stanga Posted March 22, 2005 Report Share Posted March 22, 2005 I'm new here and kind of need to vent (no pun intended... see below). Anyone had a bad MINI purchasing experience? I bought the car from a MINI dealer and here is my experience. The car is an immaculate 02 plate with only 19,000 miles on the clock in dark silver with dark tints, chilli pack etc. It really is stunning. Upon leaving the showroom, I haven't agreed a pick up date but need to pop back to show my car (which they have offered a px for without seeing it). The original sales person isn't there when I return, but I agree with a colleague that last friday would be the pick-up day. A few days later the original sales person rings me and tells me that they won't be there, and would I mind wiating until yesterday (monday) to pick it up since they would like to see through the deal. I'm a bit dissapointed about the delay but agree. The big day arrives and yesterday I arrive at the dealership to pick up the car, to find the original sales person dealing with a new customer. I'm told this and given a drink while I wait. 15 minutes later, the sales guy who I have delayed the pick up for says that their colleague will do the handover while they continue with their sales pitch! I'm annoyed at this given I was ready to pick up the car the previous Friday but waited for this particular sales person to be available, but am in too good a mood to complain. Everything goes smoothly, I take a final test drive before completing the paperwork which goes fine. As I get ready to drive off the forecourt and journey home I notice one of Xenon's isn't working. I'm surprised that such a thing could miss final inspection (if one was done) and report it. The original sales person whisks the car to the workshop to try and catch a mechanic (it is 6PM). 15 anxious minutes later and it returns after some electrical work (transformer I believe). Relieved, I begin the journey home. A couple hours later and the windscreen starts to fog. I switch on the heater. The fogging worsens, and on top of that fumes are coming out of the air vents which start to make both me and my girlfriend feel sick. At this point I'm doing about 75 in the middle lane of the M1 and luckily catch the next junction. We try everything to alleviate the problem, including switching on the air con to try and dry the air. Eventually we have to drive home with the windows wide open, wiping the windows periodically. I go to bed absolutely gutted. The same happens on the way to work and I call MINI Emergency Services who inspect the car in my works' car park. He concludes that the engine coolant was leaking and spilling into the ventillation system. The level is very low and he takes the car back to the dealership for me. This MINI emergency servicing contract is very good, but I would rather not have had to use it. Anyway, I'm really disheartened by all this. Either I was very unlucky and the coolant system leaked during my short journey home, or MINI have missed a potentially catastrophic fault on a 'Cherished' car. Not sure what my options are. I'm sure it will be fixed, but I definitely want some sort of goodwill gesture. I've wanted this car for years and the whole thing has gone a bit sour.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loddrik Posted March 22, 2005 Report Share Posted March 22, 2005 Take it on a b-road blast and all will be forgiven Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritey Posted March 23, 2005 Report Share Posted March 23, 2005 In my experience with my local Mini dealer in the couple of instances Mini have been at fault with a friends car they have bent over backwards to make the experience valued. A door was scratched while in the car park at Mini getting a decal put on the roof, they resprayed the door next day. They had to put 3 decals on the roof as each one was faulty (they admitted 2 of them before the car was released, the first was torn on inspection at home) Each time the car had issues we were treated like royalty and ended up with free car washing done at Mini (costs about £50 usually, along with Mini cleaning products) This happend on each occassion. Might have just been our local dealearship but cant fault them. Hope all turns out well with yours, its a great car. Perhaps try another dealer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xspencex Posted March 24, 2005 Report Share Posted March 24, 2005 Sounds to me like your dealer needs to understand these issues. Write to the Sales Manager about your buying experience, point out all the issues, question MINI cherished. I would hope that they offer you some kind of appology. Anyway once you have the problems sorted I hope you enjoy your car, they are huge fun to blast about in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanga Posted March 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2005 Thanks for the replies. Picked the car up again yesterday. Had to drive to the dealership since they couldn't guarantee they'd be able to bring it back that day, which is about 30 miles. The original saleswoman is apologetic and says the car has been given a full tank of fuel (it hasn't, and is slightly off the mark, and given there is a petrol station 100 yards down the road I can't think it was used journeying from being filled up). This is not much consolation anyway since the car had a full tank when it was picked up by MINI Emergency Services. The guy says the mats have been cleaned, as have the floor as best they can, but it is still wet with anti-freeze. Which makes me wonder how they could have missed the problem in the first place. I'll definitely be writing a letter... Drove it on some B-roads yesterday - amazing. Such great fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritey Posted March 25, 2005 Report Share Posted March 25, 2005 They should have given it back in A1 condition and then some for disruption to you, but if your enjoying it then that's the main thing I guess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomk Posted April 21, 2005 Report Share Posted April 21, 2005 just keep on at them , remember they want your customer , just say how unsafe you think the car was, they should not treat you likethat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doogal1972 Posted May 18, 2005 Report Share Posted May 18, 2005 Sorry to hear you problems mate. I had a bad cooper S experience, so bad in the end I sold the bloody thing! 3 sunroofs, 3 CD players, 2 sets of door trims, broken exhaust mountings, both front leather seats replaced due to poor wear, leaking lights, EBD sensor replacement. etc. etc. etc I'm just skiming the surface here. In total, over the 2.5years of ownership I had nearly 6 grands worth of warranty claims which incidently BMW didn't think was excessive (their own words). In the end, bought an Audi S3 and never looked back. Don't get me wrong, the cooper s is a fantastic machine, with a crisp chassis and great handling, it's just not built very well IMO and customer service is a joke. I loved my car to bits until all the problems got too much for me in the end. Hope I haven't put anyone off, I think I must have had a friday car! All I will add is, it was a bad enough experince for me never to consider a BMW product again...errrr, well maybe an M3!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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