Yea I have grown to hate my blasted 05 Mini CooperS. Dont get me wrong...I love the way it looks and I love the way it drives...er Drove....But

I HATE THE WAY IT WAS DESIGNED.

OK so at about 40k miles my windows wont go down...no problem...warantee. What does the service guy tell me....Minis are prone to this...its because they lower an inch when you open the door and that burns out the motor. No problem he says this will cover you for another 40-50k miles before you have to replace it. And there expensive he says laughing.


55k a strut starts to not strut any more. Now I am out of warrantee but no matter it would not have been covered anyway. Yea the tech says. They are designed to last 50k. Best to do all 4.


Now here is my favorite...Power stearing goes out... I pull over and look in the reserver. Half full. There is the problem. I am close to my mini dealer. I go to buy PS fluid...$30. I then ask him if he is using an illicit drug. Its some special kind and its like a gallon.
Fine I buy it. Go out to my mini and pull off the top and get ready to pour this champagne priced PS fluid into my car. A Tech is driving by...he offers help. I never turn down good help. He says nope its full. Then he tells me it might be the battery. I say no way it was replaced at 48k. He says that does not matter because the power steering pump is electric and it burns out the battery. Then he says nope it seems to be the pump itself. You really need to leave it and have us diagnose it. About 1-2 hours labor (AKA $150-300) to diagnose it. I say woah. I go inside to get a price for the pump. $750

It seems like the car was designed with the ability to fail. Now I know that people joke about the fact that they can make a car that will last 1 million miles. I dont believe that stuff. But they seem to have said in there design

"We need this car to fail and quick. We want these customers to buy a new one and we certainly dont want them on the road after 5 years or so! Nothing so sad as a late model car.

I went to MTTS. I was planning on trading in my MCS for a Clubman or a 3 series. Not any more I wont touch BMW again. Not A BMW nor a MINI. I hate this @$%#$^#&^& CAr.

 

Wow! Sorry to hear. I know an owner of an 02 MCS and he said he's never had any issues.

 

50k is a long time. It has taken me 6 years to get 45k.

 

Wow.... hmm.... you make me nervous about my new 08 cooper. Hope I have better luck, and I hope your luck changes.

 

I easily put 20k per year on mine.

 

Original owner of an 02 bought in 02 ..... pushing 90,000

Have there been maintenance or repairs req'd? yes

out of the ordinary .... I don't think so

for example, my power steering pump works fine.

Are some dealers curiously anxious to sep'rate you from your money?

My windows work...I'm on original struts

I replaced my brakes and rotors myself and what I would consider 'normal' mile rates ~ 75k

If scared .. don't buy and keep looking over your shoulder.
But IMHO this car is as secure as any.

I've a two week old Honda in the garage I'm wondering about right now....

 

hi Ninja Mini,

Are you having to deal with Lauderdale BMW MINI are you???? I am having some issues with them at the moment with my 03 MINI S. I havent had any of the problems you say youve had however they cant seem to find a problem with the front end after they tried giving my car back after a minor accedent. Its been almost 2 weeks now. I am getting pissed off, considering they have already been paid for the original work.

 

If you check any forum you will find that no matter what car it is and built by whomever, there will be problems, heck, look at the Honda and Toyota sites. I think I might be upset if my engine blows at 50,001 but I expect other things are going to have their problems.

 

im sorry youre having all those issues..my 02 MC's transmission dropped at like 45k..it was less then a month of me owning it (bought used) while in my warranty from the dealer..i went to them 2 times saying there seemed like an issue with my transmission...they said it was my exhaust..well..it was the tranny..they paid for a new one for me..took a month to get the damn car back tho..

 

im sure the frame will.

hope you get your car fixed soon.

 

I've never owned any automobile that requires new struts at 50k. That's garbage. I'm in the same boat you are. They are wonderful to look at and a joy to drive...but they can be brutal on your wallet and max out your stress levels often.

