Mini Dealer shears off brake bleed nipple, wants £3k for cal
Discussion
My mother has had one hell of a day today.
Her 67 plate 22k Mini JCW was in for brake fluid and MOT.
Service advisor says to her "your bonnet struts are out of date, they are part of the pedestrian protection system so if they've expired and the police see this if you hit someone..." scaremongering. £250 for those. That's where I get involved.
Then said to me "we get that all the time, women of a certain age, you know, your mothers' age..." (she hears this and takes it badly, she's very self conscious of her appearance) so I feel like smacking him one - I'm a better person, I don't, I just explain how both parents grew up with the owners of the business and watched him go white as a sheet.
Anyway just as we're about to leave, the service tech comes over to say they've sheared a bleed nipple off the front calliper and the others seem seized. They price up 2x front and 1x rear calliper, comes to around £2,900.
After all that rambling, my point here is - should she be liable for them mullering her brake callipers?
Her 67 plate 22k Mini JCW was in for brake fluid and MOT.
Service advisor says to her "your bonnet struts are out of date, they are part of the pedestrian protection system so if they've expired and the police see this if you hit someone..." scaremongering. £250 for those. That's where I get involved.
Then said to me "we get that all the time, women of a certain age, you know, your mothers' age..." (she hears this and takes it badly, she's very self conscious of her appearance) so I feel like smacking him one - I'm a better person, I don't, I just explain how both parents grew up with the owners of the business and watched him go white as a sheet.
Anyway just as we're about to leave, the service tech comes over to say they've sheared a bleed nipple off the front calliper and the others seem seized. They price up 2x front and 1x rear calliper, comes to around £2,900.
After all that rambling, my point here is - should she be liable for them mullering her brake callipers?
Absolute and utter incompetence. Stuff like this makes my blood boil. There is no reason at all why a main dealer cannot do a brake fluid change on a relatively newish car without butchering things.
Change the whole braking system? You have got to be kidding!! Complete weapons-grade rip-off!
Change the whole braking system? You have got to be kidding!! Complete weapons-grade rip-off!
Bonkers and just smacks of wanting to pull their customers' pants down.
I sort of get why a low mileage car might result in seized calipers, but surely the answer is to bleed the system, work the piston back and forth and ensure everything is greased but I guess that's just too much for the modern mechanic and the simpler solution is to bin the whole caliper and replace with new. Also don't get how they've managed to snap the nipple. On a 5 year old car, I'd say that's on them.
As to the bonnet safety gas strut things, assuming it's the pyro charges is a 5 year life not insane? Thought most airbags had a 10 year life. Personally I'd not bother as it's not my safety at risk if I hit someone. The police won't give two hoots, even in the unlikely event she hit someone.
I'd get them to sort the snapped nipple and then never go back.
I sort of get why a low mileage car might result in seized calipers, but surely the answer is to bleed the system, work the piston back and forth and ensure everything is greased but I guess that's just too much for the modern mechanic and the simpler solution is to bin the whole caliper and replace with new. Also don't get how they've managed to snap the nipple. On a 5 year old car, I'd say that's on them.
As to the bonnet safety gas strut things, assuming it's the pyro charges is a 5 year life not insane? Thought most airbags had a 10 year life. Personally I'd not bother as it's not my safety at risk if I hit someone. The police won't give two hoots, even in the unlikely event she hit someone.
I'd get them to sort the snapped nipple and then never go back.
Who tightened the bleed nipples? ‘Mini’, presumably?
Sounds like a s
t mechanic to me, who shears one off and chickens out of undoing the other two.
and no attempt to remove the sheared one? I am an amateur and I have successfully dealt with this situation recently in my shed with an assortment of old drill bits and crossed fingers.
Sounds like a s
t mechanic to me, who shears one off and chickens out of undoing the other two. and no attempt to remove the sheared one? I am an amateur and I have successfully dealt with this situation recently in my shed with an assortment of old drill bits and crossed fingers.
Edited by HustleRussell on Thursday 28th September 23:07
Ninja59 said:
Super common at BMW this seems. I don't know why though and their solution is always this usually.
BMW are trained this way and their whole parts system is designed to maximize service margins. I had a piece of wire snap that was part of the folding roof on my 4 series cab. I took it in as I wasn't brave enough to give it a go, happy to pay a few hundred bucks (US) for the job to be done well.. I'm busy etc..
Turns out they won't sell and fit the part, they will only sell me and fit a whole new roof mechanism ($4k).
I bought the part on Amazon for $6 and fitted it myself in the end with some scraped knuckles and probably 10x more time than a tech.. but out of principal I had to do it.
I told the bloke it was a joke etc.. and he said its how the parts department is structured.. they only want to do big / high margin jobs or highly repetitive ones like oil changes.
I’m assuming the brembo calipers, these are little gits for when changing the pads as the pins seize in them so I can very well believe the bleed nipple has seized in them. No doubt they decided it should be changed rather than actually test it first.
You can buy the JCW brake kit complete with discs and calipers front and rear for £1200.
You can buy the JCW brake kit complete with discs and calipers front and rear for £1200.
Flumpo said:
If you parents know the owners, is it not best to just take it up with them? Although I appreciate your mother may not want her nipples being the talk of the town.
Fair point that's potentially the best approach to getting it solved. My wife has a classic mini and I take great pleasure in offering to grease her nipples from time to time. She prefers to grease her own nipples though
Edited by MBVitoria on Friday 29th September 00:26
Several years ago I had something similar. I "forget" what car it was but I had bought it from a dealership, put a private plate on it, brought it back for some minor work and advised it was on a different plate, but for whatever reason the dealership staff didn't bother changing it in their system.
