Yeah, the sales manager told me that performance tires might last 10,000 miles, but the all seasons will last 30,000. I didn't want to have to buy yet another set of tires in a year!

Just musing here: I wonder why they can only come with performance tires? Just another discontinuity in the MINIverse? And, do they all wear out so quickly because they're run flats?

 

Rastven - Thanks for the advice. I actually did consider that, but for the money I can't find any aftermarket wheels that I like more then the Web-spokes. Definitely a matter of personal preference but to me they're GORGEOUS.

Ex-Pat Brit - Yea, I've heard a lot of good things about Main Line as well. I'm actually in talks with an MA there right now. My MA at Otto's quit, so I wouldn't mind going with another dealer this time. If he can beat my deal with Otto's (below MSRP) then I'll be purchasing from Main Line; we'll see.
I joined the PhillyMINI website and plan to participate in the first event after my new MINI arrives.

illegalprelude - Thank you, you're quite right. I decided to just go ahead and re-order. The wait will probably do me good and it's simply not worth the sacrifice just because I'm impatient. Lets just hope the new one gets to me as fast as my first one did (4 weeks exactly).

T-POD - WOW, that I was not told and had no idea of. Yet another strike against the web-spokes... DAMN them for being so purty! The crown-spokes are quite nice as well though, so I'm still undecided. I also wonder why both the web and flame-spokes come with performance tires only; makes no sense to me. I'm fairly certain it does in fact tie back to the fact that they're run-flats which causes either to wear out so fast.

 

My tires on my webspokes were worn out at 18,000 miles and I rotated them every 5,000 miles. Definetly something to consider but I would still get them again. Just Love the Look!

 

Msteadman,

Because of your cautionary tale, I asked my insurance agent to add replacement cost coverage to my MINI's policy.

I had no idea such a thing existed and they certainly didn't bring it up.

He was happy to oblige. ka-ching for him, less worry for me I suppose

dogdal24 - I thought MINI recommends NOT rotating tires. Hmm. The faster we destroy them, the faster they can sell 'em.

 

Rotating tires is now in the R56 manual.

 

The funny thing is that the 1st time I took my 05 in for service they recommended that I have them rotated. Of course they said that Mini did not recommend it, but they do, and they will have to charge me to do it.

 

I see you're in Perkasie. I'm in Coopersburg and just took off my runflats with 2,000 miles on them. Want a good deal on a set of 4? I'll deliver...

 

I wish you would have had them in June and I would have known about it but both MINI's have new rubber now. I have a customer that has a 03-04 MCS I'll pass the word.

 

Performance tires wear out more quickly because they use a softer compound. Better grip = reduced tread life.

I'm in the web spoke camp, thinking they look much better than the crown spokes. I'd spring the extra $500 for these and drop something else if you have to.
You can save $250 by dropping the sport package and adding xenons and web spokes a la carte. After one turn in the MINI, I turned off DSC as it's more of liability than anything.
If we were talking about a high powered RWD car, I could see the benefits of DSC in certain weather.

 

dogdal24 - Wow, while a far cry better from the 10,000 miles listed above it's still definitely something to consider... I know I've said it before but they just look SO good though! But at the same time I like the Crown Spokes as well so I dunno.

T-POD - A very good idea; although I didn't know it's something you have to add. Liberty Mutual includes it standard for any car that's less then a year old and has less then 15,000 miles. But beyond that I'm not sure if it's even an option to have it.

Wolfgang80 - I'm actually going to consider doing just that. I really want to get the web-spokes but between the $500 cost of them, $500 deductible and the ALTA mods which I'd like to do (see my signature), I'm quite over-budget right now. I'm going back and forth in my head with three options which I had on my first MINI but could totally live without, especially since they add up to $750 collectively - more then enough to offset the cost of the web-spokes. They're PDC ($350), auto headlamps/wipers ($200) and auto-dimming rearview mirror ($200). The DSC I'm definitely keeping as although I know it's bashed quite a lot on here, to me it's a necessary safety feature.

I should be ordering before the weekend so I'll keep you guys updated. My MA worked out a deal with me for $500 under MSRP so that offsets the insurance deductible right there. But I just reallyyyyy want those ALTA mods ASAP!

 

sorry about your car, man. i'm waiting for mine, now... having it wrecked so soon after picking it up is painful just to imagine. i'm glad you got away in one piece.

out of curiosity, though, you mentioned in the OP that your car was nailed by the drunk near the gas cap, sending you into the pole -- but the pictures (horiffic, btw!) don't show any damage there?

 

I second the confusion about the damage. The left side of your car looks untouched.

 

i was enjoying a spirited drive and the minis confidence inspiering handleing got me in a bit of trouble. i have yet to get a new one, i AM going to get a new one, i Absolutly love the car just dealing with the insurance took a while and now im busy with school so i'll be putting in a order within the next two weeks hopefully.

 

jallum & Wolfgang80 - Sorry about the confusion. I mentioned in a subsequent post that the hit was in fact on the passenger side. I'm so used to driving my Dad's car with the gas cap on the passenger side rather then the driver's that I got confused myself.

peter314 - YIKES, damn I'm sorry. Being back in school is what's delaying my second purchase well, it's a major pain. Thankfully my insurance company finally put my check in the mail yesterday so with any luck I'll be ordering Friday. Do you plan on going for the exact same options this second time around?

