I am considering buying a mini but am a little concerned. I currently have a 06 camry with 90K. I have a 100/day comute to my job. It was 120/day; therefore, I would definitely rack up mileage in a hurry. Then I love to take drives on the weekend. Should have been a trucker, do have a CDL. My concern is after a little research I find that replacing a transmission in a cooper costs $8,500 - $9,500. I'm also shocked at the cost of $1,200 to replace power steering pump. I am big on maintenance. Currently oil change every 3,000 miles and flush the transmission every 30K. Sounds like most of the mini owners change out cars before they reach 100K. Anybody concerned with cost of transmission replacement cost??????

 

Well it comes down to which MINI you buy. I would encourage you to find a low mileage 05 or 06 "S" or non "S" BONE STOCK Built after Jan 05. The build date is on the drivers side door jam sticker. By Jan 05 most if not all the bugs were taken care of in 1st Gen MINI's. I'd also get a manual trans for the best long term low cost ownership. The prices listed above are on the high side and like all things, get a 2nd and or 3rd price. I'm at 84K on an 05, built 8/04 Just-a-Cooper without any major repair and know of many others running well over 100K in the same boat. I plan to drive the body off my MINI. And if I had to replace it for any reason would do the above. Just my 3 cents.

This is a good review too, http://www.motoringfile.com/2007/10/...-buyers-guide/

 

6-speed too
Manual

 

The 6 speed Aisin built auto on the S models has been relatively trouble free.

 

Oh so its justacoopers auto that are troublesome?
Ans not the MCS auto then?

 

Your Camry will probably last till the end of time, without any major repair. BUT, it can never compare to the drive of a Mini.

 

Correct. The CVT auto in the regular Cooper has been the subject of many transmission issues. The Aisin 6 speed auto in the MCS is your normal torque converter equipped automatic with very few problems.

 

You would automatically replace the transmission at 100k miles?? That seems rather excessive.