Well today Cooper Dave was booked in for his first TLC service - the oil service. When I left Somerset yesterday the car said it was due in 10 miles, so having booked it in for today my timing was about right.

I had phoned a couple of weeks ago to book him in, and they said it could be done while I wait. However I also raised a question about an oily mark on the inside of the windows which appears after they've been opened, so they booked it in for the whole day and I opted for the option of a loan car. For this the charge is £17.50 +VAT (per day) to be put on the insurance, which strikes me as a bit steep (considering I was added to my friends Mondeo insurance for 7 days for £12 - you'd expect a corporate account to be cheaper surely?). However it's a long way to Redhill so had to avail myself of the option.

Anyways, I dropped him in at 0920 this morning and everyone inside was friendly and helpful. One thing I would say is I never felt rushed at all, and talked through the issue with the windows. And when I asked roughly what time the car would be ready I was asked when I'd like to come back, so I said 1700 as I could then meet a friend after for dinner, who was landing at Gatwick at 1715. I also threw in a question about sliding mats, expecting to be told there is nothing that can be done, but was surprised when they said they'd have a look.

Anyways, the loan car was a good Cooper D, with HK stereo which kept me entertained on the way there and back, definitely something I wish I'd had. The Auto Lights seemed to want to be on at all times, so I didn't use that setting.

Come 1600 I'd heard nothing so I called them at 1630 and spoke to someone else who said the car would be ready in 40 mins and we could go from there. This worried me a bit as I feared there may be an unexpected cost I'd have to pay on arrival. But the original adviser called me 5 minutes later to say that the car is all ready and everything was in order. I got there and was told the reason for the delay was that a part had to be ordered, and had been fitted. A window seal had gone causing the oily marks on the inside which had now been replaced. Also that they had replaced the clips on the drivers mat. I found that odd as when I last cleaned him out there was definitely no clips on the mat, just the velcro. Again there was no rush to get me out of the door, and the advisor was friendly. I commented how I'm having leanings towards an 'S" if an opportunity presents itself and he mentioned the sounds of the pops & burbles to which I commented that they sound better than my tractor effects. I also said I'd heard that a recent update had got rid of those pops to which he seemed very puzzled about as it was one of the characteristics of the S.
When I got the the car everything was as I'd expect it, ALTA aerial still in place (after hearing stories of these going missing in dealers before) and the drivers mat seems to be very well secured.

And so I drove away perfectly satisfied. Out of 10 I'd give them 7.5 / 10. With the failings being the cost of the loan car and the late phone call advising me of progress. Any later and I might not have got there in time before they closed as traffic is heavy in Ewell at the moment due to gas works. As it was I got there at 1735, 55 minutes after I left home. Plus points would be friendliness and efficiency of staff there, with no feeling at all that being a MINI owner I was any less important than the BMW drivers.

Probably rambled on a bit there for which I apologise, but hope it is of use.

Good report Phil

Totally agree about loan car charges

The £17.50 charge is pretty standard across dealers in my experience. It's a waiver for the insurance excess, you don't have to pay it, but the excess is heavy otherwise

It's the first time i've come across it (Peugeot 2000-2004, Seat 2004-2007, Toyota 2007-2009 all provided cars FOC) and I don't object, just seems a bit steep. Especially as I know some others do charge less, but as long as the overall service is up to scratch I'll keep returning to Redhill.

Never paid at Barons, saying that though with the amount of visits I had I'd have been skint by now

Good Feedback Phil, I felt the same when I used Vines @ Guildford.

I do agree with the Courtesy Car Charges but it's better than the Excess.

Dave stop using the "B" Word on the forum as a mod you should know better than to use bad language

Courtesy charges are high but if you go for the free option have an accident then you get well and truly hung out to dry!

Last time I went to Vines (warranty work) I sat for two and a half hours in the customer service lounge.
Great morning catching up on paperwork and dictating reports while drinking free tea.I did not even have to get out of my chair as the receptionist kept filling up my cup!!

I could not fault Vines Redhill then..... My first service is in 1300 miles time and I will give a report

Great feed back Phil.......so you want an S do you? A proper one or one of those namby pamby news ones with 'good fuel consumption'

I still have the stereo you leant me behind my desk at work that I need to get back to you, worked brilliantly....unlike the car!!

Moleatrude wrote:

Great feed back Phil.......so you want an S do you? A proper one or one of those namby pamby news ones with 'good fuel consumption'

I still have the stereo you leant me behind my desk at work that I need to get back to you, worked brilliantly....unlike the car!!

Ooii you nothing wrong with saving fuel

SpykeyMyk wrote:

Dave stop using the "B" Word on the forum as a mod you should know better than to use bad language

Julie's MINI is there today for a service & MOT

Moleatrude wrote:

Great feed back Phil.......so you want an S do you? A proper one or one of those namby pamby news ones with 'good fuel consumption'

I still have the stereo you leant me behind my desk at work that I need to get back to you, worked brilliantly....unlike the car!!

In answer to your question, having had the chance to drive both recently a Supercharged one would be ideal, but I'd never be able to afford anything else. So I thing an R56 would be a perfect compromise. Just have to figure out if I can afford to change, and if I really need or want to.

Of course you neeeed to!!

U no u want a supercharge one/ Chilli That's part of the fun of the r53 the cost

Well Done Vines of Redhill

Davyboy wrote:

Moleatrude wrote:

Great feed back Phil.......so you want an S do you? A proper one or one of those namby pamby news ones with 'good fuel consumption'

I still have the stereo you leant me behind my desk at work that I need to get back to you, worked brilliantly....unlike the car!!

Ooii you nothing wrong with saving fuel

AND on roadtax!

I am booking my Clubman D in for a service tomorrow -- service indicator says 300 miles to go and I will do that with in the next two weeks. Therefore a service report from Vines will be coming up soon.

I would like an "S" next time but it was a great feeling just paying just £20 to renew my road tax in September!

As the last post was a while ago I thought I would share my experience. Very much the same experience with very friendly and helpful staff. Particular mention of Malcolm who I think if the manager. My mini had to go back in a few weeks after purchase due to what turned out to be a fuelling issue that was resolved by a software update.

Obviously they were conscious i hadn't had the car long but as I live in Kent and it talks about 50 mins to get there they offered to collect my car and drop off a loan car, there was no charge for the insurance or to add the wife on.

When they dropped off the car they had brought one of their showroom coupe cooper sd as they thought I would want to have a bit of fun.... I did... When my car was done they brought it back to me again at a time to suit me. Unfortunately they hadn't resolved the issue and to be fair to them they had said they wold have preferred to have kept mine a little longer to road test but I had pushed as although the coupe was fun I needed the extra seats for a family weekend.
This time when Malcolm's himself came to collect the car he turned up on my doorstep looking a little nervous and asked me to be very careful with the wheels on the loan car. I look outside to see the wrc edition countryman they had just had in that my sun and i had been admiring when we were there with giant white alloys.

My car came back after being fixed and tested for a few days and I had to say goodbye to the the red beast. It certainly turned heads with all the livery ad although I know it is only different tips on the exhaust but I swear the pops and burbles were louder!

My experience of vines was excellent and even though I have a very good local dealer close to me I would still prefer to go back to vines when possible.

Also possibly worth saying they gave me a better deal when buying than my local dealer

I had my Clubman service there last week again! Could not falt the service. As I only live a few miles to the north I booked my car in for 8.00am fast track and as promised it was finished by 10.0am. I waited in the customer service lounge -dictated a few reports for work and drank a lot of free tea! Customer service lounge here is first class.

Now if only they would give me a first class deal on a new Clubman..................