I am considering buying a used MCS and was wondering if anyone is commuting with their Mini's 100+ miles aday and if the MCS has lasting power of 100,000 + miles.

Hate to spend the money if the car won't last past 130,000k.

PS My first post and will be test driving tomorrow.

 

And lots of Minis are braking that milage barrier. Mine's an 02 with 77k miles on it, track time and rough driving, and it's doing fine.... I didn't have a 100+ mile a day commute, I did have a 63 mile round trip, Mini is a good car for commutes. But if you drive lots of roads with concrete slabs, the expansion joints can cause the car to buck a bit at certain speeds.... (true for all short wheel base cars...)

Matt

 

Thanks for the information.

Also what does the cold water package include?

 

They are all internal combustion gasoline motors, take care of it, change oil frequently, and repair/rebuild what wears out. If you want a longevity guarantee, get a Cummins or Detroit Diesel pickumup.

 

hello, i am currently putting 120 miles or sometimes 150 a day... im commuting to work in jersey and i live in ny in longislnd. well i just got my car last week and ever since i been motoring lol. so far im at 890 miles in a week.. i feel like im the only one who 's beeen drivin so much but what can i say i love driving that car.... haha anywayss my point is that it is very fun car to drive and i think its great for commuters cause its a small car so ur not really driving a big suv with u only driving that needs to get to work, hey thats how accidents and traffic jam occur....

but anyways if you have any questions you can message me peace
gooood luck

 

I just bought a 2006 MC and I am driving about 100 miles a day without any concern about it. The car is a blast to drive even when commuting, partly because the traffic here in Kansas City isn't too bad.

I must say I do find my 1998 Regal much more comfortable than I used to now that I am driving the MC most of the day. If the wife and I go out in the evening it is usually in the Buick Lux-o-Cruiser and the plush leather seating and automatic transmission is much more appreciated now than it was prior to drivng the MC every day as a commuter car. Incidentally, the Regal is at 145k and still rides great. I have had to replace a lot of stuff on it, mostly since going over 100k miles. Just to give you some idea:

60k new starter $400
75k new tie-rods (3 of 4) and new front left wheel hub. $400
85k new tires $450
110k new water pump, new idler pulley, new serpentine belt (plus tow). $250
135k new tires, new brakes and new rotors all 4 wheels. $650
140k new ignition switch (plus tow). $510
142k new battery, new alternator. $225

Some would say that is an excessive amount of failures, I am not too disappointed myself. The thing is the cost. Most of these repairs were pretty cheap with the exception of the ignition switch which required the steering column to be torn down. Also the new starter could have been cheaper but I inisted on new instead of rebuilt.

Which brings us back to your original question about if a Mini is a good choice for a high mileage car used in commuting. Maybe not, --has nothing to do with quality or frequency of repair, but rather the cost of repair. I have no idea (for instance) what a new clutch would cost to replace on a Mini once the warranty runs out, but you gotta know it won't be cheap. I'm just guessing at least $2,500 or double what it would cost to replace on a Saturn Ion or similar mass market car.

But is it worth it given the fun of driving a Mini? I think most Mini owners would say 'yes' or they would not have bought a Mini to begin with.


1

 

As a high mileage daily commuter, a downside of MINI is the relatively low comfort (in the form of cabin noise and rough ride) compared with many cars. Personally, a long daily grind in a MINI would wear me down over time. It might not be so bad to arrive daily at your destination in a car that is more comfortable and boring but leaves you less worn out.

If you really want a MINI, also consider an MC without sports package, for the better gas mileage and ride comfort compared with MCS.

 

Thanks for the information. The rough ride is not a concern I actually enjoy driving in a car that is fun to drive with stiff suspension then a car that is more confortable. (I traded in my 2005 PT Cruiser)

I just purchased a 2002 MCS with 21,000 miles and added a 5 year 100,000 mile warranty. I test drove about 4 mini's yesterday and for some reason the 2002 MCS seemed to shift smoother then the 2003 and 2004. Also the 2002 had the least mileage, was far cheaper, the dealership took less money then advertised and got the money needed for my trade-in.

http://www.tshared.com/images/minicooper.bmp

 

I commute 120 miles a day in my '04 MCS. If you're a commuter and want a nice, soft, comfy ride buy a big comfy car. If you want to find every curvy back road, drive like your obsesssed and have fun everyday commuting to work and back, drive a Mini.

 

Sorry I'm confused............ are these repairs and mileages on your 06 MC or on the Buick.

BTW, my clutch replacement ran just shy of $1000.

I'll throw my car history on a separate thread.

 

Jeff,

Congrats on the car!!

I've also got a 02 MCS and I'm just under 113,000 miles. I commute 160 miles a day for 7 straight days then off for 7 and back on. So, I put about 2250 a month in work miles, throw in another 1000 for off work miles.

My car has had a 15% pulley on it for the last 60,000 miles and numerous CAI I've been testing.

