2003 Mini Cooper S
Power steering pump went last year. Car would be off and the pump would continue running, draining the battery. Had to disconnect the battery so it didn't die.
Car was still under extended warranty recall in the US but not where I'm from, Canada. Called around to a few places, spent a few hours on the phone, and they agreed to fix it under extended warranty in Canada.
Fixed last December at a local dealer. I don't drive it in the winter so it was in storage. Take it out on the road this spring and after 50 km, PS stops working again.
Call dealership. They will look and fix it under the warranty process again as long as I didn't cause the problem.
Bring it to dealer for Friday AM appointment, leave keys in drop box. Call Friday afternoon to see what's up. No one checked the drop box that morning.
So it's now there all weekend. Pick it up today (Tuesday). I'm given a $250 bill for diagnostics and to reconnect a loose battery cable.
Ummmm?
When they fixed it the first time, would they not have to take the battery cable off in order to stop the PS pump from running while the car was off? My thinking is that the dealer left this cable loose.
Dealer said it was an unrelated issue. That the battery cable being loose from the battery caused the power steering to fail this time. And they have a special machine to cut all the power from the car without disconnecting the battery.
I can not remember the day back in December if I disconnected the battery when I parked it in their lot. I would lean to that I did, not knowing when a mechanic would pick it up, and therefore avoiding a dead battery if they did not get to it until later in the day.
So, essentially the issue is a $250 bill for 2 hours of labour to reconnect a battery cable.
My questions:
1) How does a loose battery cable start the car, power the engine, etc., yet not run the power steering pump?
2) Does BMW/Mini have this magical wizarding wand that cuts all battery power to everything when they connect it to the car?
3) Can I do anything here or do I just have to bite my lip and let the powers that be win this round?
Sorry this kind of sounds like a rant, but it just seems like very shady actions by the dealer. I wonder if the loose battery cable claim is just there to cover up another issue that they found but would have had to have fallen under a warranty fix.
Power steering pump went last year. Car would be off and the pump would continue running, draining the battery. Had to disconnect the battery so it didn't die.
Car was still under extended warranty recall in the US but not where I'm from, Canada. Called around to a few places, spent a few hours on the phone, and they agreed to fix it under extended warranty in Canada.
Fixed last December at a local dealer. I don't drive it in the winter so it was in storage. Take it out on the road this spring and after 50 km, PS stops working again.
Call dealership. They will look and fix it under the warranty process again as long as I didn't cause the problem.
Bring it to dealer for Friday AM appointment, leave keys in drop box. Call Friday afternoon to see what's up. No one checked the drop box that morning.
So it's now there all weekend. Pick it up today (Tuesday). I'm given a $250 bill for diagnostics and to reconnect a loose battery cable.
Ummmm?
When they fixed it the first time, would they not have to take the battery cable off in order to stop the PS pump from running while the car was off? My thinking is that the dealer left this cable loose.
Dealer said it was an unrelated issue. That the battery cable being loose from the battery caused the power steering to fail this time. And they have a special machine to cut all the power from the car without disconnecting the battery.
I can not remember the day back in December if I disconnected the battery when I parked it in their lot. I would lean to that I did, not knowing when a mechanic would pick it up, and therefore avoiding a dead battery if they did not get to it until later in the day.
So, essentially the issue is a $250 bill for 2 hours of labour to reconnect a battery cable.
My questions:
1) How does a loose battery cable start the car, power the engine, etc., yet not run the power steering pump?
2) Does BMW/Mini have this magical wizarding wand that cuts all battery power to everything when they connect it to the car?
3) Can I do anything here or do I just have to bite my lip and let the powers that be win this round?
Sorry this kind of sounds like a rant, but it just seems like very shady actions by the dealer. I wonder if the loose battery cable claim is just there to cover up another issue that they found but would have had to have fallen under a warranty fix.