Hey everyone!

I am considering a 02-05 MCS for my second car. I am also considering an 06-07 GTI or a new 2009 Vw Rabbit.

Here are a couple questions I have...

-How is the general reliability with these things?
-Any specific years to avoid/prefer?
-I am willing to learn and perform my own work. Is there enough room in these little engine bays?

Also I know the MINI's have a great deal of safety features, but is that enough? I sadly live in a soccer mom- suv area.

Finally, for the other younger drivers, how is insurance on an MCS? I rarely see them being abused and I think MINI drivers are a bit more responsible than your average mustang/camaro driver.


Thanks!!

 

Generally speaking the 05-06 are the most reliable of R53s.
Check this Buyers Guide out:http://www.motoringfile.com/mini-r50r53-buyers-guide/
Why not an R56?

Not sure about insurance as I I pay $271 a month due to speeding tickets

 

Due to my budget-- an r56 is out of the question.

 

I have an 03, I do all my own work, I do alot of modding, and am always hoping to do more. I am 20, have had the mini for a year now, it has 68,000 miles on it. Its a great car, i love every second of it. 05-06s are the best of the r53s, but the only problems i have had with mine is my headunit does funky things and is bothersome but i havnt fixed it yet cuz it isnt that bad. My driver door lock doesnt unlock with the keyfab. Other than that no problems here, DONT get a vw rabbit, i would get the GTI before the rabbit. MCS is the first choice for me of course. With a couple mods ull be pulling away from gtis left and right. THe minis engine bay being small has actually made me learn more about the car and cars in general.

I had a wrx before also not a bad car maybe u should look into those, they are also fun. I had alot of speeding tickets before and my insurance is less and pretty reasonable in the MCS.

 

Thanks for the advice, I don't care for subarus. They are great cars, I just didn't like the road feel. Sounds like a lot of fun. I am glad yours has been reliable!

 

bump. looking for more advice! the AC issue is getting me a little bit worried.

 

i pay about $400/half year full coverage here in CA. i know there are many other factors

 

AC issue? We own 2 Minis, I have a heavily modded 03 MCS, my wife just bought a new 09 MCS, what does that tell you We love the car and also the friends we have made in our club. Mini people are very club oriented. Only thing I can say is stay away from early auto transmisions. If you are looking at manual then you are fine. The only two things I wish I had on my car is the 05 and later gearing and a LSD. I will also tell you this, put a Mini next to a VW GTI and see which car people are more interested in Mini wins

 

Working on a MINI usually involves taking a lot of things apart to get to what you are trying to fix/replace. Some of these parts are removed so frequently that it becomes second nature, such as sliding the modular front end forward, removing the airbox, intercooler, or the wheel well lining. Fun stuff.

 

I'm 18 and my MINI comes in about 2 weeks. with state Farm under my name with my dad listed as a second driver, 100/300/100 w/ a $500 deductible, window glass etc, I'll be paying $273.53 per month or $1641.15 for 6 months. I listed my dad as a second driver because while I go to school I'll be living at hame and because of that fact I can list him. It also means that if I were to get in an accident it would be harder to go after our house and his assets if he was a second driver than it would be for me to be driving a car under his plan.

 

I'm 17, I drive a 2002 MCS. My insurance is $2200 for 9 months even though I have a clean driving record, and the "good student discount".

 

damn! Its $1000 year for me to be on a 2007 Honda Odyssey 2003 BMW 525i and a 2001 VW Passat. The Passat is gone, and would be replaced by the MCS...

Hopefully I am not in for a suprise..

If so (i.e. I can't get a mcs) should I still consider a non-s?

 

consider a non-s, then swap all the parts over to s

i had a honda del sol, came stock with 103hp.
it had triple that at one point. still insured the same.

the fact that if you smash it into a wall, and insurance won't give you squat for the mods will keep you driving safe too :D

 

im considering this one.

any inputs? there are a few mods
http://stlouis.craigslist.org/cto/1266269775.html

 

I'd say it's overpriced.

 

I am 24 years old and I'm the OBO on my 2002 R53. Can't say that the 05-06's are any more reliable than the earlier ones. The only problem I've ever had with mine is that the right rear wheel bearing went out - something that could happen to any car at any model year. The nice thing about the early ones is that the interior isn't all plastic fantastic and overall better looking.

My parents are Navy veterans, therefore I benefit from their insanely discounted insurance, so I can't help you out there.

