I wonder if anyone can please advise on a very, very complicated story:
I bought a Mini Cooper S Convertible (late 2010 model) in early 2011 (40th bday present). I took the car to France, where I live and where it is now registered.
In early summer 2013, the roof retracted but occasionally would not raise back to the closed position. After a while with the engine off, the roof would raise as if nothing had been wrong. As it was an infrequent problem and always worked eventually, I did not have it looked at officially.
As the end of the 3 year warranty period approached in Sep 2013 (2 yrs European, 3rd year UK only), the problem became more frequent, so I reported the issue to my dealer and to mini customer services UK, as well as the local French and Swiss dealership (I live on the border with Switzerland).
UK customer services advised me to book it in to a UK dealership in advance of the warranty period running out, even if that meant getting the car to them after the date. Thus, I called the closest UK dealer in Kent who kindly advised I could take it to them, have a courtesy car etc. Mini UK also said that if I had the vehicle repaired in Europe before the end of the warranty period, I could reclaim the cost from the original dealer from where I purchased the car.
In the meantime, I was checking with Mini Geneva to ensure that they were definitely not able to fix the issue under warranty. They said the warranty was UK only but as a goodwill gesture, kindly offered to check the roof. They conducted 160 checks and confirmed there was nothing wrong with the system. They thought I must be blocking the sensors in the boot (a well documented problem on mini forums).
However, the first weekend after the warranty ran out, the roof jammed in the 'down' position. This time it would not return at all and, during a break in the rain storms that week, I rushed the car to Geneva to get it fixed. This time, Geneva discovered a problem with the system and had to reprogram the car at a cost of CHF 1000 (roughly GBP 700).
Mini UK are now refusing to offer any goodwill compensation claiming that the vehicle was repaired outside of the warranty period and that is final. I feel aggrieved given that the tone of all my (well documented) emails and phone calls was to avoid getting in to this position.
Clearly, the ultimate fault lies with Mini Geneva who failed to identify the problem within the warranty period. However, as they only did this as a goodwill gesture, they will not entertain any compensation either.
Any advice?
I bought a Mini Cooper S Convertible (late 2010 model) in early 2011 (40th bday present). I took the car to France, where I live and where it is now registered.
In early summer 2013, the roof retracted but occasionally would not raise back to the closed position. After a while with the engine off, the roof would raise as if nothing had been wrong. As it was an infrequent problem and always worked eventually, I did not have it looked at officially.
As the end of the 3 year warranty period approached in Sep 2013 (2 yrs European, 3rd year UK only), the problem became more frequent, so I reported the issue to my dealer and to mini customer services UK, as well as the local French and Swiss dealership (I live on the border with Switzerland).
UK customer services advised me to book it in to a UK dealership in advance of the warranty period running out, even if that meant getting the car to them after the date. Thus, I called the closest UK dealer in Kent who kindly advised I could take it to them, have a courtesy car etc. Mini UK also said that if I had the vehicle repaired in Europe before the end of the warranty period, I could reclaim the cost from the original dealer from where I purchased the car.
In the meantime, I was checking with Mini Geneva to ensure that they were definitely not able to fix the issue under warranty. They said the warranty was UK only but as a goodwill gesture, kindly offered to check the roof. They conducted 160 checks and confirmed there was nothing wrong with the system. They thought I must be blocking the sensors in the boot (a well documented problem on mini forums).
However, the first weekend after the warranty ran out, the roof jammed in the 'down' position. This time it would not return at all and, during a break in the rain storms that week, I rushed the car to Geneva to get it fixed. This time, Geneva discovered a problem with the system and had to reprogram the car at a cost of CHF 1000 (roughly GBP 700).
Mini UK are now refusing to offer any goodwill compensation claiming that the vehicle was repaired outside of the warranty period and that is final. I feel aggrieved given that the tone of all my (well documented) emails and phone calls was to avoid getting in to this position.
Clearly, the ultimate fault lies with Mini Geneva who failed to identify the problem within the warranty period. However, as they only did this as a goodwill gesture, they will not entertain any compensation either.
Any advice?
