Service Costs (and ANOTHER replaced charge port door assembly)

T

Teddydogno1

Well-Known Member
My 2022 is out of warranty since early November. In December my car "Sparky" started displaying the "charge port door open" message (or whatever the actual wording is) even when it is not. It has already been replaced 2 or 3 times under warranty. This instance was also the second time the door failed in a locked or stuck closed position so we could not even open it to charge.

This time they kept the car an extra few days (with a loaner) so some regional MINI dude could check it out. I was hoping they would have a permanent fix or find something else about MY car that was causing the frequent failures. No joy in that. Their best answer is that I have been getting "bad" replacement units. Suuuuuuure. The last one (the one tht just failed) actually was kind of "crunch" when pushing in the plunger to close or open. The new one is nice and smooth. They covered the cost on this even though the warranty was over.

Now...while I was there they gave me the cost of the 2 year service items. Inspection was around $200, cabin A/C filter was around $250 and the brake service another $300 or something like that. I declined these to think about them and did not get the estimates in writing on any of my paperwork, so I'm estimating from memory. But these all seemed way too high!

What are your guys thoughts?
  • 2 years seems too soon for brake work really. I've got a fluid tester coming so I'll check the quality of the fluid and decide on that based on the results. I don't imagine the pads can be low but I'll check when I swap to summer tires in a few months.
  • Cabin A/C filter cost is under $100 for the OEM part or about $25 for non-OEM. Is installation that difficult? Usually it is just a simple slide in from either under the hood or behind the glovebox.
  • $200 or more for a general inspection also seems high. Heck, Toyota and Dodge do it for free every time I bring cars in for an oil change (yes, I'm a psycho who takes my RAV4 Hybrid and the Hellcat to the dealer for oil changes).

Thanks!

Rob
 
I'm nearing 125,000 miles on Météore (2021 SE), and my original brake pads are still at 6-8mm. Unless you're using friction brakes more than regen I'd doubt they'll need replacing, but redoing the brake fluid to get rid of water isn't necessarily unreasonable.

If I recall correctly, replacing the cabin filter is a bit difficult so there would be some labor involved.

I think the general inspection seems high, but I don't know what labor is like in your region. Also if you want MINI service to do it is there any other option? I only have one MINI dealer within hundreds of miles, thankfully mine is really good.
 
You can do the cabin filter yourself if you have a T20 screwdriver and good lighting. I would invest in a bluetooth OBD2 adapter and purchase Bimmerlink and Bimmercode.
 
teslarati97 said:
You can do the cabin filter yourself if you have a T20 screwdriver and good lighting. I would invest in a bluetooth OBD2 adapter and purchase Bimmerlink and Bimmercode.
Click to expand...
I really appreciate all the great advice you dispense on this forum! On July 5, 2023, you wrote, "Should be in the same place as the F56 ICE." That means any of the YouTube videos showing how to change the cabin filter in a MINI Cooper S will apply, right?
 
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