Hello all,
I have caught a bad case if Mini lust and have a question for all of you. I have a 140 mile a day round trip commute to my business. It's almost all 60-75 mph speeds and I am wondering if any of you have drives like that and how is your mini coping with it? My current vehicle is a Toyota Sienna with 150,000 miles on it with zero problems since new. Gonna keep that but looking to get a clubman and maybe wrapping it for my business. Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

you will find quite a few others on here that use their Mini's for daily drivers with some respectable commutes. I drive mine about 85 miles per day and it sure makes the commute a lot more tolerable! Here a a couple of other threads with a similar theme:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ly-driver.html

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-2010-mcs.html

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...y-commute.html

Cheers

 

I don't commute, as I work at home. But I'm getting ready for a 14-hour drive to MITM tomorrow, and I wouldn't want to drive anything but my MINI.
No matter the reason for the drive or how long, a MINI makes it fun!

 

I am currently doing a 105 mile a day commute 4 days a week, 04 MCS with 81K no issues. The car runs excellant, even in the worst of winter storms I had no problems, just had the Oil evaluated from Blackstone labs, they said my engine was in excellant condition and to extend my oil changes to 8K, which of course i will not. I change it every 3 months,with the passing of each season, easy to remember and I know I have not killed the oil.

 

I bought my MCS specifically for my 60 mile a day commute. Its pretty much all highway. Even though I bought it with +100k miles on it already, I am confident that with some upkeep and elbow grease I can get it into the 200k mile range. My only complaint is that in this hot summer the AC is not as powerful as I would like it to be, but I also haven't done anything to keep the heat outta the car during the day (ie window tint).

 

Long commute... in the 2 months I have owned my Mini (keep in mind I was out of the country for over 2 weeks while in Mexico), I have racked up a lovely 5300 miles already...

 

That's definitely the truth! I had to run my A/C yesterday while providing my boss a ride to pickup his vehicle at the Ford dealership and he wouldn't let me leave the top down even though it was only 104 (with the heat index)! Some folks are just not very tough. Even with the blowers on full and using the recirulate button, the only time I got fairly cool air was when we were able to hit > 35 MPH (which in city traffic wasn't often). I've had the car a total of 6 months and I think I've used the A/C 4 times and on one of those I found out it didn't work so the dealer had to replace the compressor!

As an aside, this morning I my check engine light went on and nothing is displaying in the dash when I look. I did notice a couple of rough idiling moments in the last couple of weeks, mostly 1st thing in the morning and it smoothed out within 30 seconds and the car seemed to run normally. Even with the CEL on, the car seems to be running great, power seems normal, MPG seems normal so I don't know what's happening. Being a pessimist and having read too many postings here, I'm starting to suspect the HPFP but maybe I'm wrong. I do have an appointment with the service department first thing Friday so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's something minor. Any bets on whether they try to blame bad gas?

 

Can you go to an auto zone or local garage and ask them to pull the code for you? Auto zone is free, a local place might want to charge you something.

 

I have a 133 round trip commute at the moment due to job loss. My lovely '07 Sidewalk edition has already racked up 110K miles, and at this rate is going to be worn out soon!

 

Yup Yup 120miles round trip a day, 5x's a week here. '03 MCS with 95k and she is my best friend on the road. Couldn't imagine the drive with anything else now.

 

Right now, I am using my 1 ton Dodge dually 4x4 5.9 cummins diesel (my trailer puller) as my commuting rig. It gets close to 20 MPG which is pretty good for a truck this size, but it is killing me financially as I drive 145 miles a day round trip.

In fact, this was one of the main reasons why I am so happy to be getting that MCS Friday. With diesel being more expensive plus the wear & tear and maintenance for the Dodge, I am sure the Mini will pay for itself.

Come to think of it, the monthly payment on the MCS will be less than half of what I spend driving my Dodge every month.

 

Mine work trip is about 139 miles most days, about 120k so far. It's comfortable for long trips, the heated seats are especially nice if you have a sore back or get uncomfortable from sitting for a long time.

Outside of regular maintenance stuff I've paid to replace a thermostat housing and the high pressure fuel pump, about $1400 total.

 

Well it''s hard to argue with 150K no troubles on the Sienna, and there is no guarantee of such reliability with any other car (even a different Sienna) but I think with proper attention to maitenance you should get good results with the MINI and save a little on gas money, PLUS a fun driving experience every day. What price fun???

 

I probably could, but since I have the warrenty and maintenance plan, I'm going to make these folks earn my money! The car seems to be running great, just that annoying dashboard light and the nag tone when I start the car.

 

I commute around 120 miles a day, 5 days a week. My 07 MCS was constantly getting CELs and trying to stall on me towards the end of it's warranty. I traded it because the dealer couldn't decide what the problem was and always had a new "cause" everytime I picked it up. The way I saw it, things were about to get expensive.

They never mentioned the direct injection carbon problem.

Now, with all of that said I think the car handled the commute just fine from a comfort and fun level.

I still ended up buying an MCCS to replace it so we shall see what happens. In the meantime I am commuting everyday with a smile on my face and keeping my fingers crossed.

Good luck with your decision!

 

I hear ya! I've owned mine 2 months. I'm at 5500 because I didn't leave the country! I'm about to go on a 2,000 mile round trip.

 

70 Miles roundtrip a day, mostly on Houston highways and it works great!

 

I commuted to college in my MINI, 120 miles a day. It wasn't too bad, except one day I drove to school with 2 inches of snow on the ground only to find the Prof posted a sign on the door to cancel class instead of using email . Good thing it was my only class of the day. Grrr.

 

As an update for anyone following the thread, I received a letter from MINIUSA the night before my scheduled service that talked about the "minor" problems some N4 engines were having with the HPFI pump and how they were extending the warrenty on it for 10 years. So when I arrived for my appointment the next morning, I explained the issues I was having and that it sure sounded like a HPFI pump and I made a brief mention of the letter so short story long, 2 1/2 hours later I left the shop with a brand new fuel pump and Sarah Jane seems to be back to running like the wind! So I would reccommend that everyone stay on the look out for the letter because it sounds like MINI has finally admitted to the problem and seems to want to make everything right again.

 

I got the convertible JCW specifically for my 70 mile commute.

twisty roads and then highways.


brummm brummmm!

 

I commute 106 miles every day. I have a 2008 MCSC that just turned 65,000 miles today. No problems and no worries. Buy a Mini, life is short.

John Walls

 

I drive about 115 miles four times a week, on arguably the worst traffic in the USA, 405/101 in Los Angeles and no problems, except for the other drivers

 

Do you have the 47RE Tranny in your dodge for the NV7000 manual? I've had a lot of trouble with the 47RE in my dodge.

 

I luckily only have a 5 mile commute to work that takes about 6 minutes depending on traffic. I love my MC R53 on long and short trips, only downfall is nowhere to hold a spare tire in case of a problem without extreme modifications. Definitely need good road side service with a MC.

 

I have the automatic 47RE rings a bell, but I need to confirm that. My truck is a late '99, but in really nice condition.

I've had a few issues with mine as well. A couple years back, I had the Banks Brake with the smart lock controller and Torque converter installed. In addition, a B&D high pressure valve body with all new modules (sensors) installed as well. What an enormous difference in performance.

Along with the tranny upgrades, I had the Banks exhaust, intake, and larger turbo installed. Combined with the Quadzilla chip, it made the truck one heck of a great trailer puller with plenty of torque. I get between 16 & 18 MPG pulling the 5th wheel (weighs 16K). With 410 gears, I feel that is quite good, but again, it's a trailer puller and never intended for a commuter rig.