|
Question about the 2013 Mini |
Post Reply 
|
Page 12> |
| Author | |
SMOG 
PSMINI Member 
PSMINI Member Joined: April/07/09 Location: Port Orchard Status: Offline Points: 4296 |
 Post Options
 Thanks(0)
 Quote Reply
 Topic: Question about the 2013 MiniPosted: December/31/13 at 6:09pm |
|
There is something to be said for testing a vehicle thoroughly before turning it loose on the unsuspecting or uneducated public. In another incident I had a Ford dealership sell me a 3/4T van that they had rebadged as a 3/4T that was actually a 1/2T. That was a dealer issue not a manufacturer issue.
The fact that dipsticks are disappearing from engines are another sign that the customer is to not be responsible for their actions but instead rely upon the corporation. And then, cars that drive themselves??!!!?? Further disconnect from consumer responsibility, like learning how to drive and put down the cellphone, burger, makeup and razor... God forbid one should take responsibility for one's own actions. |
|
|
I wish there was a local MINI Dealership, like our Honda, Subaru, Mazada and VW.
|
|
 |
|
|
Th3Stig
PSMINI Member
PSMINI Member Joined: July/10/13 Location: Olympia Status: Offline Points: 21 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: December/31/13 at 1:23pm |
|
Interesting subject, car company business practices and engineering. I don't think it's well understood how challenges like lighter but safer, fewer cylinders but more powerful and more environmental, more bells and whistles but easily fixable have conspire to dump so many issues on the table for consumers. Plus moving from making a profit selling a new car towards making a profit over the entire life of the vehicle with parts and so forth. Feels like we are slowly being moved into the position where leases are the way to hedge against financial exposure, with all the strings that come along with that.
|
|
|
Mini-less for the time being.
Gone but not forgotten: '11 CM S All4 Cosmic Blue. 32k '08 MC 6spd Mellow Yellow. 112k '09 MCSa Mellow Yellow. 43k |
|
|
|
|
SMOG
PSMINI Member
PSMINI Member Joined: April/07/09 Location: Port Orchard Status: Offline Points: 4296 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: December/31/13 at 5:15am |
|
Pat, although I understand your frustration I do not think the issues are solely German. I bought a new 1994 GMC 3/4Ton Suburban 4x4 with all the bells and whistles. When it worked it worked great, with the exception that the drivers seat was 1" offset from being in line with the steering wheel. It took several very long drives to figure out why I felt uncomfortable. But the main issue was similar to yours, defects that were not acknowledged by the manufactirer.
The ABS was terrible and worked when it wanted to and not when it was necessary. I cannot tell you how many red lights, stop signs I cruised through, not to mention the wrecks that ensued! The NHTSA site under Customer Complaints quickly showed that from 1993 through 1995 or 6 that the brakes were a big issue. With hundreds of formal complaints they did nothing. With a Class Action Lawsuit they got it dismissed. AFTER the warranty expired I managed to scare the hell out of a Service Manager in a parking lot when I reproduced the brake failure at 30mph, and his comment after his mechanics looked at it was "them seem to be working normally". No, it is not just the Germans. I unplugged the ABS brake control unit and drove it without ABS for several more years, very successfully and predictably, before trading it in (after reconnecting that lovely ABS unit). Edited by SMOG - December/31/13 at 5:19am |
|
|
I wish there was a local MINI Dealership, like our Honda, Subaru, Mazada and VW.
|
|
|
|
|
onramp
PSMINI Expert Advisor 
PSMINI Member Joined: November/19/06 Location: Renton, WA Status: Offline Points: 2321 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: December/30/13 at 5:18pm |
|
I am sick of the German car manufacturers. The same poor design that led to the recall of 2003 thru 2005 Minis for the power steering pump is on the 2006 model. Recall? No. Same thing for the recalled CVT on the Coopers. Up thru 2005 - covered. Same tranny for 2006? Not covered. Our dealers in the area are great to work with and I really feel for the service advisors who have to deal with us unhappy 2006 owners. I am going thru my 2006 JCW replacing everything that has been or might be a problem and then I am selling it. German manufacturers suck. Pat
|
|
|
2006 Hyper Blue JCW
|
|
|
|
|
Bojangles
MINI Motorer 
Joined: December/30/13 Location: Ohio Status: Offline Points: 1 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: December/30/13 at 11:10am |
|
Thanks, BrownPenny for shedding light on a rather interesting issue - NO VOICE ACTIVATION for the "hands-free" Bluetooth we thought we had with our 2104 MINI Cooper S Countryman - All 4. We too were advised by the dealer that a "software" update is forthcoming ... when, who knows?
