rattle on cold start

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this has probably been discussed before but wth,i noticed yesterday on startup from cold that my car was making a tappy rattle but only when cold,theres plenty of oil,ive had it 6 wks and only covered 400 miles in that time so im not a very happy chappy,i bought it from peter vardy mini edinburgh but am reluctant to take it back there,john clark is closest to me but after reading some less than impressive comments about them i would rather take it to grassicks in perth,any ideas what it could be? and if a courtesy car is required will i be charged for it? when i spoke to the salesman at grassik he said they may not have any courtesy cars available so i may be left to bus it,after spending 14 grand im pretty angry.

[N16SHP]

Whatever you do, do not go to John Clark. I heard another cracking story today about them refusing to replace a faulty brake disc that they fitted less than 2 months ago because the guy has had his alloy wheels refurbed...ridiculous. Could be the cold start rattle and if so there are plenty threads on here about it (I've had it replaced on both of our Cooper S') but I though this had been fixed and was only a problem with the Cooper S.

[stoney]

well i would ask when a car will be available and book it in then !!!! so if its booked then you know

you should not be charged for the car if yours is still in warranty !!

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well i would ask when a car will be available and book it in then !!!! so if its booked then you know

you should not be charged for the car if yours is still in warranty !!

my car is under warranty but i was told that if i needed a courtesy car then i would probably have to pay for it !!!

[AndyP & Lenore]

IIRC Grassics have a policy whereby if you didn't actually buy the car from them and require a loan car while yours is in getting fixed they "hire" you a car. £60 a day I seem to remember. If you bought your car from them it's just the usual "cover the insurance £10 charge" I think.

As for the rattle... What year and model is your MINI?

A.

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its a 2008 jcw,the rattle is from cold startup and occasionally theres a metal to metal noise,im not driving it incase i do any damage,have phoned emergency services,they can have a look.ive done 400 miles since i got it,expected it to be more reliable than this.

[N16SHP]

its a 2008 jcw,the rattle is from cold startup and occasionally theres a metal to metal noise,im not driving it incase i do any damage,have phoned emergency services,they can have a look.ive done 400 miles since i got it,expected it to be more reliable than this.

Although you've only driven it 400 miles, it is a second hand car remember. Plus, a lot of the dealers will not do chain tensioner work off their own back unless a customer brings it up as its time in the garage they could be getting paid work rather than warranty claims. This may sound harsh, but it's not meant to at all, it's just a fact...welcome to owning a Mini! As much as we love them, they certainly have their faults. I only had my S 5 weeks before noticing the cold rattle and had to fight to get it changed.

[Gismo]

Plus, a lot of the dealers will not do chain tensioner work off their own back unless a customer brings it up as its time in the garage they could be getting paid work rather than warranty claims

Warranty work guarantees payment, the dealer doesn't pay for the work, MINI do, so, the dealer would take warranty work every day

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mini wanted to take the car to john clark in dundee,they will only take the car to the closest dealership,after reading some unfavourable comments about the place i asked them if they would take it to grassicks,they agreed and have since been told that its the chain tensioner,they have asked to keep it overnight and check it again as there may be more damage.thank god for a warranty.

[AndyP & Lenore]

Well it sounds like it's going in your direction at least.

I'm sure the folks at grassics will look after you. If it's the cold start tensioner that's at fault I'm sure MINI will have it sorted. After a couple of years of MINI denying anything was even wrong, they now accept it's an issue and have a fix for it. Doesn't stop it completely, and it has been known to come back as bad as ever in some folks cars - my own car has been fine since the fix.

A.