 

wow. not that it really matters, but that just leaves me even more confused. i mean, if you're in the right-hand lane -- and there's no shoulder, how did he hit you on the right-hand side of the car?

 

I'm with Jallum again. Confused.

 

I definitely just had to go through the accident report as I was more confused then anyone for a minute. The impact from the other driver was in fact on the DRIVER's side just aft of the fuel filler cap. You can't see it properly in any of the pics I posted but there's some denting around the corner where the side meet the rear of the vehicle. Also there was a lot of scratching in the area around the gas cap but the body shop was able to buff most of it out. Sorry about the bit of confusion I created there. Was so concentrated on the front end devastation that I have barely anything to show the side damage. All in all though, the side did hold up quite well as did the the back.

 

umm... just make sure that the shop you took it to doesn't charge you for buffing out those scratches on a totaled car. they sure did a nice job, though.

 

Well I wasn't charged for anything at all, not even the towing, it all went straight to the insurance company. I was actually quite impressed with the work they had already done (if you think the pictures are bad you should have seen it the night of the accident ) which is why until Liberty Mutual gave me a call saying that it was totaled, I wasn't quite as devastated. The guys at the bodyshop said they could have gotten it back to new without getting too near the actual cost of the car. However LM's policy is no matter what the other damages if the firewall is impacted in any way, they declare it a total loss. Also I'm sure having to order a brand new whole front end, transmission, turbo, intercooler and radiator would have been ridiculous. Given that they wrote me a check for exactly what I paid though (taxes included), I won't complain. Just sucks that now I have to wait... With just about any other car I could have purchased a new one the very next day. But I do love MINI so it's worth it even in the midst of my extreme impatience

I saw on another thread that you recently ordered through Otto's, congrats! I'm placing my order with them Friday hopefully. Just trying to workout the exact terms of my deal.

 

I think we need to cut Msteadman a bit of slack on the specifics here. Car accidents are funny things. I was once rear ended while stopped, hit the car in front of me, then hit the mountain-side on my right shoulder and somehow ended up face first up against the median in the fast lane on the other side. I can't, for the life of me, imagine how that all happened, since my car would have had to fly over the other 2 cars to end up where it did and no witness said I was airborne. All I remember was thinking, oh s***t, that car's gonna hit me!! My 14 yr old car was totalled but it didn't look all that bad just some goofed bumpers. The girl I hit was 'jawed of life' out of her brand new car, it was so smooshed on the driver's side, although I hit her solidly in the rear passenger side. I KNOW I was stopped when I was hit, but after it happened, I kept doubting myself and thinking I must have rear-ended the girl in front of me at speed for all that to happen. The laws of physics just seemed to not be working that afternoon. Of course there's a perfectly logical sequence of events, but it wasn't part of my reality!!

That's why people actually get paid to figure out what really happened in bad accidents instead of what all the participants think and say happened. Our recall is notoriously faulty in high stress situations.

BTW: a defensive driving course is the best money you can spend for your car. Especially when you are a young driver. The things I learned in one afternoon have saved me many a time.

 

I'm glad to hear the insurance folks sorted you out. It's no fun to have the bill but no toy.

The folks over at Otto's are really nice. I just wish they had a few MINIs with some of the more exotic options to look at when I was there. (It would have been nice to see the Nav system in action, for instance.)

Hahahah... Don't mind me, I'm just curious by nature and easily confused. You may have noticed.

Yep.

 

Oh God, especially after only four days, I couldn't even imagine... LM has been amazing to work with thus far. Since the car was so new I was pretty certain they'd give me close to MSRP on it, but I didn't even imagine that not only would they pay the taxes but also gives me a bit of EXTRA money to play with in order to get my replacement MINI as soon as possible. Now I just need the check to get here (hopefully tomorrow as it was mailed out Monday) so that I can place my order!

But yep, Otto's really is amazing. I was talking to another NAM member and find it very strange that they seem to have quite the turnover rate. Nevertheless, thus far they've been the only dealer to offer discounting below MSRP so I'm hooked. It was the same thing when I went. Hard enough to find a MINI with the lounge leather and cream color line, let alone really expensive options like Nav. Thankfully that gamble payed off in my first MINI purchase and since the only thing I'm changing is wheels on this second one, there's really no risk.

 

yawn, i guess your daddy paid for this 30 thousand plus mini too. It seems like you are confused in your story

 

Thanks T-POD. WOW, quite the story! It really is amazing how accidents turn out. I still don't quite understand how I ended up smashed into that pole but what I do understand is that whatever caused it totaled my MINI and that sucks. Even the cops couldn't quite make out how the accident happened when they arrived on the scene... It's weird because as much as the entire episode is quite the blur, I can't stop playing it over and over in my head. Yet there's certain details which I still can't make out. Need to get back motoring or I'm definitely going to drive myself crazy! This next 4-6 weeks is bound to go by sooooo slow. :impatient

 

I am glad that you are ok, sorry about your mini