A few months later I brought it back for a service, and I mentioned the gearbox was a little dodgy so if they could have a look that'd be great.
I was told that the gearbox was suffering an electronic issue and they had to replace the entire module and maybe even the harness as a precaution. Total cost wasn't far off £7000.
I asked them to let me pay for my service first, and then figure out what I wanted to do. They agreed. I paid up and then said to do whatever is recommended and send me the invoice.
What I didn't tell them was that I had read the fine print in my OEM warranty and all the electronics they recommended were covered. They obviously thought my car wasn't covered by a warranty (I guess they never checked my VIN in their system!).
Anyway when they said the work is done, they replaced two modules, a harness, and some other bits, I went in to go and pick up my car. When they asked how I'd like to pay, I pointed at the dealer principal, and said to ask him, as he was the sales exec when I bought my car and signed off on my warranty. Here's a free copy I made earlier.
To say they were unimpressed would be an understatement. Suddenly the flowery dealership experience of free coffees, christmas cards and VIP invitations disappeared. The best I got that trip was a crumpled statement and my keys handed back, saying "it's in the service car park, all sorted."
I drove past the dealership two years later and it had closed.
A few months later I brought it back for a service, and I mentioned the gearbox was a little dodgy so if they could have a look that'd be great.
I was told that the gearbox was suffering an electronic issue and they had to replace the entire module and maybe even the harness as a precaution. Total cost wasn't far off £7000.
I asked them to let me pay for my service first, and then figure out what I wanted to do. They agreed. I paid up and then said to do whatever is recommended and send me the invoice.
What I didn't tell them was that I had read the fine print in my OEM warranty and all the electronics they recommended were covered. They obviously thought my car wasn't covered by a warranty (I guess they never checked my VIN in their system!).
Anyway when they said the work is done, they replaced two modules, a harness, and some other bits, I went in to go and pick up my car. When they asked how I'd like to pay, I pointed at the dealer principal, and said to ask him, as he was the sales exec when I bought my car and signed off on my warranty. Here's a free copy I made earlier.
To say they were unimpressed would be an understatement. Suddenly the flowery dealership experience of free coffees, christmas cards and VIP invitations disappeared. The best I got that trip was a crumpled statement and my keys handed back, saying "it's in the service car park, all sorted."
I drove past the dealership two years later and it had closed.
Second Best said:
Several years ago I had something similar. I "forget" what car it was but I had bought it from a dealership, put a private plate on it, brought it back for some minor work and advised it was on a different plate, but for whatever reason the dealership staff didn't bother changing it in their system.
A few months later I brought it back for a service, and I mentioned the gearbox was a little dodgy so if they could have a look that'd be great.
I was told that the gearbox was suffering an electronic issue and they had to replace the entire module and maybe even the harness as a precaution. Total cost wasn't far off £7000.
I asked them to let me pay for my service first, and then figure out what I wanted to do. They agreed. I paid up and then said to do whatever is recommended and send me the invoice.
What I didn't tell them was that I had read the fine print in my OEM warranty and all the electronics they recommended were covered. They obviously thought my car wasn't covered by a warranty (I guess they never checked my VIN in their system!).
Anyway when they said the work is done, they replaced two modules, a harness, and some other bits, I went in to go and pick up my car. When they asked how I'd like to pay, I pointed at the dealer principal, and said to ask him, as he was the sales exec when I bought my car and signed off on my warranty. Here's a free copy I made earlier.
To say they were unimpressed would be an understatement. Suddenly the flowery dealership experience of free coffees, christmas cards and VIP invitations disappeared. The best I got that trip was a crumpled statement and my keys handed back, saying "it's in the service car park, all sorted."
I drove past the dealership two years later and it had closed.
Great story A few months later I brought it back for a service, and I mentioned the gearbox was a little dodgy so if they could have a look that'd be great.
I was told that the gearbox was suffering an electronic issue and they had to replace the entire module and maybe even the harness as a precaution. Total cost wasn't far off £7000.
I asked them to let me pay for my service first, and then figure out what I wanted to do. They agreed. I paid up and then said to do whatever is recommended and send me the invoice.
What I didn't tell them was that I had read the fine print in my OEM warranty and all the electronics they recommended were covered. They obviously thought my car wasn't covered by a warranty (I guess they never checked my VIN in their system!).
Anyway when they said the work is done, they replaced two modules, a harness, and some other bits, I went in to go and pick up my car. When they asked how I'd like to pay, I pointed at the dealer principal, and said to ask him, as he was the sales exec when I bought my car and signed off on my warranty. Here's a free copy I made earlier.
To say they were unimpressed would be an understatement. Suddenly the flowery dealership experience of free coffees, christmas cards and VIP invitations disappeared. The best I got that trip was a crumpled statement and my keys handed back, saying "it's in the service car park, all sorted."
I drove past the dealership two years later and it had closed.
A part that sheers during a person's interaction is the persons fault. It didn't sheer itself. He/she loaded it incorrectly.
My old boss used to ask me to take her mini into the dealers down the road. I personally would never take a bmw/mini into a main dealer. There are many fantastic bmw indies out there.
My old boss used to ask me to take her mini into the dealers down the road. I personally would never take a bmw/mini into a main dealer. There are many fantastic bmw indies out there.
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