 What is more interesting is that when I contacted the Mini USA "customer service" folks, both representative and his supervisor never knew about this "voice activation" issue. However, they were unable to assure me that I would ever get a "call back" from someone who may "know" about this issue; they could only take down my comments and "pass it along" to someone.... Frankly, I am going approach the local news media to see if they may be interested in having an "investigative" reporter look into this issue to shed some "light" on it. Unfortunately, unless the media gets involved this issue will remain in the dark. Not a "happy" first-time MINI buyer experience. Again, great comments.  |
|
|
|
|
BrownPenny
MINI Motorer
Joined: September/06/12 Location: Mercer Island Status: Offline Points: 21 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: November/04/13 at 10:18pm |
|
Our 2013 had the same problem. In fact I think I'm the one who started the thread for this discussion. We were able to get it fixed back in May, it took two days as they had to reprogram the car's firmware, but it does work now. Seattle Mini was wonderful and helpful, we just had to be persistent. Now it sounds like they Corporate (not Seattle Mini) is no longer supporting the fix?
|
|
|
|
|
FRED ADT
MINI Motorer
Joined: November/04/13 Location: California Status: Offline Points: 1 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: November/04/13 at 11:01am |
|
My wife's 2013 Mini has the same problem with the voice control button namely it does not do anything.
After spending a lot of time trying to bring it to life we left it to the dealership to figure out what is wrong. Likewise they spent some time on it and obviously in desperation eventually claimed 'you don't have this feature' but did not know what feature needs to be ordered. From what has transpired from this forum it appears Mini deactivated the feature, eliminated reference to it in the user guide, but left everybody in the dark about it. The Germans have an adjective for sneaking a rotten egg into your shopping basket without letting you know about it which is 'hinterfurzig'. Well, what help is this to you? Maybe don't waste further time in trying to make it work because it doesn't. |
|
|
|
|
rockystone
PSMINI Sponsor
Seattle MINI Joined: October/28/11 Location: Seattle MINI Status: Offline Points: 68 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: October/29/13 at 2:09pm |
|
I will get to the bottom of this...thanks.
Richard Stone
GSM
Seattle MINI
|
|
|
Richard Stone
GSM Seattle MINI (HQ) |
|
|
|
|
rockystone
PSMINI Sponsor
Seattle MINI Joined: October/28/11 Location: Seattle MINI Status: Offline Points: 68 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: October/29/13 at 2:07pm |
|
I will look into this right away. Thanks.
|
|
|
Richard Stone
GSM Seattle MINI (HQ) |
|
|
|
|
dpedck77095
MINI Motorer
Joined: October/29/13 Status: Offline Points: 1 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: October/29/13 at 1:38pm |
|
I have a 2013 coupe and when the car was delivered in May we discovered the voice feature was missing. i was told that there was a problem and a fix was in the works. Five months later I was told that the fix was available and they installed it on a few cars. I wanted to bring it in immediately but they said I should wait for a loaner car.
It took three weeks to get a loaner. On 10/8/2013, the day before I was scheduled to pick up the loaner, I was told they discontinued the software update the previous Thursday, I have been going around in circles with their corporate office for the last three weeks. I have been given no reasonable explanation. What is strange is that my wife has a 2013 Countryman and the bluetooth voice activation works fine, Neither car has the connect option. My daughter wants to get a mini. The way they resolve this will determine whether or not she purchases a mini or a different car! The dealership and the corporate rep have all been very polite and understanding of my unhappiness with this. Their hands are tied because corporate engineering controls the software. |
|
|
|
|
BrownPenny
MINI Motorer
Joined: September/06/12 Location: Mercer Island Status: Offline Points: 21 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: October/03/12 at 8:46pm |
|
Thank you Rocky. I appreciate the update. Our sales person has been great at keeping us in the loop. We figure when there is a resolution we'll here about it. We are very happy with our car. It was an unfortunate surprise and Seattle MINI has been great. We know that everyone is doing what they can to resolve the issue.
|
|
|
|
|
johnf36
PSMINI Expert Advisor
PSMINI Member Joined: August/30/07 Location: Ephrata, Wa. Status: Offline Points: 8612 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: October/03/12 at 8:03pm |
|
Thanks for the update Rocky.
