I experienced a problem with my 2003 Mini Cooper which pointed to the transmission. The engine would rev up and drop down while I was maintaining a constant speed within the 50 to 60 mile per hour range. I described this to the owner when I dropped the car off. The next day I was informed that they could not duplicate the problem. When I picked the car up the owner told me that I should continue to drive the vehicle and as soon as it showed the symptoms to drop by and pick up the mechanic to show him. He said that I shouldn't worry and could possibly get another 20,000 miles out of the transmission before it got really serious. Knowing that there is a proven problem with the 2002 - 2005 Mini automatic CVT transmission, I did not feel comfortable with just continuing to drive it as suggested. My commute is 100 miles per day. So, I jumped online to see if I could find others with similiar problems and sure enough, there was a description of nearly the identical problem! The bottom line from the discussion was that once this problem materialized, it was not long after that the transmission completely failed. In this day and age I cannot believe that automotive shops do not use the internet to aid in difficult diagnostic situations. I actually wasted $95.00 at A Plus Automotive and was given extremely poor advise for my vehicle. I will think twice before bringing my other vehicles here in the future.
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