>>mini-t I know how you feel because the rattle on my MINI still haven't been fix at all. Don't know how many time I had visited the dealer and it seem no one can be able to find the problems with the rattle.
>>
>>I am thinking about going back to the Japanese car like Honda S2000, Nissan 350Z or even WRX STi but the thought of giving up my MINI is so unbearable.

 

How's about an '87 M6 instead of the MINI? I got someone wanting to sell his car.

 

>>How's about an '87 M6 instead of the MINI? I got someone wanting to sell his car.

How much? And what upgrades does he have?

 

Looks like minihune is interested! I'm waiting to get the details back from him. He is a CCA member and would like it to be posted on our website. IIRC, the car is a red '87 M6 that has low mileage and is bone stock. Oooh, I'd love to have that car, but my 6er is still faster as is McFiver.

 

Lucy has a rattle somewhere in the boot area. I noticed it after I took her in to get her license plates put on (back in June, several days after I bought her). My own limited attempts to discover the cause were unsuccessful. It's annoying, but I didn't feel like taking Lucy back to the service folks to find it. :???:

MINIangelD

 

I say lemon-law the sucker. The only way these companies will attempt to solve quality problems is if people return them. I lemon-lawed a Ford Escort GT back in 95 and don't regret it a bit, it was a pretty easy process. If you really love the MINI though, you may want to think about letting MINI give you a new, replacement MINI and hope you get a good one this time, versus forcing them to take yours back and going and buying another brand.
I've had mine since Oct 2002 and have only had 2 problems: 1) leaking water/coolant pump. From what I found out, this was an assembly problem, not a design flaw. 2) Leaking coolant reservoir tank. This was a design flaw and I haven't had one problem with the new design tank they replaced the bad one with.

 

>>Looks like minihune is interested! I'm waiting to get the details back from him. He is a CCA member and would like it to be posted on our website. IIRC, the car is a red '87 M6 that has low mileage and is bone stock. Oooh, I'd love to have that car, but my 6er is still faster as is McFiver.

Well, a bone stock 87 Cinnabar red M6, one of only 1,700 built. Like this?

mini-t, this could be yours! But it isn't new.
_________________
ALOHA

 

Not new, but pretty rare! Plus, it won't depreciate.

 

things that make you go hmmmm....

i do love my MINI b/c it's cute and fun autoxing. i wish i had one that didnt have defective parts up the yin-yang.

will see what happens....

 

>>i do love my MINI b/c it's cute and fun autoxing. i wish i had one that didnt have defective parts up the yin-yang.
>>
>>will see what happens....

Here's what I'd do if I had your MCS.
1. Drive it more. This is to find any trouble and report it to the dealer. If it is recurrent then exercise your lemon option now/soon.
2. Once identified and eliminated each problem is hopefully done with. This is not an uncommon thing to happen to some cars and it is not because of anything in particular but sometimes things fail and that is what your 4 year warranty period is for. To discover and report the problems that can be fixed under warranty so that you can have a trouble free car but the law of averages dictates that with each thousand vehicles sold some % will have certain problems. Some of us are more blessed than others when it comes to defects.
3. If the problems are getting addressed and not recurring then your MCS should be fine. I'm not particularly worried about the ECU problems as these are being worked on and absolutely needed for MINI to fix. Or else.
4. If problems are not corrected then cute and fun autoxing can be reproduced in a 2004 MCS with less trouble.

 

mini-t, sorry to hear about your problems! i don't know if your remember me but we met before. I'm the Scooby convert that you sold the safety check sticker holder to. just by chance i was checking out this forum as one of my co-workers was telling me her daughter on the mainland was very unhappy w/her cooper S with the numerous amounts of problems she's been having. i feel your pain! remember i told you that I got rid of my S because of all the little problems i was having. its such a pain to have to take the car in and leave it the whole day! and yes i was never impressed with mini of hawaii's service/parts department. or their sales dept for that matter. a few times i had to bring my car in, leave it the whole day only to be told that they needed to order a part and i would have to bring the stupid car back to have it installed and leave it another whole day! they better be giving you a loaner each time you bring your car in! it seems as though they give preference to bmw owners and give them the loaners and tell the mini owners that there aren't any loaners available. only after making a stink do they offer a rental car. i'm glad i got rid of my mini. it was a fun and cool little car when everything worked, but it will never match the build quality of a japanese car. guess its true what they say about british build quality. I'm really lovin my STi! Ok so its time for you to convert over too! you can handle! :evil:
>>

 

hey, i remember you! how's the STi? i was just telling my bf that we havent seen you at scca! i drove his STi a few times and it's a lot of fun. if you see a pink STi running around in the future, it might be me. heh. :smile:

i now have the 2-sided safety check sticker plates...just need to take some pics of them.

thanks for the well wishes with MINI. i'm still waiting for them to call to bring my car back in for my defective a/c blower. i love the little car, i hate all the headache it's given me.