For the record, not sure what the problem is mine works a lot better then the voice control in the gen 1s. What helped was relocating the mic. I would guess a lot are from before the relocation and all the noise that came from the overhead location and mic type. As I said we are very happy with its proformance and functionality. John Friend |
|
|
If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.
|
|
|
|
|
rockystone
PSMINI Sponsor
Seattle MINI Joined: October/28/11 Location: Seattle MINI Status: Offline Points: 68 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: October/03/12 at 6:12pm |
|
I hope I can shed some light on this for you guys... When the 2013 were first launched the Voice Activation was going to be part of the model line up. After the cars had arrived we noticed that this function was missing. MINI USA was informed and they set off on their merry way to find out what the issue was, issuing a statement that all would be well and they were sure it was an easy fix. We informed our customers that were missing this aspect that help was on the way. MINI's worldwide HQ is in Germany and all the global product decisions are made there. They decided that the Voice Activation was not going to be installed because frankly the technology in this unit was not performing well. This information was gleaned from the JD Power Initial Quality Surveys that were filled out by MINI customers. They did not inform the US team in time for the release of the new models. We re contacted our customers and explained this new information - We expressed our frustration on behalf of our valued customers, letting MINI know that we all felt our reputation was now in question, especially since it appeared we were making this stuff up. Today, I have learned that MINI is working on a retro fit for those customers that expected it and never got it. The time frame will be the first part of 2013. I know this is not ideal and not the MINI way of doing things, all I can say is that MINI messed up and we inadvertently involved our US customers in this mess. For this we at Seattle MINI are sorry. |
|
|
Richard Stone
GSM Seattle MINI (HQ) |
|
|
|
|
BrownPenny
MINI Motorer
Joined: September/06/12 Location: Mercer Island Status: Offline Points: 21 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: September/25/12 at 4:55pm |
This is also our first experience. It has been disappointing. I agree with you on the dead button. I would have preferred to pay for the Bluetooth package rather then making it standard and taking functionality away. I don't need or want Connected and I would never have paid $750 to get that button activated. Additionally our sales person did not know it was deactivated, so we spent an extra 2 hours at the dealer trying to get it fixed. Turned out to be a huge waste of time.
|
|
|
|
|
BrownPenny
MINI Motorer
Joined: September/06/12 Location: Mercer Island Status: Offline Points: 21 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: September/25/12 at 4:37pm |
|
Just saw this. We did not make it. We are going on the Oct 6th/7th event.
|
|
|
|
|
jhull413
MINI Motorer
Joined: September/25/12 Location: St. Louis Status: Offline Points: 1 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: September/25/12 at 5:29am |
|
I had the same situation with my 2013 S Roadster which came with Bluetooth and USB/iPod adaptor and was delivered mid August. The dealer was familiarizing me with the controls, etc and tried to set up the Voice Activation. When she couldn't get it to work, she said "Oh yeah, they left that off the 2013 models and there would be an update coming soon. I called the dealer mid September to check on the update and was told they were just notified that day by MINI USA that Voice Activation had been discontinued on all 2013 models. I complained by email to the dealer and they suggested I contact MINI USA Customer Service through the web site. I did that a couple of days ago asking that they either make the funtion operative or compensate me for the lack of it. I haven't received a response yet. Believe it or not, the thing that bothers me most is that there is a Voice Activation button on the steering wheel that is totally inoperative. How do I explain that to a prospective buyer when I want to sell the car? This is my first experience with MINI and it has not left a good taste in my mouth.
|
|
|
|
|
johnf36
PSMINI Expert Advisor
PSMINI Member Joined: August/30/07 Location: Ephrata, Wa. Status: Offline Points: 8612 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: September/22/12 at 1:14am |
|
You going to be at the car show Sunday?
|
|
|
If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.
|
|
|
|
|
BrownPenny
MINI Motorer
Joined: September/06/12 Location: Mercer Island Status: Offline Points: 21 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: September/20/12 at 5:23pm |
|
So I finally checked I did not see the round disc that you are talking about. So it will be interesting to see what they do.
