Hi,

Have really enjoyed the 2019 MINI Cooper S 2 door hardtop with automatic transmission, I bought in July 2019.

Just turned over 25K miles a week ago!

Besides regular maintenance, my biggest expense was replacing a run-flat tire that got a big nail in it.

Been offered one more chance to purchase the MINI Premier Plus 5 year vehicle protection plan for $6,328, with $200/month payment for 30 months and $324 down payment.
$100 deductible per incident.

This does not cover regular scheduled maintenance type items such as oil changes, wipers, tires, brake pads, etc.

Probably plan to keep car for another 5 years.....

With such low mileage and my not driving much per year, do you think it's worth getting this plan?

What's your thoughts about likelihood of having major engine, transmission, or other items go bad in the next 5 years, with my driving situation?

Thanks for any and all input.

Mark

 

Like all insurance, it's a gamble that probably won't pay off. Put your $200 a month into a high yield savings account and save it for future repairs. You will most likely come out ahead.

 

Good points, thanks!

 

I’ve got a 2019 F57 that I purchased new in May 2018 and just hit 50,000 miles on the odometer. I’ve not had a single issue with the car. Most likely, you’ll need a passenger’s side motor mount at some point. Other than that, these cars have proven to be very reliable overall.

 

Thanks for sharing your positive experience.....reassuring.

 

For a laundry list of things that have popped up in the F56 (and will apply to all the F5x series MINIs) that seem to affect multiple owners the same way every time, see this thread.

Despite the length of the thread and the detail it goes into (which undoubtedly makes it a scary read for anyone other than gearheads), on balance the F56 is pretty solid. I can think of maybe 4 "you're going to deal with X eventually" issues, but they aren't going to strand you on the side of the road (except one).

That "one" -- which can get you into serious risk to the engine and it will catch you by surprise trouble -- keep a diligent eye on your coolant level, personally (don't trust the shop). Check it in the morning before the car has been started even once (being dead cold matters), and do it at least as often as every oil change. Aside from the F series MINIs having a way of making coolant slowly go away in general (people are still figuring that out), one of the "eventually" things is the oil filter housing eventually breaking internally (it's made of plastic). Since the oil filter housing carries coolant (used to cool the oil), when it ultimately breaks it springs a coolant leak and requires replacement -- and when that breakage takes place, the leak is no longer "slow." And -- it can result in engine overheat and engine damage. It's a full don't-go-there.

But it takes a while to get to that, and until then the leak is slow and tends to increase very slowly. Folks watching their coolant tend to spot early that their coolant-eating gremlin is unexplainedly getting hungrier.

The oil filter housing issue is a design problem -- and not just on the MINIs. It's across all the cars that have the same engine as yours and mine. But it isn't a recall yet. Repair/replace by a shop will set you back between $1500 and $2000 due to the labor involved (if one is doing it DIY, cost can get as low as sub-$300 but you have to be in gearhead mode for real). So to the warranty intersect with this: the advice to stick the $200/month in a high yield savings account is not bad guidance at all. With 25K miles on your 2019 F56S you probably have another 25-50K miles before this pops up.

Hope this is useful.

 

Wow, thank you so much for your helpful and very detailed reply and info.
Figure at the rate I'm driving, it will be about another 5 years before I hit 50K miles and at that point car will be 10 years old.....
So, might get lucky (if I start keeping any eye on my coolant level....) and not have any major issues pop up during this time.
And probably will be looking at another car around that time.....who know, maybe another Cooper S?

Mark

 

I collected data on forums/sites/etc about failures wish I put in the post linked to above. I just updated that list with possible (hey a *lot* of guessing here) frequency. People online that claim to work at dealerships in the Service area say very little fail on these MINI. Hope this helps ...

0. First two year bearing shell error, fixed by bearing shell or full engin replacement. No idea # affected
1. Engine mounts. Some at 30k. Second revision Oct 2020, not sire if better. $900-$1,1200. Very many people hit this.
2. Oil cartridge housing. Common in first coupl years, and at high mileage. Weak part design. Some people. $1500-$2000. Some people
3. Front control arm bushings. Some at 30k. Revised part, not sure year. Many people.
4. Thermostat/Waterpump assembly leak. Some people
5. Fuel tank vent valve. (easy cheap fix). Few people.
6. Top strut bearing. Few people
7. Automatic shift lever park sensor plastic spring. $1,200-$1,500 Some people. Will fail again
8. Door jam B pillar paint abrasion. Aftermarket film to protect. Some people. Can require extensive body work. Recommend checking now.
9. Left rear tail light connector corrosion/melting. Not sure if facelift Union Jack does this. Few people.
10. Serious issue, wire harness under hood in rear corner oppose transmission side allowed water intrusion and rotting wires. Infrequent. Expensive to fix replacing part of the wire harness. Fix ranges from $1500 to $2500 it seems Fixed, but not sure exactly when Possibly 2018
11. Harmonic balancer. Few people.
12. P0172 Rich fuel mixture. When it is cold, and driving pattern is very short drives where the motor does not completely warm up, and no long drives to fully warm. Oil must be replaced due to fuel passing the signs and condensing into the oil. Reportedly more common in 3 cylinders. Note this is common in many manufacturers 3 cylinder motors, such as Honda. Note experience in Denver is this is uncommon. I and another family member have the 1.5 motor. This issue was encountered once when the commute was less than 1 mile with few if any long drives. Has not occurred since. I do a mix of short and long drives with no issue. Few,
13. Chrome head light ring bubble. Many
14. Leaky injectors causing oil wash on cylinder wall. Revised injectors revised (in 2017?) Few

I also looked for when people gave their service history and noted it. Here are some at 100k and more:
100k None
100k Starter at 80k, Engine mounts 97k, struts 97k
119k Oil housing, thermostat
140k Washer fluid res leak
160k No real problems
166k Motor mount, control arm bushings, evaporative, oil cartridge holder
170k Valve cover and top/bottom motor mounts. Unknown warranty "bits" at 40k
200k Nothing (1.5)
200k Nothing

240k 2017 F54 Clubman 1.5L ALL4 manual transmission with 240k miles and the engine is suffering multiple oil leaks, the P1290 code (new turbo/wastegate or head temperature sensor needed), and a coolant leak that makes me have to top off once a week.

275k I have a 2016 S with 275k (manual, though), mostly highway driven. Bigger bills included control arms, oil filter housing and engine mount but it's mostly just cost me oil changes and tires. Turbo is due replacement soon ($) and I'm starting to see some wear and tear on interior items but overall has held up great. 106k Oil housing, Egine mount, harmonic balancer

Here are the Countryman F60 with same engine maintenance histories...
24k Engine, sunroof mechanism

low miles Manual transmission, twice, slipping out of 2nd

45k No issues

50K or so Motor mount

59k Battery

63k It has 103,000km on it and has had only one issue with a sensor that was replaced under warranty (can’t recall which one).

70k Drive shaft flex disk $1027 73k Nothing broke

85k Nothing broke 115k Nothing broke

118k nothing Dieisel F56

117k Motor mount

153k Motor mount

154k Only maintenance things

160k High Pressure Fuel Pump 101k, self induced Fuel from overfill Tank Integrity Module aka leak detection pump, Diverter valve155k, one coil giving misfire 155k 161k All 4 shocks getting soft. No other repairs.

16?K (missing earlier history) Valve cover leak, motor mount, turbo failing with little smoke, transmission fluid small leak, shocks worn out.

175k Motor mounts

220k (updated) DPF 100k, water pump housing 100k, Starter motor 125k, Clutch and flywheel 148k Battery, 155k Motor mount, 160k
3 sets of brake pads not sure when, 1 set of disks

 

Wow! That's a great list of issues.

Although not so great if those happen to your MINI......

Fortunately, at the rate I've been driving, it would take me another 15 years to hit 100K miles......and given my age, I might be in another astral plane around that time.....
we shall see......or maybe driving one of those flying fusion powered cars by then.....

Thanks!

 

I moved away from MINI due to the second gen R series bills we paid repairing the same par several times. (We still have an R60 Countryman wife won't sell at 185k miles and $30k in repairs so yeah) The In 2019 MINI brand got JD Power quality survey as 6 best brand, and 5th best in 2024. Consumer Report in 2022 gave MINI the 3rd place. So you should be at least on par with most other brands, probably much better. Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the good words.....encouraging.....

Sorry to hear about your wife's MINI though....
Hopefully, there won't be other issues.....