After reviewing a LOT of posts regarding door actuators, window switches, and many other things that go bump in the night and wht appears to be an inadequate dealer network, I have to ask: Would you buy a MINI aagin ?

 

Yep, I would. I have not had any major issues with my MINI (no more than any other car). Most of what you read here is limited to be honest. People don't post that there is nothing wrong with their MINI.

 

Thanks for the reply. I'm just trying to decide if a "unique" fun car like the MINI is worth the aggrevation. I plan to buy used and the closest dealer is over an hour away, so most maint. will be on me. I am mechanically able. However, I resent working on cars for stuff that shouldn't break. I spent a good bit of time reading about the door lock actuator problems and believe me, that stuff shouldn't break and those cables shouldn't come loose (if properly designed). I don't view a cars "quirkiness" as endearing. Thats why I'm trying to get a feel for how owners view these cars.

Thanks again

 

Well, I have only 2500 miles on my MINI and no problems yet. My A/C has the growl but I have not been able to find out if this is a problem or normal. I love this car though, it is everything I was hoping for and more. My 12 year old son also loves it and we can't wait for AMVIV in Las Vegas. We went last year and had a blast.

 

I fell into my '05 MCS while trying to find a car my aging mother could see out of, she stuck with her Tiburon( Arrgghh!), I decided after driving the Mini that I had to have it.

It's one year to the day since I brought it home, no troubles, no big surprises other than I got really lucky finding a late 2005 without knowing all the trouble I could have gotten with an earlier build. having now driven a few of the later turbo equipped cars I am pretty happy to have the blower...it makes me grin just to hear it.

In 40 years of car ownership nothing I've owned has been more of a consistent source of pleasure and enjoyment than this Mini..I think with a bit of research beforehand and some looking around you can get an outstanding car for a very attractive price in todays market.

I do most of my own mechanicing, no experience with the dealer network as of yet, and there's a well regarded independent Mini shop not too far off.I would definitely buy another...'05 or '06 MCS.

 

i woulde

 

Absotively

 

I've done it twice now and convinced more than a few others to take the plunge as well. Funnest car I've ever driven.

 

Yup.

And again, and again.

The little headaches take a few minutes of my time from time to time, but inbetween, I have the Mini full-time.

Are hundreds of hours of pleasure worth a few minutes (and diminishing as time goes on) of headache?

Yup.

Hey, half of the fun is trying to figure out what you're going to order on the next one, and what color it should be.

 

Nope.

137k miles and it's been several major headaches, stranded a few times (on the interstate at night, in back country out of cell range twice), limp mode at dangerous times, and extensive warranty work. I had an ok sales experience, sat in a few others that were quite sub-par, and am yet to say I've actually been satisfied with a service experience. For the upkeep required, design flaws, and the car being inherently designed to only last 150k miles; knowing what I know now I would not buy one again.

Don't get me wrong I wouldn't trade the experience for anything MINI does hit a niche that has made me able to commute 100mi a day during the week then hit mountain roads with 911 GT2s and DB9s and Lambos; it's been able to serve as my home on impromptu road trips taken me to both coasts, but it's not going to be a repeat affair for me.

 

Thanks Drew,

I appreciate your comments. I'm looking at an '05 S with 100000 on it. It seems to be in nice shape, tight, shifts well, handles tight, etc. Price seems good. It won't be a daily driver, but I'm not looking for a project car either.
Of the times yours marooned you, what was the cause ?

Dennis

 

One was a blown tire, one was an alternator failure (the bolt connecting it to the charging system) to it never touched since the factory came loose and that was the one on the highway at night, I didn't even have hazards, only thing illuminating my black car was my flashlight. I've had bypass valve failure, in heavy traffic and in no shoulder construction zones. From the warranty work I'm on a second clutch, LSD, transmission and oil pan among other things, I had more than the value of the car done in warranty work labor if you figure labor cost $80/hr; clearly my car was an exception to the rule, as are many of the stories that tend to gravitate to forums when someone wants to know how to fix what when wrong.

My advice would be to be through in going through the engine bay, have a good trusted mechanic take a look at it, and have him hook it up to a computer to make sure there's no stored codes.

If it's not a daily driver, you're already a good jump ahead of me, parts tend to run a little higher than other more common cars (vs say a Neon or a Civic) but the pre pedestrian safe engine bay of the R53 is also crampt to work in, and it's frustrating in the middle of winter to have to take off the front half of the car to get deep enough to reach what needs fixing, and then there's the matter of just manipulating other systems to get that deep that you start to have wear on those items, I've got through several sets of screws for my intake, and replaced most hose clamps with the proper screw kind, because the OEM pinch ones are so difficult to deal with let alone reuse. It can be rewarding to work on but sometimes I do reach a point of just wanting to get out and motor and not need to be wrenching so much, and that looming over my head has cut down on the frequency of my spontaneous drives.

 

I keep vacillating on this very topic. Ive been told by more than one person who knows these cars that a) they have some terribly designed parts, and b) the car is designed to make it next to impossible for the average home mechanic to work on it.

I havent had an unusually large number of problems with my Cooper - just some of the more commonplace ones for this car, and multiple times - 3 windshields, two rear motor mounts, two rear wiper motors, mushroomed strut towers, some rattles here and there, key push-button problems, 2 starter switches, two noses with chips due to weak paint, and maybe some others I cant think of right now.

The thing is, I still getting into, and driving Obie as much tomorrow morning as the first time back in April 2005. So as long as my repair expenses dont exceed what my monthly payment was, I'll probably keep him.

