Who has a MINI lemon??? don't get me wrong, I LOVE this car. I drive 100+ miles a day all around the Houston area and i love every second of it in the MINI cooper S I have. However, it seems that my great deal of a 15 thousand dollar MINI was too good to be true. That an 04 MCS with 27,000 miles wouldn't be having problems for a very long time. That's not the case though; Since I bought the car in April, I have put in a new battery, new clutch, new slave cylinder, new tire, and now it's making the infamous rattle noise from the front left tire, so bushing/strut is bad, the H/K speakers seem to start cracking at the worst moments, mainly when I need it to be quite when I'm on the phone or something, and lastly... there is a godforsaken squeak coming from the driver door that sounds like hampsters gettin' it on that won't stop until I open the door and beat it. I understand cars need to kept up, but seriously?! I've owned it since April and everything has happened at once!

So mainly... I'm wondering if there is light at the end of this tunnel?? I have the one ball exhaust, blacked out all the chrome, and my Alta 15% pulley is waiting to be installed. The radio has to go. I'm so frustrated with the cracking that I'm about to just unplug the amp and live with-out radio. Are there any other things i need to watch out for?!?! I really do enjoy the car, but the repairs have been more than double my car payment for the last 2 months! Please someone tell me this is it . That after I get my pulley on (with new plugs/belt and what not), get the suspension fixed, and get a new radio in, that there aren't too many problems?

Has anyone else had this many problems at the same time??

 

I hope the light at the end of the tunnel isn't an oncoming train. It's really impossible to predict what's going to happen to an individual car, but from the list of things that have already gone wrong in a fairly short time, the pattern isn't a good one. I hope your luck changes soon!

 

Ya, ur list is pretty bad, iv had to deal with all kinds of stuff like that to,

I have a glazed flywheel that started makking the chewbacca noise right after i got it

My headunit for the stereo just **** out on me, for no reason, and then when trying to put a newheadunit it still wouldnt get any power so it has to be something in the wiring, which means mini needs to fix it, and cost me an arm and a leg, so i have been radio less for 2 months now.

My front lower control arm bushings were complete trash, and i had to replace those.

I have a rattle coming from somewhere in my dash which means i will have to take that all apart, PITA

My belt squeals all the time till its warm, i have changed the belt twice, and my tensioner is good.

Im sure there will be more to come, but all those things dont outweigh my love for that car

Maybe u need to start modding, or driving on more fun roads, thats what keeps adding to the pros list for me.

 

I hope you didn't buy a Mini because you expected it to be reliable...

 

Well honestly, I assumed that any car would be better than my 2001 Dodge ram single cab, V6, Manual. I was dumping money into repairing my 2 thousand dollar truck, and felt like I was wasting money by fixing it, so I got a MINI with less than 30k miles. Now I'm dumping money into a 16k car

BUT ITS SO MUCH FUN TO DRIVE!!!!!

 

Tires
Clutch
Bushings
For an 06
also throttle, engine harness, rotors and pads, oe sirius, airbag, front bumper and radiator mount (kinda my fault), paint issues, bonnet latch, luckily all under warranty. Still gotta change the trunk latch. And plan to extend warranty for 7 more years.

 

I wish I got the warranty when I bought it, because i feel like i would be losing money by getting it after i fixed everything

 

The tire and battery replacement while disappointing really do not have anything to do with the quality of the car. Its general maintenance.
The radio, clutch hydraulics and suspension rattle are disappointments, though.
I bought an '01 Ram 3500 towing monster in '05 (not cheap) and all seemed file on the test drive but after living with it for a week I found it needed quite a bit of work from a lift pump to brakes to some minor steering parts. No warranty to help either. I fixed it all myself and it continues to be one of my best vehicles.
Hopefully, once you get through this rash of issues you will be able to drive and maintain your MINI to a higher level than the previous owner and get many, many trouble free miles.

 

Let see:
Battery --- Mini has no control on bad Batt (maintenance).
Clutch ----Mini has no control how the clutch been used
Slave --- Mini has control with this part
Tire --- Mini regular maintenance - I have the original 66K still ok
Bushing/Strut --- Mini has control with this part
Radio Noise --- Mini has no control in bad signal - mine works..anywhere
Door Squeak ---Nuisance, inconvenient, annoying, or vexatious sound
can be man made or legit mini problem. Has to be
identified. Neutral

So, two out of seven legit problems? Not bad at all -- Just my opinion.

 

I just was wondering how good the original owner took care of this car. You said it had 27,000 miles.
Did he teach his girlfriend how to drive a stick-shift just before trading/selling it?
Did the previous owner turn up the Base as well as the radio every time he was in the car. That will destroy the best speakers.
Was the car ever in a slight wreck?
The problem with buying any used car is you just don't know the way it was treated.
Tires, Battery is just normal wear-out items that need to be replaced when worn out.
The car is almost six years old. 2004 to 2009 but the 2010's are being built now. 27,000 miles is not many on a 2004 if it was serviced and treated properly but who really knows what that car was put through.

