Mini of Mountain View

Snotty atrocious service mind.

In February of 2007, with a little over 10,000 miles on my Mini, I began to notice that the RPMs would surge and the engine would give a very loud sound, especially when going downhill with the air conditioning on. My Mini would also jerk violently when this happened. On February 6^th of 2007 I brought my car into Mini of Mountain View, where my service agent, Jennifer Timmermann, documented my complaints and had the service staff check my Mini on that day. I was told that nothing was wrong with my car and to continue driving it normally.
On both April 23^rd and December 4^th 2008 I brought my Mini into the San Francisco Mini Service Center complaining of the same issue. On both occasions I took a short test drive with a service representative and was told that they could not hear nor feel anything unusual during both test drives. During my visit on December 4^th 2008 I was essentially told to stop complaining about this issue (I mentioned the transmission issue every single time I brought my car in for anything) and that the jerking, surging RPMs and high revving engine where just the way my car drove. I was told that my car was performing properly. These two complains and test drives were documented and I continued to drive my car normally as instructed by Mini.
Fast forward to the beginning of October 2012; my Mini is paid off, my warranty expired at 50,000 and my current mileage is around 78,000. I have begun to notice that the jerking is more frequent and not confined to going downhill with the air conditioning on. One evening while driving home from work I stopped at a stop light, and as I accelerated to move forward with the green light my engine surged and revved, the RPMs soared and my Mini skidded from beneath me as it tried to adjust itself into gear (and no, it was not raining that evening). I am shaken by this and absolutely know that my transmission is beginning to fail. This happens several more times while driving to and from work, all during the few days it took me to gather my service documents, make a service appointment at the nearest Mini service center and bring my car in for service on the issue. On October 24^th, 2012 I brought my Mini to the Mini of Steven’s Creek service center. My service agent, Andrew Northrop, reviewed the records of my complaints from Mini of San Francisco; he copied them, highlighted the relevant records and told me that they will do a dynastic on my transmission. I waited for two hours in the waiting room and was told that the computer in my car showed that nothing is wrong. Andrew informed me that they will take a fluid sample from my transmission to see if there are metal shavings in it, which is the only way that they can confirm that the transmission is failing. Andrew also informed me that he would send a request to Mini to see if they would be willing to cover any of the estimated $ 6K — $ 9K that it would cost to replace the transmission but that more than likely they will be unwilling to cover any of the cost due to the age of my vehicle and the date of my last complaint. I waited another 30 minutes, paid $ 180.00 for the exam on my Mini and was told to drive my car as normal and that Mini will get back to him in a few days with their decision.
On October 27^th, 2012 I received a voicemail from Andrew Northrop of Mini of Steven’s Creek informing me that my transmission does indeed need to be replaced, but also that Mini has denied to pay ANY of the replacement costs of my transmission, and furthermore, that the new estimate for said transmission is now $ 11,000.00.
After listening to this voicemail I was outraged. I went on-​line to search for any other Mini owners that may have had to endure this same experience. I came across a class action lawsuit against BMW of North America, please refer to the following link:
… This lawsuit reflects the exact same transmission failure that I have documented. I also came across the following Mini Forum which documents hundreds upon hundreds of Mini Cooper owners that have experienced the same ordeal with their transmission:
…
Now let me say that I love my Mini Cooper, and I planned on being a Mini Cooper customer for life. However, I am heartbroken and angered that for years I knew something was wrong with my transmission and every time I brought it to an authorized Mini service center, while still under warranty, I was told that nothing was wrong and that was just the way my Mini performed.
The Kelley Blue Book value of my Mini in 2012 is $ 10,000 in good condition. Apparently, Mini wants me to take responsibility for this faulty transmission, then pour another $ 11,000 dollars into replacing the faulty transmission, even though the value of the car is estimated below $ 11,000, AND to do so with absolutely no aid or reparation from Mini USA.

My feeling is mixed.
First, when my husband and I first arrived at the sales office, looking for a Mini to buy THAT DAY, (yes, we planned on bring a mini home that day), no one greeted us. I tried to look around to make eye contacts with people who work there, NO one seemed to care to notice our presence. We watied for about 20 mininutes, finally, a lady walked by and sat at the counter. I took the initiative to say hi to her and asked her if someone can assist us. She barely acknowledged me, but did look around to see if someone else can help me. After searching around the room remotely with her eyes, she decided that no one was able to help me at the moment. She asked me to wait a few minutes longer for someone becomes available. About 5 minutes later, someone walked into to the sales room (from another door, and I looked above, it says «Men’s»), and that’s the Sales person that I waited 25 minutes for.
The rest of our experience there was positive. The sales rep was very patient with us. I kept changing my mind on the colors, model, and interiors. He didn’t seem to mind it. At the end, we came home with a lovely Mini Cooper (S model), and I LOVE LOVE the car!!! The sales rep even gave us a call the next morning to check on things.

