Posted on 02/09/2015 6:05:02 AM PST by rickmichaels
An Ontario woman has decided to Go Public, as she fights to get Mini Canada, owned by BMW, to pay $10,200 to repair her Mini Cooper, after a blown engine that left her car unusable.
"When the car stopped dead, I could have been killed or killed someone," Yasmina Bursac told Go Public.
"I'm a relatively experienced driver, I've been on the road for a long time. It was frightening."
Bursac bought her used 2010 Mini Cooper S from a Volkswagen dealership in Mississauga, Ont., in July 2013 for $21,000 .
The vehicle was only three years old with 61,000 kilometres on the clock, and Bursac says the Volkswagen dealership she bought it from told her it was in good shape and safe to drive.
But just over a year later, on Sept. 26, 2014, Bursac says she was travelling at 70 km/h along a Mississauga road when her car suddenly stopped without warning.
She heard a hissing sound and couldn't restart it.
Bursac had the car towed to a nearby gas station where a mechanic looked at it.
"He told me … the engine had been completely damaged beyond repair and I needed a new engine. I was in disbelief because the engine only had 64,000 kilometres on it," she said.
Bursac wanted a second opinion, so she had the car towed to Budd's BMW/Mini dealership in Oakville, Ont.
She says the dealership confirmed the worst — a vacuum pump had failed, causing the timing chain to snap and doing irreparable damage to the engine.
Bursac says the dealership told her a refurbished engine would cost her just under $10,200. Bursac was shocked; she still had about $19,000 in car payments to make.
Bursac called Mini Cooper Canada to complain. How could a relatively new car with so few kilometres have such a massive mechanical failure?
After some negotiation, the company offered to pay 60 per cent of the $10,200 cost, if Bursac got the repairs done at its dealership.
But Bursac had done some research, and believed the initial estimate was inflated, so the offer to pay a large portion of the cost wasn't the deal it seemed to be, especially when the damage wasn't her fault.
"It was shocking, because online the price range for a refurbished engine was between $1,700 and $3,000."
Class action lawsuits involving certain Mini Cooper models have already been filed in the U.S.
One $85-million US lawsuit alleges BMW failed to notify consumers about a design defect that could cause water pumps to fail in thousands of 2007-13 Mini Coopers.
That class action is pending court approval and involves the water pump that wasn't recalled. BMW denies the allegations.
In November 2013, a big class action lawsuit was settled involving the 2002-06 Mini Hardtop and the 2005-08 Mini Convertible.
Plaintiffs alleged a design defect caused the continuously variable transmissions or CVTs in the vehicles to prematurely break down, which could lead to transmission failure while driving.
In that case, BMW denied the allegations but agreed to provide refunds to consumers.
Go Public could not find a record of any class action lawsuits in Canada, but that doesn't mean there are no unhappy Mini drivers.
George Iny, president of consumer advocacy for the Automobile Protection Association in Canada, says his organization hears a lot of complaints about the older Mini models — especially those manufactured between 2002 and 2008.
"A used Mini is a piece of junk. And the pity is, unlike other BMW products, it's sold to people who would otherwise be driving in a small Volkswagen or Toyota or something like that," he told Go Public.
"These are the people who don't necessarily have the BMW wallet to pay for BMW price repairs. It's both not reliable and very expensive to fix."
The problem, according to Iny, goes beyond Mini products. He says that across the country, provincial governments are failing when it comes to protecting car owners.
Iny says that under most provincial consumer laws, defective goods are subject to a refund or replacement, but the provinces seem to ignore that when it comes to defective vehicles.
He says car manufacturers know they won't be penalized or face fines if their cars are defective.
"Very few retailers would refuse to take back really defective goods. Car makers and car dealers do that every day," Iny says.
Iny wants to see so-called "lemon laws" in Canada, like the ones in the U.S.
Individual states have their own legislation that goes by different names, but they all give car buyers extra protection if their vehicles are defective — if they have bought a so-called "lemon."
"What you would need is some kind of 'lemon' protection for both new and used car buyers, because the car companies don't respect the implied warranty that you get. You need something clearer," said Iny.
In the case of the Mini, Iny says BMW could do a lot better by offering its customers extended warranties for problematic models or cheaper repair rates, just as other car makers have done in the past.
In Bursac's case, she tried to strike a deal with the BMW dealership, suggesting it fix the car and then sell it, subtracting the cost of the repairs, enabling her to pay off as much of her loan as possible.
But Bursac says the dealership refused, saying the best it could do is offer her $1,000 for the broken-down car.
Barb Pitblado, BMW Group Canada's director of corporate communications, says that because Bursac bought the car second-hand from a non-Mini dealership without an extended warranty, there is little Mini Canada can do.
Pitblado says the company offered to pick up 60 per cent of the cost of replacing the engine as "a gesture of goodwill and to make [Bursac] happy with her brand experience with Mini."
Pitblado offered to put Bursac back in touch with the BMW/Mini dealership.
Bursac declined that offer, saying the situation leaves her saddled with car payments for a vehicle without an engine, which she can't drive or sell.
"It was just a horrible experience and it's continued to be a horrible experience," she says.
