Kind of long, but please read and help me if you can!

Not here to beat up on Mini, but I've just had what appears to be a major catastrophe. My Mini broke down on a very important trip and left me stranded. I ended up with close to $700 in travel costs to get me where I needed to be and back home.

Long story short, a non-Mini mechanic (my only option at the time) says timing chain and no compression in the fourth cylinder. I'm not a mechanic, but my mechanic friends say this is "No bueno!" and that it likely has severe damage to the valves and maybe the pistons.

The nearest Mini dealership from where the car is (near Reno, NV) is guessing about $2900 for the timing chain replacement and another $500 for the valve job (?). A mechanic friend says prepare for the worse and this price will dramatically rise if it has piston damage and when they want to replace other things "while they are in there."

So, looking for options. I'm leaning toward having it towed to the Mini dealership and forking over the diagnostic fee to see what the experts say. If it's something not too bad, I'll just have it done there. If it gets too crazy, I'll likely car-dolly it home and look at other options such as an engine replacement, but I have to do something since I still owe on it. However, I don't see the value in spending money that adds to what I "owe" and makes the car far more what it KBBs at.

Any suggestions? One other option I have considered is selling it for whatever I can get AS IS and signing a signature with the bank on the balance. Is there a market for Minis with blown engines? Since much of repair costs is labor, might someone who is mechanically-inclined buy it to fix themselves?

I better add that I missed the class-action suit deadline for the timing chain or more precisely I had already replaced it once under a private extended warranty when I bought the car used from a non-Mini dealer.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

What failed exactly? I'd avoid the dealer. They will just charge an arm and a leg. Use this site: Mini Cooper Repair Shops - Find a Mini Cooper Mechanic | MiniRepairShops and see if there is a MINI indy shop close to you. I'd take it there instead. You could also source a used engine on Car-Part.com--Used Auto Parts Market. Yes, there is a market for rollers and you could attempt to part it out on the forums. Many people scoop up MINI's and fix them up themselves.