Mini Nightmare - now with headoffice

Dave_6

Friend bought a mini from a main dealers 2 weeks ago, 54 plate

since then, it was louder at idle after a few days so she had them look at it. They said a new gearbox was needed and would need to be booked in sometime

she got it back later that day and they had left chewing gum on the seat, see thread here

http://www.mini2.com/forum/general-discussion/173973-chewy-stickey-situation.html

since then the power steering has also failed, twice, once while driving even though the salesman said it wasnt heard of for it to fail while driving.



original dealers picked the car up and drove it back with the dodgy power steering and have now taken the gearbox out and looked at the clutch aswell, we originally thought the problem was with the clutch

Service advisor rang earlier and said the clutch is worn and needs replacing


Charlie then rang the salesman and his manager to check it was covered and at their cost and they refused to cover it saying the clutch is fine and is up to mini standards.

They said they disagreed with their advisor and looked at the clutch themselves and said it looks fine and they would put it back in the car if it was them. The salesman said he used to be a mechanic so knows his stuff.... so what


He contradicted himself many times first saying yes it makes sense to change the clutch while the gearbox is out, then saying he'd fit it back in as its fine.
They said the service advisor was just trying to UP SELL, basically its fine to rip a customer off and get money out of them but when its at dealers cost a worn clutch is fine to put back in

they refused to move on the clutch change and said not even as a good will gesture will he do it as he claimed he only made £203 profit on the car and the clutch would be £170 odd


Ended up writing to headoffice about it all, but the garage have now put pressure on things saying they want to put the car back together tomorrow and get their hire car back asap


she was originally happy to maybe pay for just the clutch cost and for it to be changed but not after all the problems, 2 weeks of ownership, and the power steering failing aswell


nightmare




There is other stuff aswell but i've rushed this, shes still not got the service history either as they forgot to put it in the folder when handing the car over!

manager today did say he'd rather buy the car back from her instead of changing the clutch but she looked for a while to find this car and traded her old one in, + they would probably try and only offer a silly amount back instead of the invoice price


so much for the pre-sales chat "the car will be checked over and any worn parts will be replaced" yea right


She has a years warranty as its BMW! but a clutch is classed as wear and tear and they are saying it doesnt need replacing and is fine to go back in. Even though their own service advisor saw it and said that its worn and needs replacing. surely what the advisor said goes and not what a salesman and his manager think lol, otherwise whats the point in having the technicians and advisors as you could take your car in and they could always say it looks fine and still works so its all fine.

and anyone mechanically minded knows that if the gearbox is out anyway then a new clutch may aswell go in!

I'm hoping headoffice see sense and that shes had the car 2 weeks so even though the clutch isnt covered under the warranty that they agree to it anyway after all the problems she's had.

Takoda

A while ago (more than a year maybe) Watchdog did a piece on Minis and their faults. At the time I was researching new cars and had thought seriously about the convertible mini as I like the look of them BUT after seeing that prog and doing a bit of internet research I totally changed my mind.

Wouldn't touch one with someone else's bargepole!

When you google mini and power steering problems it gets thousands of hits.

There's a special motoring section on MSE - you could put your question there as well. There are some very knowledgeable people on there - some are dealers/repairers themselves and are generous with their advice.

HTH

Tozer

She should protect her position by writing to the dealer formally rejecting the car as not being in compliance with section 14(2) Sale of Goods Act 1979.