[myspeed]

Can ANYONE help with some advice PLEASE!
My warranty expired YESTERDAY and today the car failed its MOT because both track rod ends are "falling off".
The car has been cherished and only done 19000 miles.
After much discussion with my local garage and BMW central they agreed a goodwill gesture of free parts and half the labour which would cost me in total £169.
This seems a bit mean in my view. Has anyone had experience of better service on the day after warranty expired? I feel really aggrieved and disappointed in Mini.
Tony

[Paul]

To be honest, although you COULD try and push for more, the fact they could be considered "wear and tear" parts, I think that's pretty decent.

Maybe I'm going soft in my old age.

[Capsaisin]

Not the first time I've seen similar threads.
The moral of the story is to get yer MOT done BEFORE the warranty expires.

[Lawrothegreat]

It does seem a bit unfortunate, but I suppose there has to be a boundary somewhere. Sounds as though the dealer is offering some form of offer by giving you the parts for free. Good luck.

[MINIRichmond]

What is MOT?

[Capsaisin]

All cars here in the UK have to be inspected by a garage designated as a testing centre, every year for body/mechanical condition and exhaust emissions. This only applies to vehicles that are 3 years old or over.
As you might imagine, if your car is having it's first "test" to get its "MOT" (originally from the Ministry Of Transport vehicle test) you might get a nasty surprise after 3 years of unmolested motoring.

[weemark]

got to say they do seem to be offering you a good deal as it is out of warranty. HOWEVER i am surprised at the cost.. track rod ends shouldnt take more than 15 mins or so to change over per side - especially if you have a ramp and dont have to take the wheels off. they might set the tracking after fitting them but you can change them quite easily without having to set the tracking. I just cant see how all the labour should be £340 then parts on top..

[myspeed]

Apparently it takes them 4 hours to do all the tracking and alingment.
Grateful for the comments and feedback from everyone!
Thanks,
Tony

[Gillian Hogarth]

Quote: Originally Posted by Capsaisin

Not the first time I've seen similar threads.
The moral of the story is to get yer MOT done BEFORE the warranty expires.

ditto, I had my mot done 2 weeks before warranty was up and got repairs done under warranty.

[TallAndy]

Thats not bad my car is within warranty and my local dealership told me I needed a new clutch for £1000 fitted when they didn't know what was causing a scraping noise when settting off.

Took it to Lohen we got it up on the ramp and it turned out to be the manifold banging into the anti-roll bar.....

So £169 its a deal

[Capsaisin]

Quote: Originally Posted by TallAndy

Thats not bad my car is within warranty and my local dealership told me I needed a new clutch for £1000 fitted when they didn't know what was causing a scraping noise when settting off.

Took it to Lohen we got it up on the ramp and it turned out to be the manifold banging into the anti-roll bar.....

So £169 its a deal

And unfortunately the moral of that story is that some BMW dealers don't know their *rse from their elbow. But they sure know how to charge for it, they must think they're dealing with BMW drivers.

[XRV848]

It seems strange that "both track rod ends are falling off" on a car that is 3?years old and has only done 19000 miles. Unless damaged in an accident, the track rod ends (which are basically greased and sealed for life ball joints) will either fail if the grease is lost through deterioration and splitting of rubber boot (unlikely in a 3 year old car) or will wear through use (unlikely after 19000 miles). It seems that there was a possible defect with the track rod ends from new.

[ChiliRed07]

A similar thing has happened to my Mini this week (bought it used last year, done 25k in total) - had it's first MOT before the warranty runs out in 2 weeks and apparently needs a new ball joint due to excessive play. This is covered by warranty though The only thing is there are no parts available in the UK or Germany so I've got to wait a week or so to get it fixed. Mini still passed the MOT though

[roland2003]

I agree track rods are 'say' half an hour a side max to change, The only thing that will be disturbed (and therefore need resetting ) is the front toe. Nothing else will change (eg front camber, front castor,rear toe ,rear camber), nor need resetting . Most garages would charge maybe £20 to do the front toe settings?. We would charge about £40 but thats because I prefer to do it with long strings, takes longer but is more accurate as you exagerating any error, plus I want the steering wheel perfectly vertical when driving in a straight line aswell as the correct toe . If the strings are 20 foot long you get a very very accurate reading. You can even work out the angle using basic trigonometry.
For some reason one or two cars we've had in ( JCW, I dont know why?) can be a long way out,usually toeing in too much.
Unless you've hit kerbs I find it very suprising that both track rod ends have gone. Mine has similar mileage gets driven very hard & they are both perfect.

Best Regards Roland GT Tuning

[myspeed]

Ah well! They fixed it for me and I got my MOT certificate at last!

The car drives like a different car! It had been 'hugging' the white lines for about 18 months (or more ) I had mentioned this to the garage back then but they said that they'd adjusted the tyre pressures and that should cure it! Of course it didn't but I just assumed it was a characteristic of the car.

Moral: Get MOT done before warranty expires!
If you car tracks onto the white lines get them to check the track rod ends!

Thanks for all the helpful comments!

[Apial]

I wish I had read this earlier. My ONE D went in for its 37K mile service and they wouldn't let me drive home in it as both track rod ends needed replacing. I did think that the steering was begining to follow the road undulations a bit much, but put it down to the 17" wheels.

Anyway the track rod end are still under warranty for my 04 car, and they gave me a brand new 06 Cooper as a loan car until the parts come. There was only 20 miles on the clock! Well done Astles of Grimsby!

[NickHodgson]

I had a N/S track rod end replaced recently (25,000 miles), apparently it's a biggish job as if done correctly they're supposed to do an all wheel alignement. My bro used to be Workshop manager for BMW and this is quite a common fault, always seems to be N/S as well. ANyway I know what to look for now, so will be chcking regularly during the remaining 3 months of my warranty.

Good advice on the MOT thought, hadn't thought of doing this, but it makes perfect sense.