 

After 121,000 trouble free miles on my '03.Over 150,000 trouble free miles on my '05 and 41,000 trouble free miles(as of today) on my '07 you won't hear any complaints from me.Waiting on number four.I love this @$%#$#@%@# MINI

 

You're rubbing salt in the poor guy's wounds.

 

 

my 03 never had anything done on her, nothing and my 08 will only be a month old.....

 

You need to find an independent shop to start doing your work. You use the Mini dealer when it's under warranty and then switch to independents after the warranty expires.

Oh... yes they can build a car that lasts 1,000,000 miles but why would they. Planned obsolescence is part of the program to get you into a new car. If they made cars that lasted that long they would cost a fortune and the company would go out of business because once they sold you a car you'd never have to buy another one.
Look at Semi's. They easily put a million miles on them and you'd never know it by looking at it.

You're issues are interesting. Your window regulators were replaced and now you're worried that after 50k they will just fall apart like flicking a switch? They could work forever or fail tomorrow.
Power steering pump failing is common and a decent dealer should fix it if you are just out of warranty. If not, head for the independent. Probably half the price.

BTW, you'll have this issue with any car. There's always "something" that a car is known for. I've had enough different cars to know. Heck, I've had a few Lexus and they have similar issues and you'll find those cars at the very top of the JD Powers reports for having excellent quality.

 

61k miles on an '04.. blew one strut, replaced the radiator, horn went out.. but that's about it. Quick, cheap, painless work done between friends and my local independant shop. Pretty sure the key is not to go back to the dealer after the warranty is out.

 

I hope the $750 included labor, because here is a very reasonable price for what is a rather complicated electric steering pump. If mine goes out after warantee I will just do it myself, better than waiting for the dealer.


Makes > 2005 Mini > COOPER S > Steering System > Power Steering Pump



32416778425


Mini (OE)/ZF
Power Steering Pump; Electric Pump Assembly; New
This pump is new from ZF, the original equipment manufacturer. However, to ensure future supply the factory wants units to rebuild and has added a core charge to this new unit. 1 per car. This part is currently on BACKORDER. If you would like to check availability, please email us at Winners@AutohausAZ.com.


$386.50

 

Pretty nice price - is the $386.50 with or without the core charge?

 

It does say $35 core charge but for that who cares? BTW I just realized that I might be crossing some line on commercialism here so I better stop. I just wanted to see if Mini parts were expensive not promote any specific parts house.

 

Thanks for the update. So, that price is probably without the core charge - you send them $386.50 + $35, and when they receive your old pump back, they refund you the $35.

And just for future reference, posters are allowed to talk about any vendors they want to, as long as you're not affiliated with them or receiving some kind of compensation from them.

It's *vendors* that are not allowed to tout their wares here without first registering with the site and paying a vendor fee.

 

Ninja,
I think you misspelled ^$%$%&%^#@!!! .
It's # before ^ except after $.

 

for our automatic friends who don't know how to "shift" The above translates to 6454575632111

 

Or 1011101111011010010101100000000111011101111 in binary since we
are on the interwebs.

 

I have owned 4 MINIs in the past 6 years, all of them purchased and serviced at Lauderdale MINI. The cars have been ROCK SOLID hard working daily drivers. My 2005 MCS is pushing 45K+ with ZERO PROBLEMS and the car gets driven 80-100 miles on a daily basis. Our 6 month old Clubman hasn't had any issues either.

Our 2 other MINIs before these were solid as well, including a 2002 MC CVT that we sold with its original factory windshield.

Lauderdale MINI's sales and service have been top notch Those guys work their asses off day in and day out to ensure customer satisfaction. The MINI head tech guy, Franz, has been there since 2002 and he is the defacto "guru" when it comes to know MINIs inside and out. Marc and Scott are the coolest, most professional/honest SA's you'll find anywhere in this region.

In 6 years, Lauderdale has never dropped the ball on us. I avoid the Miami MINI dealers because their service generally stinks to the max.

Try to be nice to this group of folks and maybe, just may be you'll realize that they are not pulling your leg.