As much as I love my Mini, I would go with the 2009 VW -> A warranty is worth its weight in gold. Unless you can find a MCS with the extended warranty.

 

I pay the same for the same kind of coverage for six months too. I am 19 and I have just a Cooper.

Minis are going to be more fun to drive for sure than a VW. You have to do a few things in my experience to make a VW handle more like a mini. Minis are great out of the box. You could do what I've done, buy a near new Mini Cooper and mod it to what you want with all that extra money you saved. Now by near new I mean a 2005 or 2006. '07+ Coopers are just puke in your mouth ugly and round and plain. No offence to anyone.

With the money I saved by buying a Cooper I've got new wheels, suspension, exhaust, some engine stuff, and lots of cosmetic stuff. ...And I am still not up to what I would have paid for a 2006 Cooper S.

Good luck.

 

I'm 42 and the Mini is $850 for 12 months.

I have a 2003 MCS and the only issue was the crank pulley. The rubber was falling out of it.

Other then general maintenance and having 50K thus needing new control arm and upper strut bushings it's been a very good car.

 

R53's are the better cars anyway

 

thanks for all the responses everyone. if the insurance is too much for a MCS (im not sure if they count it as a performance car) I will be in a hard position between a Rabbit and regular Cooper..

I do agree that the R56 is not as unique, and the interior looks so much more cheap!!!

I will do some test driving this weekend and hopefully I can find what I want...

I have a couple options, one being a 2002 with only 39k miles. I am just a little worried about the earlier R53's

thanks for the advice!

 

I agree, but still...

 

As most of us know and have said, the '02-'04 minis were made when BMW was still working out a lot of bugs in the car, so a lot more things went wrong with them. Now I know there are that few that have had no problems, but I would still narrow my search to 2005-2006.

 

I have a 2002 with 36K miles on it and, again, my only problem was that the right rear wheel bearing needed to be replaced. Costly fix though. So from my experience I would say that you would be just fine with that MCS. But it seems like a lot of people are wary of the 02-03's. Although, personally, I've never heard anyone else with 02-03's tell me they've had problems - only hearsay.

But since you are 17 and looking for a cool car that no matter what will take you and your friends from point A to point B - I would stick with a warranty car. Its nice knowing that you don't have to worry about it for a couple of years. And a brand new VW at 17 - not a bad deal!

Good luck with the search! Let us know what you get!

 

I bought my '02 with 39k on it after it was 5 years old. I've never had any problems with OEM parts going bad except my e-brake cable snapped after getting my car dyno'ed. Also I'm now 22 but got the car when I was 20 and my insurance is $1600 a year w/ full coverage, but I live in NJ and I'm pretty sure we have some of the highest auto insurance rates around

 

19, CT, pay 2k a year on insurance. I am just going to answer your orignial questions.

My MINI has been reliable enough. It has always started and has never broken down, which for me is good enough. My 05 has had the following things replace (all at under 25k miles):
-oil pan gasket
-bypass valve (as a result of a CEL that took 3 visits to the dealer to fix)
-axles have been repaired (needed "retighening")
-one of the tweeters was replaced
-thermostat housing*

It also needs a valve cover gasket, which I will get to at some point.... Most of the things I listed are pretty common (except the tweeter) and are pretty cheap and easy to fix.

The thermostat housing is a very common problem on these cars, not expensive to fix or anything just annoying. I feel like it is almost more common on the 05 MY than any other but I dont actually have data to support that. Having frequented the NAM for the last 2 years or so, it really doesnt seem like any particular model year is worse than the others. It might be worth avoiding 02's if you are paranoid, but anything after that will treat you about the way a xxcarxx BMW of its age would be expected to.

The amount of room you actually have to work on the engine isnt much, however there is usually a way to get to the thing that needs working on that isnt to difficult. I did some work on a friends 04 Nissan sentra which had a very large engine bay, but it still felt like a pain in the *** to work on simply because of the fact that it was a Nissan which, which arent that great to begin with**. In any event, the MINI is a car that you can do your own work on if you have the patience.


**my opinion of the matter, I am sure others would suggest otherwise.

EDIT: I you are looking at a just-a-coopers, avoid the pre-05 unless you want to swap in a six speed out of an MCS or 5-speed Getrag from a later cooper, the earlier ones had a 5 speed midlands which is notorious for breaking.