Dealer

"OPPOsaurus WRX" (opposaurus)
04/09/2015 at 14:28 • Filed to: None

So I posted a week or so ago about my boss getting a new Mini Cooper 4dr S. Today his low oil light went on. He called the dealer and they said that the cars are shipped from the factory with low oil and the owner needs to add more when they bring it home. I've never heard of this. I think they are looking at my boss and think he's clueless. (he's the one who bought that a Cooper 'S' can outdo a 911 in 0-60) Is there any fact to this? My leading theory is that they do ship with low oil, maybe to prevent spills when they are on the carrier or something, and that they missed filling the oil in the initial dealer prep and are covering their asses.

(GIS image, not actual car but close)

DISCUSSION (26)

bob and john > OPPOsaurus WRX
04/09/2015 at 14:31

your boss needs to return to the dealer and leave the car there. then go and buy the car from a different dealer who arent such morons they forget to check the oil when they PDI a car

ranwhenparked > OPPOsaurus WRX
04/09/2015 at 14:33

That may or may not be true, but it would seem like oil level would be a pretty basic thing to check as part of the PDI. It certainly isn't something that should just be assumed customers would do themselves.

CaptDale - is secretly British > OPPOsaurus WRX
04/09/2015 at 14:33

No, that is stupid! They have to do a PDI before it goes on the lot and that would be part of it. Weather or not it is shipped with low oil (which I doubt) the dealership needs to make sure the vehicle is ready for delivery unless stated elsewhere in the contract of noted by the owner's manual. Sounds like they are trying to get out of fucking up!

CaptDale - is secretly British > CaptDale - is secretly British
04/09/2015 at 14:35

Credentials: Works at a GMC, Buick, Cadillac, Subaru, Hyundai dealer and have never seen or heard of this.

CaptDale - is secretly British > CaptDale - is secretly British
04/09/2015 at 14:35

Credentials: Works at a GMC, Buick, Cadillac, Subaru, Hyundai dealer and have never seen or heard of this.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > CaptDale - is secretly British
04/09/2015 at 14:37

Yeah, they had to have hosed the PDI. Some Mini dealers even give you a sheet showing all the stuff that is checked as part of PDI at delivery.

Source: I got that when I bought my Mini

Textured Soy Protein > OPPOsaurus WRX
04/09/2015 at 14:43

Response:

"That is ridiculous. Literally no other car in the history of cars has had this requirement. It's brand new with a warranty and has a warning light. Do whatever it needs to make the warning light go away."

yamahog > OPPOsaurus WRX
04/09/2015 at 14:45

I've heard people say to check your oil at every fill-up for the first 1000 miles with a new car, but that's a different story. Also, at the fluid fill station in the plant (I've only dealt with Big 3 plants, can't attest to Mini's practices), they should have quick connects programmed to dispense the correct amount every time. Dealer's full of it.

CaptDale - is secretly British > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs
04/09/2015 at 14:47

Yup, I'd tell him to stop listening to the dealer lies and take it there, have them document their failures incase of future problems. And I mean today!

brian1321 > OPPOsaurus WRX
04/09/2015 at 14:50

Buddy of mine has an S and when he called about it burning oil he was told it was "in spec" to burn 1-2 quarts of oil a month. Ridiculous.

OPPOsaurus WRX > yamahog
04/09/2015 at 14:59

lol its only gone a few hunder miles.

Bob Loblaw Made Me Make a Phoney Phone Call to Edward Rooney > brian1321
04/09/2015 at 14:59

1-2 quarts a month is nuts, but BMW does call 1-2 quarts of consumption between oil changes "normal" on all of their newer motors.

