A lot of issues

[orca17]

So many problems I hardly know where to begin. I took my car to the dealer (mistake) for a persistent check engine light and A/C being inoperative. They kept the car for two days, charged me about a grand and diagnosed a bad battery, which they replaced (almost $200 of the $1K total). Sent me home with the car, everything seemed to work fine for a while. Check engine light reappeared two days later (fortunately I got the car smog inspected the first day, so was able to re-tag), A/C went out again yesterday (repair was less than two weeks ago). New problems have developed since the dealer serviced the car. The vehicle has begun stalling intermittently at idle, my fuel gauge abruptly stopped working about three days ago, and I'm getting an intermittent Check Filler Cap warning.

The dealer reported that the original problems were due to a blown fuse in the A/C circuit. Their theory was that because the battery was bad the compressor continued to try to pull current from it harder than it normally would have and blew the fuse. The same fuse was blown yesterday when I stopped by the dealer. The check engine light preceded the A/C failure by more than a week. The dealer is now telling me that they believe the A/C compressor is at fault for the original two problems. They want $1,500 to replace it including $750 for the compressor (reputable parts dealers sell new ones for $300). The fuel gauge reads near empty (one red bar) no matter how much fuel is in the tank, so I'm using the trip odometer to estimate how much fuel is left. I refill it and reset the odometer when I get down to about three gallons of fuel.

My service adviser actually talked to me about trading the car in - which I am not in a financial position to do at the moment.

Measures I have already taken: New spark plugs (Bosch platinum), new air filter (Wix), new filler cap (OEM Mini/BMW part), fuel injector cleaner (two applications). I am taking the car back to the dealer for the two problems they allegedly fixed since I have already paid them, but I'm not letting them touch anything else.

The basics: 2003 Cooper base, 120K miles, five speed, navigation system.

[orca17]

I'm now having some issues with the dealer, and I'm beginning to wonder if they know what they're doing. I took the car back this morning to have them look at it again. They keep trying to blame the A/C compressor for everything - despite the fact that the car stalls even when the climate control is turned off. They also said that I have installed the "wrong" spark plugs - I suspect because they aren't the NGKs they want to charge me $34 apiece for. I have used Bosch plugs for years with no issues. I also explained that the spark plugs were changed because of the problems that arose after my last visit. They didn't cause them.

I hate going somewhere else because I've already paid a grand to the dealer to fix this. On the other hand I'm pretty sure that if I go back they're going to tell me the car needs hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars worth of additional repairs - after they declared the car fixed and returned it to me after two days in the shop.

What would you do? I have a recommendation for an independent mechanic from the local Mini club, but I also hate to write off the grand I've already paid the Mini dealer.