Just got my MINI back from warranty rust repair...wow!!! When the service advisor said, 'just so you know, this is a lengthy process, but if approved, they do it right' - he wasn't kidding. It started with some pictures - I had to drive the hour to the dealership just so he could take pictures of the spots to see if it would be approved:
(http://mudhen.smugmug.com/Cars/05MINI/i-bJGxfm3/0/L/smugshot_1750938-L.jpg)
(embarrased to say I'd already repaired this spot once...the plate light assembly rotted away a few years ago so I 'fixed' the rust in this spot at that time, too ::))
(http://mudhen.smugmug.com/Cars/05MINI/i-SQ2pghj/0/L/smugshot_6364559-L.jpg)
(http://mudhen.smugmug.com/Cars/05MINI/i-nDPnWVh/0/L/smugshot_2500403-L.jpg)
It took about a month for the approval to come in...and then the body shop had it for a month. But :-\
They replaced both rear quarter panels and the trunk lid in their entirety...'Cooper S' sill plates were replaced...badge on the hatch and the plate light assembly. All new...plus the rest of the car was in dire need of some polishing - if you looked really close at the paint it looked like a thousand tiny rust dots all over it. They polished the whole thing. 9 years old and 192k miles...looks awesome again!! 4.gif
(ignoring the hole in the rear bumper cover, of course - it's on my to-do list!)
(http://mudhen.smugmug.com/Cars/05MINI/i-GMG6Bwf/0/L/smugshot_125624-L.jpg)
(http://mudhen.smugmug.com/Cars/05MINI/i-WhJ9r65/0/X2/smugshot_5879319-X2.jpg)
Thanks MINI!
Wow! That is really good to know. Great that Mini NA took care of you and honored the warranty, I imagine the environment that car lives in is very hostile.
My sons GF has a 05 MCS and it does not have a spot of rust on it, and it never gets washed nor waxed. It is abused in the cleaning dept.