Some say bad things come in 3's. Try more than 3.4.5.6

[Richard22b]

We bought a 2007 Cooper S from Dick Lovett in Swindon on December 2010. The service we received was very good and I was very happy. But from there it has gone downhill.

After living with the car for a few weeks we started finding issues with the car which should have been resolved before being sold. These were very minor but spoilt that MINI service I’d received. The issues were: 2 dents on bodywork, Handbrake chrome was broken, cigarette lighter housing broken. In the end MINI Swindon agreed to resolve the issues and I booked it into my local dealer in Bristol to carry out the work.

Second Issue.
The week before the car was due in for the work to be carried out I was driving on the M4 just outside London and I lost all engine power in the fast lane. I caused the motorway to be stopped while I was moved to the hard shoulder. The car was recovered by MINI Emergency (Excellent response) and was taken to the Berry Heathrow dealership. Not to sound rude but Berry Heathrow dealership is the worst dealership I have ever dealt with.
The initial handling was fine but then it all went to pot. I was staying in London a few days which tied in nicely with the repair of the car. On the final day in London I called Berry as to see if it would be completed that day. It took 5 hours for me to get any response from them. I had to ring MINI emergency in the end and they used what ever leverage they had to get me an update.

Berry Heathrow Diagnosis.
The car had run out of oil and seized. I believed this would cost me a lot but was informed that it was covered under warranty (Known Issue). But downside was they were waiting on a part and won’t get the car to following week. Not an issue as was supplied with a hire car.

The following week the car was returned to me. Before I took the car out for a drive I decided to check the oil level. This however was made impossible as Berry Heathrow had forgot to reattach the bonnet release catch. I called the dealership and was given the following advice:
“Take the car to your local dealer and say you have an issue with the bonnet catch. They might do it under warranty. Don’t tell them the car had been into us for work”
You can understand when I went to the dealer I was up front and explained the situation. It took Dick Lovett Bristol 3 days to get authorisation from Berry Heathrow to fix the bonnet catch... Dick Lovett Bristol also informed me that the oil level was a little low meaning Berry Heathrow never replaced the correct level or oil after they had rebuilt my engine which seems extremely ridiculous after they told me it was the lack of oil that caused the issue.

This is not the end yet

A few weeks later my wife drove the car to the gym. On returning to the car it wouldn’t start. We called MINI Assist and a recovery man came out. He checked the car over and we found the fuel line was loose causing fuel to spray in the engine bay. Dick Lovett Bristol resolved this issue for us. Again we were advised that this part should of been replaced when the engine work was completed.

And yet we then had another issue. When the weather was a little warmer we noticed the engine getting very hot. On checking the coolant it was low. I filled it up and upon a short journey it was low again. After my Dick Lovett Bristol checked it over it was found the thermostat had become loose causing coolant to escape. Dick Lovett Bristol resolved this for us.

And then to add insult to all injuries some idiot decided to drive into the front side of us. New bonnet, Xenon light and few other panels needed.

In all MINI UK have been very good. I took this to the very top and all my issues have been fixed free of charge. Since buying the car we have had almost an issue every month. I have got to drive a nice courtesy car almost every month and taking into account all the work that’s been carried out the car has cost double what I paid for it.

But I still like driving it

Small Edit:
I have now got an Engine Managment fault light on.

Turns out the Engine Management warning light was caused by pressure loss in the turbo. This was caused by again a certain dealership not putting it back together properly.

[stead34]

The cosmetic problems you mentioned in the first paragraph, didn't you notice them whilst viewing the car. These where rectified straight away so the customer care seems quite good at dick lovetts . if you bought the car from a independent dealer they probably wouldn't of repaired half of it. So it proves that you may pay more at a main dealer
but the service you've received it seems worth it

They rebuilt the engine not fitted a factory reconditioned unit, seems like an expensive way for mini to deal with it. As for most of the other faults you can put it down to bad workmanship from the London dealer, loose thermostat etc.

Hopefully you will now have trouble free motoring and enjoy the car with piece of mind that if something does crop up minis warranty seems to be faultless

[Richard22b]

Quote: Originally Posted by stead34 (original)

The cosmetic problems you mentioned in the first paragraph, didn't you notice them whilst viewing the car. These where rectified straight away so the customer care seems quite good at dick lovetts . if you bought the car from a independent dealer they probably wouldn't of repaired half of it. So it proves that you may pay more at a main dealer
but the service you've received it seems worth it

They rebuilt the engine not fitted a factory reconditioned unit, seems like an expensive way for mini to deal with it. As for most of the other faults you can put it down to bad workmanship from the London dealer, loose thermostat etc.

Hopefully you will now have trouble free motoring and enjoy the car with piece of mind that if something does crop up minis warranty seems to be faultless

Yes they rectified them fairly quickly. Took a few conversations though.
Most of the other faults were caused by the Heathrow Berry dealership.

Lets hope thats it now.

[Richard22b]

You will see by the edit to my origional post that it wasnt the end of issues.