>>mini-t, sorry to hear about your problems! i don't know if your remember me but we met before. I'm the Scooby convert that you sold the safety check sticker holder to. just by chance i was checking out this forum as one of my co-workers was telling me her daughter on the mainland was very unhappy w/her cooper S with the numerous amounts of problems she's been having. i feel your pain! remember i told you that I got rid of my S because of all the little problems i was having. its such a pain to have to take the car in and leave it the whole day! and yes i was never impressed with mini of hawaii's service/parts department. or their sales dept for that matter. a few times i had to bring my car in, leave it the whole day only to be told that they needed to order a part and i would have to bring the stupid car back to have it installed and leave it another whole day! they better be giving you a loaner each time you bring your car in! it seems as though they give preference to bmw owners and give them the loaners and tell the mini owners that there aren't any loaners available. only after making a stink do they offer a rental car. i'm glad i got rid of my mini. it was a fun and cool little car when everything worked, but it will never match the build quality of a japanese car. guess its true what they say about british build quality. I'm really lovin my STi! Ok so its time for you to convert over too! you can handle! :evil:
>>>>
>>

 

Mini-t if the car is causing you to live your life differently because of quality issues its time to sell I think don't you? Ownership should be fun, especially with a Mini, sounds like all you have had are headachs, good luck with whatever you decide.

 

>>mini-t, sorry to hear about your problems! i don't know if your remember me but we met before. I'm the Scooby convert that you sold the safety check sticker holder to. just by chance i was checking out this forum as one of my co-workers was telling me her daughter on the mainland was very unhappy w/her cooper S with the numerous amounts of problems she's been having. i feel your pain! remember i told you that I got rid of my S because of all the little problems i was having. its such a pain to have to take the car in and leave it the whole day! and yes i was never impressed with mini of hawaii's service/parts department. or their sales dept for that matter. a few times i had to bring my car in, leave it the whole day only to be told that they needed to order a part and i would have to bring the stupid car back to have it installed and leave it another whole day! they better be giving you a loaner each time you bring your car in! it seems as though they give preference to bmw owners and give them the loaners and tell the mini owners that there aren't any loaners available. only after making a stink do they offer a rental car. i'm glad i got rid of my mini. it was a fun and cool little car when everything worked, but it will never match the build quality of a japanese car. guess its true what they say about british build quality. I'm really lovin my STi! Ok so its time for you to convert over too! you can handle! :evil:
>>>>
>>

hapaboy,

Your plan of action seems familiar. I did the same thing and got rid of my S because of the little problems with it, plus I put on @ 10k in one year. It was a great little car, but I really missed driving my BMW. Whenever I switched off and drove the 750 I was like WOW! this thing is soooo quiet and rides so nice! Of course, that's comparing apples to oranges. I guess I like oranges better.

Now, the only problem I have is my mother's MINI. It keeps going into the shop for the same shuddering when it comes to a stop. It's either going on the 3rd or 4th time for this repair. It's gotten to the point that my mom, a 73 year old lady, is apprehensive about driving the car. She just doesn't trust the car and is worried about her safety. In the meantime, I picked up a 328ic for myself, but gave it to her and she's quite happy with the BMW.

 

>>In the meantime, I picked up a 328ic for myself, but gave it to her and she's quite happy with the BMW.

===>Bless your heart, man. Real great of you

 

>>plus I put on @ 10k in one year.

===>10, you say?? I'm heading toward 30

 

>>>>plus I put on @ 10k in one year.
>>
>>===>10, you say?? I'm heading toward 30

He might mean he drove 10,000 miles in a year or maybe did $10,000 in mods but I don't think so.

 

Miles. I meant miles :smile:

 

I said it before, and I'll say it again.....STi!!!!!!!! mini-t, it's calling your name, pink or not!

If I could, I would be driving an F150 or something different....anything!!!

Go for it, you only live once!!!!!

 

hey t, loving the STi more and more everyday. finally got my audio installed. yeah i have yet to make it out to the track to check it out. i will soon. i think i saw some pics of your mini at the track on i-club. cool! btw i met a guy who is a friend of your bf. he lives in my building. he had an s2000 before. small island yeah? anyway, i'll be expecting to see you in a pink STi if the MINI thing doesn't work out. :smile:

beastmaster,
we've met before too, on mini2 and at MINI of HI. sorry to hear about your problems as well. wasn't the S a replacement for a lemon? geez! too bad that you've experienced problems on all 3 MINIs. the problems experienced by MINI owners seem more widespread than average compared to a new model of another make. congrats on your new BMr, hope everything gets squared away on your mother's MINI.



