I LOVE MY MINI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IT'S MY MOST FAVORITE THING THAT I HAVE EVER OWNED!!!!!!!!!!
What else is there to say?

 

Three points:
First, this board has been over this a bazillion times. Folks with *no* problems seldom post that information. Folks with problems come here looking for information.

Second, the MINI is a new model car aimed at a group of people who drive hard. Given that, I think its turned out to be pretty reliable.

Third, all things in life involve trade-offs, especially when you're talking about cars in the $30,000 range. If you want the most reliable car, it probably won't be much fun to drive. If you want the quick acceleration, you'll probably have to sacrifice cornering and dependability. It you want the best handling car, you'll probably have to sacrifice acceleration.


Buy whatever you want.

 

I've had my MINI for almost a year and I've had NO problems at all. I love this car. I'm still thinking of getting a MCS, possibly trading in my MC. And yes seeing all the problems reported here has got me a little scared too. I dont want to trade my problem free MINI for another MINI that may or may not have problems down the road. Also, the closest dealer to me is Assael and I dont like them at all and if a MCS does give me any problems I'll have to go to them and deal with those idiots!

So I'm deciding, keep the MINI which I love or go for a MCS, or wait some more and see what MINI will come out with in the future.

 

>>So I'm deciding, keep the MINI which I love or go for a MCS, or wait some more and see what MINI will come out with in the future.


ray keep ur mini
and when u want a mcs fix, come to my house

 

Hey man...your confusion about what you want is pretty serious, and thats a good thing because it shows that you are thinkin. When I first saw the MINI's I knew I had to have one, and now I finally got mine...and even though I have read all the stuff that you have about what goes wrong, I have also read a million or so reviews about what is awesome about them.

Look, if you like it cosmeticly, then there is very little question that you will like performance, and if you drive crazy, this thing is gonna bail your butt outta the fire when you would have got burned elsewhere. Not only that, but its easily the most fun thing to drive I have ever driven...and others would agree.

Here is what I would do if I were you, and it is what I did being the fact that I am not you, and I am me! I ordered my MINI when I had the dollars to throw down. The whole time I was trying to think of something else that I would like better, just to break the love, or at least challenge it.

After I ordered it, I really started lookin pretty hard. The reason I was lookin is because I was amazed that nothing out there wowed me like the MINI did. I test drove cars to see if I could challenge that perception, and nothing came close. I think the only things that I personally like that are in the same ballpark as the MINI are the old school muscle cars from the sixties/early seventies. The shelby's, mustangs, camaros, vetts...and just about anything else from that era was awesome. If you told me two years ago just before the MINI went public that I would fall in love with some tiny little car that had 163hp in the supercharged version, I would have laughed you out of the room.

Then it happened, and there is nothing that compares to me. I did everything I can to change the opinion just because I was amazed at how unbreakable it was....and still is. I love this car. It makes driving, which is something i already love to do, something I love to do even more. They are amazing little cars, and seriously, you couldn't offer me anything else in trade if there was a stipulation that I had to drive it (instead of sell it to buy more MINI's...lol).

If you love driving it, and apparently you did because you ordered one, keep your order, and try to disprove the love. If you can disprove it, great!!! That is awesome. I just hope that whatever you decide on, you have the same love for it that most of us that have MINI's have found ourselves having for them. It is almost a sickness how much we love them, and we all know that they are "just cars", but regardless, love them with enough passion to make any significant other jealous. (except for the fact that they seem to like em a bit too, and seem really amused by the love...lol)

What ever you do, do it for the love of what you are doing, not the fear of regret or anything else. No fear, just fun!!!

Best of Luck!

--Rick

 

A guideline that many companies use (presumably based on some statistical evidence) is that if a customer has a bad experience in their place of business, they will tell 10 people about it; a good experience they will tell to 2 people (something like that). Think about the news on every TV station, 80% negative.

Base your decision on what's important to YOU.

 

Just in my state alone I would say that for every one car with troubles there are at least 10 with no such trouble. Most of the complaints are minor and have fixes that work.

I have an MCS with 5100 miles on it and doing just fine. It's a wonderful car. Not perfect but tons of fun and I can live with the small problems.
Black color? no problem - choose another color. Trouble with black is common to all black cars.
I am busy trying to find a way to buy another cooper. We are a three car family and one car has over 100,000 miles on it. It's black!

