New Country Mini

brand new mini - broke down within a few weeks - miserable service coordinator!! basically - my problem.... what happened to customer service??? speaks volumes about dealer that they would allow this kind customer interaction... this was an expensive car - there are obvious bugs with this car and they cant get parts because its "too new"?! Really? Then act like its your problem and not MINE just because I made the mistake of buying the car at this dealership! Things better improve or management needs to change

It is a shame that such a good car could be sold by such an awful dealer. Service? They don't know what that is. They blame all the problems of the car on you personally. I had my vehicle in service for 9 days. My car needed to be towed (at my expense), I had to rent a car for 9 days (at my expense). My car STILL has problems. They are upset because I put new tires on my car...who knew that the tires need to have sensors in them or at least tht is what they told me. The sensor is in the vehicle not the tires. My keys both of them do not work. This vehicle is over computerized and it has complete control of the vehicle. I am not a happy camper and the dealer does NOT care. They have yelled at me on the phone, called me names and treated me with total disrespect. I have been driving for 40 years and this has to be the worst service EVER. I would never recommend New Country Mini to anyone. Their reputation preceeds them. Even the car rental place expressed that the terrible service keeps them in business. I had to fight to get things done and they blew me off when I took my vehicle in to them to have a broken sunroof looked at...this caused the sunroof to be covered by my extended warrenty. They are guilty of insurance fraud. They knew that I had a problem and they did not take care of it, they passed it off to somebody else. Again I question service??? All they know how to do is make an appointment, but they do not know what to do when you get there or know how to fix the problem. Now I want to sell my car and I can't because it is still not fixed. This dealer costs me too much money. The Mini is a great dream car, but New Country Mini dealer has made this whole experience a nightmare.

The timing chain tensioner broke on my 2009 Mini Cooper S back in April 2011 which also caused the timing chain/belt to break. They (New Country Mini) had it for about a week and told me it was fixed. When I went to pick the car up, it was very hard starting, idling very hard, had no power ( it was like trying to take off in 4th gear) AND the engine light was on. I only made it 1/4 miles from the dealer before turning around and giving it back to them. The car obviously was never road tested after repair. New Country Mini then kept the car for an additional 3 weeks and claimed the problem/problems were fixed. My guess is that the mechanic had the timing chain off by a tooth or two. In any case, it should not take a month to fix a timing chain issue. Sadly enough my 2009 Mini is back at New Country Mini (went in on July 14, 2011), with the engine light on and idling rough. Since my Mini was returned in May I had not driven it much due to being away from home, plus the fact I ride a 2009 Goldwing most of the time in the summer. New Country Mini has had the car for over a week now, and claim they have opened a PUMA case and are waiting for a response from Mini. I am now going on six weeks that my 2009 Mini Cooper S has been out of service. I paid cash for my Mini and right now its looking like the 30K bought me nothing but a huge headache. I hope not. I really love my mini! Update July 29, 2011: As a result of the PUMA case the engine was torn down completely. The engine was found to have two bent valves on one cylinder.I assume they mean either the valve stems or push rods. The engine is now being reassembled with new valves. Update Aug 1, 2011: I was told my Mini was ready to be picked up. They replaced only the bent valve rod. They removed and inspected the pistons. The pistons were found to have uneven wear, but were not replace with new ones. When I tried to drive my Mini away from the dealership, I found that the car had no power (again it was like taking off in 4th gear) and the engine light came on almost immediately. I turned around and returned the car to the dealer was it is now being fixed. AGAIN! At this point my car has been out of service for 20 consecutive days and counting. the prior repair visit which is related to this visit, was for over 30 consecutive days. Simply put , in the last four months my 2009 Mini Cooper, which is still under warranty has been in the repair shop for over 50 days, all for the same problem. Update Aug 8, 2011: (final & sadly last update) New Country Mini called and said my car was ready and had been extensively road test. I took possesion of the car and twas told that a vacuum line was bent and a gasket on the exhaust manifold was cracked and replaced. When I went to pick it up it had no gas in it. I mean the computer read dashes for miles left and the fuel bar had zero lights. The service concierge went with me of a quick test ride. First I had to buy gas or we would not make it back to the dealer. The car ran okay, but on the highway ocassionaly it would hesitate when you stepped on the gas. Regardless of that I took my car because I fealt confident that without a fault light going on they would not fix it. This is the last update on this problem as I intend to unload this lemon as soon as possible. The CT Lemon laws can not be used because the car is over 2 years old and has over 24k miles on it. Regardless of the fact that it is still under warranty and only 2 1/2 years old with a little over 40k miles, the lemon law does not apply. The CT Division of Consumer Affairs New Car Lemon Law supervisor even suggested I trade the car in.

I recently purchased a 2011 Countryman from New Country MINI. It was an incredible experience that surpassed my expectations. My sales advisor, Chris Thurston, was extremely knowledgable, friendly and truly interested in getting to know me and my driving needs. He also took the time to follow through after the sale to see how I was doing with my new Countryman. I love my new MINI and highly recommend New Country MINI.