2007 Mini Cooper Cab - Clutch/Gearbox problems
Discussion
Right... the Saga.
4 Weeks ago myself and the Fiancee bought an 07 plate Mini Cooper Cab from a VW dealership in the Reading area. On the test drive the gearbox crunched twice in half an hour. I put this down to the GF not being that confident and she was panicing about driving it etc + when she first drove my 130 she crunched it.
Anyway i mentioned it to the sales guy who said they would check it as part of the PDI.
They delivered it and suprise suprise it crunches 1st > 2nd gear. So we had the car 4 days and then it was delivered back to them. They gave us courtesy car but said they didnt do Mini so would be sending it to the local mini dealership.... they then sent it to their 'specialist'. long story short it took them 2 weeks and said they had changed the clutch and flywheel before giving it to us 'fixed'
Well we had it a day and gave it back as it was still doing it. I told them it was the synchro as its a known problem (or so i have read on the Internet!) They agreed it probably was and would send it back to have the gearbox replaced.
That was last friday, called them for an update today and they have said that the specialist has said the synchro is fine. They are now saying they will send it to the local Mini dealership as a gesture of 'goodwill' to get one of the matermech to look at it.
I've told them that if it comes back No fault found then i want my money back which they have hinted they'd be fine to do...But tbh i dont want a different car she loves the car and we got it for a decent price.
I'm just getting increasingly frustrated with them saying they'll do one thing and doing another.
Has anyone had eperience or could confirm that the synchro's are made of cheese?
4 Weeks ago myself and the Fiancee bought an 07 plate Mini Cooper Cab from a VW dealership in the Reading area. On the test drive the gearbox crunched twice in half an hour. I put this down to the GF not being that confident and she was panicing about driving it etc + when she first drove my 130 she crunched it.
Anyway i mentioned it to the sales guy who said they would check it as part of the PDI.
They delivered it and suprise suprise it crunches 1st > 2nd gear. So we had the car 4 days and then it was delivered back to them. They gave us courtesy car but said they didnt do Mini so would be sending it to the local mini dealership.... they then sent it to their 'specialist'. long story short it took them 2 weeks and said they had changed the clutch and flywheel before giving it to us 'fixed'
Well we had it a day and gave it back as it was still doing it. I told them it was the synchro as its a known problem (or so i have read on the Internet!) They agreed it probably was and would send it back to have the gearbox replaced.
That was last friday, called them for an update today and they have said that the specialist has said the synchro is fine. They are now saying they will send it to the local Mini dealership as a gesture of 'goodwill' to get one of the matermech to look at it.
I've told them that if it comes back No fault found then i want my money back which they have hinted they'd be fine to do...But tbh i dont want a different car she loves the car and we got it for a decent price.
I'm just getting increasingly frustrated with them saying they'll do one thing and doing another.
Has anyone had eperience or could confirm that the synchro's are made of cheese?
Sadly someone who owned the car has PX'd it at the VW dealership with a problem and looks like you are picking up the pieces. I have no idea how good Mini are in Reading, but seem pretty good when I have ordered parts from them, if thats where it has gone, but I would suspect they have sent it to 3D transmissions to fix it, just down the IDR.
Clutch dragging can cause gearbox crunching, due to lack of disengagement, so that is something they would probably done after checking the hydraulics. Syncro on the getrag box, I cant answer sadly, but they are more reliable than the midland 5 speed boxes. Choice is yours on what to do. You could end up with a replacement clutch and as new box, so maybe a better car in the end, but you may loose heart on it being fixed. Plenty of cars out there, try Mini in Hungerford and just demand your money back
Clutch dragging can cause gearbox crunching, due to lack of disengagement, so that is something they would probably done after checking the hydraulics. Syncro on the getrag box, I cant answer sadly, but they are more reliable than the midland 5 speed boxes. Choice is yours on what to do. You could end up with a replacement clutch and as new box, so maybe a better car in the end, but you may loose heart on it being fixed. Plenty of cars out there, try Mini in Hungerford and just demand your money back
After another promise to call me back going by... i called them today and apparently they are have decided that they will replace the gearbox on the reccomendation Mini Reading.
They have gone to the warranty company and advised it needs one... Now its a waiting game. I've made it quite clear its a new box or money back.
They seem ok with that!
Will report back what they decide.
They have gone to the warranty company and advised it needs one... Now its a waiting game. I've made it quite clear its a new box or money back.
They seem ok with that!
Will report back what they decide.
The early MINI boxes (Midlands) certainly were a problem, but anything from mid-2004 onwards when the 1st gen was facelifted will have been fitted with the stronger Getrag gearbox. These are much stronger, and present very few reliability issues.
It's unlucky if you've got a bad one... possibly the previous owner wasn't that great with the manual gearbox and wrecked it - hence why they traded it in!
It's unlucky if you've got a bad one... possibly the previous owner wasn't that great with the manual gearbox and wrecked it - hence why they traded it in!
Pr1964 said:
Just fo anyone who doesn't know this post is
WRONG even the new mini Getrag gearbox fails witin a few years and a few thousand miles.
Different box same chocolate internals ?
Of course there's nothing you can do about one problematic car, however having owned several MINIs, and having put over 100,000 miles on them, I can honestly say I've never had a gearbox problem.WRONG even the new mini Getrag gearbox fails witin a few years and a few thousand miles.
Different box same chocolate internals ?
So don't tell me I'm wrong.
Pr1964 said:
You've been lucky .... both gearboxes are prone to failure of one kind or other 2nd gear jumping out etc
So to say the Getrag box is ok is not ok..... it's a box of s
t too.
I can second this, my R56 had the 2nd jumping out issue and had the box replaced under warranty after tons of pissing around!So to say the Getrag box is ok is not ok..... it's a box of s
t too.Hi,
I have just been through this with my wife's 07 Mini Sidewalk cab, only 23k on the clock and full BMW history.
We bought the car from our local main dealer (Listers Kings Lynn) from the off it had a crunch as you describe, after two new clutches under warranty, and still no better they put a new box in, this cured it.
If you do end up with a new box then be patient for the first 1000mls or so, ours was tight and gears were a bit hard to select but this has greatly improved with miles.
Steve.
I have just been through this with my wife's 07 Mini Sidewalk cab, only 23k on the clock and full BMW history.
We bought the car from our local main dealer (Listers Kings Lynn) from the off it had a crunch as you describe, after two new clutches under warranty, and still no better they put a new box in, this cured it.
If you do end up with a new box then be patient for the first 1000mls or so, ours was tight and gears were a bit hard to select but this has greatly improved with miles.
Steve.
I have a 2006 Mini Cooper. Clutch was slipping at 26,000 miles. I took the advice of other posters here and shopped around. Halfords Autocentres wanted £710 incl VAT, but Mr Clutch (Wimbledon) were £469.99. I am quite particular, but the car came back with no oily marks inside or out and amazingly having dropped it off on Monday mid morning (they said ready Weds pm but we'll try and do better) they rang at 5 the same day to say 'ready to be collected !' Price quoted was the price paid. All in all very good service. I know it can depend who you get, but Matt clearly knew his stuff.....happy customer!
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