Clutch Grief!!

[jockanease]

Happy New Year guys!!

I'm having a spot of bother with my Mini One Diesel at the moment.

I bought the car just over a month ago from the knighted second hand car dealer!

I found after a week or so after picking up the car that there was a knock when moving from standstill and changing through the gears.
There wasn't any problem at the time with selecion of gears although when i asked AC to look at the car they came back saying that it was nothing serious at the moment???!!

After another week i returned the car to the garage after i pulled upto a set of lights and the clutch was vibrating/squealing until i depressed the pedal.

Eventually AC decided to replace the clutch, which was finished yesterday and i drove the car home.

Now i find that i only have pedal pressure at the bottom of the pedal movement and engaging gears is more difficult through the range,especially trying to engage first gear from stationary.

Plus the knocking noise is still there!

Unfortunately my mini driving experience is being spoilt by this hit and miss so called warranty support.

Is there anyway to adjust a new clutch and could that knocking be something as simple as an engine mount on the drivers side??

Appreciate any help.

Jock.

[Gismo]

The knocking sound could be an engine mount, but, more importantly is that you get the car back to the garage as soon as possible to investigate the problem.
No way should the pedal be as bad as that :frown:

Good luck and keep us informed of your developments

Edit: I'm guessing your MINI is out of dealership warranty??

[jockanease]

Thanks for the reply Gizmo,

The car is under an extended 1 year warranty which cost a lot extra!
At the time i must of had the thought of worry free motoring!!:argh:

Unfortunately the garage is being a bit shady with what they think is wrong with car, I know that the more faults found the smaller the profit margin on the car!

I had the thought of taking it to a BMW mini specialist for a health check, then returning to the original garage with the ammunition (if any).
Unfortunately that would cost me more money at just the wrong time of year!

The knock was dismissed as interior noise by the garage, even though it is coming from the engine bay and their own mechanic agreed with me when i took him for a spin.

The clutch issues are going to be taken up with the garage first thing tomorrow along with the continuing knock saga.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Jock.

[Gismo]

I was asking if a MINI warranty, so, i'm guessing it's a non MINI one, hmm, not wanting to sound negative, but, i think you've got a lot of hard negotiating to do.
If money was no object i would seek a dealer inspection as soon as possible, but, i would inform your current warranty supplier and the garage of your intentions via a solicitor's letter also intimating that if any problems are found that you expect them to pay for it.
You'd obviously have to pay upfront and hope to get your money back from your warranty folks or garage, but, at least you'll have peace of mind etc

Maybe sounds heavy handed, but, keep everything calm, don't fall out with anyone, keep a clear mind and discuss in a normal manner.
Record all dates and times of conversations and log all visits and to whom you spoke to.
Do this when you visit the garage and make sure they see you writing stuff down.
This will go a long way to helping you.

I hope you don't need to act on any of this :frown: and you're sorted quickly :thumbs up:

[Ferengo]

Agree with Gismo here. I bought a Megane Coupe and the water pump went and needed replaced within the first week along with 2 new tyres. Got the tyres replaced but when I went back the guy refused to do the pump. He said I had had enough from the warrenty and it wasn't a good sale fro him to fix it under warrenty and what did I expect froma cheap car? £2500 is not cheap £500 is.

I called trading standards and they put me through to another department that dealt with motors. They were great. I went to another garage, told them I wanted it checked for any problems and that it was not them that were to fix it and explained the situation. They gave me a list of things needing done and trading standards helped me all the way. I got my pump fixed but I had to write a letter, keep a copy and send it recorded delivery.

If the garage is trying to fix it but they can't fix it then trading standards can tell you where you stand. They are free and have a website.

But as Gismo says, most important is record everything, get receipts for eveything done (As proof they have tried to fix it) and stay calm. Dealers will normally dismiss you if you fly off the handle.

Dealer inspection is the best way to go to find out for sure what's wrong, but consult your warrenty dealer first. They may be more inclined to fix it if you hand over an official letter from MINI saying XYZ is the cause of the problem.

One other thing is, did you buy it on finance from them (Or even on finance at all)? If so then contact the finance company as they may with hold payments to the dealer until it's fixed, that'll make them sort it sharp.

Good luck and I hope you get it fixed. :thumbs up:

[jockanease]

Followed the advice given by Ferengo and Gismo and ir did the job!

Went into the garage, kept my cool, put all my points across to the staff and mentioned taking the car to a BMW garage.
Also mentioned that i would be speaking to the finance company regarding sale of goods and my consumer rights!

All of a sudden everything is being replaced, master cylinder, slave cylinder and a new clutch assembly from BMW.
They are also putting the car on a rolling road to accurately identify where the knock is coming from.

Down side is they have had the car for the past week!:frown:

Quick question: Do you think it is reasonable to ask for a warranty on the parts?

Cheers Guys

Jockanease

[Gismo]

Glad to hear your getting sorted :clap:

[GCA3N]

Really glad to here you sorted this out. Really tired of hearing about bad garage service. Just to comment on the last thing you said, about warranty on the new stuff. You will be due a statutory 1 year warranty anyway (by law) hope all the stuff is sorted now.:thumbs up: