Mini advice please (rejection?)

Ben Cole

Ben Cole

Ben Cole

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Joined
24 Feb 2003
Posts
3,224
Location
Porthcawl and Southampton
Bought a 2012 Mini One petrol manual recently for my daughter to learn to drive in. I scanned two errors when I test drove it but everything seemed ok. I didn't Google them at the time.

Having it for a couple of days, it runs hot 100-109c (from OBD reader) and the fan is always on. Googled the codes and it's:

2F52 oil pump solenoid
2F5E oil pressure control valve actuation


Told the supplying dealer and he was happy for me to take it to my local trusted garage to get a quote and fix as long as reasonable.

Their response was that they won't touch it because Minis are junk and if there's an oil pressure issue they wouldn't want to do work and then have the car fail afterwards due to not knowing how long the issue had been present.

At no point were there any warnings on the dash and whilst there's no temperature gauge, there was not a warning light.

I believe I'm entitled to just reject it because it's only been 3 days and the fault was present when I bought it and this fault brings into question the durability if the car.

Or should I give him a chance to fix it? Are minis really as bad as my local garage reckon?
 
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Minis 2014 onwards are very reliable. The generation before that were very unreliable.

Try a different garage? Not sure if you can reject without giving them a chance to put it right?
 
I can reject if it's a significant fault and was present on purchase. After 30 days, they have one chance to fix it.
 
The 1.6 petrol engine used in the R56 Mini is not known for its reliability, the infamous Peugeot Prince engine.

Keep a very close eye on oil levels, they like to burn through it!
 
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Meatball said:
The 1.6 petrol engine used in the R56 Mini is not known for its reliability, the infamous Peugeot Prince engine.

Keep a very close eye on oil levels, they like to burn through it!
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Thanks mate. We're rejecting it now, taking it back today.

Just too many questions about durability despite us loving the car.
 
Yeah the salesman is a good guy, it's the last thing we wanted to do.

He's fully aware that we know our rights though, he asked what our professions were....the wife happening to be a solicitor.
 
Ben Cole said:
Their response was that they won't touch it because Minis are junk and if there's an oil pressure issue they wouldn't want to do work and then have the car fail afterwards due to not knowing how long the issue had been present.
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They are correct in saying that.
Awful things the early Minis.
 
JonRGV250 said:
They are correct in saying that.
Awful things the early Minis.
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We've had three now, a 2005 Cooper S Convertible, a 2010 Cooper S convertible, and my wife still has her 2002 Cooper, so, no, they're not all junk.

Sorry the OP got one he couldn't trust, but ours have never missed a beat. Great cars!
 
Gepetto said:
We've had three now, a 2005 Cooper S Convertible, a 2010 Cooper S convertible, and my wife still has her 2002 Cooper, so, no, they're not all junk.

Sorry the OP got one he couldn't trust, but ours have never missed a beat. Great cars!
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I have to say that I loved the little car in the 5 days we had it. I imagine it's the same as a lot of cars in that if you're an owner that looks after your car it will do just fine. Particularly in this case keeping on top of the oil situation.

Back in the day I had a Rover Coupe with a K Series in it. Everyone would say "ooooh, head gasket" but mine never failed. It just ripped some teeth off the timing belt and destroyed some valves

Unfortunately, with this particular car and it's issues, even if fixed I'd have doubts about it. And now that I know the problems with the "prince" engined cars I will steer clear of them given that there are other options.
 
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