My list:
Brake dust. For my new 2012 (Vickie) I still went w/ light colored wheels, I just think they look better than black.
Armrest sliding open
No variable intermittent wipers.

Others mention the horn, but I love the fact that I can grab the wheel and keep a thumb on the horn in situations which may call for it, and there are plenty of them in NJ.
Sun Visors, IDC. Mine is a convertible, so I often have more sun than any visor will cover.

 

Dave, I hate that aspect of my car as it blinds me when I drive home from work due to the afternoon sun. Other than that, I completely love my car.

 

Picky? Seems like an observation of something that compares poorly to some other cars.

Same experience here. My '74 Nova, '82 VW Rabbit, and even my 2000 Wrangler had sun visors that pivoted around and covered the areas on both sides of the a-pillar.

 

Still love the car, and after many thousands of miles, I've gotten used to all of the quirky things. Two things continue to annoy me on a daily basis and are related to being taller than the Hobbit driver they designed the car for:

1) Seatbelt gets caught between seat and B-pillar/frame. Even the plastic loop meant to hold the clip up doesn't help. The seat is too close to the side and the belt gets snagged always.
2) The center/rearview mirror obstructs the view of traffic to the upper right (on/off ramps mostly).

I should add, especially for you "Justa" haters, that my tank-average MPG is generally 39 MPG, and often 40+. Not as good as my TDIs, but with rising gas prices, it's something to give MINI a big .

 

Of course I'm the guy who posted that I think the car is a perfect jewel!

Dave

 

People complaining about their windshields and windows blinding them need to learn about tint and tint strips across the windshield.. I have one on my car and it eliminates all the reasons to whine about it.

On the otherside I will say mini paint is extremely soft.

 

I think I'm was a little off with I said 1-2 seconds, ......in reality, it's probably only a half second or so. It's the same lack of response that lots of others complain of. From what I have read, it's pretty common. It's a programmed in delay between gas pedal movement and throttle body reaction.....not sure why mini would ever program in a delay, but it sounds like that's what the issue it.

My truck has a fly by wire type gas pedal just like the mini's, and it's got instant throttle response, my mini just feels "slushy".

 

1. armrest always sliding open

2. when i set a 12 pack on the passenger seat the seat belt warning always goes off.

 

It accumulates too many miles on the odo. when I drive it.

 

^^I know that feel, have had mine less than a year and I'm breaking 10,000 miles before the end of the month.. I don't even commute.

 

I hate that she's sitting in the garage and will be waiting on a Tow Truck later today, she's out of Coolant!!

 

What happened? I haven't seen you post any issues on coolant lose.

 

No previous issues!! That's it...BOOM all of a sudden COLD air, thankfully we got her home when we realized it. I checked this AM and there is a small bit of coolant now in the resevoir, but none last night, guessing the engine needed it more than the bottle. Waiting on a Tow Truck now, yes I could have had them just bring out Coolant, she is still under warranty, I thought it best just to have her towed to MINI of Portland.

 

Let us know the verdict. Hopefully, I'm wrong and it's something really minor. Not that the thermostat is so major but you're talking about $300-$400.. for fix and a couple of hours.

 

+1 2009 MCS.

I hate that mine has rode on the back of a tow truck more than any other car I have ever owned!

Timing Chain Issues Twice caused severe damage.

 

DrSimmons, whatever the cost it will be well worth it!!
I L@VE Molly that much!!

BUT she is under Warranty for the next 38 days!! BTW...your estimate is way low, that may be a Thermostat R&R, but if it is the Water Pump which it very well could be, as told to me by a Certified MINI Tech, the cost would escalate to $1400!!

I wanted Molly home today because our Club met at an Indoor GoKart Race Track, but since I had to get to the Dealership we missed the racing, I wasn't going to race just went to watch. The Certified MINI Tech let me know that is was a good idea to have Molly towed as apposed to just adding Coolant. After the racing 9 of us ended up at a nice Pub in Tigard, so the day was not a total loss!!

 

now I hate that my car is in the shop more then four times in two months...this is getting old.

:-/

 

What are the problems with it? Just curious. It seems most of the shop statements here are from Cooper S owners. :(

 

Keep in mind that a lot of the negative statements on the MCS's are relative to the type of maintenance that is performed on them. They are
quirky cars but with a little tlc they hold up fairly well. My 07 is at 65K and the only two things I've had go bad are the timing chain issue and the thermostat leaked. That's it and I don't consider that all that bad. However, the ones that have the 2011 and 2012's that have few miles and a couple of problems can be irritating but it can all be fixed.

 

Don't let the dealership do that! I had my water pump replaced last year at a trusted local shop and the total was around $470. I think the pump itself only costs $200 or so. $1400 is highway robbery. Mine was leaking pretty bad....if your car is able to run for a short time try to find somewhere else to go to.

 

Is there a recall on the timing chain set up? As far as I'm concerned a timing chain system should last at least 150K-200K at least the serviceable life of the car. I've never once had a timing chain fail on any car I've ever owned. Not trying to be negative here, just making conversation.

 

I read that on NAM a few days ago and I havent' had a chance to research it back (computer was updating and slow). I'll look again when I get a moment but it was NOT a recall but from what I read was a campaign involving certain vin's within the 2011-2012 range. I did jot this down. The new guide part # is 11317597895, the old or previous #s were 11314609483 or 11317534833.
The original OP stated when he took his car in for the aux water pump recall, the dealer did this replacement as well and he stated it was a campaign and not a recall.
The aux pump is a recall.
I'll post back if I can find the orig. OP thread.

 

Hopefully all this gets sorted, as I hate to think of any MINI scaring a potential buyer away, (CVT not withstanding on the older models)

 

Google "porsche chain tensioner" if you want a counterpoint to that. A well-known problem with air-cooled 911 engines is that the chain tensioners can fail, which can cause the chain to jump timing, which smashes the pistons into some of the valves. The resulting damage is not cheap to repair.

Porsche went through a number of fixes to this problem, finally settling on a tensioner that was directly fed pressurized engine oil. That mostly solved the problem, unless contaminants in the oil wound up in the tensioner.

 

Ok, go to the General Mini Talk forum date 3-8-12 listed under 'timing chain, chain tensioner recall affects 500,00'. Start reading and see what you get out of all of it. There is NO recall though.