$8,500 repair on a $12,000 Mini Cooper

[NiceGuyEddie]

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I'm not really sure why I'm posting this or what someone might say, but I've gotten a lot of unexpected advice here (OK - on the old forum) and you never know.

Long story short, my (long-time) girlfriend's Mini Cooper, dealer-serviced, lightly driven Mini with only 59,000 miles on it needs an exhaust valve. After coming off the freeway it sputtered and went into limp mode. It clearly sounded like it was running on 3 cylinders.

I was hoping it was an $80 set of coil packs but the dealer has photo and video-scope showing the bad exhaust valve. Head needs to come off, etc. $8,500 (with tax) stealership price. Looking into a 3rd party repair shop.

I asked what would happen if we threw in the towel for trade-in value, and it was only $500 "as a courtesy." KBB shows about $12,000. They said they would not repair the car and sell it on their own lot - they'd send it to an auction house where someone might buy, fix, and re-sell for a small profit.

The extended warranty price after 5 years was absolutely outrageous, so we passed on it 2 years ago since we knew all the dealer service was done. Gambled and lost on that.

Really saddened and surprised at all of this. The car is in flawless (physical) condition inside and out - the car is even garaged at her workplace. The paintwork looks brand new and there are no swirls.

So here goes the saying - "You lease a German car if you can afford it - you otherwise buy a Japanese car."