Heater problem

The other day as we were driving to Fred Meyers I noticed that the window didn't want to defrost. Thought that was weird. Finally touched one of the spots that weren't going away and realized there was a film there. By the time we got to FM the window was pretty foggy. Wiped it off before we left, turned the car on and woof it fogged right back up. Managed to get enough defrosted to get home. Once home I played with it a tad. Turned the heat up and I had a car full of steam. Pat said probably heater core.

So me being me and assuming the dealer would be the most expensive I went to the local guy and asked. Yup it sounded like the heater core. So I brought the car to them for a quick look-see. On the way the mist was coming in even without the heater on. They agreed it was the heater core but couldn't get the car in last week. Oh and it was 8.5 hours of labor the first day and then they said they had researched and it was actually ten hours of labor. So I am looking at a $1000 to get it fixed. Damn. Took the car home and went about my business. When I returned home I had a big puddle of water underneath my car. Hmmm guess it went out the rest of the way.

I decided to call Rasmussen just to see what they would charge, expecting a lot more. The lady quoted me $500. I'm like whoa. Okay so then I ask how do I get the car there as it is now leaking. She agreed I should not attempt to drive it the 35 miles over there. Well I have Mini Roadside Assistance for four years and it doesn't matter what kind of mileage I had put on the car. So it was a free tow to Rasmussen. I didn't know that, but I like it.

So the car went on Friday. Niko called me with the news that it is the heater core. Turns out they don't have one in stock and it has to come from California. Okay that is two days. Then he tells me the sealant package with the o-rings is nowhere in the US and has to come from Germany. That will take at least a week, maybe more since customs is now concerned with those bombs that tried to come into the country. So maybe week after this week I will get my car back and hey it is only $450. I like that.

Really makes me wonder about the local guys. Maybe they just didn't want to do a heater core. I've heard tell they are a pain in the butt. They don't seem to mind at Rasmussen and they deal with Minis all the time so I feel confident that my car will come back like it went in as far as the dash goes.