Hello, New to Mini, I'm a GM guy. Been looking at Minis for over a year. We travel six months out of the year and wanted to replace our Jeep Wrangler toad. The 1997 Jeep is a 4 cylinder and has a hard time keeping speed and doesn't like going more than 60mph. Turn the air on and that is all she wants.
Picked up the 2014 with 30k on the odo. Still have 6 months of factory warranty. Looking more into how that will work. Picked the Mini up on Saturday and already put over 400 miles on it. Love the car other than have some issue with finding 1st gear. Does have a high pitched hum coming from the front of the engine after I turn it off. Haven't figured out what it actually is. Setting the vehicle up to tow 4 down. Jeep pulled well that way and I have talked with a few towing Minis. I'm going to dolly tow this home to Michigan see how that works.
Sure a cool car and my wife loves it. Looking forward to our next trip!
AWK

 

Congrats on your new MINI! Finding first is always easier for me if I pull back to second initially, then straight forward to first. If you are in the reverse gate, there will be no gear to pull back into. That humming noise after a hot shut-down is the electrical auxiliary water pump circulating coolant through your turbo to help it cool down. Have fun with your new toad!

 

Thanks for the info on the humming noise. That bothered me! I am hoping to improve the shifting with practice. My ol 97 Jeep Wrangler has it own shifting quirks too.
AWK

 

Hi and welcome to nam. I hope your toad works well for you. This car is a thousand times more fun than the Jeep! You will love the drive with it!

 

Loaded and heading home to Michigan! We put 600 miles on the car down here in Florida so far. Sure fun. While on the hauler I got to climb around underneath. Car is clean with a web of support braces! Had to remove the air dams just in front of the tires then place a 3/4 inch board to fit it on the hauler. Once back in Michigan I will install the tow bar base plate.

 

Welcome.


Motor On!