Water Leak!!!

[COOPER2MAN]

Hi all,new here so please bear with me...Ok,i have an 02 mini cooper that has a water leak on the front of the engine..having read through the TSB's and the technical forum im pretty sure the problem is the water pump.Has coolant stains on all the pulleys,radiator,alternator and on the padding of the bonnet and bulkhead of the car..Ok so far so good,car has done 24,000 miles by the way...
I have read all that i can but my questions are,if this is a recognised fault on the MINI are local BMW/MINI agents repairing the vehicles free of charge if you go in and complain?Also has anybody got any official TSB's numbers that i can reference to my dealer if any trouble arrises?
Thanks in advance,
Gary

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

Your car ought to be covered under a 3 year / unlimited mileage warrantee. This should be covered FOC anyway, shouldn't it?

Tigger

[COOPER2MAN]

Does it??didnt buy car new and understood it only had 1 year manufacturers warranty..Car was bought from Sytner in Solihull so better check!!That would be good news.. ..Do ya know if having car serviced by a none franchised dealer but a specialist would jeopardise warranty claims on the car?..was told by garage that it was EU law that any recognised garage with a valid VAT number are able to service your car and the warranty is perfectly intact..explained that it stopped main dealers creating a monopoly..?
Be nice to know if this is 100% accurate..

Cheers
Gary

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

Gary

I know that current cars have a 3 yr warrantee and I've just been to check in the May 2002 issue of What Car? and guess what? At that stage they had 3 years cover then as well. What a result ! ! !

I seem to remember reading that most car manufacturer's will now accept service that has been done outside the dealer network and not invalidate the warrantee cover. Even if this is the case I still wouldn't volunteer this information to their service department and just book the car in for warrantee work at the supplying dealer. So, you should be home and dry (is this good news, or what?).

As an aside, I often feel that this is a bit unfair on the manufacturer as they are able to control the standard of work in their dealers and ensure they have trained service staff with full technical back up and all the right tools. An independant dealer is a totally unkown quantity to the manufacturer. They may either be good ( or even better than the franchised dealer! ) or they may be complete rubbish. Either way the manufacturer still has to warrantee the car.

Anyway, good luck and hopefully you can get it fixed for free. Let us know how you get on...

Tigger

[COOPER2MAN]

Thanks Tigg..your right in everthing you mention there...gonna take her in later one today and see what there gonna say anyway...will keep you posted.
cheers
Gary

[KenL]

Might be worth it for other owners if you could post where you get the TSB (technical service bulletins)