My chuckle for today, courtesy of the MINI dealer

I dropped my R53 MINI off at the dealership because the AC clutch is disintegrating and I can't be bothered working on the car right now. The first thing the dealer does is a test drive and an inspection. Keep in mind the car is 15 years old and lived its life in Michigan. Shortly I get an email outlining what they found....AC problem, heavy clutch, pitted rear brake rotors, multiple oil seepages....all accompanied by the estimate, itemized for each fault. Should I wish to have them correct all this it will only set me back $7053.06 !  Comparable cars are listing for half that on Craigslist.

To his credit the service rep phoned and asked if I would like him to find used or reman AC compressor and he assumed I'd skip the rest.

Had a similar experience with my '12 model but not nearly as much (about $4k).  It did include new swaybar bushings for $1100 in parts and labor, which I had already planned to do with poly's (and have now done) for under $50.

I think it's more of a CYA for them.  I assume it would happen at any dealer, but MINI is the only one I've had a list like that from.....

Glad to know they offered to find a used/reman compressor though.  I wouldn't have expected that from a liability aspect.

-Rob

Was curious as to the extent$$$$$ of the 'gouge', and apparently this is occurs regardless of marque. Was quoted over $900 for plugs and wires on the 'V' while actually chasing a faulty crank position sensor. Replaced the wires myself for a FRACTION of the cost and the plugs only have  40k on them. After this i'm now in pursuit of a set of long needle nose with the curved jaws when it 's finally time for plugs....... 

I talked to a local garage about looking over a used Mini for a pre-purchase.  The service manager laughed and said "Just so you know, Mini's with differed maintenance keep the lights on around here.  Everything else is profit."  Pretty sure he was only partially kidding.  

In reply to kazoospec :

My MINI specialist of choice is "Detroit Tuned". The owner will tell you that his bread and butter is the 2nd generation cars. He and his staff generally drive 1st gen cars. I can't really complain about my MINI. It's 15 years old and hasn't needed a lot. You just get to the point where everything will start aging out in short order and have to decide when to cut and run. I like the car, but don't love it enough to spend big money on it. Unfortunately I don't see many new cars that turn my crank enough to replace it. There isn't a lot of fun small cars available any more.

In reply to DeadSkunk :

Have you driven a Fiesta ST?  Not sure how they will turn out to be long term as far a maintenance goes, but a lot of the same fun as a Mini at Ford parts pricing rather than BMW/Mini. 

In reply to kazoospec :

I haven't, but I should while they're still available.

man, I hadn't been to a dealership for service in ...forever. Literally. I took my Z4 in to BMW for the airbag light. While there I was quoted $623 for the rear pads and rotors.

*blink blink*

I price checked Amazon and found the lot for as low as $75.

The next night I took it out to a Track Night in America event and wanted so badly to run it back to them for a second opinion on how bad the brakes were :)

Sept 2015 i got a BMW PPI on my 2007 525xi.   $1200 to replace oil pan gasket.   so i did some math for the service advisor:

• let's say it leaks a quart every 1000 miles,
• and a quart costs $12.
• i can let that berkeleyer leak for 100,000 miles before the repair is a cost save.

he didn't bat an eye and said "so i guess i don't have to tell you about the $700 transmission fluid leak."

also, FWIW, after i degreased everything and replaced gaskets on oil filter housing and oil cooler, the oil pan leak went away.  berkeleyers.

I took my 2002 4Runner in back in 2017 to Toyota to try and diagnose an emissions CEL when my indy was having some trouble pinpointing it. They quoted me over $4k (!) to replace the fuel filler pipe, charcoal canister, the entire exhaust (cats and all) and then replace some weeping valve cover gaskets. As above, the service writer didn't really expect me to sign off on the work, I just paid the diagnostic fee and went back to my indy.

We ended up replacing the fuel filler pipe first (~$200), but CEL came back, so then two separate valves in the evap system (~$150) and BOOM, fixed.

So it isn't just luxury brands, no service dept is immune.

Just to finish this off. I ended up ordering a new compressor from Rockauto and the dealership installed it. Total bill came out about $60 less than my local indy MINI specialist. I have nothing to complain about.

The kids Sentra needs TPMS sensors.  2007 is his car and the first year for that crap.   I’m driving it to Boston this weekend and he’s going to safety test and register it in Massachusetts so I figure I’ll treat him and get it fixed   

Call a few places $60-$90 each.   I call the Nissan dealer and they don’t ask the year or model.   Guy says $222 then says $25 for install.  

So I says “out the door” about $250 for all four?   No, that’s per tire.  So I says it will cost a grand to replace these?  He said yes.   

My buddy at Wally World put Schraeder aftermarket ones on for $29 each or $120 total.  

CobraSpdRH said:

I took my 2002 4Runner in back in 2017 to Toyota to try and diagnose an emissions CEL when my indy was having some trouble pinpointing it. They quoted me over $4k (!) to replace the fuel filler pipe, charcoal canister, the entire exhaust (cats and all) and then replace some weeping valve cover gaskets. As above, the service writer didn't really expect me to sign off on the work, I just paid the diagnostic fee and went back to my indy.

We ended up replacing the fuel filler pipe first (~$200), but CEL came back, so then two separate valves in the evap system (~$150) and BOOM, fixed.

So it isn't just luxury brands, no service dept is immune.

Be kind to Toyota techs when it comes to evap problems.  I'll give you a week, eight hours a day, to sit and read the code criteria and testing procedure for any Toyota evap system built in the last 35 years.  Give me a call when you figure out how any of it works. 

My 2006 Jeep Liberty failed VA inspection; said it need pads and rotors. Spent $170 in parts and some time beating the rear rear rotors until they finally gave up. If they hadn't been stuck, whole job would have taken less than an hour. I called local Jeep dealer to see what they would have charged; 2 hrs per axle at $500 and $500 in parts. Said they would do what ever they could to lower the cost ! Certainly reinforces my feelings about dealers.

DeadSkunk said:

Just to finish this off. I ended up ordering a new compressor from Rockauto and the dealership installed it. Total bill came out about $60 less than my local indy MINI specialist. I have nothing to complain about.

Wow. I'm shocked a dealer would actually install an owner-supplied part.  That is a rare dealer. If you tried that at any of the MINI dealers in the PA/NJ area you'd get laughed out of the waiting room.

I have known one of the techs at Detroit Tuned for many years.  He's from the Philly area and he and his wife moved out to Detroit when DT offered him a job.   Mike with the blue hair.  He also drives a R53 (that he did an almost bare-chassis restoration on when he was working at his father's body shop).

As ugly as they are, he says the (current) F56 MINI is the most reliable car MINI has made.

My sister called me from the VW dealer earlier this week.  She needs an AC compressor.  They quoted her $1100.  I'm guessing its just a clutch, but what the hey, its her money.  I just ordered her a brand new one from Rockauto for $340 delivered to my door.  I don't have time to deal with it, but the garage down the street looked it up and it books at 3.1 hours.  I can almost guarantee the guy will have it done in 2.  He's fast.