Well, there’s THIS:
http://www.forthepeople.com/class-action-lawyers/mini-cooper-timing-chain-lawsuit
My father in law never likes what CR prints because he thinks they are biased against GM. The fact is they printed the results of their surveys and Chevy’s for twenty years were junk. They are now a lot better. CR is the only survey company that does not accept money or advertising. They actually go out and buy the appliances and other items they test. Their yearly used car issue is very accurate when it comes to identifying problems with automobiles.
FYI, I had a Lexus SC400 I bought used. It was the only car I ever owned that I sold it for more than I paid for it. The only thing I ever put into it was gasoline, oil and tires.
Exactly right. You couldn’t even get parts if you wanted to overhaul it. Many other manufacturers have gone to the CVT with exactly the same results, a vehicle with very low miles the owner is still making payments on with a $5k minimum transmission problem. It pretty much totals out the vehicle.
We have either a 07 or 08 Odyssey. Mrs. Woodbutchers’ ride. It mostly sits in the garage because she works out of the house. When does the timing belt need to be changed?
I love that Eco Drive feature on the Odyssey. Three cylinders or six cylinders firing depending whether you push down on the pedal.
Good question. We had a 1993 Camry with the inline four
and it was a great car. We sold it with 135K miles on it
and it was running perfectly. It got fairly good mileage,
but was a bit anemic on power.
I am not sure how Toyota gets the higher compression with
a non-interference engine, but I always felt better knowing
that if the belt did break, the engine would not grenade.
We now have a 2004 Lexus RX330 (bought one year old with
approx. 20K miles on it) and it is coming up on 116K miles
without a single repair knock on wood!). I do my own brakes and maintenance and the car is a dream to work on. I do think it has too many bells and whistles.
Or brush and floss.
I have an 09 Corolla with a timing chain. I thoroughly researched the issue (I’m not a mechanic and I’m not a “car guy”), and timing chains, from what I gathered, are simply not supposed to break for hundreds of thousands of miles. If they do, you can hear it pretty clearly before it happens (youtube has some cool vids of this before it occurs).
The whole point of having a chain instead of a belt is to prevent total engine failure described in this story.
If someone knows differently from what I’ve researched - give me a shout out because I’ll need to have it checked. Thus far, my engine, at 107k miles, is running fine with no signs of the chain breaking.
When I was looking for a used everyday vehicle, I noticed that a 10 year-old Honda Accord or Toyota Camry was about the same price as a 10 year-old mid-level Mercedes or BMW.
The reason is exactly as you stated. Also, a luxury car buyer doesn’t want a 10 year-old car. And the average person doesn’t want the repair bills that come with them.
As long as you make sure you keep the oil at the proper level, you should never have to replce a timing chain; or least not for over 200,000 miles.
Did some googling, and apparently they’ve made the belts better over the years. The distances I’ve seen for the TDI is 100,000K+. The manual should say.
That is true for engines with double row chains, however single row chains last about 100K miles.
Also, the chain usually is not the problem, but rather the tensioner(s)that often has plastic on it.
I don’t mind the timing belt as long the engine is non-
interference.
My 05 was due at 100K miles.
You are 100% correct on the reason for a chain. They should not break, even after 250k mis........
My second car was a 74 Triumph Spitfire that I bought at a used car dealer here in Norfolk. (We finance E-1 and up) It lasted for 12 of the 18 payments and threw a rod. Vowed to never own another British car.
I also had an 88 Dodge Dakota truck. The owners manual stated to use MOPAR Type 7176 or Dextron II transmission fluid. After the SECOND transmission overhaul I found out that Dextron II would cause the transmission to fail. BTW as of two years ago that truck was STILL on the road.
Cripes, given your name I’m guessing you know stuffs about cars and things. You’re making me paranoid.
I don’t know if my ‘09 Corolla has a single or double row. I did a ton of research on Toyota Nation and the consensus there is that ‘09 corolla with my engine has a 400k + life unless you hear “the noise.” Which is loud and distinctive.
Thank you. Someday I ought to root that manual out and look at it. smile
I have been working on cars (boats and anything mechanical)for
over 45 years (yes, I am old).
Your Corolla, with proper maintenance, should go 200k without
any problem. If, however you hear a noise (usually at start up), it should be checked out.
Replacing a timing chain proactively can create more problems
since the engine needs to be opened up.
No doubt, your Corolla will go as long as you want to drive it.
I found that out the hard way. The $2500 oil change is common for BMWs with 50,0000+ miles. A mini S model is a blast to drive; they will do 130 mph off the showroom floor. For $5K you can buy a kit that takes that to over 160 mph.
At the 45K or 60k check ups / oil change you can count on spending $2500 or more on repair work every time it goes to the dealer. That is why mine got traded in...
The dealer wanted $950 for a REBUILT alternator...
#9 My 1992 Honda was that way but the 2003 4cyl has a chain and not a belt and it says the belt is good for the life of the car. The 6cyl has the belt and the transmission problem.... The 1992 Honda you had to change out the belt at 90,000 miles and you also did the water pump ($45) as it was right there as they took apart the timing belt.
Sometimes I hear a crunch at cold start-up, but I’m told it’s the starter bendix which is a common defect on the model. I’ll eventually replace the starter and drive the car until it explodes.
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