Mini Customer Service Complaints - page 2

I had mini cooper where I call the part department in Irvine as well Crevier, Shelly, they purpose negect the services poor refusing to answering any call by delaying nor never call back to customer pertaining to their service..I have many incident wanting have question pertaining to issue of mini car..they all refuse to call back nor help with part..I think most of people work in there are Hispanic where they munipulated the parts..Please never buy car with BMW..very agreesive ripped off..bad services..

my experience with Mini of El Paso is as follows in the email sent to the general manager
Victor ,

Very Disappointed is actually an understatement. I have a 2011 Mini Cooper S that I paid a pretty penny for thinking I was paying for a quality vehicle with a company that stands behind their product & warranty however, I am beginning to wonder. Your dealership states : "Our commitment to customer service is second to none. We offer one of the most comprehensive parts and service departments in the automotive industry.” Correct? Well on August 11th, 2012 I was driving to work ( about 35 miles south of Ft. Stockton Texas on hwy 285 in the middle of NO Where when suddenly my car will not shift into gears … I turned the vehicle off & went to restart the vehicle & nothing. Its 108 degrees outside & I am stranded in the middle of NO where. I am just lucky my cell phone worked I called roadside assistance & they were very apologetic & nice & said they would send someone to come get me & water if I needed. The only problem was they were coming from EL Paso… I assured the nice lady I would be dead if I waited with the vehicle that long. Lucky a nice old rancher just happened to be driving by & stopped to help & gave me a lift to town. All this on Saturday August 11, 2012. The nice people from roadside assistance let me know they had picked up my vehicle & they would be towing it to Mini of El Paso. I called Monday August 13th, 2012 morning & spoke with Micheal & let him know what happened ect. & that I needed to resolve this problem quickly since I am stuck in Ft. Stockton with no vehicle. I called on Weds August 15th & he assured me he would call & let me know what the problem was. Well He never called back on Thursday August 16th I called back & left message… no return call on Friday August 17th I called again & the service clerk let me know they thought it was the clutch & flywheel but she didn’t think it would be covered .. I would have to wait & talk with Micheal. Well after sever more phone calls I finally spoke with Micheal & of course first thing out of his mouth was due to the low mile on the vehicle it was apparent the damages were due to in experience driving a standard or abuse or negligence to the vehicle. I have driven standards all my life the last 24 years of it anyway & I have never had a clutch issue with any of my vehicles until 75,000 mile range. I work VERY hard for my money & I am a 40 year old female I can assure you I don’t drag race in my car or abuse it in anyway. Thanks to the many hours patiently waiting on Micheal to return my calls I did some research on this problem & to my amazement there seems to be a large number of poorly qualified standard drivers who are mini owners. When I finally did talk to Micheal again I questioned him on this & he claims he has never heard of their being such a problem. I asked him if he had access to the internet & if so to google Mini Clutch problem because if he truly wasn’t aware ( which is doubtful) he needed to be. This was all on Friday the 17th He said that they would have to open up the clutch to determine what caused the damage but if they deemed it neglect & abuse I would be responsible for the damages I told him to go ahead & diagnose it & let me know ASAP I am going on a week without a vehicle out of town working ( which reminds me I only have 1 stop sign on my daily commute to work so not in town hotroding as he suggested) He assured me he would let me know something Sat. 18th. Saturday came & went as well as Monday. Here it Tuesday the 21st & not only do I not have an answer he also tells me they just realized the Starter is out as well. I explained to Micheal last Friday that I NEED my vehicle no later then Tuesday TODAY. I am stuck out here in Ft. Stockton bumming rides to work & My Son is scheduled to have surgery for a broken jaw & eye socket in Houston at Ben Taubs Hospital on Thursday Morning Houston is an 8 hour drive & I have NO Vehicle or any real answers. I have TRIED to be patient but this has been a horrible experience all the way around. Here are a few of the links to share with Micheal on the previous clutch issues other unlucky Mini owners have experienced.



