Cherished MINI with Stone chip issue

[ALD0]

Hello,

Just htought I would post up on her about opinions on my dilemma.
Have purchased a S from MINI cherished off a dealer in High Wycombe (Sytner)
When I picked the car up I noticed there were a couple of stonechips that had been touched in, fair enough as MINI's are prone to chipping, but the colour was a bit of a mis match.
I called the dealer who suggested at first getting the car repaired at my local body shop in Warrington and then they would invoice Warrington.
Sytner have now advised they wont do this and want to drive my car from North West down to High Wycombe (190 miles ish each way) and do the work down there, I complained at first and said it was unecessary mileage.
They have now offered me £100 plus the work will be done for free, I thought this was reasonable.
I have since been told though that they will only be touching in the bonnet again and not filling the stonechips which is what thought they might do.
It seems a lot of hassle only to be told they will just be "touching" in the stone chips!

Has anyone else had any problem or bad expiriences with buying a cherished MINI, should I just accept their offer and let them do it or seek further advice and get the chips done "professionally"?!

[Foxy Mini]

I'm having a nightmare with my cherished MINI, after Sytner let me drive it away with a defective steering column. I am in the process of putting in a serious complaint to them. We'll see...

[LMB]

I personally wouldn't let anyone drive my car nearly 400 miles just to get stone chips touched up. I'd keep at them to try and get it fixed locally. Sometimes though it's best to leave be. I got a dent fixed on previous Cooper S and they only went and sprayed it the wrong colour.

[kezman50]

It sounds to me then, that a guy from sytner's body shop is going to go out to your car when it arrives, with a touch up pen from the accessories counter and do the five minute job you or I could do!!

Which......suprises me because I'm sure my local Sytner Dealer where I got my S from has a contract with one of those "chips away" clones that when you get the RIGHT guy, can work wonders. It's a completely different skill to the bodyshop guy blowing in entire panels and of course is perfect for the Cherished Mini sector where the trade-ins are typically in great condition but with naturally the odd chip here and there. It's cost effective all round really. Push them on that point!!

[JG.26]

Crazy if you ask me, I get a sweat knowing my MINI is being driven from the dealer car park into the workshop. Chances are your MINI will be thrashed 190 miles there, thrashed 190 miles back with half a dozen more stone chips for your trouble. Think I would try chips away locally and then invest in a clear bra.

[TimCS]

The problem with the Chipsaway method is that after a while the repair "ages." Then what happens is you get a patch - particularly noticeable on lighter colours such as silver or grey. I saw this on my sister's silver XC90. We bought the car on the basis that all the chips were removed but less than 6 months later the paint looked odd. The method is great for making cars look good on the forecourt but it doesnt' last long. I've also had this told to me direct from a Chipsaway franchiser.

My advice would be get Synter to send you a touch in stick in the correct colour free of charge and do the job yourself. The art to touch ins is to build up the layers gently. Only put a small amount of paint on the brush and take your time. Then once the paint has set use something like Meguiars Scratch X to blend the touch in with the surrounding paint. You'd be suprised at what you can achieve.

Failing that, wait until you have a bonnet full of stonechips and get the whole panel repainted at not much more than it would be to get Chipsaway to touch it in.

I certainly wouldn't entertain my car being driven several hundred miles for such work.

Good luck.

[:: Jon ::]

let them take it but insist they use a transporter..

[ALD0]

Cheers for the comments, What has been mentioned I did bring up.
Apparantly the driver is 45 so wont be thrashing the car, they have no transporter to do this, this is what I originally requested, but I guess the cost will be mounting for them to hire a transporter.
I suggested chips away who I have used in the past, I advised couldn't see it being more than £50-£100?
I am getting a quote from chips away, I think though the dealership will be hiding the cost by doing it there,
Will see how I get on with them tomorrow, Still can't see why Warrington can't just do it

Oh well, on the plus side it's great to be back in a S, missed that SC noise

[LMB]

Quote: Originally Posted by Interceptor (original)

Apparantly the driver is 45 so wont be thrashing the car

What has age got to do with it? Even if he was 90 doesn't mean he wouldn't thrash the car. What they're suggesting is frankly ludicrous. There is no reason why they can't get the job done locally, they are just being awkward.

[TimCS]

I don't think Synter are being awkward. Rather they have no affiliation with your local dealership. Ultimately garages are independantly owned regardless of the franchise they hold. Synter clearly don't want to pay another dealership to do the work a) as it may cost them more than doing it themselves and b) they probably assume the responsibility for the problem and wish to correct it. If you were to contact MINI customer services they would probably desire that the supplying dealer fix the problem.

I agree about the 45 year old though - I'm 5 years short of that and my S and I have a blast.

[mGP]

Quote: Originally Posted by Interceptor (original)

Apparantly the driver is 45

I Got given that line by my dealer aswell (warranty work), "mature drivers" to be exact ..................as you can probably guess I declined their offer and took the car in myself


Im happy to hear that others are just as apprehensive about leaving cars at their dealers; I thought I may be going a bit mad.

[dakini]

Quote: Originally Posted by mGP (original)

Im happy to hear that others are just as apprehensive about leaving cars at their dealers; I thought I may be going a bit mad.

one of the people who used to work at my dealer is a member on this forum ... and has specifically warned me NOT to let the people at my dealership drive my car. apparently they're known to teach the deatiling drew how to drive manual transmission cars with the customer cars. icky ick ick!

[SoggyCornFlakes]

to be fair to Sytners you should have addressed this with them before buying it! I'd cut my loss, go to a local garage myseslf and get it done rather than have anyone jolly it down the M6 toll road and back

[Richard Crofts]

Why don't you get t alocal dealer to do it and they bill BMW or Synter? Synter might ... and I say might be more receptive to a dealer doing it than a third party ?!

[Yellow/Black OneD]

Ensure that they don't just touch them in, my dealer did this with mine, and the touch ins were about the size of speed humps, and would have needed grinding for a week to get them flush with the rest of the bonnet - and they ended up doing a full bonnet respray which was done to an excellent standard!

Either buy a touch up pen and do it yourself - you will take more care than them - or insist that the bonnet is resprayed!

Good luck Si

P.S. You have bought another S, I don't know where you get your money from, you must be on a par with Aston for the amount of MINI's owned in 3 years ! Good man!