I've driven (and loved) my Baby (Mini Cooper, CVT) for 3 years and 1 month... but Monday, she gave me a surprise that has caused me no end of heartbreak.
I was driving to the dealer to get some under warranty body work done, and right after I pulled off the highway, not 500 yards from the dealer, she groans and stops dead. No warning signs that she's about to die, no grinding, no flashing lights... she just stopped moving forward, or backward, or heck, in any direction.
I got towed the rest of the way to the dealer and they looked at it, but all they can tell me is that there's metal shavings in the transmission fluid "which probably means there was a mechanical failure somewhere". To add to the heartbreak, I got a clean service checkup not one month ago!
Sadly, Baby's been around the block a bit more than most, I guess... She's got 74000 miles and is no longer under warranty. The dealer wants to charge me 7000 dollars to replace the tranny.
Here's my problem... I had no warning this was going to happen, no reason to expect it to die suddenly, a clean bill of health very recently, and no information on what caused the problem...
The only conclusion I can draw is that transmissions on minis spontaneously implode every 3 years. I simply can't afford to keep a car with that kind of maintenance record. It looks like I may just have to put her down and spend that 7000 on a down payment for a car with a little more stamina.
Please, I'm trying very hard to find a reason, any reason , why I should repair my car rather than replace it. Are there people around that have racked up more miles than me? What other maintenance surprises would Baby have for me if I gave her a transplant?
Please? Somebody? I love my Baby....I feel terrible for even considering to abandon her. I nearly burst into tears when I walked into another car dealership to discuss trading her in for something from a company that's willing to back up their engineering. I've spoken to two dealerships, mini customer service, and several independent auto mechanics, and noone has even been able to give me enough comfort to consider replacing her with another mini. I guess Minis just weren't made for someone who intends to keep a car for more than 4 years/50000 miles.
I'm Heartbroken
I was driving to the dealer to get some under warranty body work done, and right after I pulled off the highway, not 500 yards from the dealer, she groans and stops dead. No warning signs that she's about to die, no grinding, no flashing lights... she just stopped moving forward, or backward, or heck, in any direction.
I got towed the rest of the way to the dealer and they looked at it, but all they can tell me is that there's metal shavings in the transmission fluid "which probably means there was a mechanical failure somewhere". To add to the heartbreak, I got a clean service checkup not one month ago!
Sadly, Baby's been around the block a bit more than most, I guess... She's got 74000 miles and is no longer under warranty. The dealer wants to charge me 7000 dollars to replace the tranny.
Here's my problem... I had no warning this was going to happen, no reason to expect it to die suddenly, a clean bill of health very recently, and no information on what caused the problem...
The only conclusion I can draw is that transmissions on minis spontaneously implode every 3 years. I simply can't afford to keep a car with that kind of maintenance record. It looks like I may just have to put her down and spend that 7000 on a down payment for a car with a little more stamina.
Please, I'm trying very hard to find a reason, any reason , why I should repair my car rather than replace it. Are there people around that have racked up more miles than me? What other maintenance surprises would Baby have for me if I gave her a transplant?
Please? Somebody? I love my Baby....I feel terrible for even considering to abandon her. I nearly burst into tears when I walked into another car dealership to discuss trading her in for something from a company that's willing to back up their engineering. I've spoken to two dealerships, mini customer service, and several independent auto mechanics, and noone has even been able to give me enough comfort to consider replacing her with another mini. I guess Minis just weren't made for someone who intends to keep a car for more than 4 years/50000 miles.
I'm Heartbroken