I'm almost reeady to order a new MINI. Have loved them from afar for years.I have a Scion xa and hate the roll and discomfort of the seats, but previous Toyotas have been extremely low maintanence....so I hesitate. Any feedback would be much appreciated.

 

Welcome to NAM!

Let's start with the big generic points
1) You get three years service for free (if you are close enough to your dealer to take advantage of it), 4 yr/50K warranty
2) Beyond that, no one can say with a straight face they compare to Japanese reliability. How much you'd ever have to pour into it is just a gamble.

But this isn't a car you buy if you want the 100% most logical choice. Have you had a test drive? That would get your priorities straight!
Search for more threads on this too, there's lots!

 

1. Maintenaince is not free. You paid for it the price of the car. DO not think for one second BMW is giving you something for nothing
2. Agreed. However, the R56 is simply to new to make any real guesses on long term reliability or quality. Then again, I agree ... base on past history, MINI is not Toyota

 

Great point, and if you look at it that way I think you're getting a good value. (if you get off on getting $180 oil changes "for free")

 

MINI marketing does a great job. I guess this is really a BMW thing since BMWs do the same thing. I only bring it up since I think some ppl may think its really free, and of course, its not.

Some ppl prefer to change the oil themselves, others just follow the manual, and others do nothing Everyone is different and thats OK.

 

most cars can't be compared to toyota's. honda's, maybe, but when they start to go, the repair still ain't cheap, unless you do it yourself. w/ regards to reliability, toyotas are exceptional and i'm quite perplexed as to how they build some of those cars to last so long and be so robust, despite various kinds of abuse

 

Is MINI(BMW) marketing any different than any other manufacturer who offers "free" maintenance?

 

MINI marketing does a GREAT job ... at least their first advertising agency. "free maintenaince" is just part of what they are selling. Just consider ... who are the cars targeted at? At $18 - $23K they are less than the average car sold in the US (~$28K) ... forget about options, you can add options to any car. So the targets appear to be recent college graduates, ppl buying their first "new" car, young married w/out children ... and possibly older folks, kids long gone who remember Brit Sports cars from the 50s/60s. Now how do they sell them? IMO

• bring up Brit lingo used in the 50s/60s ... bonnet/boot, etc. Lingo becomes "cool"
• Used new buzzwords for things people who have driven sportscars knew about 50 years ago ... buzzwords like "twisties", "motoring", etc. Anybody who has ever bought a sports car didn't do it to do drag racing but because of the cars handling ... but if you consider the targeting, those young people, new car buyers ... it might be the first car they got and its all new to them ... not to people who already know but they may not be the targets
• Youification? People have been ordering cars from the factory since ... forever? Ever look at an American car options sheet. Pretty big. Ordering a car is nothing new and building to your specs, happens all the time. Japanese cars tend to be marketed in terms of levels with entry level, deluxe, Extra deluxe with options packaged together (eg., dx, lx, ex) but not others. Again ... new to the target audience.
• Free maintenaince. Nothing is free. But it does sound "cool" . The cost is buried upfront. Its only fooling yourself because money today is worth MORE than money tomorrow. In fact, your probably paying MORE for that free service than if they did not offer it. Inflation 101. Further, while some MINI owners certainly wait 10 - 15K miles between oil changes, I would bet far, far more get it changed between intervals itself.
• Advertising campaigns. Great advertising ... The secret messages in magazines, the new coop thing, you just dont see that kind of stuff from other car makers

MINI marketing does a great job, IMO

 

Bottom line is that there is no additional out-of-pocket expense for maintaining a new MINI for three years. I got a fourth year. Cost after that is unknown for R56 (and barely known for R50/53), but MINIs overall seem reasonable to maintain, especially with more non-dealer shops out there (and there will be more) who can service MINIs.

Thing is, the car is a blast to drive and very engaging. Hard to put a $$ value on that. MINI is the best automotive dollar I've ever spent.

 

Gokart ... but don't you think MINI got great marketing?

Target the audience ... tell them maintenance is free ... woot ... FREE

But its not free. Personally I would rather have the money in my hand. I dont know how much but if you consider the labor ... maybe $500?

How many new car owners REALLY follow the owner's maintenance manual ... truely have 15K and 30K services done. I would bet very few.

Give me the choice up front. Let me decide how I will maintain my car and how I can use that money today ... or tomorrow.

 

I got lazy and took my o3 Accord in for an oil change they said it was do for air filter & air conditioner filter,I told them go ahead figured how much could it cost? $300 .... is this the low maintnance cost for Honda your talking about?Thank you Wesloh Honda of San Juan Capistrano...Another reason I wont buy another Honda.

 

Three transmissions went south in my 2001 Acura TL. I'm not saying that's a benchmark for all Hondas or Japanese cars, but it is interesting. I suppose if anything, the Acura was consistent...

I will say this. The architecture of a Japanese car is a lot more normal. I can drop off my Acura at Walmart and get the oil changed, but they have no clue when it comes to the MINI. Maybe, I'm just paranoid, but I just figure most shops don't know how to work on the MINI and so you'll probably be restricted to more expensive shops.

I'm running into this problem even when considering mods... Can a normal aftermarket shop install a head or do I need to go to a BMW/MINI shop (read: expensive) to get it installed?

Another thing to consider is the fact that the '07s are a new Model Year and will have some growing pains...

 

We're a year and a half in (only 13,000 miles) with our 06 MCS. It has had fewer problems than the last new car we bought (Volvo S60 AWD), but more than our Honda Odyssey. We had a broken mirror switch (replaced w/ no issues) and we have the dual-mass flywheel noise intermittently at start up (usually when after sitting for a couple days in cold weather--a problem diagnosed by us based on what we read, acknowledged as probably by the dealer, but not repaired because they have not been able to duplicate it yet). I would consider this experience about average for new cars we've owned--neither really good nor really bad.

If you're looking for generalizable (as opposed to personal reasons like cargo space of finances) for NOT buying a MINI, I'd focus on dealer convenience. Even with free loaners, it is a royal pain for us to have our MINI serviced or worked on because it is far and in the wrong direction. To put it in perspective, I can have our other two cars serviced within walking distance of either home or work.

 

Why would anyone go to a dealer for ANY service???

IMO, that is YOUR fault. Any independent shop can do a major service for a lot cheaper than a dealer charges and if it was only for an oil change, there is nothing wrong with Jiffy Lube for a Honda

I went to a local independent BMW/MB shop. One of the first MINIs he worked on for suspension work and oil change. Oil change was about $60 using Mobil 1, far cheaper than the dealer. Could he swap a head. I think so. Don't see why not.