Hi all, my car (2006 MCS) front ended another car about a year ago, the body shop replaced radiator and condenser, among other stuff.

3 months later, I was told it had coolant leak while doing oil change. According to the body shop, it was caused by an after market radiator, so they went ahead with another after market (As most insurance companies usually do), which only lasted 1 month (I noticed because engine temperature started to hit red line quite often). They installed a second after market one, which lasted 2 months before started to leak and overheat again.

This time I had enough, and insisted an OEM, which held up fine for about 7 month.

Last week while driving on free way, I heard a big "POP" and noticed steam came out of the hood, accompanied by guess what? my favorite engine overheating!
I had my Mini towed to be body shop, they said the POP was caused by a blowup coolant expansion tank, so they swapped with a new one and claimed it was fixed.

However the damn thing still overheat after leaving the body shop about half mile, after some thorough diagnose by official Mini technician, they concluded that it was caused by a defect water pump and thermostat, and quote me $800 for the whole thing.

After all those drama, I have been thinking, since the engine has been overheating multiple times, wouldn't that very likely be the culprit of those breakdown? As each overheating undoubtedly put a lot of stress on the whole heat/cool circulation system, the blowup coolant expansion tank just happened to be the weakest link to give up.

I'm definitely going to fight for the hell of my life , and would love to hear some opinions on how to fight effectively. Since some problem was the result of some earlier problem (it's like a chain action), which likely would be denied by body shop or insurance company. I need to be prepared with the right strategy.

Thanks in advance and have a nice day!

Hong

 

Just a thought: you may have a defective thermostat AND coolant tank cap. Engine gets a little too hot, cap doesn't release excessive pressure which leads to leaking radiators, exploding coolant tanks, overheating, etc.

 

OEM parts should be covered for 1 year. Other than that, you probably won't get any concession. An observation: In this day and age of "do it quick and get it out of here", most shops don't take the time to properly diagnose a problem and, once finished, check their work. But, on the other hand, it behooves the owner to pay due diligence. If your car is overheating, there's a reason. It won't get better by itself.

 

One tip....
If the coolant system does not have the air bleed out of it...it will overheat!! Unlike some cars, the mini DOES NOT SELF BLEED....there are two bleed screws to open......
Multiple overheats cans cause a blown head gasket...
The stock cap SHOULD release pressure..thereby venting excess fluid/psi in an overheat....but they tend to crack with age...loosing fluid slowly....
So fist step...new tank and cap, and get it bleed by a competent person.
If rads are bursting....sounds like you have issues...maybe had a bad cap....
Many shops use those $100 aftermarket rads as opposed to the $300 OEM....longterm might not be the same...but certainly a 5 year life or less would be unusual...
Wonder what else you having going on....
Sounds like the shop is just incompetent... Then again they ARE A BODY SHOP....so they know how to change parts....
Try a mini centric repair shop?

 

This particular shop is called Smythe European Collision Center, they are actually located right besides MINI of Stevens Creek, and their service manager is a buddy of the supervisor of the Mini service department. After my first crash, I have my car towed to the Mini dealer ship, who referred to the Smythe body shop. As you can see they have very close relationship.

I'm wondering probably I should insist Mini body shop in the first place, but again Mini did the arrangement automatically so I don't really have a choice.

Anyhow I have been having good relationship with the body shop, they're very accommodating, and offered me free Mercedes for quite some time. They basically blamed the insurance company for choosing non-OEM parts.

In the worst case I might try to get some discount from either the body shop or insurance company (knock on wood). I might even try to do it my self. However I'll try my best to not to have them get away so easily.

I'm going to have some discussion with a Mini technician next week to see what options they can offer, thanks ZippyNH for some inside tips.

Have a nice day!