On going problems...What happens next?

[Lilly-May]

Dear all
I love my Cooper and wouldn't swap it for the world but over the past few months my car has been in the garage six times for the same problem.
To summerise, the car seems to 'switch' itself off when stationary. I will be sitting in traffic and the lights, clock and power steering will go and I have to restart it to get the power back. Every time the dealership say they have replaced or upgraded the management system and it won't happen again, but after picking it up last week after they'd had it for three weeks it's the same if not worse. In fact, the automatic door locking system is now not working!!
I have contacted the dealer and told them I am losing confidence in the car, (there have been so many other problems I would send you to sleep if I listed them!) and they are contacting BMW to find a resolution.
Does anyone know what my options are? I really don't want to lose the car for another month whilst they try and find the fault again. Can I have the car replaced? What are my rights?
Also, I want to upgrade it to an S in the summer, would they take the car back and let me pay the difference?
Any advice, similar experiences would be greatly appreciated.
Lilly-May

P.S. See you all at the Chilterns Run!

[KenL]

I'd say that you have grounds to reject the car and get a replacement. Six attempts to fix the same thing is a bit much. Something like this is dangerous if you're cutting out at lights and junctions.

[niall]

I'd agree with Ken, and there have been others who have rejected their cars. Might be worth searching to find out what they did.

Niall

[Paul]

My advice too at this stage (if not earlier) would be rejection.

Try using the search, and search faults and fixes for reject* (with the *) and you should find some useful information.

Sorry to hear about your troubles.

Paul

[Lilly-May]

Thanks for your replies. I'm wondering what to say if they want to take the car off me again, they're talking about taking it off to Braknell for testing! How long is that going to take?! At what point do I say enough is enough and demand a replacement before it's too late?

[Rob.]

Hi Lilly,
I would say you have a right to ask for a replacement car. The car is not fit for the purpose it was sold to you. You will have to write a letter to the Dealer Principle and ask for an appointment with him only. Say you have given them numerous chances to fix the problem and because they haven't you have lost all confidence in the car and wish to reject it. Do a search for rejection and you should find lots of useful information.
The dealer will probably say give us one more chance, but I wouldn't they have proved they cannot fix the fault. Depending on how long you have owned the car, and how many miles you have done, you may not get your full purchase price back. However, you should get nearly all of it and alot more than you would get as a trade in.
It is horrible when something that should be enjoyable, like getting a new car, is spoiled becuase of faults. You were unlucky with your car, the majority of them do not have any major faults.
Good luck with.

[KenL]

If you do go for rejection I'd hold out for a full refund/deposit against the replacement car.

[Rob.]

I should have made it more clear.
If your car is under 6 months old you should get your full money back.
However, if your car is one of the first Y reg cars (2001) with say 30000 miles on the clock, then it might be reasonable for the dealer to give you £500 less as a mileage allowance.
I would hold out for all your original purchase price if you can. Good luck with it.

[KenL]

True.

[Lilly-May]

Thanks guy's
The car was purchased in early summer last year and has done 7000 miles. The problems only started two months ago so I wouldn't have been able to complain about it before then.
They are calling me tomorrow with a decision on what to do, Will post a reply as soon as I can. Please keep an eye on this thread as I'll probably need more advice!!

[Tonyt3]

Definatly look to reject the car. Interestingly, if you have financed the purchase of your car, get your finance company invloved (even if it is BMW finance). They should give you full backing in rejecting the car. If you paid the deposit by credit card, get them on board too. You have the right to expect that the car should be 'fit for purpose' and it doesn't sound like it is.

HOWEVER, before you part with the car, take details of its chasis number, and when it leaves your possesion, start a thread here fully detailing the car, so that the dealer can't sell it on to any other poor sap. Faulty goods should be destroyed. This goes for a car as much as it does any other consumer product.

[Kinster]

Hi,

I've rejected my car (Cooper) and am now waiting for my Cooper S. My Cooper had several recurring minor problems that didn't seem to get fixed. I've been in 10 times in 6 months now. Probably going in again soon because they still haven't fixed one of the problems.

Regards

[Lilly-May]

Kinster
How did you arrange to upgrade to the Copper S? This is what I was planning to do before all the troubles started so it seems logical to reject the car and pay the difference on the S. Are they willing to do this?
Lilly May

[Tonyt3]

Quote:

Originally posted by Lilly-May
Kinster
How did you arrange to upgrade to the Copper S? This is what I was planning to do before all the troubles started so it seems logical to reject the car and pay the difference on the S. Are they willing to do this?
Lilly May

I should imagine it went something like this:

He offered to pay them more money, they accepted....

Don't expect any favours. But ask for some anyway (cheap finance or something).....

[BillK]

Lilly,

Sorry to hear about your problems.

You are doing the right thing . . . Gather your information, know what you want to do, and be polite, business like, but firm. Make sure you have all your records, and make sure that when all is said and done you keep a copy of them too.

From reading these boards, it seems that MINI generally tries to do the right thing, but individual dealers are sometimes a problem. On the other hand, some dealers have been outstanding. In general, by keeping to the issues and acting in a professional manner, these types of problems can be resolved without too much trouble.

Rejecting the car seems a reasonable decision at this point, so you should expect the dealer to work with you. It sounds from your description that they already have MINI involved, so they may need time to coordinate with MINI before they can finalize things, after all, they will want MINI to pick up the tab, and they should.