My clutch (really the throwout bearing) went out at 90,298 and I had the dealer install a SPEC Stage II. I provided the parts and they provided the labor. Cost: Parts $250 Labor $745

At about 98,000 the Power Steering pump failed. I did my own repair. Part ran $297, which is outragous for a remaned pump - but what are we to do

Those are the only major repairs I've had to have. I do my own Inspections and oil changes, belt changes etc.

See my sig to see how much we like these cars

 

Smokey that is exactly the type of information I was looking for. So how does your 2002 compare with the rest of the family since you have access to every year of the mini..

Thats awesome that everyone has a mini in your family

What does the 15% pully get you and what was the cost on that?

 

My wife drives the MINI most of the time and she has a 110 miles commute every day . No complaints from her and she prefers the MINI to our Accord for driving, well so do I as be both like spirited driving. The Accord is more for when we go somewhere as a family. Having two kids still in child seats means you need a little more room than the MINI has. As for high mileage not really sure how it'll do as we've only had it for approximately a month and have 3600 miles on it at this point.

 

Glad I could help

Hmmm, you want me to pick one car over the another? Why I love them all equally

I'm not a fan of the new gearing on the MCS, if I wanted to cruise at 3500 RPM I'd go 78 MPH in my 02. Now for sure the fit and finish is much better and maybe it's because I've spent so much time in my 02, but I enjoy driving it more then the 05. I just got done putting a pulley and intake on the 05, so maybe that will change

I've rarely driven the 04, that's our son's and his exhaust is louder then my Invidia We have put some of the MCS suspension parts under his and changed out the intake to give it a little bit more punch.

The 06 is our daughter's and she lives about 3 hours away, so I haven't driven that one at all.

If you've followed closely you'll see that we don't own an 03 model. But I'm looking.......

The pulley will give you a little more grunt in the low end and a bit more boost in the high end. I picked up my last one (15% ET Brand) from an eBay auction that R-Speed was having for $49 plus shipping. I had a belt sitting on the shelf and did the install myself in a little less then 2 hours, so cost was minimal and well worth it.

Enjoy your car!

 

I think I fall into this group. I commute ~140 miles per day, working 4-5 days per week (depending on time of year). I should have 120k miles by the end of next week.

Problems: ummm, cant think of any caused by excess milage. I go thru a set of tires about once a year.

I've done the rear breaks once (rear go before front ), original clutch and fron breaks.

I've had a 15% pulley on it for about 95k+, CAI longer.

The only thing I did replace was the header tank (coolant expansion tank) because the one's that were recalled didn't work either.

As for a ride - I like it

Nik

 

I'm gaining on you Nik Check your six

 

I average a little over 92 miles a day (39+k in one year, one month, fifteen days) I've had just about every recall that applied to my build date be enacted and even a few other things beyond that. I don't however think that any of that is related to the high milage, but instead the hit or miss build quality; which on the whole is wonderful but does from time to time let a MINI slip through the cracks. What I like aboutthe MINI though is the ease of being able to work on it, this is a car that I can approachin much the same way Smokey has, and do almost all of the maint. at little to no labor cost.

 

$1,000 for a clutch? That sounds very reasonable to me, was that dealer installed or did you have someone else do it? Just out of curiosity, how many miles were on the clutch you replaced? I would hope to get 100k+ on the original though that may be a little optomistic if I intend to drive the car hard.

As for the MC vs MCS in terms of comfort, I would have to agree the MC is by far the more easy to endure on a daily basis than an MCS would be. I had one of the S Coopers (albeit with CVT on it) as a loaner car last week when my MC was in for minor repairs. Hated it, very jerky on the aceleration and WAY too noisy. My MC has the Cooper Works sound package which provides a very pleasant note to the car, but the MCS I drove sounded like a piece of farm machinery on steroids. Especially at low speeds it made a lot of noise that I found bothersome and made me wonder about the reliability of the car.

 

I agree! I debated whether I was going to do it myself or go with the dealer. In the end I went with the dealer for numerous reasons but primarily; they warranty their work and I don't have a lift.

The clutch didn't go out really, it was the throw-out bearing that required the tranny to be opened at a little over 90K, and obviously the smart thing was to replace the clutch also. The clutch in fact still had about 1/8" of material left; I have no idea how much a new OEM one has to start out with.

I won't say I drive my car hard, but I'm on my 5th set of tires right now.

As far was your experience with the loaner MCS; you have to remember that that car is the second fastest car in your State. The fastest is a one way rental car from an Airport.

I can't imagine that that loaner car has been treated with any kindness since the PDC.

 

When I tested drove the different Mini's the MCS were a bit more noisy but in good way. It sounded like a sport car which is what you want in the MCS. Don't get me wrong the MC was nice as well.

My last car was a PT Cruiser Touring edition and I hated it! If I would have gotten the GT I mighted have lasted another year just because it was a better performer. So that is why I would only buy a MCS since performace makes the boring commute so much better.

PS Thanks for everyones input and I glad to see others are driving these as commuting cars. Make me feel good that the issues others are seeing are mostly wear and tear type issues.