In the Beginning:

I liked the BMW brand so much that I purchased a new 2007 BMW Z4. It was my all-time favorite, so in late April 2014, I purchased a brand new 2014 MINI Cooper S (first year all-new design). Since BMW had purchased MINI, I just knew it had to be a good car.

Almost immediately I started having problems with the car:

(1) At 1,034 Miles, all the oil blew out of the car due to a Major Oil leak., spewing all over the undercarriage of the car.

(2) At 3,090 Miles, I received a notice that it had a faulty passenger front air bag that needed be replaced. Manual gear shift was loose also.

(3) At 8,571, air conditioner was making me sick due to a chemical odor it was emitting. Repair notes indicated that heating and air conditioning tests failed: "Micro switch air distribution flap drive unit No cam detected - permanently open" and indicated "Removing and installing or replacing actuator for mixed air flap". It was a 'known issue' with the heater core and I was breathing in a build-up of mold spores. Notes also showed "headlight beam throw adjustment (LWR) system" failure also. 3 months in the shop for repairs this time.

So basically my car was in the shop for more than 4 months the first year. I started thinking 'my car is a lemon' so I called the Lemon Law Group, Partners PLC who assigned me a lawyer that I would eventually come to realize was ineffective and incompetent. He not only brought nothing more to the table, he then tried to take half of what MINI had already offered me before he ever entered the picture. I just wanted to be made whole - back to when I purchased the car.

Now I felt like I was stuck with a car that was going to continuously cause me problems. I researched online and see that there is a Recall being issued next month, 4th issue at approximately 10,200 miles - It does not meet side impact performance requirements. So, looking forward to additional shop time, I resigned to just settling to move on and trade for a used car. The lemon law lawyer actually tried to take half of what BMW had offered me before he entered the picture and hadn't brought a single dollar to the table - just wasted my time. I felt he was looking for a payday from me, not BMW/MINI.

In the End:

I went to the MINI dealership who performed all the repairs in Houston and who now knew me by first name, to look for a 2014 MINI Countryman (after researching its reliability). I negotiated a trade for my car and told my incompetent lawyer to just settle, feeling I got screwed by MINI as well as ineffective counsel and was about to be stuck with a car that I no longer had any confidence in.

BMW/MINI didn't care that I was a good customer or really try to work with me. I bought a new car that I didn't get the opportunity to enjoy. I felt the only resolution was to trade for a loaner car that my MINI dealership had on their lot to avoid more problems. It's like buying a brand new car and then letting total strangers use it for the first year before you ever get to drive it.

The only people who showed any concern were at the dealership and the salesman who said "MINIs are good - you just got a bad one." They worked with me on the trade and I am waiting to test drive it. I will now have a certified pre-owned car when I say goodbye to my cute British Racing Green MINI with checkerboard detail and hello to Royal Grey loaner MINI. Oh and maybe eventually a $2500 settlement check (but, can't with a good conscience, sign a waiver that would preclude me from future class action suits).

Lesson learned....car manufacturers don't care, bad lawyers just make things worse, and good luck trying to get out of a bad situation that was no fault of your own. Yes, I plan on sending a letter to the lawyer's firm and to the State Bar and then put the bad experience in my rear-view mirror.