[grant watson]

Hello all.

I have a March 03 cooper s and have had nothing but problems with it.

New windscreen(x3)
Ecu re programmed for stumble etc (x3)
New gearbox
New clutch (grinding material noise)
New hydraulic system master and slave cylinders
Numerous rattles some bad some small
Squeaking-rubbing seat base for passengers
Bolt fell off supercharger and caused rattle
Corroded kick trims
Windows dropping on own accord

It goes on....

So the final hydraulic failure was the final straw.. I either want a new car or to be heavily compensated for this... I run a small consultancy and the time I have spent trying to get these problems solved is just ridiculous.

What is the best plan of attack to take.. Who out there has been in this situation and had enough... I have been in 17 times in 13months!!!! Excluding service!

Thanks in advance


Grant

[grant watson]

no replys? any would be so helpful!

[Grings]

Ask the dealer to buy it back (taking account of wear and tear) or get them to give you a 'good' part ex price on a new one.

It does sound like you've got a particularly bad one though

[grant watson]

not a bad one though! how bad does it have to be..??? I know there have been problems with the minis but I still think this is too much for a car that is only just over a year old!

my dealer offered me 9.5k on my old 2001 cooper with chilli pack...18months ago!!! so doubt a good offer for my coopers would be decent...

would need at least 15k for mine before I thought about it!

think taking this up with mini direct would have been a better bet..??

[scooperman_uk]

its a lemon then. i would gain documented detail of all the faults and get legal representation.

[scooperman_uk]

speak to MINI customer services, do it in writing. ive done that with other Car manufacturers, usually this gets you started.

[xnetco]

I tried the compensation route myself with no luck!

[Electric Sheep]

First, decide what you want at the end of a day? A new car? (Personally, I think they're more likely to give you a new car than to give you compensation, unless you decide to take them to court). Write a letter to your dealer and to Mini Customer Services. Keep it calm and matter-of-fact. Lay out everything in detail. State that you're not happy, you bought the car in good faith, this good faith has not been repaid, etc, etc, etc. Let them know that you've lost time/money messing around getting the car fixed. If they haven't got in touch with you after a few days, call them up. Refer to your letter and kick up a fuss (but don't get stroppy!).

It might be advisable to consult with a solicitor as well. Take a look at the various pieces of consumer legislation, such as the Sale Of Goods Acts and so on. And consider getting an independent engineer to give the car a good inspection and write down his findings in an official report so you've got evidence to back up your claims. Try and do some research to see how common the faults you had are: your car may be relatively normal or it may be an aberration. I have to say though, that the number of faults you'd had seems ridiculously high.

[Parc77]

I think VincentVega has the right idea - I experianced this first hand after purchasing my first MCS with a few thousand miles on it, I had endless problems with it I wrote a letter to Mr Trevor Houghton-Berry @ Mini Customer services (did this because trying to get things done through the dealership over a period of about 4 weeks went extreemly slow with lashings of fobbing me off).
I had a response within about a week and a half, advising me that the dealership which I purchased my car from now wanted to take my car back and put me in a brand new one.Within a month id given the dealer spec for my car ( i could add whatever i wanted but i had to pay for it if it was extra on top of my original spec car) I now have a car which is almost 2 years newer @ no extra cost.
If you do write to Mini state the facts and inconvieniance loss of earnings etc etc but dont get stropy or anything like that- be honest with them and they'll be honest and fair with you - good luck!

[Coopergeezer]

I got Mini to change mine after 18 months. I didn't have as many faults as you though. I jus wrote a letter to my dealer saying how dissatisfied I was with the car and didn't expect this from a BMW product. 2 months later, they told me I could have a new car of exactly the same spec as my old for £1000. I could also spec anything else on it that I wanted.

[grant watson]

I kind of think this will be a hard battle with mini..... but will try the letter as suggested. Thing is I am thinking about going for a new mini.. not because I accept the problems... more donw to the fact that I think I have been unlucky and love driving them so much.. but I dont want to have another host of problems happen.. come to think of it.. my loose steering colum has not been resolved and I have a really noisy cooling fan! so think I should ask mini to give me a preferable trade in on a new cooper s with similair spec.

thanks for the advice....

[Coopergeezer]

Yes, you've definetly got nothing to lose by writing a letter (well only a stamp, envelope and piece of paper).

I was really annoyed over the issues I had with mine. I was at the point that I would never by a Mini again, let alone any other BMW product. However, the deal they gave me was just right. Ok they would have lost £200 on the deal they did, but it has restored my faith in the Mini and in BMW as a company. Now I would quite happily buy a new Mini and when I start a family will buy a 3 series estate.

Have a chat with your dealer, ask him what channels he has available to him to commuicate through.