 

>>i agree with you
>>the cooper sucks
>>dont buy it


YEAH.....IT SUCKS.......!!!!!!......(stay away from the minis......joint the masses and buy a ford festiva!!!!!! )....I'm still waiting for my piece of crap,but it will be "MY PIECE OF CRAP"!!!!....damn waiting :evil: :evil:

 

It's not the Second Coming of Christ, true, but motoring is a bit transcendent, right? I mean, you're in this little machine which is so, so tight and you're taking curves like they're nothing...or watching those yummy interior light dim up when you hit the remote....or cruising effortlessly down the road knowing the car will just about do anything you ask it to...or_____(fill in the blank with favorite motoring moment)_______! For those who drive a MINI, (...and I know there's lots of posts on this, too) it is about as sweet as motoring can get. You'll have to excuse our enthusiasm, but this car is giving us some great, great fun and generally exceeds anything we might have expected!

 

I have found that the happiest MINI owners are the Car Enthusiasts. They are excited about the design and style and handling, etc... of the MINI. They will take the good with the bad. They are totally mad about the MINI.

Many people are not Car Enthusiasts. They want something to drive them around.
You may be wanting something totally reliable for your money.

see the JD Power 2003 Vehicle Dependability study.

The number is based on the number of problems the car had per 100 vehicles.
For example, Lexus, which ranked #1, had just 1.63 problems per 100 vehicles.

The industry average is 2.73.

1. Lexus.....1.63
2. Infiniti.....2
3. Buick.....1.79
4. Porsche.....1.93
5. Acura.....1.96
6. Toyota.....2.01
7.Cadillac.....2.09
8. Lincoln.....2.12
9. Honda.....2.18
10. Mercury.....2.40
11. Jaguar.....2.47
12. Saab.....2.55
13. BMW.....2.62
14. Subaru.....2.66
15. Nissan.....2.67
16. GMC.....2.69
17. Chevrolet.....2.72
18.Saturn.....2.73
19. Industry avg....2.73
20. Oldsmobile.....2.83

For the full list go to

J.D. Power Car Dependability Study

 

Amen Pebbles. I thinkof all the Harley riders who put up with oil leaks, etc, etc for years because it was about the ride and the image. I frequent the Ford truck sites and have for a couple of years. Same thing there and on every other auto related site. People are asking for help with their problems. People without problems don't ask for help, thus you don't hear from them. I believe the vast majority of what happens on the site is about the fun and excellence MINI owners have found in their cars and about how to make them more fun. I am a very new MINI owner, but love the car and try to steal it from my wife every chance I get. I expect I'll have a problem or two, but maybe not. If I do I'll deal with it and keep on enjoying the most fun car I have ever owned.

 

>>>>i agree with you
>>>>the cooper sucks
>>>>dont buy it
>>
>>
>>YEAH.....IT SUCKS.......!!!!!!......(stay away from the minis......joint the masses and buy a ford festiva!!!!!! )....I'm still waiting for my piece of crap,but it will be "MY PIECE OF CRAP"!!!!....damn waiting :evil: :evil:


someone understands me

 

>>
>>
>>1. Lexus.....1.63
>>2. Infiniti.....2
>>3. Buick.....1.79
>>4. Porsche.....1.93
>>5. Acura.....1.96
>>6. Toyota.....2.01
>>7.Cadillac.....2.09
>>8. Lincoln.....2.12
>>9. Honda.....2.18


well i own one lexus, 2 hondas, and 2 suzukis, and my mcs, and i equally happy with all of them, and have had 0 problems wtih any of them :smile:

 

Harley's don't leak oil they make their spot

 

the porsche # is a bit hard to beleive, as i personally know 4 boxter owners that have got new engines in their cars after their oem motors broke down

 

Do what ever you feel is right for you

My MCS is used just for FUN and in the last year I put on 7500 miles of trouble free motoring miles :smile: :smile:

Just got back from another 100 plus mile cruise,and it is like stress release

 

I'm going to plug the safety aspect of the vehicle (since it's relevant for me right now). You'll have a hard time finding another car in the low 20k range that has the impact safety and features listing of the MINI. For my money, the MINI get's my vote for the one I wanna be in a crash with.

---> Punisher: sorry to hear about your decision, and good luck finding something that will allow you to live a happier life.

Cheers,
Ryan

 

>>All the problems Ive heard about this car are based on what you people have said. All that information comes from these boards. You've said it....not me.

And yes, I've had no problems with my MINI, why would I post that fact every day?

>>You read these boards and its this broke, that broke, lemon law this, lemon law that.
>>
>>Before you go jumpin down my throat, maybe you should read the pages on this board and listen to what the members of this site have to say about the car. They make it sound like a cheap piece of crap. People that are interested in a MINI will come to this site to learn about it. They will only learn what you put up on these pages. What you guys put up on these pages isnt very flattering.

