Keep getting drawn to the Mini Cooper S but worried about reliability that I hear about. I have owned Jetta GLI and currently own Mazda Protege5, both of which have been modified for increased performance and driving pleasure.

Thoughts?

 

You could always wait for the new model which will have a new BMW engine. But then you're getting into a first iteration of something which I always avoid.

Tough decision. But plenty of MINI's being bought, even by repeat customers. There must be a reason for that. As others point out on here, you only here the worst cases.

 

I realize you usually only hear about problems, I can look past this. With the cars I've owned I've done most of the work myself including clutch and more complicated stuff, which is a challenge but on the Mini's it looks like a more challenging task. It's my understanding that you need to remove the front bumper and front end to do some of these more involved maintenance tasks.

 

Since you are in the Philly area, check out PhillyMINI.org. Awesome MINI club!