Still Sputtering Along

road trip: Atlanta to Knoxville
odometer reading: 12,600 n change

500 miles later I’m back home in TN and the car still drives like crap. I’ve learned from the online MINI community that others are experiencing these problems too. So far though, I haven’t seen anyone mention that they’ve had their car fixed correctly. I’ve talked with the dealer twice. Each time I get a different answer to my same questions. They also want me to ship my car down to them via roadside assistance, put me in a rental, and let them keep my car for “a while”. When pressed for how long “a while” is, hesitantly I was told at least a week. When asked what they were going to do, I wasn’t given an answer. Oh, and although roadside assistance would take my car down there, and dealer would pay for the rental, it still meant another drive down to the dealer to pick up the car with no guarantees that it would be fixed. Hello, ship it back to me and maybe you’ll get it. We are not amused, to say the least

Of 36" TVs and Christmas Trees

Atlanta, GA, round n round
Odometer, 12,100 n ticking

In the unofficial owners manual, it says “Your MINI’s spacious backseat and rear cargo area means there’s plenty of room to accommodate everything you need to rev up the romance in any relationship – from long stemmed roses and heart shaped helium balloons to a 36” large screen TV with both rear seats folded down. (Degree of romance may vary with relationship mileage).

Black Friday (the Day after thanksgiving) we set off to buy a new TV. We were aiming for a 32”, so we took Mr. Q/ Just to see if the marketing was correct. Mind you MINI also claims a passenger as tall as 6’7 can ride in the MINI, and Bubba is 6’9 … we figured they might have underestimated the cargo hold as well. I suppose a 36” flat panel would fit just fine, but a 36” flat screen I just don’t see it. We ended up with a 27” TV, and had to turn it glass side up to get it in the boot. Once it was in, there was plenty of room. The box was getting hung up on the folded down seat backs. I’m sure a regular 36” TV does fit in the boot, getting it in there in the box, I just have to doubt.

Christmas Trees are another story. Normally I’ve brought home my 7’ Christmas tree in my Corvette (standing upright with the top off). This year, it too got stuffed into the MINI. A 6’ tree fit nicely from boot to dash. Could have gone 7” if I didn’t have a passenger riding with me. The only bad thing was sap got on the navigation screen. Smelled nice n pine fresh inside.

Mr. Q goes for service

roadtrip: Knoxville to Atlanta & back ... eventually
odometer: 12,000 n ticking

10K, well actually 12K, since I bought Mr. Q and it was time for his first service. An oil change. First, we have to get to the dealer, which means a 3 ½ hour drive down to Atlanta. About 40 minutes from ‘home” I got stuck in a traffic jam to end all others. Dead Stopped, sandwiched between some big trucks. Fortunately my little car can squeeze between them. I was 1 mile from an exit. After much internal debate, I decided to hop into the emergency lane and get to the exit. The emergency lane eventually came to a stop because people were using it to cut around the traffic and stay on the freeway. HELLO, you were just at a dead stop. Anyway, eventually I squeeze onto the onramp and set the Navigation lady to avoid highways. Yes, I put my faith in the Nav Lady.

2 hours past my original arrival time, I finally made it home. I could not have done it without the Nav Lady. I get too turned around in Atlanta to ever learn back roads, (except in very limited instances).

Bright and early the next morning I set off for the MINI Dealer (global imports). Mr. Q is the first appointment and I was guaranteed ahead of time we’d be done by 10am. I’m asked if I’ve had any problems with Mr. Q. “None” I say. “Windows squeak?” I’m asked. “Nope not a one” I say. One does, but only if it’s really wet … something I can live with since I don’t want to risk bigger problems with leaks should they touch it. “we’re going to replace your wiper blades for you, no charge” I’m told. “Good” I say, “cause they are absolute crap. Have been crap since day one.” When I get my receipt I find that this is an exterior trim recall. “There’s an emissions recall that will fix some problems with your car” I’m told. “But I don’t have any problems,” I repeat, “You know I have other appointments, we really need to keep this on time. Also, you said you would have ‘the guy’ look at the roof, the decal is lifting.”

I leave the dealer on time, am told the decal needs to be replaced (hmm didn’t you already know that since ‘the guy’ was supposed top look at it). I’m given a number to call to contact “the guy” for the decal work .. oh yay another 4 hour drive down to Atlanta …. Heaven forbid it was all arranged for one day. After some other appointments and driving the car off and on for 5 hours, while sitting at a stop light the car begins to shake and sputter.

“What the ….” Instinctively I check that my clutch is fully depressed, although the way I drive, there was no reason it shouldn’t have been. The AC is off, the windows are down. “sputter sputter sputter” goes Mr. Q. I called the dealer on the spot. I arrange to take it back after my next appointment.

Mr. Q is hooked up to the diagnostics and nothing shows wrong. (figured that would happen). I’m given lots of lame reasons for why I think my car is running rough. No, I don’t think it is, I KNOW it is. I’m told the computer upgrade I got, which I didn’t ask for, is liking giving the car a flue shot. It has to give a little bit of the sickness to the car in order for it to be better. They told me I needed to drive it more, and go through 5 drive cycles. Though the service advisor could not tell me what constituted a drive cycle or approximate mileage I should anticipate putting on the car.