Well, after six years of ownership, my Mini is gone. I have to admit a huge sigh of relief, because I just didn't trust the car. She was a blast to drive, got decent fuel economy (although, gas stations in the DC area rape people for premium fuel), and cosmetically held up well other than small hairline cracks in the drivers seat that I never did quite understand.

I was much luckier than some owners, but I could never quite shake the feeling I was sitting on a ticking time bomb. I am skilled at talking to people, so when the timing chain tensioner bolt backed out and puked oil all over the ground at 56k miles I was able to talk the local service adviser into a goodwill gesture repair instead of $3,000 out of my pocket even though my 2010 Mini was "outside of the range of the TSB". I feel bad for these guys, because these cars have to be a nightmare for them as far as peed off customers go. I had a couple of turbo inlet hose connections come apart for no apparent reason as well. Common to the turbo Minis as well, I would soon find out. I'll be honest, I just never trusted this car to not let me down, and at only 80k miles that is a sad commentary.

I like working on cars and usually have at least one older vehicle around to work on. It's fun for me. Working on this Mini was never fun. I replaced her with a 1999 Saturn SL2 with 85k miles. After servicing the coolant, transmission,and motor oil, I'd drive this car anywhere without fear. In fact, I'm driving it 1,600 miles to Texas for my son's graduation in June. I was scared to death to drive the Mini that far.

Now I'm down to the Saturn and a 1996 Jeep Cherokee. Both interesting cars to drive and work on. They aren't BMWs, but rather a testament to good solid American cars when America made good cars. I will miss the somewhat spirited performance of the Mini. The Saturn is an automatic and is a slug off the line, and the Jeep is not much better with its clunky 5-speed transmission and 4.0 liter motor that runs out of steam way too early. Thankfully, the 2012 Kawasaki Ninja 650 I have gives me plenty of go fast smiles.

It was sad saying goodbye to her after six years I will admit, but it was for the better. We traded her in on my wife's new 2016 Jeep Compass Latitude that the dealer discounted 7k. It's a 4x4, with a 2.4 liter and 6-speed automatic. It will make us a good family car, and the platform it rides on is pretty solid and sorted out. I hoped by buying a 2010 Mini that all the issues would have been sorted out, but somehow BMW can't or won't fix things. In fact, and many would agree with me, the 1st generation Minis may be the best they ever made. Weird...

Thank you to this forum. Seriously, it was a life saver so many times. As I drove the Mini less and less, I stopped coming here so often. When I first bought my Clubman, I actually owned two 2010 Minis as my ex-wife had one too. I learned a lot here, and people here seem friendly enough. I think the Mini community lacks a lot of true die-hard DYI types for the simple reason that these things are so hard to work on. The dealer will tell you that you can't work on them period. You and any other trusted mechanic you may know, and that you should only trust Mini mechanics. Ugh...but people here figured out quite a bit about the cars and cheerfully relayed that information. Especially vendors that were happy to sell you their latest wares, not that I blame them one bit.

Goodbye, NAM. It was fun while it lasted. Good luck to all of you guys, and I hope your stories are happy ones.

 

I know how you feel. I had too many problems with my 2008 MINI Cooper S and I no longer trusted the car.

However, after a year without a MINI, I picked up a 2015 MINI, I3, with 5,000 miles on the odometer. The MINI dealer gave me a 4-year / 75,000 mile warranty which made the decision easy. I'm glad that I am back.

So never say never....good luck to you!

 

...one more thing...I question why I ever stuck with the run flat tires on my 2008 MINI Cooper S. I was stupid!

I am so happy with the regular tires on my 2015 MINI. The ride is so much better and I have a spare tire now...plus they are not so expensive to replace.

 

We have an '02 R50 and '03 R53. Both cars have been reliable enough to never worry about long trips. We've had the R50 since it was new and have never had an issue that put us on the side of the road. I think 1st generations are just more solidly built than anything newer.

I hope you enjoy that Jeep, but when you come back to MINI (you will), get an R53. If you're picky, you won't regret it.

 

Goodbye RobertJ. While we never had the pleasure of working through an issue together (at least I don't think we did) I like to think we're all in this together. I totally get your feeling of sitting on a ticking time bomb, although my philosophy is I'm in this for the fun, not the reliability. That's why I have another car. As a side note, I'm working on a 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee project vehicle I plucked off of Craigslist for $400. Hopefully I'll get her back on the road and still be under $1000 invested, but we'll see. My buddy and I are documenting her story on his Jeep YouTube channel, but haven't released any specifically about this project. It's been fun and tiring all at the same time.

 

I hate to say it, but BMW never worried about fixing the issues with the 2nd Gen engine because by 2008 they had already planned to do things their way for the 3rd gen, after driving a 2014 roadster, I completely feel like a lot more care is going into these new engines, and MINI, I'm sure due to BMW interest in how the new engines hold up, are recalling things way faster than they have in previous years, if you ever come back please don't forget the f56.

 

I'm in a similar boat. The car is working fine now, but I still have that uneasy feeling. I want to trade-in for a base F56, but I still have to test drive one to see if I like it. Somehow I'm not a fan of the new design. I love driving my R56 though. It is just so much fun, otherwise would've dumped it long time ago.

 

Thanks guys! It's been so nice to be a part of this forum. You never know, I may pick up a first gen at some point, so I agree "never say never". I have never driven a first gen, but I know it would put a smile on my face. They are a pretty good bargain at this time too. I am done buying new cars, however. I retire in 7 1/2 years, so being out of debt by that time is a priority. My wife drives less than 10k miles a year, so her Patriot should last her a good long time.

 

So many cars, so little time. Life is short, try as many as you can. Good luck.

 

Good luck and thanks for being part of the community, Robert! Enjoy your new Jeep and maybe we'll see you back in a 1st gen in the feature. Cheers!

 

Sorry to hear your Tensioner story and that you left MINI, Jeep has a good community of people, lots of them also, I see the local Jeep guys around here at meetup. Good luck.