May already?

Hello? Anybody still here? Is this thing on?

So I get disracted for a minute and all of a sudden its May?! Bah! February is not really a month anyway- too short- what kind of month has 28 days? Everyone knows that any self respecting month has at least 30 days. As for April- what can I say I have no excuse- nevertheless here we are...

I bet you are all wondering what's been going on in MINI land- I'm happy to say that there have, in fact been some happenings to relay.

Here's the highlights:

MINI gets a new transmission...

MINI gets dirty...

MINI gets an iPod...

MINI gets a new transmission
I mentioned in my last entry that my car had started making some weird noises- was sounding more like a tractor than a german sports car.

You'll all be happy to know that I can, in fact, tell the difference between those two sounds- because when I took the car to the dealer- I drove 100ft with the shop forman before he exclaimed: "It sounds like a tractor?! Is broken, needs a new transmission."

While I was very happy to be validated, and not too nervous because the new tranny should have been under warranty- I still had an uneasy feeling deep down, because this was going to be major surgery.

I have to say that the whole experience started off on the right foot. I was given a brand new 525i loaner- which was fun to play with- a little different to drive- and not as slow as one would think (for being the baby of the 5 group).

The car was at the dealer for a few days before I got the call that they had taken the tranny out and it was - as they thought- shot. They said they would order the new one under warranty and take care of everything.

It was at this point that the first hiccup occurred. I was asked if I would like to replace the clutch while they had the car apart. Here's a minute by minute account of what happened from this point forward...

I got a call Friday evening that the car would most likely be done on Monday- The service rep- also wanted to let me know that while the techs had the car apart (transmission pulled out) they thought it might be a convenient time to replace my clutch.

Here's how that went on Friday evening:

dealer rep: "Hey Steve- the techs took a look at yer clutch and we thought it might be a convenient time to replace it- what do you think?"

me: "Um...is it free?"

dealer rep: "No- we could do it for about $400, which is a great deal actually because you are getting the labor pretty much for free since we already have the tranny out under warranty..."

me: "Is the clutch bad?

dealer rep: "no- not really, this would be more of a pre-emptive repair- for peace of mind"

me: "yeah thats what I thought- no let's hold off on the clutch- just do the tranny- thanks.

dealer rep: "Ok just wanted to ask- Talk to you on Monday"

So that seemed pretty straight forward to me- I'm not exactly hemmoraging extra cash right now so - While he made some sense, when presented with the option I respectfully declined. Seemed simple enough to me.

Here's what went down Monday evening:

dealer rep: "Hey Steve car's all done- one slight problem..."

me: "um...what happened?"

dealer rep: "Well the tech looked at the clutch again and said that it was actually worse than he thought- so he just put in a new one..."

me: "um...ok..thanks?"

dealer rep: "So I know we didnt ask your permission, so technically you aren't responsible for it- but we can cut you a great deal on it- give it to you at cost for around $210 -which is what we paid for it- and the labor would be free...

me: "Um...so even though I told you not to replace the clutch- you put a new one in anyway?"

dealer rep: "Yeah we thought we would save you the trouble of coming back and having it cost $1200- this really is a great deal"

me: "but the car is all done now and I can come pick it up tommorow morning?"

dealer rep: "yep all done"

me: "see you at 7:30- let the service manager know I'd like a word with him when I arrive"

So I went there early the next day- arrived at 8am and was greeted with smiles all around and then shown a destroyed clutch in a box (that supposedly came out of my car- it could have but there's no way to tell).

The rep explained again what a great deal i was getting on the clutch and what a favor they did for me. He sounded sincere. I listened attentivley.

When he was finished I told him that while I had their loaner car I went ahead and installed Nitrous and a Short Shift Kit as a favor- but that it was only going to cost them $1000. We both laughed.

Then I asked to see the service manager.

I usually deal with the service manager anyway- so we know eachother and he's a really good guy. He told me that he had only heard about this clutch business for the first time that morning. Even though I have a good history with this guy, I was sort of gearing up to make my case for not paying for the clutch and didn't expect to have an easy time of it.

That's when I had the best surprise of all. I told him about Fridays phone call in which I declined the replacement clutch. That was it- he said "End of story- have a great day."

And that's how you do business.

Granted it was a mistake on their part, I did benefit from it in the end. But he handled it in such a way that put be back at ease and let me know that they weren't trying to pull a fast one and that it was just an honest mistake.

I'll certainly take my car there again and they have retained my business.

Oh! and the icing on the cake is that before I left I asked one more time about which tranny was put in the car- this time the answer came back "Getrag" - and they gave me the part # on my reciept.

123-00-7-520-071 - so if anyone knows where I can look up that number to verify - that info would be appreciated.

The car feels brand new and is running quiet and awesome again.

And that friends- is my story.

I hope it was worth the wait- I have a few more in the bank, I'm gonna pace myself a bit so keep yer eyes peeled....