I said I would post when I got to talk to the service survey followup person at MINI USA. Well, we spoke yesterday and they are not going to step up and pay for my clutch (see post 11 in this thread for my entire sad story).

I am just very sad. I loved my car and wanted to keep it for a very long time but I feel so cheated that I will probably not keep it very long. As I said before I am afraid to drive it. So much for German Engineering, warrantees or maintenance... Sigh.

 

Its not good to know that when a clutch fails after 18 months and 16K of normal driving, MINI will not cover it!!!!

I can feel the engagement point of my clutch moving up at a surprising rate after 9 months and 7K of normal driving. I like the car, but maybe its time to move on. I don't think I should have to worry about this kind of failure *and expense* on a new car!

This is a real black mark against MINI in my view.

 

Nah, it's not the engineering or warrantee. You just got a raw deal from the dealer and they got away with it.
If I could, I'd go raise hell for you and kick someone's butt.

Did you get the original back?

 

 

Yeah, I would have thought so, but that didn't work out so well for karenguthrie.

 

No. They said it was a wear item and not covered. I tried that.

 

Yes, I did get the original back but I have no idea what I am looking at. I still have it. If I was the kind of person that was prone to sue I would do it but I'm not. It is just not worth the time, money and agrivation it would cost.

 

I don't understand why you folks are so willing to accept Mini's determination of what the warranty covers. A warranty is a legally binding obligation. It covers defects in material and workmanship during the warranty period. If Mini does not honor the warranty, you can take them to court (small claims court in many cases) to enforce the warranty. I don't know whether a clutch wearing out at 15,000 miles is per se defective or not, but I'd sure find out. It sure sounds like a defect, although I suppose it's possible to wear it out through gross abuse. If that's what they are claiming, they should be prepared to prove it. If it's a defective part, it should be covered by warranty. As others have pointed out, even if it's not defective (wear is your fault), it may well still be covered under the maintenance agreement - you'll have to read the agreement and tell us what it says. I think part of the problem may be dealers trying to get payment from you rather than mini (probably, you pay them more than Mini does). If I had this problem, I'd read the entire warranty and maintenance agreement, get an independent opinion of whether there is a defect, write a demand letter to Mini, and if that didn't get a proper response, I'd sue them in court for breach of warranty. Check your small claims court limits. My guess is that you'll get a whole different reaction from Mini when they have to respond to a written demand latter or justify their actions to a judge. Remember that the squeeky wheel gets the grease - keep making a fuss until they give you want you deserve.

It is very distressing to see so many comments here about Mini not honoring their warranty obligations. So far, knock wood, I have had no problems with my new MCS.

 

 

If MINI really stands behind their maintance program, someone better call BMW of Irvine and let them know that they're undermining this program.

Talk's cheap, and that's all that there is to the maintance program, until you have to use it. I haven't had to use it yet, so I don't know if there's any substance behind the talk, but it sounds like people are having mixed results. I shouldn't have to depend on the luck of the draw to find out if normal (actually premature) wear will be covered, or will cost me several thousand dollars.

 

Your right, but this is exactly how they handle their biz.

 

Regarding the clutch, I'd normally keep that badboy hung in the garage because I had a awsome time wearing it out over the er years and it earned a sort of trophy status, but for you just to find out if the new one is gonna wear out just as fast (which I doubt).
If you do wear it out that fast again, you could consider the need to adjust your driving so you are not so hard on them.
Or 5 years or so from now when you have 75,000+ miles on the new clutch, you could send the original back to them trew a window . man I'd want to do that soooo bad. ..but seriously though, I'd remind them of the incident (even though they wouldn't realy give a sh-t) and cause a seen in some sort of way. hehehehe :smile:

Mods, where the heck is the EVIL smiley??? It's my fav.

 

All i have to say is......CSI.....Screw them that way