If you have any probs, let me know and I shall speak to my dealer and ask him instead.

Good luck.

[mjfrancis]

Grant, it sounds like you have a complete dog of a car. I would recommend you try for rejection, as it definitely sounds like you have a case.
A point to note, is that all the investigating I have done seems to indicate that compensation is not an option. The course of action is either a replacement, refund or fix. In terms of which, the advice I have had is that think what a court would find reasonable under the circumstances. If the fault developed on a new vehicle, then it might be considered appropriate for a decent replacement or a complete refund of the purchase price, but speak to as many people as you can - some ideas set out below.

I have investigated the ways and means to reject a vehicle, as my MCS is nearly as bad as yours, although not quite.

I have taken legal advice and what they told me was this:

Goods have to be fit for purpose and of a quality consistent with the age, price and marque of the vehicle, under the sales of Goods Act 1971. If it is not, then you need to have given the garage ample opportunity to fix the fault(s). Your car does not sound like it is fit for purpose, as a new car should be fault free...

Sound out the garage's attitude: write them a letter stating what the garage have done to fix the fault, that it has not worked and why you feel that they have had a reasonable opportunity to fix it. In the same letter tell them why you are still unhappy with the car and why you do not feel it is fit for purpose, specifically with reference to the sale of Goods Act. If you want to, tell them that you want to reject the vehicle (either to get your money back, or get a replacement) as it is not fit for purpose, and that if they do not agree to this course of action, then you are willing to proceed legally against them (and you really need to be - however, with your car as bad as it is, I suspect they might cave immediately).

If they do not play ball on this, then get an independent inspection on the car with a written report - a key point is to get the dealership to agree to the independent witness you are to use, and to get the garage to offer to pay half (the Trading Standards office propose this course of action, and feel it is reasonable for the garage to to cough up half the cost, and you may get the other half back when the car is proved to be faulty - the Trading Standards also have a form type letter to use - under the Expert Witness section of their site http://www.tradingstandards.gov.uk/m...Factsheets.htm). Present the garage with the report, and ask them if you really, on the basis of the report, have to get solicitors involved, or whether it can be done amicably. Hopefully this will do the trick.

The report is required, as it proves to a court of law what is wrong with the vehicle and informs a court's decision on what further action is appropriate.

If you want more detail on the process - the aa (www.theaa.com) have a legal advice helpline - it is expensive at about £1 per minute, but they are legal experts and I have found that the advice is invaluable. The Trading Standards are also useful contacts to try - they pointed out that the Small claims court may take cases if they are straightforward, so you may not need to get a solicitor involved and can thus avoid the costs of that.
Another port of call is the Retail Motor Industry Federation (www.RMIF.co.uk) who will mediate on complaints with their members (and most BMW garages will be). The key is to know your rights really.

More importantly GOOD LUCK! Hope this helps.

[mjfrancis]

Sorry, I forgot the most important thing. the contract for the goods is with the dealer, not the manufacturer. I have found that it is completely pointless to go to MINI UK, especially if your regional customer service manager ends up being Ewan Wilson - Mr fob off, extraordinaire... so the garage itself has to be your first port of call. If you feel you have a grievance against the garage, then copy MINI UK in on the letters, but don't hold out much hope of them getting involved.
Sorry if this sounds ultra negative, but this entirely reflects the experience I have had with MINI and my dealership to date. To be fair, other posts in the forum indicate a far better attitude from other dealers / MINI.

[grant watson]

my dealer to be honest has been really friendly and very helpful.. i think they have had tried hard to fix it. I feel the car has had problems that they could not forsee and that I have now no real confidence in the car.. the dealer gave me a works s last night for the evening and it confirmed to me that my gearbox is still notchy and the steering colum is loose. I would be happy with mini gave me a very good deal on a new mcs. I have a good relationship with the garage so dont know how to take this. Again my car drives well now.. an inspection wouldnt reveal much I think, but my confidence in nothing happening and loss of earnings due to having the car in the garage so much is my min gripe..

thanks for the info..

[mjfrancis]

If you want to maintain the dealer relationship, then just ask nicely. There is no harm in knowing your rights and enforcing them with a smile, in order to stop them ripping you off (friendly or not, no garage is your friend when it comes to money).

So, ask them nicely for a like for like replacement car (new if the problems manifested themselves almost immediately you got delivery), tell them nicely that you have looked inot the issue and believe that this is a reasonable course of action given the circumstances, and smile when you say that you don't believe it to be appropriate for you to pay any extra or have them buy back the car at the current value given that the problems have maniufested since day 1. See what they say. If you have to apy anything or they refuse, then you don't have a good a relationship as you thought... don't be put off asking for what you deserve just because you don't want to sour the relationship. If you are reasonable, then you can still get what you want and retain the relationship.