Getting the shaft from the local Mini dealer.

[Rick Lee]

My wife's Mini is about 115 miles shy of going off warranty and the steering is feeling pretty shaky. So I told her to drop it off at the dealer and tell them to check all bushings. This is what they come back with:

Needs:

front tires - $334
one rear tire - $167
fuel filter - $249
coolant flush - $149
power steering flush
4 wheel alignment - $149
fuel injector flush - $99
accessrory drive belt - $159
power steeting flush - $129
engine decarbon flush - $99
manual transmission fluid flush - $149 (she has auto trans.)

Total is $1950 after taxes and shop supplied.

How insane is this?

BTW, Wayne, I want to order parts from you, but your Mini tab comes up "page cannot be displayed." So I'll send her to Discount Tire for the front tires. Rear tires are relatively new and I can't see how one of them needs replacing. I'll get an alignment from an indie. I figure we'll have it all done for well under $500 and I can DIY most of the little stuff in no time. BTW, don't BMW and Mini have "lifetime" transmission fluid? Why should it need changing and why should we pay for it?

[JavaBrewer]

They forgot the blinker fluid replacement @ $398 and muffler bearings at @ $198...

Find an independent service shop once the warranty is up.

[TRE Cup]

when i had my 03 S, (in warranty) i took it in for routine service. I get a call from the service mgr ( a very deft bloke complete with english accent to impress the proper mini spirit upon me ) and was informed that my car needed the major service and that would cost me over $750 .

Hmm..." what does that include? " I ask. Well, there are filters, plugs, and pages of work to be done. But actual replacement of parts are plugs, fluids, and filters for $750 ?!? Uh, yes, but all this other work needs to performed too ! You mean LOOKING at the items on the check list ? Silence......

What is covered by warranty? Ok- do just those items (faulty window switch, adjust rear hatch) and I will take care of the rest

Took my tech (who works on Porsches) about an hour and the car ran like a watch.

Dealers are putting it to their clients these days with all these "value added services" in the effort to keep showing a larger profit. I pity the people that fall for this shtick

[Steve Carlton]

Check to see if they have a special on the wallet flush.

[pwd72s]

Aren't minis made by BMW?

[ChkbookMechanic]

MINIs are made by BMW so I'm not surprised they're trying to hose you like you own a BMW. Just do the filters, spark plugs, etc. by yourself. You can even get the code reader and service reset device for $130 from Peake Research.

My experience with BMW was so bad I will never own a BMW (or MINI) again.

[BeyGon]

I wouldn't let a dealer touch my car unless it is warranty work.

[Rick Lee]

I thought it might be warranty work, but they made no mention of worn bushings. And that's why we let them do nothing else, but wash the car before my wife picked it up. When the winshield fluid reservoir was leaking, I took it in and told them to fix it. They said the rigth ball joint looked wet, replaced it and left the windshield fluid reservoir alone. They didn't bother to think the ball joint my be getting dripped on from the leaky reservoir. Unreal. Dealer service receipts detract from value IMHO.

[grudk]

I needed a couple rims/tires for my mini after falling into one of LA's massive pot holes lately. Was quoted close to two grand by the dealer, and got it taken care of for under $800 on my own (still WAY too much for this kind of car, IMO).

Fun car to drive, but quality and service do not impress me... won't be going with a BMW product again

[RWebb]

Do not call - write (certified mail), Email or Fax only. Fax is nice b/c it is fast and you can prove they got it.

Write them it has yada yada problem with the steering and that you expect that to be repaired as warranty work.

Then escalate to the General Mgr. - then Regional Repr. and beyond. They sound like they are gonna make you fight for it, so do that. Mentioning the words "Magnusen-Moss Warranty Act" may help.

Critical thing is to have the report in BEFORE the warranty is over.

Once out of warranty they may still have to fix it.

Avoid them after the warranty expires and write a nice letter to the Region telling them why.

Finally, contemplate the slight chance it really is NOT a warranty problem - bad tires or some such.

No doubt they replaced the ball joints b/c they got paid well by the Region to do so...

[Don Plumley]

My experience is the opposite. I had to replace a water pump on my Mini about 4 months and a few thousand miles out of warranty. Couldn't do it at a dealer as I was in the middle of Harvest. I asked for the old water pump back, packaged it up and shipped it to the President of BMW North America. A few days later a check for $1K showed up. BMW has my loyalty.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by Don Plumley

My experience is the opposite. I had to replace a water pump on my Mini about 4 months and a few thousand miles out of warranty. Couldn't do it at a dealer as I was in the middle of Harvest. I asked for the old water pump back, packaged it up and shipped it to the President of BMW North America. A few days later a check for $1K showed up. BMW has my loyalty.

I'm not complaining about something breaking and then Mini/BMW not stepping up to fix it. I'm talking about taking a car in to have them check suspension bushings and then getting an estimate back for $1950 for stuff that's unrelated to the problem I asked them to check out. In fact, they made no mention of having even looked at the suspension bushings in their "Recommended Action Plan." Nevermind they said the "manual transmission" fluid was dirty when my wife's car is not manual or that their tranny fluid is supposed to be "lifetime". What are the realistic odds they took a sample of the ATF in the car and really checked it? None! Engine decarbon flush for $99? Isn't that just adding a $10 can of BG44K? This stuff is just insulting and I'm sure plenty of women who don't have mechanically inclined SO's just pay up or really worry about getting the money together to fix stuff that ain't broke.

[TGTIW]

Just your typical dealer/repair facility attempt to upsell. Flushes are always the most profitable, very little labor involved.

[jwhcars]

All the flush this flush that is nothing more than profit padding the RO. As stated above "you need a major sevice" and when you read what they are going to do it is nothing more than a glorified oil change, filters changed and maybe plugs. I let the dealer change the oil a few times on my Mini just so I had it on record that I had service done by them other than just warranty work. I did this because should I have had a problem the dealers tend to work harder to get something approved under warranty if it is borderline or shortly after the warranty is expired.

[Rick Lee]

Pouring a can of carbon cleaner into the gas tank is significantly less labor than filling the car up with gas and way less than the free hand car wash you get anytime you go to the dealer for anything.

[Rick Lee]

BTW, I wonder how many people with 993's ever had their cars in for an oil change or spark plug change where the stealer didn't touch the big filter or #6 intake plug. The owner would never be the wiser without do the same amount of labor to check on it. I know I've found plenty of cut corners in cars for which I had dealer receipts and the work was never or just partially done.

[dhoward]

So, did you just let them slide?

[asphaltgambler]

........I dunno.......I always flush every possible fluid in the vehicles for MY customers when checking for a front end issues or vibrations..............works !!

[Rick Lee]

Obviously, I'm not gonna pay them for anything, told my wife to go get her car and I'm about to place an order with Pelican (if Wayne would get that Mini tab fixed).

About 18 mos. ago the battery in my 330i died and I thought it would be under CPO warranty, so I took it to the dealer. They said batteries weren't covered. So I asked for my keys back. The service adv. said, "But don't you want a new battery?" I said of course, but that I'd go get one and install it myself. He said, "Man, two things I'd never mess with aftermarket parts are BMW batteries and brakes." I reminded him that BMW doesn't make batteries or brakes and that they sub that out to others. I wasn't even that stupid before I started working on cars.

[dhoward]

By letting them slide, I mean not calling them out on it. Getting more management involved.
They didn't perform the work you requested, just tried to upsell.
I NEVER let that slide. I would be in the GM's office.