When I was a kid my neighbor had two of the originals parked in his one car garage, one running, one not at that time. I used to sit in them and thought they were about as cool as it got.

Finally bought my first, a 2010 S a few weeks ago. Traded in a very reliable practical car but it just wasn't fun to drive. I no longer have that problem, nothing but fun so far in this.

My only concern right now is after I got home I started poking around the net and came across all the complaints on early clutch failure and associated high cost. Made me start regretting getting the manual.

My hope is that for every bad post on the clutch there are a thousand who did not have a problem and did not post...

 

Welcome, John.

I understand "... wasn't fun to drive." We once had a reliable practical car too. One day I said "No more boring cars!." I haven't had a boring car since. Although wife later back slid to carry two large dogs in crates, she's also the one who bought our MINI for when the dogs stay home.

Stop poking around the net looking for MINI problems. You're getting a biased sample like the ones I get on the sites I go to for my other two cars. Yes, the MINI doesn't have the greatest reliability record. There are known weak points for each model, but just ignore those lists when you come across one. Read the posts about motoring fun instead.

 

I agree.
The Mini is the first car I’ve bought (and I’ve gone through quite a few over the years) purely for the fun of it.
The car is an absolute blast to drive and I’m just going to enjoy the ride.

 

Well done John! There is something to be said for ditching reliable & everyday "meh" for the whole lotta fun that is a MINI, and the motoring experience.

I wouldn't pay too much heed to the horror stories you may read. Keep in mind that 1) every car has issues of one sort or another and 2) people use forums such as this for help on their cars, so you read many more "HELP!" posts than "everything is perfect". There are quite a few three-pedal MINIs that have tons of miles, so I wouldn't think the MINI clutch is particularly prone to failure moreso than any other w/regular maintenance.

Drive 'er in good health!

 

Congratulations! Just drive and enjoy!

 

Welcome and Congrats

 

I think you'll be just fine. Wishing you many miles of happy motoring, John!

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Welcome! from another AZ member!!

 

I personally think minis are pretty reliable... r53's have there power steering etc, and r56 has some. but every car does

 

Welcome, relax, and enjoy!

 

Welcome! I used to live in Tucson. I wish that I would have had my S when I would drive up and down Mount Lemmon!

 

Yeah Mount Lemmon would be a fun drive, I'll have to head down there! Took it out to Tortilla Flats the other day, fun twistys but allot of snow birds this time of year.

 

Finally took a picture.
I think it needs stripes...
Thoughts?

 

ive always loved that color. Shes a beauty. Stripes or no striped, i think it looks great

 

Very nice!