[jef the ref]

I reckon I got the Lemon!!!

My car has been into the dealer 3 times since bought in March. I have had around 12 different problems with it and a few re-occuring to include the diesel racket that my engine makes when cold that Mini claim is a CHARACTERISTIC of the mini, the squeel when changing from 3rd to 2nd and the growling vibration when accelerating from low revs.

Also had new sunroof, xenons too high, Ipod adapter fault, lumber adjust broke, seat squeek, window rattle, windscreen whistles at high speed, center arm rest squeek/loose, 2 alloys de-lacquer, cruise turn off/on by itself, and more rattles than Mothercare.

My dealer wont give me a courtesy car unless I insure it Fully Comp. My insurance company wont insure me unless the car is in my name.

The car was an ex-demo and as such was one of the 1st off the production line, could it be they rushed the build just to get it into a showroom?

I love the car apart from all its problems but I would love a perfect one more. I am seriously considering ditching Mini and going back to Audi (enough said). However, I probably stand to lose about £5k if I trade in, obviously I dont want that.

I sent an e-mail to mini customer services yesterday at 9am detailing my issues and asking them to ring me, got an automated reply...

I phoned them this afternoon 3.30pm to ask wheher they are progressing my complaint. I was told that someone was at present compiling a response and I should receive tomorrow morning.

I was hoping someone may have the number of someone fairly high up within Mini's customer service/lack of service department so I can get a solution to my problems with their faulty vehicle.

I just know that I am going to get fobbed off in their response.

Any advice would be much appreciated..

Stuart

[iain cooper]

you would think that you would be able to have this car rejected and replaced.

there are a few "rejection" experts on this forum, hopefully they will advise you accordingly.

[Stiggy]

Quote: Originally Posted by jef the ref (original)

more rattles than Mothercare.

That's funny!

Who's the dealer? Name and shame!

[dlpruk]

Quote: Originally Posted by jef the ref (original)

My dealer wont give me a courtesy car unless I insure it Fully Comp. My insurance company wont insure me unless the car is in my name.

I've never had that response.

Direct Line charged me just £7.50 for two day's fully comp on a dealer's demo Cooper D when I was shopping around and all they wanted to know was it's registration, colour and the dealer's valuation - with a £100 excess I'd have been liable for in the event of a claim.

[Richard Korby]

Prepare for fobbing !

[jef the ref]

I have been fobbedoff, suprise suprise...

Dear Mr Robinson

Thank you for your email dated October 29, 2007. I am sorry to learn of the issues you have been experiencing with your MINI Cooper S.

I can appreciate your frustrations regarding these issues and I apologise for any upset this may have caused. MINI take pride in the quality build of our vehicle range and it is always disappointing to learn that a customer has experienced a fault with their vehicle. Although MINI use only the highest quality parts and component s in the build of each vehicle, we are realistic and appreciate that, due to their electrical and mechanical nature, components may still fail.

With regards to the use of a courtesy vehicle, the MINI Warranty Policy does not have the provision to provide courtesy vehicles. These are supplied by the repairing dealership under their own terms and conditions. MINI UK do not have courtesy vehicles so we will be unable to assist you with your request.

I have spoken to Mr James Kelly, Service Advisor at Bluebell in Crewe and he has advised me that they have already arranged for you to be supplied with a replacement vehicle. The vehicle was made available as of Monday October 29, but it has not been collected by yourself. If you still wish to take the vehicle, please contact the dealership to arrange this.

I trust that this information is useful in progressing your concerns and if you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely

MINI UK
Vicky Allcock
Customer Service Executive
Ellesfield Avenue
Bracknell RG12 8TA
Tel: 0870 5050 122
Fax: 0540 5050 205
Email: customer.service@mini.co.uk
URL: MINI - HOME


any advice on my next step greatly appreciated....

[Mini-Trainer]

Quote: Originally Posted by jef the ref (original)

I reckon I got the Lemon!!!

My car has been into the dealer 3 times since bought in March. I have had around 12 different problems with it and a few re-occuring to include the diesel racket that my engine makes when cold that Mini claim is a CHARACTERISTIC of the mini, the squeel when changing from 3rd to 2nd and the growling vibration when accelerating from low revs.

