sorry for so many different forums, but i was wondering how are your MINIs going machanically. becuase i was wondering how realiable they are. and just any insight on things to look for when buying and stufff. thanks.

 

Umm not sure that I've read your other posts, but feel free to ask away and stick around after you have found that perfect car, lots of nice people around here. This weeks White roof radio (#37) covered the basics on maintenance. So far 21k since august and I've been in for one oil change, killed a tire on a pothole, thought I heard a noise but just some dirt in the brakes (darn winter road salt) and I had a sensor for the seats come loose. My philosophy has been take care of your car and she'll take care of you, flawless so far, though I'm a bit old fashioned and not used to being able to safely wait 15,000 miles for an oil change-its a nagging temptation to lift the bonnet and get my hand dirty but I know the engine is safe. I expect the car to last me 15+ years and happily motor each day. If you're looking into a used MINI then be cautious about mods- the warranty follows the car not owner but anything that causes a problem and is not factory stock isn't covered. So you'll want to make sure the work was done by someone who knew what they were doing and the aftermarket parts of good quality (most, but not all are) hope this helps and ask more questions if ya got 'em we can help you be just as happy as us!

 

okay just did some reading of your previous posts, I saw but avoided the mc vs mcs question because of the great divide but back on topic my father drives a corolla, I've driven it and avoid it like the plauge but it needs frequent service and I rarely see it w/out the mainence light on, you'll be sooooooo soooooo happy in a MINI, the caution I'd give is if you need service there isn't always a dealer close by, but I gather you work at a MINI shop so you can take care of things as needed, the computer does everything in these cars and it takes a good shop or a dealer to check everything. A MINI dealer may mean a hike depend upon your location, a toyota dealer if five miles down the road on the right, so getting service isnt a big deal. My home dealer had luxury service that far supassed and toyota dealer though and I was only thirty miles from them, until I decided more school was in my best intrest. Camry vs MINI carmy has 50k and has and will be more work in long run to keep running smoothly IMO
Also you will hear many tales of bad things that happen but it is often an issue that will motivate people to find the boards and post so even though it seems like there are lots of issues its really a small percentage esp. you avoid the automatic and convertable and first build year cars. Hope I answered your question somewhere in these two long posts.

 

mines been doing great. no major issues. not as smooth and consistent
as my other cars but it's got a nice personality.

it's fun to own one.

 

I've had my '06 MC for about 2.5 months and 4,000 miles with absolutely no issues - car is tight and a blast to drive. You'll read a lot of posts about rattles, squeaks and non life-threatening annoyances of that kind. All I can tell you is that I think many of those things were worked out in more recent model years, and I do believe that the "softer" your overall setup (mine is a Cooper, with normal (not runflat) tires, sport (not Sport-plus) susp.,the less likely you're going to shake things loose and engender rattles/squeaks. I've owned several cars with reputations for being troublesome in some circles (Audi tt, Mazda rx-7) and I've never had any issues, and I believe it's because I take care of my cars and don't beat them up. Get your Mini, take good care of it, and enjoy "spirited" motoring and you'll do fine. If you indiscriminately hang every mod available on it and "drive it like you stole it" (or buy from someone who did), you'll probably have some issues (but still have fun).

Let us know what you get