2nd Gen R56 Cooper S Mini Question timing chain. Follow along on facebook

I really haven't been following this issue closely but I though MINI had a service bulletin and was fixing these.

Since you seem to have a finger on the pulse of the issue what is MINI doing?

 

From everything i've read on this forum and other Mini forums, I place my bets it's the dealerships taking advantage of the customers. I know of a few cases now where people have brought there mini or bmw into my local dealer for warranty work, been told that they couldn't find the problem/fix, only to be told after the warranty expired that they found the problem and it cost 1 - 2k to fix. Not to mention my own terrible experiences!

My previous 3 cars were Hondas. I never had any issue with getting service or warranty repairs. In fact, they would send me letters saying there is a warranty recall/fix come on in for a free fix.

At the end of the day, the owner's experience depends on the dealership. We don't deal directly with Mini USA. We deal with the dearler.

Here's simple formula for all you dearlership folks:

Happy Customer = Loyalty, Repeat Business, Referrals = $$$$$$$$$$$

i wonder how many of them read these forums? When I first got my Mini I saw a post on the Sewing Scat site about bad service from my dealer. I told my sales guy about it. I don't think they cared.

 

So, what is it that we're supposed to follow? Yet another thread about how MINI "doesn't care about their customers"? More anecdotal evidence from disgruntled owners? Or will there be some kind of give and take communication with MINI about this? What is the point of this
facebook thing? How does it work? What's it supposed to do?

 

Well

it is a question on MINIs own facebook page. It's more "in thier face" so to speak... So I'm guessing it's a hope to start a dialog, or more likely, an opportunity to watch MINI ignore it and have it get burried in all the spam posts on the MINI wall....

But if enough of MINI's friends keep it alive, it may demand a response.... Here's what I think the most that will come out of it... "As per the cold start issue that a some are reporting, we are aware of the issue, it is limited to a small amount of the cars. We fix it on a case-by-case basis. Because of how MINI dealership franchising works, we can't dictate how specific dealers respond to individual customers. Thank you for your input."

Matt

 

I am all for the disemination of accurate information.

One of the things I find dismaying about the chain tensioner situation is how many folks don't understand what the noise is or what to do about it till their engine's ruined. If caught and repaired early (like they did on mine at 3K miles) it won't cause any harm and I don't believe it will affect the long term viability of the engine. If not, however, it's a ticking time bomb.....

And by then the car is out of warranty......

I wonder if the incidence of repair is the same percentage wise in other countrys?

So many people today just don't have any real "feel" for their car's workings, it's all plug and play until it quits.