We’ve owned the Mini for two months now and have driven it a little over a thousand miles, bought 2 tanks of gas and a new battery.
I found a local shop here in Aiken that does BMW/Mini work, Newton’s Automotive, to register that new battery to the car instead of a dealer. I called them and the fellow who answered said if I brought it in before 4 PM he could do it in a few minutes and it would be $20. So, today, in the cold and rain, Donna and I dropped in on them. They did the battery registering for free. Probably for a couple of reasons, 1) it took all of three minutes to do and 2) it was a shrewd business move, it created a guarantee that if we ever needed something done on the Mini, they would be our first call.
Afterwards he compounded the good feelings by chatting with us for another 10 minutes or so about the meaning of the cryptic service messages and how they relate to real world experience and wear. I asked about oil changes and doing them myself because that is what I’m used to doing with the Miata. He told me that if that was what I wanted to do, it was certainly doable by me, no special tools. But they only charge $25 plus the cost of the parts, so why would I. Sounds tempting.