Hampton Roads Club Mini

we take the MCS in for the yearly inspection at checkered flag. it fails for worn front tires.  no biggie, its common knowledge that run flats suck.  so for the price of two run flats we could get 4 regulars.  we priced around and got 4 new bridgestone grids at Treadquaters, store 717, 3705 Tiffany Lane, Suite 102, Virginia Beach (757) 416-0012.  they called and told us the car was ready. we pay and hop in.  i then notice a huge crack in the windshield directly behind rear view mirror.  stemming from the top in the shape of an 'L'  ........... i have done a bit of researching and i came across a few posts saying the minis have a chance of stress cracking, another person posted the exact same symptoms.  we took it into CF today for the service manager to look at and he pulled out the pen and gave it the pen test. he wouldnt pass it due to a tiny, minute chip.  now there are a few tiny tiny rock chips in the glass. they are so tiny that you would miss them even if you are looking for them. but one thing that those all have in common is an impact mark. a little white area where you can tell something hit it.  this little chip that is in the crack is like a flake that popped out when two pieces of glass are rubbed together.  theres no little white mark.
now heres the good part. the inspector marked down a '4' on the windshield.(im assuming he found 4 little mini chips randomly around the windshield) no exact locations were noted.  when we said 'hey WTF' at treadquaters, they had us fill out a claim sheet and we were on our way. they apparently called CF and got that same sheet with the 4 on it and are refusing to repair based on previous cracks. 

so to recap, no chip/crack noted during state insp.; failed for tires; taken to treadquaters for tires; received crack in windshield at treadquaters; all the minor details are up there.
we were just wondering what could be done and who to channel my rage at to get this repaired. on 1 side, we gave the car a certain way to a shop and got it back with a giant crack. and the other side, if this is a defect then mini should pay. we got a wedding coming up that we are both paying for ourselves. we are trying not to come out of pocket to get this taken care of.
who do i rage at????????

thanks
peter and jonell

Being the owner of a body shop I can tell you there is probably no way TQ is gonna cover it. There are just too many variables. On a hot sunny day, like today, when the windows are rolled up, interior temps can reach well in excess of 100 degrees. If there was a significant chip, the crack could occur naturally. It's pretty hard to crack a windshield. If a tool or something hit it, there would likely be a star crack, not a long linear crack. Last summer I was washing a customers Dakota. When I wet it down before washing it, I actually heard a crack sound. Sure enough, the windshield had a big crack almost the width of the windshield. The easy way to check for a chip is to run a ball point pen along the crack. The point will catch in the chip. There was one on the crack line on this Dakota.

I can also tell you I wouldn't expect much from MINI customer service. They have provide some help in the past, but I've been disappointed lately. Ask me, I just spent $7K+ putting a motor in my sons '07 MCS.


Call your insurance company, pay the deductible, if any, and motor on. It really isn't worth the grief.

Mine was replace by the flag after failing th chip test. Look at the area surrounding the chip. I had a chip right next to the one that caused my glass to crack and they used it as justification to replace mine.