 

Most of those things on your list don't sound totally unreasonable to me considering the car is nearly 6 years old, regardless of the miles. You don't know how the previous owner drove it so could explain the clutch, and they could have totally blasted the stereo beyond it's limits. The bushings; however, would be a disappointment for sure.

I just bought mine in April as well with 28K miles. Just had entire tranny replaced on warranty a week ago (less than a week before it expired)-- and it's a 6-speed Getrag which is highly unusual. This makes me a little nervous for sure. Funny thing is, when I took it in, the tranny seemed fine, just mentioned it was hard to get into 1st occasionally and they found metal shavings in the fluid. I think I got real lucky on that one. Had them replace they clutch while they were in there, just for peace of mind.

The Mini is my daily driver and I traded in a low mileage Toyota Tacoma, which at 60K miles never had a problem (aside from recalls) and would have run forever for sure, but I wanted something more fun . I'm fully expecting thie Mini to cost me $ for little things down the road, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's all minor stuff.

On a side note I just got non runflats put on this morning. Wow what a different car. A lot of little rattles I had totally disappeared.

 

+1

Also if the car is driven on bumpy roads, or perhaps tracked, the bushings will not last as long....so to me it sounds like wear and tear!! Be thankful you don't have the CVT!! (that IMO is the true defination of a Lemon from what I have been hearing!).

As for the door making noise....open it up, find out what is making the noise, and shut it up. While in there, use some sound dampening foam/dynamat too. If you are not handy, ask a local MINI shop, or find a helper at toy local MINI club to help ya.....might only cost a 6 pack of beer!!

Remember.....the car is 6 years old!! that means that the environment it has been kept in, the way it has been maintained or not, the habits of the previous/current owners will have a signafigant effect on the costs of running your MINI.....and most cars that are run or have been run hard will cost some serious $$$$ to keep around.

Good luck, and remember......buying an extended warranty is like buying life insurance....it is a bet that you would hate to come out ahead on...and usually a bad economic choice, but is a piece of mind for some.

Good luck, and cheer up...a nice drive will help ya!!!

 

Unfortunately I am not aware of who the previous owner was, or how they treated the car. I know that I personally haven't been that rough on it. I have never tracked it (though I would love to). The only other car that I can compare to was my truck, and I thought several people how to drive stick on, including myself. The truck was also my first vehicle so I had some... "Learning experiences" involving my foot "slipping" off the clutch a lot. and it still lasted 91 thousand miles. I know that the clutch on the mini is wear and tear, I'm just pretty disappointed in such a low mileage out of it (I've read other threads about low mileage clutches too).

The battery and tire is regular maintenance; I know, it's just... odd that most of this happened within a month of owning it.

Harmon Kardon though... that's just... insane... that these amplifiers are wearing out so fast... and that they cost so much! It's constantly crackling and popping now, and it's moving from each speaker. for the price of that stupid 750 watt amp, I can get a whole new custom setup!

The main thing, is that I bought the car knowing that I wanted to modify it, but it's breaking down faster than I can fix it. Every time I get a nice amount of money saved up for some parts, I end up spending it on repairs =(

I have my pulley now, im just waiting on the spark plugs (back ordered), and I'll probably be getting the poly. bushings put on soon (if that's the problem), and I'd like to save up for the madness-mini CAI.

 

Look at it this way, it could be worse

 

Got back from the shop today, turns out that i don't have any suspension problems. However my motor mount is destroyed. I'll problem end up turning that into a DIY with some friends. Also, I reset the ECU, and got a new set of tires today, and wow, it between the two it feels like a whole new car. Now to just get rid of noises between the radio and the door...

 

I just got my '06 MINI a month ago and it seems to have a few problems. The "downgraded" H/K stereo stops playing after 20 seconds (if it plays at all), the belt tends to squeak something awful on early morning cold starts, and the horn doesn't work.
I'm not worried though. I still have 39k miles and 3 years left on the warranty. :D

 

If it makes you feel any better:

-supercharger
-radiator
-belt tensioner
-complete AC system
-clutch/flywheel/slave
-motor mounts
-both window motors
-passenger door lock actuator
-throttle body
-rear upper and lower control arms
-rear sway bar bushings
-1 wheel bearing

plus LOTS of small stuff here and there. Fortunately my aftermarket warranty has covered 99% of everything wrong with the car (we're currently sitting at right around $10k in warranty repairs). unfortunately, that warranty runs out in about 2000 miles. All over the last 40k miles on an '02 MCS currently with 92k on the clock.

 

My girlfriend bought her 06 S brand new and had to replace the engine within the first 24 hours. Coolant hoses were not hooked up correctly from the factory, and left her sitting along the Turn Pike. 3 weeks after that, her dash lit up like a Christmas tree, do to an improperly sealed supercharger. Since all of that she has had to replace 3 02 sensors, thermostat, and the throttle body. But she still loves it to death!

Luckily, I've only had to replace my clutch, and an 02 sensor in my '02 S. But i try not to mention that too often.