I figured there'd be no better group to ask than current owners!

Firstly, are there any gotchas or things you wish you knew before purchasing?

Second, are there any features that you regret purchasing or not purchasing? We're thinking a fairly standard S, but considering the audio or nav packages. I've heard some negative things on the nav package (hard to use), but curious if it's useful once you get used to it.

Third, how is self maintenance? We've never owned a German car, and I know they offer free maintenance for 3 years. However I do like doing my own oil changes, etc (basic stuff) and curious how easy that would be to do myself.

Finally, speaking of maintenance, what are some common maintenance issues that are encountered? I'm hoping most of these fall under the maintenance/warranty plans, but curious what tends to be a common problem.

I hope this post isn't out of place here, but I thought you guys are a more reliable source than the salesmen at the dealership Thank you all so much!

 

Second...get the Xenons!

 

We have sport pack, cold, roof, connected no nag - I'd order the same thing today if needed to.

 

Our's, or rather my Wife's, is a CMS All4. has all the bells and whistels. Only thing I regret was the heat package and NAV system, overdone if you ask me. But the Wifey insisted, being it was her daily driver. I was just happy to add another MINI to our family. But to your question; I would have rather floated the whole MINI Connect/NAV and Heat package towards the JCW option.

Still A fun car to drive

 

I'm pretty happy with our new R60. We went for the S model with automatic as my wife doesn't like manual transmissions at all. The dealer had a model on the lot we were willing to go with - sunroof, connected+nav, upgraded sound system, load flat rear. I would have preferred the automatic climate control instead of the nav system, but they made us a pretty good deal. I prefer my garmin unit since I'm familiar with it, and it has forever free map updates. The Mini Nav system is a little wonky to navigate through, but I'm sure I'll learn. I wouldn't have picked it if given the choice though. The load flat rear was a bigger deal than I thought it would be after the first time we loaded up some stuff (totally worth it).

They ended up giving us about 2500 off after the discounts and Mini loyalty, and 0.9% financing. We did opt for the extended maintenance plan, because it is pretty much a wash if you end up keeping the car to 100K (which we have done with every car we have owned).

We also got the extended 5/100K warranty coverage at a great price - 1600. I know lots of people frown on extended warranty, but it paid off with our Clubman when the transmission had an issue at 58K. You're really paying for peace of mind with the extended warranty. I suspect the dealer was motivated to close the deal with Mini financing so they offered the extended warranty so low and I had the papers from USAA with a pre-approved loan from them for 1.9% interest and the USAA extended warranty for 1500.

 

The tire replacement plan...nails, potholes, curb rashes, etc...replace tire and / or wheel no questions asked. Had mine a year and have gone through 3 tires already. If only I had purchased the windshield replacement plan as well...

 

I'm quite happy with my new CMS ALL4. I went with Technology Package, no Nav, Sport Package, Flat Load Floor, Rain Sensor & Automatic Headlamps, Adaptive Light Control and Automatic Climate Control. The only thing that irked me was the fact I couldn't get All-weather Tires with the Sport Package, so I had to buy a set of Continental DWS's after the fact.

Good luck in making your decision.....