Second hand car from dealership - massive repair bill consumer rights query

SPOD25

Dear Forum,
I bought a second hand mini in Oct 2024 from a reputable, nation wide mini dealership that undertook checks of the car prior to me purchasing it. I also took out their 12 month warranty to be extra peace of mind. In addition to easily fixed issues with a radio and fan belt, I identified an easily missed but significant problem that I identified in Dec (and notified the dealership on 2nd Jan). The problem is related to callipers and essentially corrosion. After getting the car checked twice (as the first check in Feb yielded no results - as the noise created is not permanent), I have heard that the repairs will cost me close to 3,000 GBP.  The warranty company refuses to cover as the issue is related to corrosion. I wanted to know if anyone had similar experiences and advice... do I have a leg to stand on? These significant problems started within a few months of having the car.
Thanks to all    

dr78

I got warranty with my car and I find it’s not worth anything they get out of any repair 😭

Wonka_2

Is this an approved used car from the Mini dealer network or something from an independent Mini specialist ? 

I had an issue with my last one where bleed nipples were corroded in place on rear calipers after a previous service. Finally got Mini/Sytner to split the costs between themselves and replace both calipers but had I bought outside the network I can’t imagine I’d have got anywhere with them. 

What’s the issue with yours and are you secure it’s not going to come under wear and tear ? 

fatbelly

Ignoring the warranty for a minute (which may well have a clause excluding this), you notified the dealer within 6 months of purchase. What do they say?

For context, can you give us approximate year, mileage and purchase price of car?

400ixl

What model of Mini is this? Must be one of the performance models to cost £3k to replace all 4 callipers.

What is the corrosion issue, if it is causing a noise then it is unlikely to be the bleed nipples and more likely the fitting of the pads into the callipers. Likely sorted with a wire brush or at worst a filing of the pad edges.

born_again

SPOD25 said:

Dear Forum,
I bought a second hand mini in Oct 2024 from a reputable, nation wide mini dealership that undertook checks of the car prior to me purchasing it. I also took out their 12 month warranty to be extra peace of mind. In addition to easily fixed issues with a radio and fan belt, I identified an easily missed but significant problem that I identified in Dec (and notified the dealership on 2nd Jan). The problem is related to callipers and essentially corrosion. After getting the car checked twice (as the first check in Feb yielded no results - as the noise created is not permanent), I have heard that the repairs will cost me close to 3,000 GBP.  The warranty company refuses to cover as the issue is related to corrosion. I wanted to know if anyone had similar experiences and advice... do I have a leg to stand on? These significant problems started within a few months of having the car.
Thanks to all    

Age of car
Miles when bought
Miles now

Does car spend a lot of time not moving?


If you are talking about surface rust on disks, which it does sound like given noise clears. 
This is normal on cars now due to the materials used in disk production.
Callipers also get surface corrosion & is not a issue at all, other than cosmetic.

SPOD25

Thanks all for the comments and support.
Mini Countryman - 10 years old.
I do not drive it much - 2 - 3 * a week locally (taking kids to clubs/ shopping etc).
Milage at purchase in Oct 2024: 59032 
Milage now - not sure as in garage but likley 200 - 250 miles

Issue explained to me is that the flexihose (attached to the calliper) was twisted, and although they can un-twist it, they can't reattach it to the breakline as the end of it is corroded. Hence the corrosion element that the warranty company are not interested in.

Yes, told the Mini dealership about the issue within 6 months - got the Mini end of Oct 2024/ early Nov (as there were issues with the radio) and issue raised in email early Jan 2025

any thoughts and advice would be most welcome. I purchased the car for 6-7,000GBP and so repairs of 3,000GBP seems mad... 

thanks

Ectophile

The purpose of aftermarket warranties is to distract you from your consumer rights.  The wording of them is such that they can weasel out of most large claims.

Your consumer rights are against the dealer, not the warranty company.  If the thing fails within 6 months, it is assumes to be the dealer's fault unless they can show otherwise.

fatbelly

^^
That's what I was going to say. I think there's enough of a case to say that this existed at the point of sale and they should fix it under the Consumer Rights Act

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/content/advice/how-does-the-consumer-rights-act-protect-you-when-you-buy-a-car

Wonka_2

SPOD25 said:

Yes, told the Mini dealership about the issue within 6 months - got the Mini end of Oct 2024/ early Nov (as there were issues with the radio) and issue raised in email early Jan 2025

any thoughts and advice would be most welcome. I purchased the car for 6-7,000GBP and so repairs of 3,000GBP seems mad... 

thanks

You refer to Mini dealership but still haven’t answered whether it’s a true part of the dealer network (in which case not sure why you’ve got an aftermarket warranty rather than Mini Approved Used https://approvedusedminis.co.uk/

What symptoms are you seeing that led to the investigation/discovery of the twisted lines ?

And whilst not disbelieving the figures I’ve just had pads/disks and all brake pipes replaced on a Porsche for less than that 

born_again

Is this the Mini Dealership (which one) that is quoting £3K to fix?

I would get a local independent garage to give you a quote.

Often twisted flex hose, has just twisted as someone has twisted it while putting calliper back on, so can be simply be untwisted easily.