First let me say I love my clubman. It is one of the most fun cars I've ever owned. That said, I've had what seem to be a ridiculous number of problems with it in the less than a year that I have owned it.

I bought the car new in late May of 2009, and since then, I have had water get into the rear center brake light. I have had the drivers window develop the problem where it goes all the way up and then bounces half way back down. The clutch pedal developed a squeak and catch that MINI apparently had a service bulletin out about, and last week water came in through my rolled up passenger window.

The brake light problem happened in June of 2009, and because the part was redesigned by MINI, and the dealership had forgotten about it, it took complaints to management and MINI USA to get it fixed. The drivers window and clutch issues were fixed relatively easily, but the passenger window can't be fixed until a part comes in. All told the car has been at the dealership awaiting repair for about 15 days out of the 9 months that I've owned it. Is this normal?

The MINI rep that I spoke to seems to feel that just getting these things repaired is sufficient customer service. The dealer has to be chased to do anything, and I'm beginning to wonder if I made a mistake buying the car. If this is typical of the MINI experience, I may trade mine in on something more reliable. Do any of you know of a way to get MINI to take this a bit more seriously? Sorry for the long post, I'm just frustrated.

Regards,
James

 

That's a lot of repair problems IMO. There's a thing called the "lemon law" that allows you to basically give them the car back (minus some depreciation of course) if the thing has been in the repair shop for XX number of days because of warranty problems. That allows you to get much of your money back and try a different car, being fair to you with respect to the price and not making you have to sell it yourself. Something to consider and you may be getting to that number of days in the shop.

 

Not sure if it applies in his case. It was always my understanding that it had to be the same problem which is never rectified upon numerous visits for repair.

I found this info:

The law defines a lemon as a new or leased motor vehicle that has a defect that "substantially impairs the use, market value, or safety of the vehicle, and which has not been repaired after a reasonable number of attempts.

If your new or leased vehicle has a substantial defect that still exists or recurs after a reasonable number of repair attempts, then you may have the right to a refund or replacement vehicle. Keep in mind that not all car problems are serious enough to qualify under the Lemon Law..........

FWIW; I had similar issues with my Jaguar, and they won JD Power Assoicates awards all durng the period I had that car......Each time the dealer made the repairs and I was made whole. Even a free loaner car.

 

Thanks for the law suggestion. I've already mentioned that to the dealer and that was what seemed to spur them into actually repairing the brake light. In my state, Virginia, a car has to be taken in for the same repair 3 times, and the dealer has to fail to repair it 3 times, or it has to be in a repair shop for 30 days during the first 18 months. Mine is well on its way to this goal, but according to the person at the Virginia Office of Consumer Affairs, I can't make a lemon law claim on it yet.

I've dug up some email addresses that might be senior level management for MINI USA. I'm going to email them and see if that helps at all. I'd mostly like to have them really stand behind the car they sold me. So far, my experience with customer relations, and the dealership, has been that they don't care once I've purchased the car.

 

Their purported attitude aside are they performing these repairs in a timely manner as prescribed ?

Any idea as to why were they showing hesitation in repairing the the brake light ?

See, when a vehicle is in for repairs under warranty, they basically charge the company and the shop is re-imbursed for their labor and parts. And since that is their main function I am just wondering why they needed spurring.

Thanks.

 

The brake light started getting water in it last June, I had it in to have them repair it 3 times, and each time after 2-3 days at the dealer, they called to say that they didn't actually have the part, and would need to order it. The last time I was there they promised to call the moment the part came in. I followed up every month and each time they had forgotten about it. Two weeks ago I escalated to the dealerships management, and the miraculously had the part in stock, but had forgotten to call me. My car is currently at the dealer, and I'm expecting it back tomorrow with everything but the window leak fixed. For the window they have to order a part that should be in next week sometime.

I've never had this many problems with a car. I'm mostly frustrated because my car has been operating in a damaged condition since 3 weeks after I drove it off the lot.