Also had new sunroof, xenons too high, Ipod adapter fault, lumber adjust broke, seat squeek, window rattle, windscreen whistles at high speed, center arm rest squeek/loose, 2 alloys de-lacquer, cruise turn off/on by itself, and more rattles than Mothercare.

My dealer wont give me a courtesy car unless I insure it Fully Comp. My insurance company wont insure me unless the car is in my name.

The car was an ex-demo and as such was one of the 1st off the production line, could it be they rushed the build just to get it into a showroom?

I love the car apart from all its problems but I would love a perfect one more. I am seriously considering ditching Mini and going back to Audi (enough said). However, I probably stand to lose about £5k if I trade in, obviously I dont want that.

I sent an e-mail to mini customer services yesterday at 9am detailing my issues and asking them to ring me, got an automated reply...

I phoned them this afternoon 3.30pm to ask wheher they are progressing my complaint. I was told that someone was at present compiling a response and I should receive tomorrow morning.

I was hoping someone may have the number of someone fairly high up within Mini's customer service/lack of service department so I can get a solution to my problems with their faulty vehicle.

I just know that I am going to get fobbed off in their response.

Any advice would be much appreciated..

Stuart

I've just read your post very carefully, and it is well known fact that I can complain for Britain.

The downside is that if your dealer is prepared to rectify your vehicles problems then theirs very little your can do as a customer.
As long as they are seen to be doing something then they have a strong argument even if it did get back to BMW HQ.

I'm sure you'll get the odd one or two posting on M2 demanding that you should get your money back from the dealer or even BMW, forget that it'll never happen

Lets face it, realistically systems are put in place on purpose to make you jump through hoops and make complaining for you a very long drawn out process.
This has the effect on your perseverance, do you go on with your crusade or do you just stay quiet and go for the easier less time consuming alternative of not writing letters, organising meetings with the Dealer Principle, phone calls etc etc.

It's wrong I know, when you've purchased a product by which you have paid 'X' amount for and esp when it's your hard earned cash it can be very frustrating to keep going backwards and forwards with your Friday Afternoon car.

I know this only too well with this new car of mine, it's not anything mechanical wrong with it but just little niggles with it that should of been 100% before I even picked it up.

So the upshot of what I've said is this...
Get the BMW Dealer to fix all problems listed on a sheet pre-prepared by yourself

If you want to complain, write a letter explaining your dissapointment/disillusionment with the product purchased, keeping it to the facts and not digressing too much into personal hardship.
Make 3 copies of this letter and send them too
Dealer Principle
Service Manager
BMW UK
Make them aware where the other 2 copies have gone.


I hope that you get some advice from this post please Acknowledge it accordingly.

Many Thanks

Rams

[jef the ref]

Thanks for your advice Rams.

It is very easy to get all hot and flustered and rant and rave which is what I have been very tempted to do. I have taken on board your advice and I will be writing the 3 letters to send out shortly.

Much appreciated

Stuart

[Mini-Trainer]

Quote: Originally Posted by Mini-Trainer (original)

The downside is that if your dealer is prepared to rectify your vehicles problems then theirs very little your can do as a customer.
As long as they are seen to be doing something then they have a strong argument even if it did get back to BMW HQ.

Quote: Originally Posted by jef the ref (original)

I have spoken to Mr James Kelly, Service Advisor at Bluebell in Crewe and he has advised me that they have already arranged for you to be supplied with a replacement vehicle. The vehicle was made available as of Monday October 29, but it has not been collected by yourself. If you still wish to take the vehicle, please contact the dealership to arrange this.

Your now the bad Guy Ay? LOL

Hmm I must be clairvoyant

[jef the ref]

I did not take the vehicle because I could not insure it, they were aware of this and offered no alternative solution.

[CC07ERS]

you wont get a refund now axs its over 6months old. As for taking a hit ,i lost 4 k in 4 months

[Mini-Trainer]

Quote: Originally Posted by jef the ref (original)

I did not take the vehicle because I could not insure it, they were aware of this and offered no alternative solution.

I understand your decision to write those letters because I would do the same thing.

But have a clear goal in mind of what you want, I'm afraid if your after a new car, it means Suing BMW Crewe, and you simply don't have a strong enough case.

