Keep the Car Running

Just two weeks ago, my beloved MINIfir was laid low with a bad transmission. We were just pulling out of the garage, and then slowly started up our street to set out for Utah and Zion National Park. But something was wrong. She was jerking and revving really high, and stopping and creeping. It was definitely trouble. We turned around and came home and I cancelled my trip to Utah.

The rest of the weekend was spent in worry and frustration. I had just taken her to the DMV for registration renewal the day before. And it was only 4 days before her 7th birthday. That Monday I stayed home from work and had her towed in to Kensington. Marc had a look at her and pinpointed the problem right away. He wanted to try an adaptation of the transmission to see if clearing out some of the programming glitches would fix the problem. They had to keep her overnight. Then Trish called with the news I most feared. The adaptation didn't help and MINIfir would need a new transmission. The cost would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $7000.

Then, the network of the MINI community went into action. My friend Larry called to say that there might be hope that MINI would replace the transmission for me at the dealer. Turns out the transmission (CVT) in the early model year MINIs was made by Nissan, the problem was known and Nissan extended the warranty on the CVTs in their own cars. MINI had yet to prescribe the extension for its owners, but there was a chance that perhaps they could be convinced. Larry said that Xiek from Canada said there was a dealer in California that had honored Nissan's extension and replaced some CVTs. He also gave me the number of a customer relations rep at MINIUSA. Trish called back and said she'd do some research into it, checking for service bulletins, etc.

By Saturday, I had procured a rental car and went up to Mark and Kathy's house for the club's post-scavenger hunt gathering. As soon as I walked in the door, Ross was there to tell me all about how when he had his overheating problems on the way to MINI Takes the States (MTTS) in '06, he was able to talk to Jim McDowell and some other big wigs at MINIUSA and they made sure his car was taken care of. Perhaps they'd do the same for me. I spent most of the party recounting the details of MINI's and my woes.

Back to work on Monday, having to face more questions from the nosy guy at the busstop, and my colleagues, it was starting to really sink in. It might be months before I had my MINI back, if at all. We wouldn't be going on MTTS. Talking to the rep at MINIUSA didn't help. He wasn't optimistic that MINI would be extending the warranty like Nissan did. At least not in the immediate future. I told Larry the news and he was disappointed. His Rocket had the same problem, but he'd been smart enough to get an extended warranty which would pay for the replacement. He said I could ride with him to MTTS. It's very kind of him, but small consolation.

I worked overtime this weekend in an effort to start earning/saving up some more money. I wasn't able to visit MINI at Kensington as I had last Friday. I'm tired and sad and basically mourning. I made the decision though to bring her home and keep her safe until we can get the work done. It's akin to waiting for an organ transplant. And she's my baby; it pains me not to be able to help her right now.

After MTTS, I should be able to borrow a car from a friend for a while. Then things are uncertain. Will I end up getting a new car? Another MINI perhaps, or something else I wouldn't be as emotionally attached to? I don't know. But I haven't given up on my girl yet.