Instead of the usual review, I would like to start off with some simple but essential questions:
1. I’m on time for my appointment, why isn’t anyone helping me?
2. Okay, you checked me in, now where’s the service guy? It’s been 20 minutes.
3. I’ve been told I could get in and out of here in under an hour, why have I been sitting here for 3?
4. I’ve been told the shuttle guy is on his way. Where is the shuttle guy? I’ve been waiting for an hour.
5. **MOST IMPORTANTLY: Why am I wasting so much time at this dealership?
Note: Your coffee creamer is expired… What kind of establishment is this?
The only pros about this place are… well actually there are no pros about THIS place. The only compliments I have are that the shuttle guy is REALLY nice. He’s not pretentious like the salesmen. Easy conversation. Also, I get to be driven home in a BRAND SPANKIN’ NEW BMW? OKAY! Wait, too bad I don’t get to drive it. Regardless, forget my MINI for now, this is niiiiiice. Can you drive a little faster mister? i wanna see how fast this baby can go! Then again, I’d have to deal with more waiting and more pretentious folks. Okay, back to reality. Is my mini ready for pick up yet? BECAUSE IT BETTER BE!

Review for the Service Dept:
Positive:
The nice guy who drives you to and from your home. Give that man a raise.
Negative:
Everything else. They are out to make a buck. No communication. No honesty. Please please Mini of Mountain View– get your customer service RIGHT!!!
We love our Mini’s…so please love us back.

I have an ’05 Cooper S — and I have mixed feelings about this place. So, let me share my my experience and that will justify my 3 star rating.
I bought my Cooper S brand spankin’ new and customer ordered from this dealership. At that time, the sales people and personnel were great and helpful. Unfortunately, the day I bought home my Mini — the left halogen headlight started strobing (much like a disco light) — and of course, I took it back to my dealership right away to have it fixed.
About a year or so later, I started having problems with the light again along with other electrical problems with the car. Mind you, I do know that English cars (and German ones too) sometimes have problems with their electrical systems and my Mini appeared not to be exempt from this.
Last summer (’10) became what I call the «Epic Tale of the Left Strobing Halogen Headlight.»
The strobing started at random times then became constant. It got to the point where we couldn’t go anywhere at night because it became a hazard. I disconnected the headlight, but ended up getting a «fix-​it» ticket.
Chris was our service rep was great — he was always so nice and professional. He did his best to keep us advised as to my Mini’s status. The replaced the headlight, but unfortunately, shortly afterward, the strobing affect started again. It was determined that there was a short in the electrical system and the costs started to mount as it was becoming more labor intensive than just replacing the headlight. Finding a short in an electrical system entailed removing the front bumper and combing through a myriad of wires. From what I understand, an ’05 Mini S has 80 computer brains managing its systems. New Mini’s have almost double that number (meaning to me, more headaches if things happen to go wrong).
My Mini was at the shop for a month — which is a loooong time to have your car in the repair shop. Thankfully, they gave me a loaner car (my clients and neighbors were taking bets as to what type of car I would be driving that week) — but that got old after a while.
The Mini store charges $ 150 an hour for labor — Ouch.
My car’s headlight is now shining steady and bright. Mini fixed it, but not without some frustration and headache. I’m hoping never to re-​live this episode again.

The Salesmen at this place are horrible. I went in here today and was shocked that the guy wasn’t helpful at all. Everytime I turned around to ask him a question, he was back at his desk chatting it up with the other salesman at their desks. I called my Buddy that bought a Cooper from them and he regrets buying it from these Jokers. I’m heading to Pleasanton Mini tomorrow to cut a deal there.
Must be nice to be a Mini Cooper Salesman at Mountain View and pick and choose your customers.
Frown on me for only wanting to put $ 4k down. F.U. and go to customer service school.