To get a new car from BMW ........................................ Would be as likely as having the CEO of BMW a Mr Bernd Pischetsrieder, singing all four verses of God save the Queen, at the Crewe dealership riding a unicycle handing you a set of keys to a new M5.

If he does....
Get some photos for me!!!

~Rams

[jef the ref]

I will hold you to that, LOL.

[Mini-Trainer]

Quote: Originally Posted by jef the ref (original)

I will hold you to that, LOL.

The best of Luck kidda, one day you'll become as cynical about the system as I am

[jef the ref]

I am not after a refund, I just want a car I can trust.

It seems every other week something else goes wrong, my enjoyment is marred by the fact that I will never 100% trust it like I did my Golf, A3 and Toyota MR2.

I do not understand why I should be put out when the problems lye purely with Mini.

[JG.26]

It's a little shame that the car is over 6 months old, however with so many faults I would have rejected the car alot sooner. I'm not quite sure how BMW say they can pride themeselves on quality etc etc with regard to the MINI, same old problems of poor build and too many reoccuring faults , the reason why I didn't go for another MINI When I chat to a guy who works for BMW and who says the the latest MINI is poorly desighned, poorly built etc it kinda sealed it for me. Ironically the 207CC I took delivery off I rejected and was very surprised with my dealer and Peugeots response. The rejection wasn't questioned and a new car ordered straight away. At the end of the day it's very much down to your dealer and how much they are prepared to support your rejection in returning the car back to the manufacturer.

If its true the one thing I learn't between Peugeot and BMW is, Peugeots rejected cars I understand are sent back to Coventry and they are put on an online Auction, wheres BMW patch the cars up the best they can and theyre back on the forecourt for the next unasuming customer

[Mini-Trainer]

Quote: Originally Posted by jef the ref (original)

I am not after a refund, I just want a car I can trust.

It seems every other week something else goes wrong, my enjoyment is marred by the fact that I will never 100% trust it like I did my Golf, A3 and Toyota MR2.

I do not understand why I should be put out when the problems lye purely with Mini.

As a specail for you Stuart I'll proof read your letter before you send it, that's if you would like me too.
Send it to my usual email address provided on my profile

Rams

[KenL]

The problems lie directly with your dealer. Your contract is with them, not with MINI.

Have a look at the sticky thread about rejecting your car.

The info about it being more than six months old means you can't get a replacement car is not true, it just might be more difficult to secure a rejection at no cost to you.

However, if I were you, I would write a strongly (& politlely) worded letter to the dealer principal outlining the faults and that you expect them to be fully and finally fixed within a certain timescale.

If they cannot fix them, as for a replacement new vehicle. They may expect you to pay something as you have covered a lot of miles, but this is something you should try to negotiate down to a level you are happy with. If however, you've had problems since day 1, I would insist on a replacement at no cost to you.

I still say go for getting the car fixed if you can.

[pubert]

Hi,

What KenL said is right, we rejected our mini after having it nearly 9 month, and we had
to pay an amount towards a new mini. We gave up writing to MINI UK because they always
refered us back to our dealer.

Eventually we got so fed up with our car we went in to our dealer and told the chap who
sold it us we wanted to reject it, he went and got the sales manager and we had a very
friendly talk with him about the problems we had, how we did'nt enjoy our car/driving
anymore and we did'nt think it was fit for purpose, we then explained that we wanted to
either reject the car or give it back to them.

To our surprise he did agree the rejection, but did say there would be some amount of
money to pay because of the shortfall in the cars value, he did also say though, that they,
the dealer and MINI UK, would make a contribution to the shortfall.

In the end , they estimated the shortfall to be £4000.00, we paid £1500 and mini uk and the
dealer paid the remainder. we did also spec some more stuff on the car..

I've got to say though, this was well worth it, we now have the 08 model car, that works like
a dream with no problems at all, it is a bit gutting having to have to pay towards something,
that if the original car had been alright we would'nt have needed, but like I said well worth
it in the long run.

Pubert

[FergusM]

Quote: Originally Posted by jef the ref (original)

more rattles than Mothercare.

Been hearing there is a mini offical "felt kit" that can be fitted to the dash to get rid of all known squeaks... Think I'll have to get this fitted to mine and see if it solves one of the issues I have.