Funny you say that. I saw a car yesterday I had no idea what it was until I pulled along side. That's what it was.

 

Thanks...
Unfortunately the oddball items that are not commonly bad...
Let's get this straight....I loved my r53. Would still have it if I had a place to park a 3rd car. It was time to let it go, repairs wise, and family wise. I'll leave it at that. Just my case.
These ARE good cars when they have a good person wrenching on them...but they NEED REGULAR care...not just a oil changeand/fluid change and wash.
Little things, like failing to lube door hinges, hatch hinges can cause issues...yes, these cars DO NEED LUBE...it's on the inspection list....I would toss some lube on the steering wheel u-joint....often a failed pump was confused with a sticky joint....
Once a year, or in a few steps, you should look, so this, spray and clean most everything...catch stuff BEFORE IT FAILS . That's the purpose of a PM program. Things like cracking flexible brake lines or excessively corroded hard-lines will get caught, as will things like failing balljoints, etc. You can find the original OEM makers parts in many items (LAMFORDER for ball joints for example) are easy to find, but watch out...many companies have done cost cutting for lower volume parts....folks just discovered LAMFORDER has begun selling Chinese made balljoints for VW in the US, not sure what other parts are switching, but do be careful...stay current on what folks are currently seeing...
The "gates" waterpump on Amazon , a great $ it seems have turned out to be terrible... waymotorworks found out from gates, they are Chinese made parts, but the issue is an inferior seal is used....so they tend to leak at the weep hole faster...info he had posted was from his rep I guess...he bought some cheap..had leaks... complained... basicly said they were from a different"line" of lower cost parts...kinda like Napa having the pro line, and regular...so the cheapest name part MIGHT NOT be the best deal.


Often non-mini sellers of parts sell the wrong part....cause it's on a list...
The cited t-map on rock auto is one....t's the COLD SIDE part number shared with the r50 and Rover...I know...I ordered one...returned it to rockauto...has different specs than the hot side...but looks the same...car will not run unless revvved hard with the wrong part...yeah...I had to get it from MINI...was actually $72 after discounts...but was 4 days away and I picked it up, no shipping. But that was a different thread...here or over on motoring alliance .
I wish everyone the best luck possible, but at some point, it's just not worth the risk or risks $$ wise. For me, that day came with a 10+ year old car I had owed since new.
I try to help folks a bit...I learned much of this stuff here, but also in traveling, and visiting mini shops, reading, etc...my job gave me lots of free time to use and forced waiting (lots of time in airport lounges waiting for passengers to return from meetings, or stuck in hotels with crappy cable).
As a pilot, we are always trying to pass our knowledge onto the next person....it might save them or their passengers ...I tell folks, if you don't agree with it, or like it, just know the knowledge , and put it into your knowledge bank, or personal library , aka, a "bag of tricks".... information is powerful, and useful.
I am seriously considering returning to MINI since my current car is getting bought back by VW.....just a matter of time and cross shopping for the "right" car.
Good luck all.

 

the rock auto part only fits r53s, not interchangable with any other cars maybe you had a different one

I own two r53's a track car and a JCW. I have owned two newer ones, I went back to the r53. I also own a few other cars, and I have found the r53 to be no worse than anything else and parts are really cheap.

not to mention they are reallllyyyyy fun, I have more fun in my r53's than I do my 135i

 

-zippy, guessing the diesel scandal is the reason for the buyback?

 

http://libraryofmotoring.info/2014/0...-2002-to-2013/

Almost 177,000 minis sold in the us alone from 02 to 06. Just the US, I didnt look up worldwide. So half a million sold maybe? The aftermarket suppliers will not ignore 100's of thousands of cars they can make money off of.

I get it zippy, you don't like having a car over 10 years old. Correct me I'm wrong but I seem to remember reading you dont work on the cars yourself. Great idea then to sell your mini since obviously it will be expensive to fix it as it gets older.

The steering shaft is a non-issue. Like you said, lube it and it will be fine. As far as I can tell for a very long time too since my 02 shaft is now 14 years old and works great. As long as i lube it. Mine was pretty frozen too when I bought the car 3 years ago but that hasn't seemed to affect it at all.

Rear calipers? Really?
Put r56 brakes on and your set. But again, with all the minis on the road, a stock, or performance caliper will absolutely be available somewhere.

Water pump is not a problem either. How many does the car need in it's life? 2 or maybe 3.

People like to slam Chinese parts, and for good reason but not every part coming out of China is junk. One example is Centric. They make high quality brake parts for a great price. There are Chinese parts we can use to keep the car running. Need to keep an eye on them but definitely usable.