I went here because my regular shop (Pearce Autotech in SF) informed me that the illuminated airbag light, which I’d been ignoring) was actually a warrantied repair. I have a 2002 Mini Cooper w/​94K miles so it was surprising that something was still under warranty.
I called and asked for Mini Service and was connected to a service tech in less than a minute. Literally all I said was, «Hi, I have a 2002 Regular Mini with the airbag light on» and immediately the tech said that it was probably the air compressor in the panelling, which is cove red up to 100K. Exactly what Pearce Autotech had told me. Way to know your stuff! I asked whether I’d have to pay for labor in case the diagnosis showed that it wasn’t actually the warrantied issue. The tech was honest and said I’d still have to pay, but that he was almost certain that would not happen. I appreciated that he was honest and didn’t give me any BS along the lines of ‘we’ll work something out.‘
Got an appt for the next morning. Right when you drive up, the tech comes out and greets you, and does a short basic inspection on the spot with you. He checked the tire treads and fluid levels, and let me know right away that there appeared to be a coolant leak. I don’t like it when mechanics call you later in the day and blindside you with something random, so I appreciate that they take the time to check the basics first.
Thumbs down: (a) The repair took 2 days instead of 1, but they did offer me a free loaner. I bet if I were a paying customer (aka not a warranty repair) the car would have been ready sooner. (b) The shuttle service, while free, took extremely long (wait time shared ride + rush hour = 1 hr for a 9-​mile ride).
Thumbs up: (a) My work schedule is a bit unpredictable so when I didn’t think I’d be able to come pick up my car, the tech agreed to have someone drive it out and drop it off at my office. (b) The car was washed and vaccumed when I got it back.
My tech’s name was Chris Chao and clearly he is great. I generally hate dealerships but he made the necessary visit pretty painless.

I’ve never been as disappointed with any auto service center as I have with Mini of Mountain View. I’ve had some bad experiences before (Here’s looking at you Mini of SF), but this one takes the cake.
On a recent visit for some minor service (⁷⁄₁₉), one of the technicians discovered a faulty gasket during the courtesy inspection. I opted to have it replaced, despite the fact that all of my fluid levels were normal (according to the same inspection)… remember that tidbit for later.
Fast forward to picking up the car. The Mini looks good, all indicator lights are off, but there’s a new knocking noise sounding from the engine when I drive. When I contacted my service adviser to ask about it, he tells me to check the oil level on the car. I discovered, to my horror, that I had been driving around for several days with ALMOST NO OIL IN MY CAR!!! Out of a capacity of 5 quarts, my car left the shop with 1… the oil level was so low that it didn’t even register on the dipstick. The only reason it didn’t blow up my engine is because the oil that was left was the good stuff (full synthetic «long life» oil). Not a good way to start the weekend.
I spoke with my service adviser (Peter Smee) and he admitted that it was a mistake on their part, and that they had been having some quality control problems recently, though didn’t offer anything to make it right (I’m still working on it). The funny thing is, the $ 200 gasket service was «upsold» to me and then carelessly botched, and it had the potential to completely ruin my car.
Bottom line… My Mini and my money will be motoring elsewhere from now on. Do yourself a favor and do the same when your factory warranty runs out. Also… do yourself a favor and keep using the «good stuff.» I really learned the value of fully synthetic motor oil this time around.

I bought my car here in 2005, but things have definitely changed. My car is out of the typical warranty so I will only bring it here if I absolutely have to (which is never). Most recently, I had two experiences that have lowered my rating a bit.
1^st experience:
My bf took his Mini here for a checkup before the warranty expired. They didn’t find anything (of course). But while his car was here, I called and left a message with the service advisor, Chris, to call me back with an estimate for the iPod adapter. He never returned my call, so then I called parts a few hours later to find out how much the part cost. They said they would give Chris the message to get back to me.
He called and gave me an estimate and said he would check with the tech to see if it could be done. I told him, this is a surprise for my bf so call me back. Well, he didn’t call me back. In the meantime, my bf called and said his car was ready – I’m thinking, did they get the adapter in there or not? I called back. Yes, Chris tells me, yes, the adapter is installed, I told your bf. Sheesh, thanks for ruining my surprise!
2^nd experience:
Last week I took in my car in to assess the exhaust leak. The catalytic converter is supposed to be covered up to 80K miles. Well, I just hit 80,332 when I took it in (althought. So, obviously, they didn’t cover it.
After I paid $ 170 for the diagnostic and got a list of repair estimates, I almost had a heart attack. They couldn’t even wash her!
— $ 2500 for a new exhaust manifold. They recommended that I could try to find a welder to take off a cap and weld the leak and then re-​weld the cap back on. Thank goodness I didn’t have them do it… read my review about Babe’s (
)!
— Then, to fix my rattling sunroof, they would have to drop the entire headliner (although I have an access point inside the roof and sunroof) = $ 4500.
I will not be going back.

