Hi.Is there anyone who owns a mini or knows someone who does that does not have any problems with it..I know a new car will have problems but by the stuff on the boards there seems to be major issues. I live about 90 minutes north of nyc and it does get cold here. By reading stuff that I should not have a mini in the cold makes me question if I should own this car. I have wanted one since they came out in the USA and its now about time that I get one. I cant compair anything else out there to this car and it upsets me that there seems to be major problems with the transmission( I would be getting the cvt). If I get a 2004 will there be a difference in the engine?...I would be also using this as my main commuting car..about 48 miles a day.I am just so frustrated by reading all the negative stuff about it..any info ..will help..thanks..m (I even have my everything picked out for it and its name)....SO what am I waiting for??????

 

hello Welcome!

I bought my mini (2002) used @ 24,000 miles on it.
I now have 30,600+ miles on it, and I've had it for about 3-4 months.

My MINI is trouble free

mine is a stick, I would never go with an slowmatic anymore (personal preference)

Dont worry about the 48 miles, im sure it will do just fine.

 

My impression is that you already have enough "info" and are actually suffering from NAM opinion overload. Go with your gut. You already know if this is the car for you.

 

Remember that people come here when they have problems and so the number of posts concerning problems outweighs the number of people who don't post about not having problems.

Reliability on newer MINI's is better than the first batch made and with your warranty, you should have minimal problems.

 

I have a 2003 Mini Copper S. It has about 2200 miles on it and I haven't had any problems yet. It's also my daily driver. I live in Michigan just outside of Detroit and the weather here is awful and so are the roads. My Mini has handled great in the snow and I haven't had the problems that a great many have had on this site. My windows haven't frozen open or shut. My doors always open and my transmission works just fine. To be honest I haven't experienced any of the problems I have read about. Of course now that I've written this all hell is going to break loose but whatever. Anyway, I wouldn't get too worried about the problems you've been reading about. If everyone in this forum were to talk about how perfect their Minis were than this site would be pretty useless and pretty boring. My only suggestion is that you get yourself a good set of winter tires and go from there. Once you get behind the wheel of your new Mini all the other things become kinda trivial. Just feel fortunate that you live near a dealership and that you can actually get your hands on one. I know that's the way I feel. Good luck.

P.S. I guess I do have one problem with my Mini. Whenever I get into it I start to cry uncontrollably cause I love it so much.

 

I have a 2003 cooper with only the sport package. I just hit
13000 awesome fun filled miles. So far, the only problem I had is the wiper blades
not doing what they are told. Other wise my baby starts right up. The issue of cold
has not been a problem. I live in CT and we have had one of the worst winters in a long time. The car has to warm up a bit and then I take off. As for rattles I hear some people have. I attribute this problem to the choppy ride and stiff suspension.
My MINI is a great commuter car. With the back seats down it can hold just about anything from Home Depot.

 

I live in CT also. I have a 2003 MCS with 21,000 miles on it. That alone should say something. This morning, I had to get roadside assistance to tow the car to the dealer. The drivers door handle malfunctioned and my interrior lights were on all night. For me, it is not about having a perfect car as much as how good the service department is. I have found the MINI service to be the best I have experienced, even better than Honda, and that is saying a lot. My car has not been perfect, but the problems have been minor. Sunroof shade, radio display, and now the door handle. In my book not a big issue. This is for certain, I miss the car whenever it is in for service, rather than being mad about it. (which is how I felt with my Ford).

Final advice, just do it. It will be the most fun car you ever own. Maybe not the best or most reliable, but definitely the most fun.

 

Have a perfect 2003 MCS with 6500 on it...the window squeaks when it rains...I think the rain has a problem and not the Mini.

 

Welcome. I went through the same thing. I knew I wanted an MCS from the first day I saw an article in Autoweek. I then found this site and started lurking for some 8 months or so. I almost decided not to get one because of all the negative vibes, but then I realized, just as YuccaPatrol stated above, that this is a forum for sharing info - good and bad. Of course people that are having difficulties want to share the pain so that they can get advice from others. I decided to go for it and have never looked back. I picked up my MCS in May and have 4500 miles on it now. The only problem I had was the stumble which was completely fixed with ECU V36. I have none of the other issues - no rattles, squeaks, broken windshields, coolant bottle problems - nothing - zero. The car is awesome and I drive the hell out of it. I have never gotten more than 22mpg out of it, but so what. I know its because I drive it hard. Sometimes I just want to jump in on some of the threads on this board and tell the folks to stop whinning; all cars have problems. But, that defeats the purpose of the site. Don't let the negativity sway you - notice that the overwhelming majority of those complaining also note that they love their cars.

 

ditto as to what jsun said. At times people feel as if no one is listening to them so they come to this board and rant about their problems. However, when something good happens you rarely hear people raving about it. Just take things with a grain of salt and go with your instincts. If your gut tells you go with the MINI, do it. If it tells you to stay away because of the problems discussed, then do that. Just don't let what othes have said influence what you want.