I do all the maintenance myself, and drive it to work everyday and have no plans to replace it anytime soon. No way it's even close to dying out.

 

Naww....I did about half the work on my car...cooling fans, yup, brakes, no problem till it was winter...fluid changes.., yup...PS fan yup..,plugs, filters belts, wires, yup...
Had a spare sc on the shelf.
Does it matter? Not really.
My time is worth $$. So when I had to do a repair or mod, I did what many people do... weight the time spent vs the $$ to have it done. Sometimes it makes sense to diy...sometimes, it simpler to have it done. Struts, yup, had them done...don't have any air tools, made it a very fast job, same for the pulley install....crank damper...had that done too, an air-powered impact gun for a bolt that's been around a few years, was simpler to pay....anybody that's ever changed a pulley on an alternator knows the difference the right tools make.
Old cars...lol...
I drove my 1989 Honda CRX to the junkyard about a month after I picked up my MINI in 2005 (picked it up Christmas Eve, dropped the car off around February.....
Had done timing belts, waterpump, valve adjustments....done it all on that car...was older than 10 years...by....er...7 years...was about 17 years old...bought it was...er 12 years old...
Was my only car was ABOUT HALF that yime....
Think you need to re-evaluate your view on me and cars.
When I saw things like dry-rotted rubber seals on a well taken care of car, I could see the $$ coming....
My old CRX...the junkyard guy kept driving it, with repair plates as a daily for another year, trouble free...but for me, it use was done, and I had gotten my $800 out of it....

 

When I first bought my new MINI in 2004, the intent was to drive it till it could not be considered a reliable daily driver. There was a joke circulating when the new MINI was introduced that the difference between a classic mini and new BMW MINI owner was the new MINI driver spent weekends cruising, not repairing.

I am standard maintenance capable and have replaced the MINI's brake pads and rotors, oil, coolant, motor mounts, filters, batteries, spark plugs and leaky valve cover gasket to name a few. What I don't and won't do is beyond my comfort zone, capability or more than a single days work and involve anything that requires special tools, lifting the motor or even taking off the front bumper and radiator.

Just trying to figure out like many people, when is it not practical to consider a aging MINI Cooper, a reliable daily driver?

 

Never

 

Xsmini put 365,000 miles on before rebuilding the engine. And it turns out, although it had a few part thats were worn out, it didn't even really need it, was just a plugged up cat from all the miles. Ill post his link for him lol

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...uild-time.html

I drive about 10k miles a year so sounds like im good for another 25 years

 

The cat was one of the problems, compression was also very low due to the oil rings. Probably could of replaced those and the CAT and been just fine.

Nik

 

Yup...had hope to try out diesel tuning....but looks like the ecu will get locked down if we keep the cars....
There were some folks doing amazing things with tdi motors.....
Maybe I gravitated to the tdi to get the tq I was missing in the mini, and mpg's...
Doesn't really matter....I get a do-over now, plus some extra $$, and since my situation has changed a bit, the cars I'm looking at will be different....I had been looking for more space and mpg's...both are nice, but I'm not driving 800+ miles a week anymore...so great mpg is no longer a deal breaker .

 

Reading his avatar, it sounds like Xsmini has in past, done a little bit more than bolt on a new engine.

Over the years, I have had a couple of leaving me stranded catastrophic failures, so maybe Xsmini is right and a MINI should never be considered a "reliable daily driver!"

 

No, no no.. you (or I) misunderstood. The question was "when is it not practical to consider a aging MINI Cooper, a reliable daily driver?"

Never is the answer, its is practical to consider reliable daily driver regardless of age. I have only been left on the side of the road once in 370,000 miles and 14 years when the fuel pump died around 330,000. Its my first choice for daily driving, commuting, vacationing, etc. You name it, it'll be there.

Nik

 

I am apparently an automotive masochist:

We have an '87 Volkswagen that we bought new. That particular body style has been out of production for 23 years. Many things were deemed NLA a long time ago. I buy parts (new and good used) when I find them, even if I don't need them at the moment.

My wife's daily driver is an '04 Volvo C70 convertible. It is a low production vehicle that has been out of production for 11 years now. Mechanicals are no big deal, but cosmetic items (especially interior pieces) are very fragile and suffer the same NLA disease. Aftermarket is really the only option for some of these things.

I daily drive an '05 MCS. 150k and climbing at a rate of 1000 miles per week. So far I have not had any problem getting parts but I do keep an eye on the market. I'm not interested in selling it, but if keeping it on the road becomes an issue due to a lack of parts availability, it will have to go.