I was thiiiiiiiis close to my second ever 1 star review… but when we were finally helped by the service guy, his lighthearted banter and super niceness bumped it to two stars.
This place needs a complete change of management… stat.
Every time we’ve been (probably 5 – 7 times in the last 5 years to either look to purchase/​test drive/​etc.) the place is cold. There is no greeting, no music or other stuff to break the ice and no indication of where to go. They have always seemed horribly understaffed, with the wait to talk to someone being at least 20 – 30 minutes.
Made an appointment for service a week in advance. Waited 45 minutes to get helped.
Go to the SF Mini dealer for service… this place is a wreck!

About 3 years ago, before the JCW came out, i wanted to test drive a Mini S… just to get a feel for the car and see if it was worth waiting for a JCW, or just buy a normal S now for the low clearance prices. There was a very friendly salesman that helped out I would have given this place 5 stars easily if it were just that day. its just unfortunate that my heart was set on a JCW.
but a few months ago, i went back to this dealership, and i didnt get help AT ALL. no one approached me after looking at the cars inside the showroom and outside for at least 10 – 15 minutes. then i finally went to the receptionist and asked for a salesman to help me out. I have my checkbook, ready to buy a freakin car (but they didnt know this). This was on a sunday, and the night before i was getting hammered up in SF… so im wearing shorts and a tshirt…
so this guy comes up, looks like as if im wasting his time, answers a few of my questions about the JCW. and as im talking to him more, im really getting the «stop wasting my time» vibe from this guy… so i ask for a test drive.
The salesman asks «are your parents here?» … O_​o… look here douche, im god damn near 30 yrs old. you shouldnt judge people by how they look. Most of the people taht live in the area can afford these cars no problem… and he also forgot the fact that hes a SALESMAN… essentially a person that works behind the counter.
Then this guy asks for my license, which is fair… then he proceeds to tell me that he’s going to run a credit check before i can test drive the JCW…
whoa whoa whoa WHOA… a credit check? seriously? just to test drive a car? ive test driven a JCW in socal a few times, and ive test driven many other higher end brand cars without this requirement. I told him no, and explained to him that each credit check actually lowers a person’s credit score. and god dammit its just a mini!!! these things on average dont cost more than $ 40K. Even the ferrari dealerships dont ask for such stupid ass things.
but nope… still need that credit check. well, screw you, i bought my new car elsewhere. i hope this place goes out of business soon, especially with this slump in sales.
to the sales people that work here, KNOW YOUR PLACE. you arent better than me, youre just a salesman. we might as well put you behind a cash drawer at target, since its the same thing.

So I went in on saturday, the place was packed with people and Larry helped us, if you could call it that.
He’s really great at multi-​tasking (cough, sarcasm, cough) because we barely got 5 minutes in with him, as he was juggling us and at least 4 other people. He didn’t go over any details, he was occasionally throwing paperwork at us, and even at one point left my drivers license at the copy machine. Luckily someone found it and returned it.
I noticed one of the other salesmen taking his time with customers, helping them, and what looked like actually *trying* to sell them a car. If only we had gotten him, Mountain View Mini would have another sold mini right now.
Larry was far from adequate, and in the end wasn’t even willing to negotiate. He flatly said he wasn’t willing to do anything for us, even when we were putting down nearly half the price of the car. After that exchange we left, and we won’t be back.
Terrible experience, I think we’ll be taking our business to a dealership that knows how to sell, maybe SF Mini or East Bay Mini…

Worst customer service ever!!!
I towed my car to their place and asked them to fax me an estimation. For more than three days, they never got back to me. Call them countless times, nobody took my request seriously at all

the sales people were not helpful at all and i had to wait over an hour just to test drive it (the sales men were not busy — just fooling around and surfing the web) so i decided that is not for me because i want good customer service; no one was remotely interested in selling a car! no one could answer any of my questions.
i finally was able to test drive the mini cooper club car; it was a zippy little car but there was a blind spot in the back window so that was a red flag.

Okay, had to add this… EVEN though the one salesman was terrible, the other salesman (James) was very respectful and apologetic when I spoke with him later… and as I said before, the sales manager (Nancy) did her best to try to fix the situation…
SO… when my friend, coincidentally, was looking for a car in the same price range that same week, and he wanted an Automatic car, I told him… Okay, go to Mini of Mountain View and check out this car… but ask for James, the second salesman I dealt with, he seemed like a good guy. My friend goes, and they had raised the price from $ 19,995 to $ 22,991 after deciding to make it a certified used car! I get it, the warranty is better, it’s worth more. I’m with you… But who seriously puts a car up on the website with the wrong information and an inaccurate price? I almost drove an hour to look at a car that wasn’t what I wanted (an automatic) and if I were willing to pay their full asking price, I would have been informed that I drove an hour for a car that wasn’t what was advertised on the website, and was almost $ 3000 more than it was listed for.
Whomever is in charge of this dealership’s website is really doing a very weak job of presenting their product to the community. It annoyed me enough that I wouldn’t want to buy a car their despite James and Nancy’s professionalism and appropriateness.

