Just curious. Seeing a lots of cars for sale in the 90 to 100k mile range.

Should anything above the (industry standard??) 15,000 miles per year be considered high?

I know that highway miles don't put as much wear and tear as stop and go, but there really is no way of knowing (when buying from a dealer).

 

Longevity is primarily a matter of seeing to regular maintenance. MINIs are not drive 'em and forget 'em grocery getters like a lot of people treat them.
Metro driving is no good for any motor so the occasional 'Italian tune up' is necessary, as the old boys use to say 'blow the cobs out of it.
Most will recommend oil and filter changes at 5K and other fluids 30 to 40K. There are Gen 1 motors out there with 2 and 300K plus miles still going strong.

 

I'm still at 51k on my 08 and going strong with no issues.

 

Did some quick research, and was surprised to see 15k was the national average. Looking deeper, it depends on your location.

Where I live, 12k/year is average. Here under 10k is low and over 15k is high.

Take a look at the average where you live then figure +/- 20% to establish the average range. Anything beyond that range can be considered high/low miles.

YMMV literally

 

Just for reference, I’ve got an ‘03 Cooper, that just rolled 210,000 this morning. Still going strong, but I’ve finally decided to get a “new” model in October. Fact is, I’m now spending between $800-$1,500 per month on maintenance issues, so I had to make a choice. But I’ll be heartbroken to see it off. I might just keep it, for memories.

 

Hi all - I'm the original owner of a 2006 MCS that now has 223K miles on it (mostly highway miles). It's been well maintained and so far the engine still sound and feels good. It's had most of the maintenance issues noted in item 0012 of the 1st Gen FAQ post but so far nothing catastrophic. Hoping to drive it as long as I can! Anybody else out there with high mileage success so far?

 

Great to hear your success. My 2003’s motor just let go on me last week at 214,000 miles. It was a hell of a run. Unfortunately, I was face with costly (and time intensive) rebuild or replacement options. I ultimately chose to buy new(er), an ‘18 Cooper S. I still have the ‘03, as I don’t have the heart to give it up, but I’m not sure if I’ll ever have the financial surety to fix it either.

 

High 200K's is commonplace on well maintained R53's and R56's.... even the N14's that had EXCELLENT service and were not run ragged.



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Without awakening those little ones hiding in the grass, well over 100K many by 2 or 3 week road trips Had three failures this year, harmonic balancer, shifter cable and SC re-oil but everything else is keeping that silly grin in place. With regular service I expect many more miles of motoring, regular service being the key.