|
|
|
|
|
johnf36
PSMINI Expert Advisor
PSMINI Member Joined: August/30/07 Location: Ephrata, Wa. Status: Offline Points: 8612 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: September/18/12 at 8:08pm |
|
Not sure how they will fix it because it's my understanding the if not ordered with Mini Connect it doesn't have the right wire loom. I was going to ask you , do you have a round disc about the size of a 50 cent piece on the right side of steering column behind the wiper control back by the tach.
|
|
|
If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.
|
|
|
|
|
BrownPenny
MINI Motorer
Joined: September/06/12 Location: Mercer Island Status: Offline Points: 21 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: September/18/12 at 7:24pm |
|
One more update. The Dealer just contacted me. Apparently, there was a huge up roar across the USA from all the mini dealers. Everyone is upset over this and the engineers are trying to fix the problem.
|
|
|
|
|
johnf36
PSMINI Expert Advisor
PSMINI Member Joined: August/30/07 Location: Ephrata, Wa. Status: Offline Points: 8612 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: September/18/12 at 7:16pm |
|
There is no programing with mine but you need to know all the voice commands. I guess they want everyone to get Mini Connects
|
|
|
If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.
|
|
|
|
|
johnf36
PSMINI Expert Advisor
PSMINI Member Joined: August/30/07 Location: Ephrata, Wa. Status: Offline Points: 8612 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: September/18/12 at 7:14pm |
|
Take the 500 dollars the bluetooth visor is only worth about 60 dollars
|
|
|
If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.
|
|
|
|
|
BrownPenny
MINI Motorer
Joined: September/06/12 Location: Mercer Island Status: Offline Points: 21 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: September/18/12 at 4:34pm |
|
Yes, the phone button still works. Otherwise what is the point? :) We are leaning towards the $500 credit. Thanks again for your help.
|
|
|
|
|
ipeverywhere
PSMINI Admin
PSMINI Treasurer Joined: June/16/10 Location: Sammamish Status: Offline Points: 1273 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: September/18/12 at 4:25pm |
|
Thanks for following up!
Honestly.. I never use mine because it's such a PITA to program. I only hit the button to answer the phone and hang up. I assume that still works. |
|
|
|
|
BrownPenny
MINI Motorer
Joined: September/06/12 Location: Mercer Island Status: Offline Points: 21 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: September/18/12 at 4:18pm |
|
We got an answer. For 2013 models Mini has discontinued the Voice Dial feature, unless you have purchased MINI Connected. MINI did not notify any of the dealers of this change. So the dealers have had the joy of dealing with unhappy customers. Anyway MINI is trying to make nice by providing a $500 credit or a visor Bluetooth module. So at least we know what is really going on. Thanks for your input everyone.
|
|
|
|
|
johnf36
PSMINI Expert Advisor
PSMINI Member Joined: August/30/07 Location: Ephrata, Wa. Status: Offline Points: 8612 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: September/18/12 at 10:25am |
|
Kurt it works just fine.
|
|
|
If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.
|
|
|
|
|
johnf36
PSMINI Expert Advisor
PSMINI Member Joined: August/30/07 Location: Ephrata, Wa. Status: Offline Points: 8612 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: September/18/12 at 10:22am |
|
Ryan that was my take on it too for 2013.
|
|
|
If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough.
|
|
|
|
|
ipeverywhere
PSMINI Admin
PSMINI Treasurer Joined: June/16/10 Location: Sammamish Status: Offline Points: 1273 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: September/18/12 at 9:47am |
|
From my readings they did change something in 2013, this only is affecting 2013's, as there are a lot of reports of that button no longer working. The only, somewhat, consistent trend of it working is those that have MINI Connected.
|
|
|
|
|
garumph
PSMINI Expert Advisor
PSMINI Member Joined: October/15/06 Location: Federal Way Status: Offline Points: 1083 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: September/18/12 at 9:22am |
|
I have it in my 2012 and I don't have the MINI connected. Don't know why they would discontinue it. Not that I find it terribly useful, but it is handy sometimes.
|
|
|
Gordon
Clifford, '14 Countryman All4 S Hunka Burning Love, '12 Coupe S, Burnt Orange Flames, '05 MC Black |
|
|
|
|
CORNERS
PSMINI Expert Advisor
PSMINI Member Joined: July/29/10 Location: Bothell, WA Status: Offline Points: 3733 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: September/18/12 at 9:14am |
|
Why would they remove a feature? Was it not performing correctly?
|
|
|
|
|
Post Reply
|
Page 12> |
| Tweet |
| Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |
Topic Options
jhull413 wrote: