Hey everyone, I'm the proud new owner of a Chili Red 2013 Mini Cooper Hatchback and I just have a few questions about servicing my Mini

First, let me tell you a little about me and the car. I bought it used from a VW dealership (strange right?) with only 18,000 miles on it. It was a great price (imo) and being a college student with little credit and who has always loved Minis, I honestly just feel really lucky that I was even approved to get it. It runs and drives like a dream! Hands down the most fun car I have ever driven.

Anyways, I registered it on MiniUSA.com and signed into the Owners Lounge, and it doesn't have any recorded services. This leads me to believe that it wasn't taken to a Mini dealership, and probably just had its oil changed. Now, I do know that the VW dealership I bought it from changed the oil (and it says its not due again until 22,000 mi) but I don't know if it was ever truly serviced or what oil they used in it (although I think it was Caestrol 5W-30). This being the first car I have ever personally purchased, and my first ever Mini, I want to take the best care of it that I possibly can!

So I have two questions: 1) Do you think I should take it to my closest Mini dealer (a two hour drive, about 130 miles) to have it truly serviced? 2) Would this service still be included in the 4 year warranty, even though I'm not the original owner? There is a shop in my home town that can work on Minis (we have quite a few owners here) but I don't necessarily know how much they charge, if they honor the service warranty, how well they do, etc. Also, I do have some kind of warranty provided to me from either the financing bank or dealership that covers so many extra miles and so many extra years (can't remember it off the top of my head) so do you think that might cover the service?

Thanks for all of your help and responses in advance!

- Zachary

 

i think it is worth giving the dealer a quick call asking them what they have on their system. and also mention the warranty and what is covered for you. finally, is the car auto, manual, base, and/or turbo?

 

Well, the dealer I bought it from was a VW dealer.. I think I might know what Mini dealer it was originally purchased from, but I'm not sure. What are things I should look for/ask? And it's an automatic base model. It's actually very stock, no HK sound system, no Mini Connect, nothing. In fact, I'll attach the "optional" features it has according to the VIN decoder I used!

 

By system he meant in their computer. If the car was serviced by a Mini dealership it should be in their computer system and any Mini dealer should be able to access it. An easy check is to wipe down the dip stick. What color comes off. If it looks black the VW dealership didn't change the oil. I'm not surprised a VW dealership had the car on their lot. There's a number of VW owners going MINI and MINI owners going to VW's.

 

what i meant by their system is their internal service record system or internal servers. some information my not be visible online for whatever reason.
I would ask them about the service record of the car, is the car covered under warranty and for how long, if you want to buy an extended warranty (how much/long for), things of that nature. also, grab the owners manual and see what are the service interval and what needs to be serviced. pop the hood and see if you see anything leaking or misting, open the oil cap and see if the cams are shiny..finally, pull the oil dip stick out and see if the oil is light or dark

 

Yeah, after I reread that I understood what you meant lol That was my bad.. And I'll give them a call to see! I actually did just check the oil the other day, and I had to use a white paper towel to see where it was on the dipstick (I wanted to make sure it wasn't too low) and it looked brown, not black. I don't know if it was synthetic or not, they got the car with almost 18,000 miles on it and said it needed to be changed at 22,000 (I assume they changed it right after they got it). That seems really soon if it was a full synthetic oil like what is recommended.

 

when it comes to oil, it is probably worth the $35 oil change and you don'd have to keep guessing what where how and who lol...the color seems ok for a recent oil change. also, make sure to use recommended gas rating. i thing the base model uses 89 octane.

 

Is $35 what an oil change should be with full synthetic? I have never had an oil change that cheap using non-synthetic oil lol but I've never had a V4 before either, or a Mini so I just don't know.. And yeah, I've actually been using premium 93 octane usually the Shell Nitro. They have a good rewards card that gives you some cents off, and it feels like my car drives better with it than the premium Exxon I put in there the first couple of times.. That could be all in my head though!

 

35 including a cup of coffee too...DIY ~_~ in general, i dont think you should worry too much as long as all of the fluids are the right level. the gas rating is there for a reason and i cannot say yay or nay to using higher or lower octane. it is like saying too much orange juice will make you sick...ok, once i start talking about food, it means lunch time...lol

 

Well, I just called the Mini dealership in Dallas and they said that they can't release any of that information to me. They have to have the original owner physically come in with an ID and everything before they can release service records. So it looks like I'm out of luck :( I just have to trust that it's been well maintained, and wait till the 25,000 or 30,000 mile service is due

 

Try calling another dealer. Or call back and ask for the service manager. That is ridiculous, and poor customer service. You have a right to know how your car was serviced in the past.

If the work was done while the car was under warranty, all dealers should be able to see it in the system. As the second owner, when I bought it, I was able to call the selling dealership in another state that sold and did all the service on my Mini from new and get the info verbally for peace of mind. Just about everything showed on the CarFax.

There are advantages to having it serviced at the Mini dealer while it is under warranty and has scheduled maintenance coverage (yes that 'transfers' to you) - knowing that any recalls were addressed, knowing the service is done right (hopefully), if any issues arise in the future it could be beneficial to you for Mini to see that you had it dealer serviced, and at the least, you'll probably get a free car wash and see some cool stuff in the showroom and parts department.

Be sure to get in the habit of checking your oil level. As you already saw, it can be difficult to get a good reading. It can be helpful to remove the dipstick for a few hours and then check it. Note that factory-approved oil can be hard to find. Castrol makes at least 4 versions of 5w-30 that do not meet Mini spec. Also keep an eye on tire pressures (for tire wear and handling feel). The correct pressures are on your driver side door jamb.

 

That's BS.

Tell them to cover the POs confidential information like name and address.

 

For my 07MCS

Mobil1 0W40 - $23 at Walmart
Mann Filter - $6 on eBay

Let's MOTOR.

 

But apparently, Mobil 1 0W40 no longer meets the Mini/BMW LL spec (the formulation changed) as of the end of last year?

 

I'm no longer under warranty, so I pretty much don't care for what BMW/MINI have to say.

It's the same oil for my VW so it's convenient for me.

Please do additional research for your own peace of mind.

Edit: I also don't subscribe to the long life service ideology. I change my oils @ 5k.

 

The record of which services have been performed is NOT protected info. Any dealer who tells you that should never see you again.

 

^^^ Unsure if that is so by MINIUSA policy (or regional dealer policy)...

I bought my 2013 MCS in May 2016 from a well-known MINI dealer as a 3-year lease turned-in with 17.7k miles. As such, it qualified for CPO extended 1-year of warranty. I asked the salesman for printed records of services performed during those 3 years, however he said he could show but not furnish me those documents (which he subsequently did). Ironically after I got home and while detailing the interior, I found the previously missing owners manual with related publications folder as well as original copies of those service records plus laminated "window sticker" tucked inside the sleeve on rear of passenger seat back. Cool...

 

I use BavAuto's service schedule and it seems to work well for me.
http://blog.bavauto.com/9906/bavaria...nce-schedules/