My 2004 mini 5 speed wouldn't start the other day. After two tries with
AAA
they towed it to the dealer. The dealer said that the bad news was that
the
battery was dead and costs $129 for a new one. The good news was that
there
was a factory recall on it and they replaced it for free. While there,
they
told me my transmission was ruined and needed replacement. Combined with
a
new clutch (needed but not required) the bill was $5000. The next bad
news
was that my car was 5K miles out of warrenty. After fixing it they told
me
that the brake rotors were in need of replacement. I looked at the rotors
and there was nearly nothing left of them. None of this is phoney. The
faults are real. What I am upset about is that the dealer never told me
about the warrenty nearing expiration and secondly, the transmission
problem
was systemmic and had to have been bad much prior to the event. Talking
to
the manufacturer was of no help. They just sent me back to the dealer. I
doubt my problems are unique. Better have yours checked out.
