[Richard82]

Took my Mini in last week to the dealer to ask them to have a look and see whether they could find the source of an intermittent worsening oil leak, my warranty expired 13th May but I had reported the problem when the car went in for its oil change in February but nothing was found.

The car was in all day and they repaired the part without asking me as it was a £10 seal somewhere between the gearbox & engine; they said it was pointless asking as it took so much work to get to it in the first instance. I was a little surprised but understood what they were saying. I picked the car up & got told the part was £10 and the labour £850 But they would phone BMW as the fault was highlighted when I took it in for its oil change. BMW came back and said it would cover 80% as the fault was not diagnosed during the warranty period (not my fault if they couldn't find it but it was there)

I had only asked them to look at it and see what they thought but they chose to do the repair. Basically the dealer says I have to pay £110 which isn't that bad but I did highlight the problem within warranty and should I expect to pay anything just for them to have a look at it and not necessarily fix it? BMW said they only pay 80% as the work is covered for 2 further years; now I need to ask them whether they mean the £10 part or all the work to get to it as well!!

Cheers

[minicabrio]

If you did not authorise them to carry out work on your car, you should not pay.

If however you've booked it in for an out of warranty repair, you will be charged for their time spent diagnosing the fault - which I guess is the case here.

It is your responsibility (not your dealers) to ensure that any faults are rectified within the warranty period, and if there is an outstanding fault, ensure your dealer are aware that its still ongoing, and needs to be resolved.

Sorry, but you really don't have much ground to stand on here, you're just lucky that MINI have generously stumped up for 80% of the bill.

[Ant FR]

i'm sure BMW will replace the old seal for you. to be honest i think you have done quite well and should be pleased with BMW's generosity. 110 quid is not even an hours worth of labour at some dealers, so payup and stop moaning as they fixed the problem.

I mean did you expect them to diagnose and then not fix it, come one people please lets get real with this. Dealerships are a business just like any we work for or own. and i tell you as a director for a medium sized firm i can tell you buisness is tough out there, and time is always money.