 

I don't think any of your problems would warrant lemoning the car but I can see how so many little problems would make owning a Mini seem like a nightmare. Mini's are not know for initial quality but if you can finally get all the quirks ironed out I know you'll continue to love your car. Keep pressing them and if you get those surveys online or by phone be honest!

 

When I bought my Clubman at end of March '09, I was expecting that there would be some issues, compared to basically none with each Honda I have owned. But I went into this with at least that attitude. Actually, I have been pleasantly surprised that I have had no real issues. I have not been back to the dealership since picking up my car. I recently scheduled my 1 year appointment for Apr 3rd since my service mileage indicator still has another 5-6K miles left (so the calander year comes first).

My thought also is that if you eventually are going to be off warranty, purchasing a new car from an expensive dealership is going to have relatively high maintenance costs ...it just goes with the territory. So, that is another thing to consider when buying a car from a BMW dealership versus perhaps a Dodge, Ford or Honda.

If I go back eons ago when I had other than Hondas, I do recall initial car issues. A Ford Pinto I had purchased new had some trim/workmanship issues which they resolved quickly, though, kind of rinky dink using glue. A shock absorber clunking noise they did not diagnose correctly I ahd to live with that for over a year until another dealership had the smarts to find the root cause. Extremely high oil burning they thought was normal for an overhead cam engine back in those early days but eventually turned out to be defective oil stem seals. The Dodge Caravan was not an expensive car to maintain since there were many recalls and issues covered under warranty and then extended recalls to 100K miles for completely inferior anti-lock brake system requiring it to be replaced the first day out of the dealership and then twice more during it's lifetime. We knew the service mechanics on a first name basis but I have to admit the car did not cost us all that much to maintain. Oh ! The auto transmission also went but was covered under extended warranty !

So.....now approaching 14K miles on my Clubman and so far it has been fine.

My thought is that you definitely have more than your share of initial issues. Most seem to be the type that once resolved will hopefully not show themselves again. Hopefully, you then can regain confidence that you will be troublefree for a good period of time. That is probably what we are all hoping for as we log on the miles and years on our MINIs.

 

So lets see, that seems to equal 3 problems if i am not mistaken.

1. Third Brake Light - Water getting in
2. Window Dipper Problem - extremely common on this car Check the number of threads about it.
3. Clutch Pedal - Squeak and Catch - also something that many have complained about.

Now I am not saying that you should have to bring the car back for these issues and that maybe you have had no repairs needed on other cars you have bought but take a look at ANY other forum for ANY other manufacturer and you will find complaints much greater than these. In fact just look here and you will find people that have had many more problems than the small number (3) that you have had.

Now as to why the dealer could not or would not fix the third brake light I can not say. But it is "definitely" not something that would be a lemon law issue as to use the lemon law the problem must "substantially impair the use, market value, or safety of the vehicle". A working but wet brake light does not meet that criteria.

As for the other problems as they have both been fixed (although you may find the window problem come back again as many do), they also do not meet the criteria.

Be careful in using the "lemon law" as a means of trying to get the car fixed as it may just turn the dealer off and then they may not fix any part of the car for you.

 

I agree that individually none of the problems is major. That said, when you combine them, they start to feel that way. Its incredibly frustrating to have a new car that has been either in the repair shop, or awaiting a part every day since about three weeks after I bought it.

I'm getting it back today, and it still won't be completely fixed. The dealer says that they have fixed everything but the passenger side window leak. They have ordered the part they need to fix that, and in theory, they will call me when it comes in.

 

Sounds to me like either you need to be a bit more proactive about your repairs (9 months to get a part?), or find another dealer that will take your concerns seriously and fix your car right the first time.....

But the three repairs you mentioned do not seem like much to me - I mean, you want a new car because of a squeak in the clutch pedal?????

Gimme a break.....

 

What part are they telling you they need to order?