http://community.cartalk.com/discussion/759410/clutch-eating-minis



http://www.motoringalliance.com/forums/cooper-s-clubman-s-engine-drivetrain/10766-clutch-issues-cooper-s.html#axzz24DWQfWmu



http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f0f65bf/321

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/mini.html



http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=422155



http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.f0f65bf



http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&t=990251&d=0&nmt



these are just a few I guess I should have researched before buying a $35,000.00 vehicle but I felt like I was paying for quality & that BMW would stand behind their product & honor their warranty. Not to mention a better communication policy with the service dept. to the customer.



I hope there is someway we can get this resolved quickly as far as HOW I am going to get to Houston by Thursday at 8 am when it’s a 8 hour drive I have no idea I guess I will try to find some shuttle system to Odessa 80 miles away to the closet car-rental place & then turn around & drive to Houston. I guess I would have been better off having my car towed to Mini of Houston? I am just so very upset with the service dept right now I am in tears.



Thank You ,

Ronda Savoy Hearne

Have had my car in the shop for two-months awaiting parts from Europe after I had an accident. It's a 2012 Countryman. You would think that they would do a better job of stocking replacement airbags, etc. This is now costing me more $$$ because my insurance covers 30 days of car rentals. The dealer that sold me the car and that I took the car back to after my accident, thinking they would do a better job and care, South motors in Miami Florida, has basically said ohh sorry, that's Mini USA, well when they sold me the car, They were "We Are Mini-USA". THEY ARE A JOKE and so is Mini-USA. Had 7-Volvos before this and the Dealer (Deel Volvo) and Volvo acted as one and cared even when I took cars in for repairs on accidents. My mistake for trying another brand. That's why BMW and Mini Dealers don't take ownership of problems. I was warned but didn't listen I know better now, so be forewarned!!!!

My Vehicle has been in the SMG body shop for 12 days as of today including weekends. They NEVER call you, you have to do all the calling. They now say that what has taken 12 days can be redone on 2 days excluding SATURDAY AND SUNDAY.

THIS IS THE TYPE OF AFTERSALES SERVICE THAT PUTS A PERSON OFF A BRAND.

MINI Cup Holders leak into Steptronic Transmission shift control and cause problems.

I have documented this issue back at least eight years to present date, see this from MINI2:
http://tinyurl.com/7qvq3w9

My car was manufactured with a documented (SI M 24 01 08) defect causing it to never Lock the Shift in Park when shut off.

MINI-USA denied Warranty Replacement of this unit for my car built during that one month of documented faulty shift production.

Two MINI Dealers agreed with the fact of my Manufactured Defect, but (BMW) MINI-USA refused to Support their Warranty to me during the last ten days of my coverage.

Read my communication w/MINI-USA on the 'tinyurl' website.

MINI of Fairfield County and New Country MINI in Hartford both have absolutely terrible service. I love and enjoy my MINI but dread every time I have to take it in for service. Both dealerships play with their customers to see to what extent is the customer stupid enough to overpay for parts and service. I just got charged 48.51 to change a headlight bulb when 2 months ago I had it done and was charged 24.00...yup I have both receipts. MINI of Fairfield gave me a quote of 485 for service and gave me a loaner, called me 4 days later saying I was going to start getting charged if I didn't return the loaner....uhm...hello. They left a message saying my bill was 1265....wtf so I protested and they reduce it to 1045, I protested more and by the time I got the car back it was down to 895. Still though, I feel like a puppet every timed I go in there. It is very discouraging. MINI's are awesome but this headache is no worth it at all for me next time.

Small amount of money...HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT. Won't honor reimbursement for part/labor on a part they warranty for 100,000 miles or 10 years, whichever comes first. It's amazing that for $232.35 they have no desire to make this customer happy. And, it is very telling how poor their overall customer service is. Please take that into consideration before purchasing a MINI.