3 hours for the repair, but offered to leave it overnight. Friday night I had to call to see if it was ready and was told to call back Saturday (shouldn't they be calling me?). I called back Saturday and was told to call again on Monday. It was finally finished Monday afternoon.

They did provide a rental car, but only approved one day with them (even though I was told during my phone calls that they had contacted the rental company). I had to cover the difference on my credit card, and was later credited back. Not a huge inconvenience, but still pretty cheesy.

 

i bought my car at crevier but after my first oil change there i've never gone back. Not only did they overfill my car, when i came back to pick it up i discovered a big dent/gouge on my door. a few days later after picking it up after the repair i discovered that the gouge repair job was not up to par. (overspray and paint didnt match) at that point i didnt want to deal with them anymore. positive par though is that their loaner system is top notch. i got a bmw every time and when i grew tired of the mpg they switched me to a mini

for the second oil change i went to irvine and my experience went well enough. the loaner they gave me was a lowly malibu though

 

Aw thanks for all the replies everyone!! I definitely feel the love! I guess Irvine/Crevier MINI is the way to go huh? I live in Palmdale but commute back the OC during the weekends.

 

Oh man... I'm so sorry to hear that man... Did you at least try to get some good will repair work done? If not you should try and demand it from them! A yelp post could do the trick.

 

Thank you so much! This is exactly what I'm looking for! If only we could all hang in the same place and share all this wealth of information ....

 

about my oil change i forgot to say that i think they didnt change the oil or maybe the oil filter as my oil was extremely dark after a drive back to my house in anaheim. for that they ended up offering another oil change where i could watch them do it, i asked to be given oil and an oil filter and do it myself. which is admittedly excellent customer service.

as for the repair job. its not really noticeable unless youre looking for it (washing your car, looking for defects). im planning on keeping the car and eventually turning it into a track car when im able to afford a new daily driver, so the resale value lowering doesnt matter all that much. and by that point i had given them a non perfect service rating (thus causing them to give me the free oil) that im scared that they might do a few clutch burnouts if i were to bring the car back there again.

however my experience there was probably just a fluke. as a plebian it felt pretty cool to be given all the perks like free water/coffee/treats/flowers that you can pretend like you bought for your s/o. you also get to practice your putting on a little mini golf hole and like i said earlier, the loaner bmw is awesome. and i still go there to get parts as i can play the i bought my car here so give me a discount card.

also, that being said, mini service iirc is now seperate from the bmw dealership, the whole mini operation moved across the street to a new location, so ymmv.

that sounded like a yelp review.....

 

Anyone had experience with South Bay Service recently? I bought my car there but there are a ton of negative reviews for their service department.

 

Noticed that nobody recommended Bob Smith MINI in Calabasas.....and I won't be the one to recommend them. They truly are incompetent and borderline crooks.

Go for an Indy...I recommend Motoring Magic in Thousand Oaks....good guys.

 

I have been going to South Bay MINI since I bought mine in 2009. Recently they moved out of the South Bay BMW building and have a new place a couple buildings to the south. I was there twice in the last few weeks. First visit was for a water pump leak, valve cover oil leak, oil filter gasket leak, and sunroof rattle, all under warranty. They also diagnosed a stretched timing chain which I had not been aware of.

I left the car on a Tuesday morning and got it back Friday (work was complete end of day Thursday). Seems reasonable for the amount of work, but I don't really know.

I have never had a problem with the work over the years. I do find that the communication with the service advisors sucks. One example--I called the SA to make sure he would be there at 1:30 to go over what had been done. I arrive at 1:30 and am told, "oh xxx went to lunch". So another SA basically read the invoice at me to explain what work had been completed.

My second visit was to have the sunroof cassette replaced, as the assembly had to be ordered. Two day job. Again the SA wasn't there when I arrived and it took 15-20 minutes to get my car. Positive note--I had some questions about the work that the SA couldn't answer, so the chief tech (or some such title) came over and was very patient and informative in answering my questions.

Loaners have always been available and fast to pickup/dropoff.

 

As far as dealers go, I'm partial to Crevier....

For an independant shop, MINI Worx in Laguna Hills gets my vote

 

As people rarely post when they have a positive experience with a dealer... after my complaining earlier in the thread, I thought I should update with my latest (positive) experience with Crevier Mini service dept.

After finally giving up on the interior dash lighting problem, I took it in for them to look at (among other things) and after many days at the dealership they have finally found (and fixed) the problem.

They kept me updated with what was happening, let me know when parts were delayed, what they were doing with the car, what had been tried, etc. So, overall, a very positive experience.

A big thumbs up to Jason (and the techs) at Crevier Mini for getting everything working again and keeping me informed.