What is with flag happy Unilocalers these days!?! NO first hand experience? Are you shitting me? If you help someone go find a new car and you talk to the salespeople, discuss the specs and various other research but you dont end up buying it’s not first hand experience? Even if someone does write a check and you were involved in the process, that’s the fucking experience… sheeshh…and on to the deleted review earlier with Unilocal support staff commentary (newest response first after review)
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the review…
One of my friends is coming to the end of her lease and was looking at options as to whether to lease another, buy out, or return the car altogether. After making us wait for a good amount of time, the sales guy was just not really helpful at all. In fact at points he was downright surly. As we made our way out and my friend make the decision that maybe return was the way to go, he flipped his position and tried to close on getting a new lease. Way to go dude. I think you need to go see Glengary Glenn Ross.
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From Unilocal support:
—
wrote:
Thanks for writing. As you were not there as a consumer, your review does not count as a firsthand consumer experience. In this case, your friend could have written a review, which then would have fallen well within these guidelines.
Regards,
Unilocal User Support
To:
Subject: Re: Message from
HQ
flagged for what? I was at the dealership helping my friend making a car buying/​leasing decision so Im not sure how this falls out of the guidelines
—
wrote:
We’re writing to let you know about our decision to remove your review of Mini of Mountain View. Your review was flagged by the Unilocal community, and our Support team has determined that it falls outside our Review Guidelines (
) because it lacks a first-​hand experience.
As a valued member of our community, we hope you will continue to provide great reviews, while keeping in mind our Review Guidelines. See you on Unilocal

I wanted to test drive one so waited 30 minutes patiently since the sales was helping out other customer. Then they kicked me out at 5:40pm because business hour is until 6:00pm. Oh, I heard a «Sorry.»
Fuck you Mini of Mountain View.
You lost my business.

I got my Mini a couple months ago, and I had a pretty good experience. I made an appointment with Richard for a test drive, and he ended up helping me for the following 3 – 4 months. I’m really thankful because the decision-​making and buying processes were really long, and he was really helpful the whole time.
At first I was alarmed with how straight-​forward he was, but I’m glad he was really honest about pros/​cons, features, deals, etc. The things I appreciated the most were that he (a) understood my impatience and weird obsession with my car, and (b) answered my e-​mails really quickly. He always responded with status updates on my car delivery, and he scheduled an appointment with me just so I could come steal the manual and read it before the car got here.
I haven’t had any reasons to go back for service (knock on wood), but if I do I’ll post an update.

I had such 5 star service the other day I had to come and update this older review.
Chris at Mini of MV has helped me out in an amazing way TWICE now. The first was back when I was trying to get them to look at the car (see below review) even though it was not ready for service yet. That was a total PITA at the time… they really don’t want you to bring the car in until you absolutely have to or something seems seriously wrong.
But I managed to get in previously and Chris took great care of me at that point thankfully. So when I scheduled my overdue maintenance on it a week ago quickly and painlessly on the phone with Kat… I was not bothered at all to bring it in for a quick 2 hour inspection and oil-​change.
Well the quick 2-​hour job turned into a 4.5 hour job… because my coolant was leaking and they had to perform instant surgery on my little darling. They also replaced the too-​long-​and-​WILL-​burn-​you-​on-​the-​leg exhaust pipe since it had been recalled, changed windshield wipers, replaced front brakes, did full 900-​point-​inspection, blabbity bla bla bla.
All I know is that they were saying they might have to put me in a loaner for the wkd and I was just keeping fingers crossed that was not the case. I am spoiled with my car and do not want to be driving some loaner all wkd esp during the holiday season when it’s drive drive drive all over for party party party.
So…big thanks to Chris to help get it done, and working to get 30 min of extra overtime approved for the car to be finished on a Friday afternoon by 4:30, it was done in record time and I was there picking my newly washed and tightened up car by 5pm.
Kudos to Kat and Chris and the staff there for making a sudden change of plans pretty painless in the scheme of things, my car is happy and that means I’m happy too. See you in another 18k miles.