I was watching the news yesterday. A Toronto Lady with a newer Austin Mini had transmission problems. Apparently dealers are not equipped to repair them and can only replace the units with new ones at the cost of $11,000.00. They told her that there was NO Warranty as she had not honoured the Austin/BMW Contract to come in at Specific Servicing Intervals. She abandoned the car on the Dealers lot - LOL

There hast to be something else behind that
1/ a new trans is not $11,000
2/Those transmissions are no harder to strip down repair/replace parts than any other, other than being a bitch to get to.

I wonder if it is the supercharged model

Canada AM News got a hold of the story and got in touch with the Dealer. The transmission Cost something like $8,500 then $2,000 in Labour to replace it, add tax for a total of just over $11,000.

Apparently the dealer offered to do the labour for free, saving her 2 grand, but the Lady refused and abandoned the car on the lot. The News did not elaborate if the Mini was a Turbo Model ;o)

What gets me is that I drove an Original Mini for a year or two in the early 70's and it was a BLAST; but man, I don't think I had more then $400 tied up in the ride and sold it for the same price I paid for it - LOL

SOB must be made out of GOLD!

pdq67

i bet she still owed money on it.

the dealers dont rebuild transmissions. they just replace them with a rebuilt from the factory authorized rebuilder. they are not brand new just rebuilt like any shop will do for alot less. people just think when buying from a dealer that it is brand new most times it isnt.

The transmission Cost something like $8,500 then $2,000 in Labour to replace it, add tax for a total of just over $11,000.

Ok something is still wrong....
Lets use Nz $ and exchange rate abit 55c
So the trans is about $16,000 and labour $3700.
The new price for a cooper S just over $40,000 and cooper $35,000
Swap a box just under a day...7 hrs... thats a charge out rate of just over $500/hr !!!!
Dealership chargeout rates in NZ are $85 to $120 for top end exotic cars...which a mini is not.

And to give an idea of general prices here in NZ....
a fully rebuilt turbo 350 about $NZ2500
700r (which are in high demand and rare...$NZ2500
or import Ex USA plus shiping with mounts/69 consol stuff about $NZ4800
Rebuilt a toyota corolla box $350

holy crap! 8 grand for a new transmission? Id call the tripple b! Thats hella monie. Better be a racing transmission with a lifetime warranty for that much.

Kinda like a $1500 brake job on a BMW, right??

pdq67

I put 500,000 miles on my 68 123S Volvo and never turned the Disc's or had to replace the Calipers but I did replace the Puck Rubbers once. I cleaned the brake components and changed the pads once a year and believe me I drove and rallied that car with 4 wheels off the ground. I paid $1,200 for that car in 71 and was about to get a $3,000 trade-in value on it for a $5,300 73 TR6 at Coventry Motors in Ottawa - which, by the way, was approximately the same price as a 70 Z; but I had a mishap with a LTD and a Guard Rail on the way to the Bank so I kept the Volvo and bought a brand new $3,800 340 MAG RS Challenger and bought my 70Z on 76 for $1,600. The Challenger rotted out in 2 years and bought a 74 MFI 140GL Volvo in 76 for $1,800 which simply was the BEST car I've ever owned.

When my Dad, who was a Pontiac man, saw my success with the Volvo's, traded in his ride in for a 75 EFI 245 Wagon - by 74, American Cars were pathetic and rotted like pop cans and Guzzled gas pretending to be environmentally friendly - LOL

The 140 Volvo was a great car but you had to keep the Frame Rails clean. The 73 and 74 Volvo's had BIG Frame Rails and withstood rot. The mid 70 240's had rot problems account less lead and zinc in thinner metal plus electrical problems but by 82 with the 240 EFI ME2.3L, it was and is still one off the greatest cars of all time.

A Buddy of mine owned a 66 123 Volvo GT and a 68 P1800 HT but my 68 123S could take both of them. That 66 123GT was a Blast to drive, better then the P1800 in my opinion. You can put a Muncie Clutch Disc on a M45 Volvo Top Loader. A B20 (Solid FT) and 350 SBC Crank weight the same - so whats the torque difference at 7000rpm ;o)

To this day, I wish I had never let my 74 GL get away from me. That model took BEST Car of the Year Award in Motor Trend, beating BMW; but I still have my 70Z, and there is no way a Z can match the High Speed handling of a Challenger 340 MAG RS, which is 600 lbs lighter and has a torsion front suspension - then Donahue and AMC Beat us all in that day with their Javelin. It doesn't matter how much Hp you have, it all boils down to tire integrity, suspension and traction and I can't get away from the pulse of a 327 or a 454.

Wife destroyed the 5 speed in her 02 cougar not too long ago. First time I ever purchased a extended warranty! Dealer installed a rebuilt tranny and told me the warranty saved me about $2600 :eek:
So a mini cooper could be that high I guess.

Sure, it could cost that much.
The BMW MINI was available with a CVT that would be very expensive to replace, Canada has a 15% tax on everything, the Canadian dollar is lower than the US dollar, and the dealer is not going to use used parts, only replace the whole unit with new.
Somewhere else I read the car was out of warranty with 120,000 km and the transmission alone was $7,400