OPPOsaurus WRX > brian1321
04/09/2015 at 15:01

holy crap, i'll put him on watch for that. did he end up finding an issue? what year was this?

brian1321 > OPPOsaurus WRX
04/09/2015 at 15:02

There isnt an issue, it just burns oil off. 2013 I think

Sethersm > OPPOsaurus WRX
04/09/2015 at 15:02

*cough*bullshit*cough*

Skamanda > OPPOsaurus WRX
04/09/2015 at 15:04

Depending on the model year, the Cooper S did burn a fair bit of oil, especially if the owner was too wussy about breaking it in to drive it like they're going to drive it later. That was more a problem on the 1st gens than the later ones, though. Your boss can go to www.northamericanmotoring.com for a wealth of discussions and FAQs about MINIs in general, and models in specific.

Skamanda > OPPOsaurus WRX
04/09/2015 at 15:09

Even if they DID ship them low on oil, that should be caught by the dealer during the PDI. I find it INCREDIBLY hard to believe they wouldn't be full from the factory though, since they're driven into the shipyard, onto the ship, off the ship, through customs, and through the prep center there. Mine had 13 miles on it when I got it, and it was a total custom order, didn't get test driven by anyone else at the dealer or anything. They wouldn't take the chance of blowing someone's engine just to save a few bucks on a quart of oil in Oxford. There's no risk of spillage during shipment or anything, unless the car ends up upside down - at which point you've got FAR worse problems than the oil level...

This is a dealer pulling your boss's chain. What area are you in? If there are other dealers that might be a good thing to check out. If it were MY car, I'd also be calling in a complaint to MINI USA corporate, and at the very least demanding a repeat of the PDI, plus an oil change, so I know everything actually HAS been checked this time, and that the oil is fresh and full.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Skamanda
04/09/2015 at 15:16

I'm in MA, next dealer is probably about 45 minutes away. I was thinking the unusual tilt of the road carrier might be too much angle but even that seemed like a stretch.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Skamanda
04/09/2015 at 15:18

yea, at 75 i think he's going to be a wussy driver (I couldn;t see him creating a new drive through at Country kitchen, hes still very much aware of his surroundings) email is a challenge for him so I dont think I could get him into a blog like that. this is a 2015

Skamanda > OPPOsaurus WRX
04/09/2015 at 15:23

Eh...I drove 3 hours from Detroit to Cleveland to pick mine up, because I wasn't happy with the honesty at the local dealership. 45 minutes is nothing ;)

Jonathan Harper > bob and john
04/09/2015 at 15:25

LOTS of this. Any dealership giving you that line of nonsense is not a dealership you should do business.

Jonathan Harper > ranwhenparked
04/09/2015 at 15:25

The whole point of a PDI is to avoid things like this.

RallyWrench > OPPOsaurus WRX
04/09/2015 at 15:33

If new Minis are anything like the previous R56, they consume oil like you wouldn't believe. I think the dealer is lying to cover either their ineptitude or the fact that the car is drinking oil.

BKosher84 > Skamanda
04/09/2015 at 15:50

Classic Mini? They are a good bunch. Cleveland just got another Mini Dealer in town now.. I was hoping for more competition (Classic has had the Mini brand tied up in CLE for awhile) but nothing really changed.. Oh well.

Skamanda > BKosher84
04/09/2015 at 16:08

Yeah, I bought from Classic. I called around to all the dealerships within about a 4 hour drive of Detroit, and talked to them all to see who I liked the best, after Motor City Mini really dropped the ball on something. Classic were the friendliest, and were enough of car people that I was chatting about Lotuses and the time the guy I was talking to worked at Tesla. That was back in late 2010 (I took delivery in February 2011), but the guy I road tripped down with had bought his R53 there years prior and was just as pleased, so I'm not surprised they're still a pretty decent dealership for sales.

Their service department DID try to tell me the timing chain tensioner on my N18 engine needed adjustment the first time I went in, though - despite the N18 eliminating that problem...

Manwich - now Keto-Friendly > OPPOsaurus WRX
04/09/2015 at 18:14

"He called the dealer and they said that the cars are shipped from the factory with low oil and the owner needs to add more when they bring it home."

Nooo... that's what the PDI is for. My guess is the assholes took the PDI money but didn't actually do the PDI like they were supposed to.