A little trivia: our '04 Volvo and our '05 MINI both have a manufacture date of 09/2004. Volvo was tooling up for the new retractable hardtop C70 but kept production of the old soft top version going longer than normal. There were no '05 C70s.

 

I think MINI has moved on. Important parts are showing up as NLA (R53 cranks come to mind) or seem to fall off in quality (chain tensioners, etc). It will be harder and harder to keep these cars going. But since they were made in huge quantities, they will not appreciate in value very quickly.

I regularly find MCS with bad engines selling for $1700-$2000. Not rare around here. That's how I got started on mine. The "we buy junk cars" online buyers will pay $1500-$1600, so the used parts market is what is keeping the prices up.

 

to be fair, if you need a crank most aren't replacing the crank, they put a used motor in or get a new car.

 

There will always be people who will drive their MINI's till the wheels fall off or have a wrecked one in the back garden that they use for spare parts. But realistically, when is keeping a 1st gen MINI running more trouble than its worth to you or when does it reach an age or mileage that signals that its time to move on?

I had a recent experience where I had to take in my MINI to the dealer for steering problems. The original quote for repairs was over $6,000 which is probably twice the value of the car and that wasn't even covering some mechanical issues that I knew were starting to fail but not identified by the MINI dealer. I managed to get more details and have them solve and repair the more immediate issue for $600 but its clear to me that at 12 years old and 180,000 km, my 1st Gen MINI's days of reliable motoring are numbered and closing in fast.

 

First problem is going to the dealer with an older car. Parts are gonna be "hard to get a hold of" so that's up the price right there, plus they charge way more than necessary per hour of labor and all kinds of other fees.

You'd get the same kind of bills from a new car going to the dealer as well. But instead of paying the same price for repairs on a car that's paid off now you are paying the same price plus a car payment on a roughly guessing on average 20-30k car.

But the paid for mini can be taken to an independent mechanic shop and pay MUCH less for repairs, unlike the new car that needs to be worked on at specific places to maintain any kind of warranty.

 

Where are you finding them? I need a shell for a track car

 

Ive seen 3 on craigslist in the Milwaukee are for around $2000 in the last 6 months. They go really fast though.

 

If your only choice is to take your car in to the dealer for repairs, then an older Mini probably isn't for you. That goes for any older car though, a Mini just needs a little more maintenance than some other brands. Every car over a certain age is going to need maintenance of course and it's going to be a personal choice if a newer car is better for you or not. If you maintain your Mini it will be just as reliable as it ever was.

I really hope the steering repairs you had done weren't the steering shaft issue we were talking about it. But that's a perfect example of how bad a dealer can be . Even if you bought every steering part on the car it still wouldn't add up to $6000. If you keep the car find a better shop. These cars are very simple and any competent mechanic can fix them.

Unless you break the crankshaft every part is easily available too. You can still buy a new crank though, RMW makes custom ones good for 400 hp

One more thing to add. The guy with 600,000 miles on his Mini!

http://www.mini2.com/forum/general-d...-000-a-35.html

 

I don't really understand much about steering systems so maybe it was the steering issue you were talking about. The $600 was for replacement of the "Lower Steering Column lower shaft". The $6,000 quote was for a host of other things like:
Leaking PS hoses $1,800 (only started leaking after they replaced the PS pump for the 2nd time in 2 years under the extended PS pump warranty), CV joint boot, leaking oil pan gasket, rusted muffler, leaking crankcase front seal, leaking radiator, coolant & brake fluid service.

You're right, where I live (Canada), there are very limited independent shop options that are capable of competently maintaining a older MINI and I have for the most part kept it out of the Stealers shop for most things. I figure the $6,000 repair quote was almost the Dealer trying to arm wrestle me into giving up and junking a still good running MINI.

I put nothing and I mean nothing past them!

 

1800 for some leaking hoses!!!!

Coolant and brake fluid service? I'd call that like 50 bucks including labor.

All of that could be done at home with a few hundred dollars in tools and a jack. Except the muffler, that would prollly require some welding.

 

Yeah some of the repairs aren't very hard.

The steering shaft could have been fixed with a can of wd-40. No tools even required

Stay away from that dealer if you can.

 

It seems like this is most dealers these days. I was helping my neighbor work on his Acura today. Dealer quoted close to a grand to replace rear pads and rotors after telling his wife they were worn out. We took it apart and found the pads were at 50% and the rotors were barely different than their new spec. No noticeable warp or checking either. Since he had already bought the pads, we put them on but it was completely unnecessary.