>>hey, i remember you! how's the STi? i was just telling my bf that we havent seen you at scca! i drove his STi a few times and it's a lot of fun. if you see a pink STi running around in the future, it might be me. heh. :smile:
>>
>>i now have the 2-sided safety check sticker plates...just need to take some pics of them.
>>
>>thanks for the well wishes with MINI. i'm still waiting for them to call to bring my car back in for my defective a/c blower. i love the little car, i hate all the headache it's given me.
>>
>>

 

Yep, I remember you. Is that your MCS at Schuman's lot on the corner of Piikoi and Beretania?

 

>>i'll be expecting to see you in a pink STi if the MINI thing doesn't work out. :smile:

The STi is a completely different sort of car. If you look at the demographics of MINI owners you will see wide range appeal from young to older, males and females, single and married people and families alike. There is definitely a nostalic and retro flavor which is not found in modern japanese made tuner cars. Check out the demographics for the STi. In the end it is your decision and you have to live with the car you pick.

>>the problems experienced by MINI owners seem more widespread than average compared to a new model of another make.

I talked to Aka in sales before he left about the numbers of MINIs that have reported trouble and in total it's just a handful out of about 650+ so far. If you look at Consumer reports their criteria for much better than average rate of trouble is less than about 5% and that would be about 32 MINIs or less. Also their criteria for much worse than average is about 20% which would be about 130. So these problems are a nuisance and not wanted but far from widespread. For every problem MINI I bet there are triple that number in MINIs that give minimal trouble.

I have a 2001 Honda that has had lots of trouble but is not a lemon. Many times back to the dealership for the same parts being replaced or repaired over and over again. Only 26,000 miles so far.

 

Sorry to hear about your troubles mini-t.

I just bought my 03 MCS in August and I have 3,000 miles on it with absolutely no problems. I think you just got a bad one. That one in 5,000 that someone else said.

Any new car can have problems. Several years ago my wife we having problems with her car so we traded it in for a new Mazda 626. The car needed a new transmission the first week we had it, and broke down numerous times and we wound up getting rid of it in less than a year. You would think I new car would work, but sometimes you get a bad apple.

Good luck to you with whatever you decide to do.

RaceCarDriver

 

car demographics means nothing to me. i didnt buy the MINI nor any of my other cars b/c of the other people in the world who owned them. (and may i kindly add that there are people from all walks of life that own STi's and other subies -- young ones, old ones, male/female ones, colored ones, you get my point)

i agree that a "handful" (a number which is relative still) of bad apples exists in the MINI world and i was unlucky enough to buy/own one. what bothers me is that besides the fact that the original equipment that came with my car was defective, even the replacement parts are broken which can only make me think that i either have really bad MINI luck or that there are too many pieces of junk made by MINI. in my case, two bad a/c blowers in a row. for many other MINI owners, leaking coolant bottles which have had to been changed numerous times and even the new and improved ones leak (luckily, mine hasn't yet).

one more thing to add. during a conversation with one of the mechanics at our local bmw/MINI last week, he told me straight up, "i wish i could warn people not to buy these cars."


>>The STi is a completely different sort of car. If you look at the demographics of MINI owners you will see wide range appeal from young to older, males and females, single and married people and families alike. There is definitely a nostalic and retro flavor which is not found in modern japanese made tuner cars. Check out the demographics for the STi. In the end it is your decision and you have to live with the car you pick.
>>
>>>>the problems experienced by MINI owners seem more widespread than average compared to a new model of another make.
>>
>>I talked to Aka in sales before he left about the numbers of MINIs that have reported trouble and in total it's just a handful out of about 650+ so far. If you look at Consumer reports their criteria for much better than average rate of trouble is less than about 5% and that would be about 32 MINIs or less. Also their criteria for much worse than average is about 20% which would be about 130. So these problems are a nuisance and not wanted but far from widespread. For every problem MINI I bet there are triple that number in MINIs that give minimal trouble.
>>
>>I have a 2001 Honda that has had lots of trouble but is not a lemon. Many times back to the dealership for the same parts being replaced or repaired over and over again. Only 26,000 miles so far.

 

beastmaster -- did you have two bad mcs's in a row?!

(if i were your mommy, i'd be pretty content driving the 328ic myself :smile: lucky her