Where is the water leaking in? (picture would be helpful)

And BTW the design on the window gaskets works VERY well for normal rain and water during driving but it you spray the High Pressure water from the hand car wash at it "IT WILL LEAK"

If it is a window motor I can see where it may take a day to get the part but it should only take one day. If it is something else they may be just blowing smoke at you to get you to go away because they have not figured out what is leaking.

 

First Off. I am very sorry to hear you are having issues. With a new car, you expect (and rightly so) that you won't have any.

I do want to chime in on the lemon law however. I have personal experience with this. Back in 2004 I was unlucky enough to purchase one of the first 200 Pontiac GTO's off the assembly line. Within the first 4k miles my clutch was replaced by the dealership 3 times. The clutch went the first time at just 1.2k miles. I was in contact with Pontaic (which were aware of the QC issues) and the Attorney General for the state of NH. I was told that they would not enact the lemon law unless the dealership and the manufacturer were unwilling to keep working with me. After three interior, transmission and exhaust removals the car was old before its time. The dealership graciously helped get me out of the car.

 

Now see, I could see invoking the Lemon law on something like this, where the car has had a major driveline problem that will keep the car off the road.

Did they ever figure out what was wrong, why the clutch kept failing? Sounds like a misalignment problem between the engine and trans.....

 

The shop down here has had to order parts, too. But they seem to have a way of getting them the next day. They've not had to keep the car for more than a few hours -- one overnight where I dropped it off late in the afternoon and picked it up about lunchtime the next day. Mini seems to be better than most at getting parts to the repair shops very quickly.

I'm wondering if the question to Mini upper management might be better posed as: "Why does it take so long to get simple parts?" A center brake light should be a very simple replacement procedure. Its hard to imagine the car being down or even being kept for that repair. Something seems to be amiss at the dealer end there.

 

First, I have never said that I want Mini to replace the car under the lemon law. I invoked it with the dealer when the brake light issue "fell through the cracks" for the fourth time. I called them every month asking about the brake light, and it wasn't until I invoked the possibility of a lemon law claim that the part was miraculously in stock. Second, I would happily go to another dealer, but the next closest one is two hours away, and from everything I have heard, that dealership is completely unresponsive if you didn't buy your car from them.

My frustration is with the number of problems, the length of time to get them resolved, and the total lack of customer service that I have seen from either the dealer or MINI USA. I expected to have a higher number of problems than normal with this car, but I don't think anyone should consider the number of problems Ive experienced to be either normal or no big deal.

I've said it before, I love my car. When it is not at the dealer for repairs. If the dealer hadn't dropped the ball repeatedly, if anyone at customer relations seemed to care, and if I had a fully working vehicle, I wouldn't be considering trading it in.

Now, I have the car back, and everything but the leak is repaired. The leak is between the two passenger side doors, and requires a new interior trim piece. Once again the dealer has promised to call when it comes in. It remains to be seen if they will actually do it.

 

That is one thing that makes me a bit sad about the MINI brand - the spotty quality of the local dealerships. I keep reading all these horror stories about the trouble people have with their local dealerships. I'm fortunate in that mine is outstanding (imo) when it comes to customer service. Mine was just in for a repair that took a week, mostly waiting for a part to get shipped over from Germany. Annoying, but to the dealerships credit they were calling me every day to give me an update and they had provided a loaner.

I have to place this on MINI USA. They should insist on a better, more consistent customer experience across all of their dealerships.

Hope things work out for you on the last repair and it is a long time before you have to go back in for anything.

 

It sounds to me like your car has had an above average number of relatively minor problems. But the biggest thing that's wrong isn't the car, it's the dealership. I would expect them to get a part in a couple of days (you know darn well that's possible-a VIP athlete would have his part today) and be called to have it fixed asap. That's reasonable. The owner having to call multiple times and basically being blown off is bad news. So whoever is running the repair dept there is bad news. Case closed. I'd go elsewhere and tell whoever runs the deal why and where you are going, and ask them also how you can lodge a formal complaint about their crummy service so as to make your frustration officially recorded. What kills me are the stories from car owners who get the short end and then the service mgr. begs them not to diss them on the followup survey stating "if you give us bad marks it costs us money." Like you really care.