I've been on this board soon after it started, and never once did I come to the conclusion that I made a bad decision. Of course problems are going to be posted more than non-problems... what a great thread this would be.."Hey everyone! I just drove home from work, and it was fun, and nothing's wrong with my MINI! Anyone else have the same happen to them?" And the 'this broke, that broke, lemon law this, lemon law that' posts are few and far between. And they are usually posted by people who have not been here long, and are strangely never heard of again...


>>Listening to all of you is funny. You act like this car is the second coming of Christ. Like if Im not in love with and worship the car, I dont deserve one.
>>
>>Its a freakin car. Its gonna be a grocery getter for my girlfriend and a putt putt mobile for me to haul stuff to and from the shop where I work on my bikes.
>>
Well, if you're going to have a pissy attitude, please, buy a WRX and hang out with all the bad a$$ punks. Of course we are MINI lovers... do you think that we have nothing better to do with our time then read and post about a car that is just basic transportation to us? The long and the short of it is that if you don't want one, don't get one. A lot of us MINI owners get harrassed enough as it is. We don't need a wanna-be punk giving us a bad name.

Rocketboy_X

 

Punisher,

My God man! Have you read the forums of ANY other cars? They are full of problems, faults, fixes, gripes, just like here. Read the GTI, WRX, Neon or BMW boards. They are have areas to post problems and, guess what, they all have many posts in them. Some much worse than anything here.

All, and I mean all cars have problems. It is the percentage of the cars that go bad that makes the difference. Read through the comments, most of the problems have been fixed by the dealers. Not all, but most. I would be willing to bet that you cannot find a performance car forum that does not have a problem section, and I would further bet that we have no more posts as a percentage of membership than they do.

If you don't like the car don't buy one. But don't use the lame excuse that you are not going to buy it because of what we all post here. Go look at other cars sites, be honest with yourself and then compare.

BTW, my car is a gem. No problems and I drive the heck out of it. Got the pulley and the ECU and intake. I push it as hard as it will go and then some. For me this car is a little tank that goes like a bat. I wouldn't have anything else.

 

I have started a poll over on MINI 2 (thought it would get more exposure over there) because of this topic, see it here

 

After 17,000 trouble-free miles my MCS encountered it's first...after being towed 75 miles to my dealer, the entire engine wiring harness, the coolant bottle, and a requested oil change have been completed. The service department kept me fully informed by phone and kindly answered all of my questions...

I couldn't be happier with the MINI...in my thirty years of car ownership, this is without a doubt the best and most fun automobile for the amount of money paid.

Punisher...good luck with your decision and if you should decide to forego the MINI...

It's your loss...not ours.

 

To each his/her own.....I love my Mini and have great sympathy for those who have endured stress with a lack of confidence for the car. I have been fortunate with mine and understand how you may feel nervous about your order. Before you cancel, remind yourself what about the car peaked your interest in the first place. Best of luck.
Jim

 

Good luck with your decision man! Do agree with the people saying that you will see way more "problem" posts as people need advise!
112

 

20.5k miles in 9 months....had faulty seatbelt tensioner cable that made airbag light go on changed/fixed at 10k miles service.

And yes I am in love!

 

After reading your responses, I can see how it would be more common to see posts about problems rather than non-problems.

I guess Im just used to some of the motorcycle boards Ive belonged to. We didnt talk about problems alot because we didnt have many. Most talk was about performance mods, riding styles, racing and so on.

Look at the first page of this forum....there's 3 topics started concerning quality issues. It would make it seem that quality concerns are a problem.

I test rode a MCS belonging to a friend of mine. I drove it for about an hour or two through some twisty mountain roads. I must admit, the little bugger did do something no car has done in a long time.....it put a smile on my face. Thats why I put a deposit down on one. I was willing to give it a shot. $27,000 isnt a lot of money for a car these days and the way these things seem to hold their re-sale value, I figured if I didnt like it, I'd sell it. This is not going to be my primary mode of transportation.....its just something to scoot around in.

No, I do not love MINIs. Its a car. I love my mom & dad, my fiancee, my little brothers, my two dogs.

Cars are fun, theyre objects.....toys to be played with, nothing more. Yes, even MINIs. The day I start loving a piece of metal and plastic is the day I put a bullet in my head.

I just want my toy to not break all the time.

We'll see, I'll get in in September. I'll flog it for a couple thousand miles and see what she's made of.