But will I buy another? An R56, definitely not. They dont appeal to me on a visceral level they way the first gen cars do. If I do get another one, itd have to be a low mileage '05 or '06, but in all likelihood, I'll just lease a Civic, drive it, and not fall in love with it, which is not something that is easy to do with a MINI. That makes it easier to give it back when the time comes.

 

Thus far, I have been more than pleased with my MINI. So I don't see any reason I wouldn't buy another one should the opportunity present itself.

 

purchased 03 MCS 96k miles. I have had the car 16k now. replaced belt at 100k, bypass valve at 111k. by far the only car that comes anywhere near as fun as this car is a subaru.

I agree these cars can have problems but all cars eventually r going to break down and have issues . some faster than others depending on how it was taken care of how hard it was driven. has it been modded. has it been routinely serviced.

as suggested above find a good known mini mechanic in your area to check the car out.

all is well

Mini for life!

 

+!

Dave

 

I sold my 06 mcs a year ago. We're waiting for our new clubman s to arrive. So yes!

 

Yes, no problems so far.

 

Number 1 on the waiting list for a R59.

 

MINIs are far from the worst cars in the world, and in some ways they are better than most. I'd certainly buy another one.

I would encourage you to read other automotive forums just to get a better sense of what kind of problems people have with their cars. Most performance-oriented cars have a greater share of problems. For example, I was on a Mazda Speed3 site the other day, and I was surprised to read owners complain about the cheap plastic on the front of the cars that easily breaks, even when doing simple routine maintenance. Drivers were also complaining about chronic A/C problems, torque steer and excessive front tire wear because of a poor stock suspension setup. Not to be outdone, read the owner forums on the RX8.

 

The op based the question as 'would YOU buy another MINI again?' which I think of as being a different question than 'should I..' however as many posters have replied, several factors go into that decision for anyone. I too believe there's a trade off between quality and fun. My first gen was not trouble free. It was virtually put of pocket explenseless as it was under warranty and maintenance program, but yes, as they get to higher mileage, and you're paying out of pocket it becomes a question of reasonable upkeep costs relative to the car's experiential value. While your average Honda may not be trouble free, conventional wisdom is that it's going to hold up better. Unfortunately, I was bored in my year away from MINI driving. To me the implication of repairs to come was an acceptable compromise. The average non-performance car mitt have less, but it's an irrelevant issue for me personally because I WANT to drive a MINI.

 

Would.....

And did!

Had an '03 JCW, bought an '09 Clubman S

 

I bought my '06 Cooper just a few thousand KM ago, so it's hard to say just yet. It is my first car after being a motorcycle only guy for several years. I picked it up a good price with low mileage (30,000km.) and so far it has given me no trouble, fingers crossed! It's definitely a fun little car to drive. I was worried that driving a cage would be really boring coming from a sport bike, but the cornering ability in this car really makes it a joy.

I'm sure I will have to put some money into maintenance, but as long as I don't have to replace the clutch, I'll be okay. Fingers crossed!

 

Would I buy a MINI, again? Probably not.

I got my 2006 MCS with about 25K miles at the dealership, and paid a pretty penny for the CPO warranty. Not a bargain car at all from the stealership...strut towers were mushroomed, a fixed engine mount leak was still messily evident...the issues were seemingly all par for the course, though. Is that good or bad that MINI makes them so consistently that they all exhibit the same run-of-the-mill annoyances?

A few weeks after getting it, I had the oil pan gasket replaced under warranty. A few weeks after that, I got a new clutch under warranty, because it started up with the Chewbacca howl. Fixing the Chewbacca howl was disquieting, because it wasn't a sure thing that MINI would cover the repair. I was warned that they would have to tear apart the transmission, and, in-the-end, could have charged me $1800 just for this diagnostic, if the parts were found to be "driver damaged". MINI charges $130/hour for repair. Really? REALLY? There's gotta be someway to outsource MINI car repair to India, just damn.

I remember when I went to a local MINI dealership to buy parts, the guy behind the counter shook his head and told me, "Oh, man, you're going to have problems...do you want to buy a shop manual?" I thought he was being an ***, but it turns out, he was simply telling the truth. And when he told me the touch-up paint would be $32, I was floored. Seriously, what the hell is in Pepper White (and all other MINI colors) that makes it so expensive? Narwhal semen? It's crazy how much BMW charges for, well, everything.

I haven't owned very many cars, I can count them on one hand: '87 Corolla, '94 Camaro Z-28, '06 Xterra, '02 Corvette coupe...but I can honestly say that I've never had a car with this amount of low mileage have this many issues. I haven't been impressed with this MINI, I don't think it'll last long.

It's not all bad, it's really a fun car, I honestly enjoy it, but I'm glad I've got another car available for me to use when this one's in the shop. When the time comes to sell a car, the MINI will likely be the first to go.

 

Knowing what I know now......NO!!!!
1st Gens seem like they were rushed to production with band aid fixes over the years. The 2nd Gens seemed to be a little better designed, but lost a lot of the enthusiast personality. Either way, they are high maintenance cars. They are not for everybody. I didn't have as many problems with any of my previous classic Minis as I've had with this '05. I'm with Bulldo9, it's a fun car. I just got back from a week at 129 3 weeks ago and it reminded me of how much fun and capable this car is. It more than makes up for the problems, but I'd rather spend the money on a restoration project. I'm glad I have back up vehicles when the MINI acts up. After hitting Cruisin' the Coast this past weekend, I will also say she's still a head turner.