I used to drive an 02 Cooper S, but had to sell as the family was growing and it was no longer practical. I am considering an all4 countryman, but the closest dealer is over 4 hours away and I am concerned about being that far away from maintenance etc. Any thoughts??

 

Some dealerships provide a service where they drop-off a vehicle at your home/office, and then take your MINI for maintenance or repair. I'm almost 2 hours from the dealership, and was quoted $50 for this service, but have not taken them up on their offer.

My personal experience with the number of trips for service over my first 13 months of ownership is two trips for oil service, and one additional trip for an "operator error" check engine light. During my last oil service the dealer performed a recall repair.

Hope these comments are of some help, but you may have already come to the conclusion that an 8 hour round trip drive is a mighty long one.

 

I personally would have a hard time buying most new cars and being over an hour outside my regular travel zone. I commute to a job an hour away, so that gives me a pretty nice size window.

I said most, because I would trust a Toyota at 4 hours away.... I have a tundra with 75000 miles which never went to the dealer for warranty repairs, and my wife traded a 4runner with 160000 miles which was at the dealership once for a weird seat defect under warranty which was strictly cosmetic, and if hadn't been seen the first time, never would have needed to be repaired.

I've had a 325, a dodge pickup, 2 GTIs, ford pickup, ford escort, focus, and none of these vehicles were reliable enough under warranty for me to buy them under warranty without being near a dealer.

The second I'm ot of warranty, it's just about having a good mechanic that I trust, and luckily I have 2 different ones that are both within about 45 minutes of my house, and both regularly make trips to the track right by my house, and are both willing to make house calls as long as they include the offer of a meal, beer, and good bench-racing!

But in the end it's your decision to live with, and only you can really know your comfort zone.

Cheers

 

IMO stay within your confortable driving distance and time. I am willing to bet the dealer will not offer any pick or service that far away. Ask the dealer you want to use and see what they say, but if you do buy it, get it in writing as to what he is willing to do for you being that far away.