 

Happy people are quiet people hence the ones having problems will post most often, trying to find answers or just vent.
I have an early MINI (April 2002 build) which was supposed to be inflicted with more problems, but I have only had one real one, the coolant tank leak, and it was solved under warranty by replacing it with the new design. The rattles bug me a bit but it's so damn fun to drive I could care less about a few rattles. Other than that, trouble free so far.
*knock on wood*

 

only problem i got is that I freeze my *** in the garage admiring my MCS
thinking that i'll take a quick look at it and end up sitting in there for over 30min
in a t-shirt and jeans (28F in the garage right now).

 

2003 MC with 16K miles on it and is the daily driver. We've had no major problems with the car. The worst problem we had was a power window motor that failed. We have had other problems with the car, however they have all been minor fit and finish issues that were all repaired.

If you want the car buy it, you'll be happy with it.

 

How can you all say that your mini is running perfect at 4500 miles!! That doesn't justify anything. Now, when you can say,"My car is running great at 140000 miles." then that says something. I'm looking to get a new car too. I currently drive a Honda Prelude with 143000 miles on her and she runs near perfect. I drove a Mini Cooper S and loved it, but if people are having rattling problems at 15000 miles and window problems and engine problems at 20000 miles that they are brushing off because it is still under warranty, think of the problems that your car might have at 120000 miles and how you will be paying for all of those problems out of your pocket. How does that make you feel about your car? It's all fine when it's brand new, but what happens in the next 5 years? How will it be treating you then?

 

Obviously no one knows how well this car will hold up after 140,000 miles, because there aren't enough automobiles if any out there. I have 20,000 miles on my car and put on about 120 miles a day going back and forth to work. I have really not had any problems. A few very minor problems, when I picked it up, but nothing since then.

The vast majority of people I know who have this car do not have any problems. One big thing that people are forgetting is that there are a lot of stock and modified Minis that are raced really hard, with very few problems. I think the engine is built really well. We can all argue that it may not be the most efficient design, but most of Chryslers 4-cylinders are bulletproof. I expect this engine to hold up quite well.

To concur with everyone else, no one just posts that they don't have any problems with there cars. No one calls up the Pepsi customer service line to say that they received a great tasting Pepsi and that they appreciates Pepsi's product. It is always a complaint about something. The same holds true here. Most people who do not have issues do not post about them. If all that is wrong with the car is what you see from the posts, then this is a pretty good car. All those people who say that their Volvo lasted 250,000 miles and swear by them, you can find sites complaining about the quality of the Volvos. Nothing is perfect, people do get products that have problems with them, and most of the time these people are mad and want to vent and generalize that there problems extend to the entire product line.

Go for it and buy the car, you will have a blast with it.

 

I have a 2004 with 3500 miles and the ONLY problem is the rear power outlet pulled out when I had a phone charger plugged in (big deal, I pushed it back in!) I also had a 2003 MCS with 12,000 miles and had only two problems in that the HID headlights would not aim properly and that the shift **** would sometimes pull off - the fix was a new shiftknob on warrentee and BMW gave me the 2004 as they could not fix the headlight problem.

Neither car had stumble or yo-yo and both are wonderful. I am probably going to buy a MC for my wife with the automatic gearbox.

Lee Jones

 

I bought my MC (not the "S" model) one year ago. At this point, as much as I cannot believe that I am saying this. I cannot recomend the MINI unless you have enough money in the bank to perform any out of warranty repairs and just don't care. If you will put 50,000 miles on the car in 4 years and then buy another one then you will be fine. However if you will put 50,000 on the car in less than 2 years, then think long and hard about this... what will a new transmission cost you at 60,000 miles? The warranty is good and they honor it that's for sure. I have 31k on my car and it was trouble free till now. But it is in the shop for transmission failure right now. All the talk about rattles and and stumbling...I don't know but I had none of that. The car starts in ALL temps (I am in upstate NY) it heats up and defrosts as well as any car I have ever driven. It is good in the snow and handles just as advertised... it is a blast to drive and look so exotic. But I ask at what price? I have read that the "S" has a Getrag (brand name) German? transmission that has no problems, so if you can afford get the "S" or wait till the '05s which are supposed to have the better transmission. Now this is all hearsay.. believe what you wish. But I have put this car to the test, no mods, carefully driven, all weather, I think I have certain qualification to advise you. I am waiting for BMW to give me a "warm fuzzy feeling", if they don't I will begin to get nervous as I wait for 50k and the end of my warranty next September.

 

Sorry but I was not clear on my previous post. I have a '03 MC with 5spd manual transmission. I cannot speak for the CVT. I have had no concerns with my car except for the 5spd stick shift transmission in 30k miles.

 

BMW is famous for it's first year models being total pieces of crap. I have experienced this twice now. First with my 92 325i, and now with my 02 mini cooper s. But I have loved both cars. You shouldn't have any problems with an 04 model. But I am also a bit biased too. I also own 3 toyotas and they like the several others (toyotas) that I have owned before are totally trouble (and rattle) free.Just change the oil and put gas in them. But they aren't anywhere near as much fun as a mini. I will also say that even though I have had several issues with my mini that has led me on several occasions to nearly trading it, it has never failed me. It always gets me where I need to go. But mine, and most with the major problems are 02, and early 03 models. So buy an 04 and be done with it. Theres plenty of dealers in your area if you do have problems.