 

if you called them after a month and the answer was we forgot. I personally would have been on the phone to them EVERY DAY after that until the problem was solved not wait another month to call them back.

Most dealers order warranty repair parts daily and get them in the next day normally. If the part is not instock in the US warehouse and has to come from Germany it may take up to a week for the part to arrive. If they do not call you and tell you the part is in within 3 days then they need to be called.

IMHO your lack of getting on the dealership is your own fault. But along with that the dealer should have done a better job, but if you don't make them do it many will not.

Again, I only count 3 am I missing something???????

Well in the world of MINI 3 is a can be a very small number. And i personaly know a bunch (more than 10) of people that have had more than three problems with their new cars of any make or model in less than a month, even the supposed perfect Toyota.

Knowing intimately how the gaskets work between the passenger door window and the club door window IMHO replacing any part there, they will not correct your problem unless the gasket is ripped and pieces are missing. Most likely the problem is that the club door window is out of place. This is a 15 minute fix. All the dealer has to do it take the interior panels off the club door and adjust it.

If they have not contacted you with it three days then IMHO you need to call them, get on their case and find out why they have not received the part.

 

They asked you to leave the car at their dealership for 2-3 days to replace a 3rd brake light. It takes less than 1 book hr to replace it, why would they ask that of you ?

SA's don't normally schedule appointments unless they know or are assured by the parts dept, that the part needed will be in as well. And parts usually arrive by 7AM each morning. Sorry but none of this makes any sense.

 

I agree that the main problem is the dealer. The local dealer is unresponsive at best. I would love to go to another dealer, but the next closest mini dealer is more than 2 hours away in good traffic. In bad traffic it can be closer to 4. The local dealership doesn't book specific service times. They only book drop off times. They do provide loaners, but the loaner may or may not be a mini, and is likely to be a Toyota. I have spoken to several other local mini owners, and their experience with the dealer has been that it is impossible to get them to do anything in less than 2 days without divine intervention or extreme good luck.

I've complained to MINI corporate about the dealer. If I had the time to drive to Richmond, or DC for service I would. Unfortunately Checkered Flag is the only game in town and they know it. I will likely keep my Clubman because it is one of the most fun cars I've ever owned. However, unless the service improves dramatically, or we get another MINI dealer nearby, I will look to another brand when the time comes to replace it.

 

You should be very thankful that you have a MINI dealer so close. My dealer is 1 hour 15 minutes away but only if i leave my house at 5am. If i leave at 5:30 the drive becomes easily 2 hours and any later than 5:30 it becomes 2-1/2 to 3 hours. Some of my MINI owning friends drive over 4 hours on the best of days as they are 230+ miles from the closest dealer. And there are many that do drive that kind of distance.

As for the dealer being so bad Complain on a daily basis to MINI USA every day that the parts have not arrived. The only way a dealership like that will get any better IMHO is to make repeated complaints. I'm sure you have heard the phrase "The Sqeaky Wheel ..." well it is true.

 

I don't want to sidetrack this thread. I will make a brief comment. The issue with the GTO was the torque spec for the bolts for the clutch plate assembly. It was listed as inch pounds instead of foot pounds. Pontiac was able to correct some of the early ones before they were transported here from Australia but not the first 200 oil so. The other issue was synthetic vs. dino fluid which caused a major issue and another replacement. After that it was probably damage from reassembling a third time. I know the interior was trashed from being taken apart so many times.

 

I thought I'd post an update. My clubman has finally got all of the problems fixed. The dealership continued to be a pain until I contacted a couple of people at BMW North America's corporate HQ. Once they got involved, everything happened much faster, there were apologies, and the dealer has compensated me for the problems on their end. I'm still hoping that we get another MINI dealer nearby but I'm no longer thinking of trading my car in.