Hello,

I am in the market to purchase a new Mini, and am very excited to place an order soon. However, my pro-American Muscle Car father is discouraging me from buying one on the grounds that the upkeep and maintenance on a BMW-made car will be quite expensive. So, I'll pose the question to you current owners-- how does the cost of maintaining a Mini compare to a more common vehicle you may have owned previously? (tires, oil filters, air filters, etc.)

Can someone also verify that the "Hyper Blue" paint color is close to the previously offered Indie Blue?

One more thing...on the MiniUSA website I saw a Mini with a Union Jack sunroof decal. Does anyone know if/where this is available in the St Andrew's Cross?

So many questions! Thanks!

 

If you purchase a Mini brand new I'm pretty sure you get free maintenance for three years/36,000 miles. So the maintenance argument from your dad is pretty weak.:smile:

Check the website for the St Andrews cross I think its an option. I think I have a brochure with the St Andrews cross option in it.

 

Mini and BMW have maintance program. Every new vehicle comes with at least 3 yrs maintance program ($0 for any oil change.... regular maintance).
As a owner of a BMW, I found my 3-Series is very reliable, no problem in my 4 yrs ownership. I think it is much reliable than most of the local brand. You can reference to any JD Power reliability report.. BMW always rate above average.

 

Oboepiper - Click on and look in My Gallery - there are pictures of our Hyper Blue S - :smile:

As far as maintenance costs, once the warranty runs out, parts and labor aren't cheap. But what car maintenance isn't cheap these days?

Donna

 

With the 3yr/36K mile maintenance plan (free with car) not many people have experienced maintenance costs yet.
That said:
Tires - runflats are EXPENSIVE, but you can go conventional with a plug kit and air pump.
Parts - prices are actually fairly reasonable. Buy at Classic MINI for 20% off
Service - BMW service is EXPENSIVE. $140/hr around here. If you can turn a wrench, you can get the Bentley manual and do most of your own work.
Reliability - Some have had better luck than others. Most failures seem to be the PS fan, and window motors.
Fortunately you don't have to worry about much for 3 yrs, and nothing warrantee related for four years. Not a bad deal.
Will it cost more than a Mustang? Yep.

Hyper Blue is 'similar' to IB, but different. There are pics somewhere around here. This gives a pretty good representation of the three (RIP) blues. I like HB, but I love IB.
St. Andrews Cross is definitely one of the options on miniusa.com - look in section 5.
Good luck!

 

My dealer said the optional oil change and tire rotation at 5, 15, 25 is not free. While 10k, 20k, 30k service is free. Did I get ripped off?

 

You did not get ripped off. Mini pays for Oil and other service at 10K miles, again 15K miles later (25K Miles) and final free at 30K miles. That last part still confuses me... shouldn't the last serice be at 40K miles 10+15+15= 40

 

Where'd you get that info/impression? Had my second dealer change at 29K (lots of highway miles), and the next scheduled one is at ~45K per the DME. They certainly didn't SAY anything about a 30K (or 36K) change. Dealer did offer to flush the brakes after two years though - I was a few months shy when they did the oil change so they told me to come back.

 

Hi there, once that free maintenance is up, do expect ANY work done by BMW to be kinda pricey.
I was informed that their hourly rate was just increased to $120 an hour during a visit to get our airbag light reset.
They had to run a diagnostic check that costs $400. even though I told them it was the switch under the driver's seat, the fix was zip tying the switch so it wouldn't break contact the next time I hit a bump on the road. sheisty!

Anyway, I look at my MINI is a extension of my r/c car collection, fun to work on, very rewarding to drive and have fun with.

I say go for it btw.

 

Cooperflags.com

 

Anything done not under warranty will be expensive. If you know you car will be driven and you really don't want to incur heavy maintenance costs, purchase an extended warranty from BMW before your's is up. Or you can get one from warranty direct.com, they advertise here.

mb

 

That's because those intervals are all approximates. What MINI will pay for is the service that is recommended by the service inicator in your car during the period that your maintenence agreement is in effect. That means that you may be in for your first oil service anytime between 8k to 12k depend on your driving habits, and so on...

 

Hi everyone. I'm new here and wanted to refresh this '05 thread. I'm about to place my order for an '06 S and wanted to check in with the local experts on current maintenance costs. (It's taken me two months to decide between the cabrio and hard top, btw). I was going to call the dealer and ask if they can supply some kind of rate sheet - ?? From everything I've read here I'm prepared for it to be expensive in a few years, I guess. I'd also like to find a local MINI expert to avoid those high rates (No Ca, Bay Area).

Thanks all,
the newbie

 

Big MINI community here. If you don't want to do work yourself, or deal with dealer rate$ ($140/hr at MMV), we have Bay Bridge Motors in Oakland, Edge Motorworks in Dublin, and probably a few more.
Given that you won't have to pay for anything until 2009, I'd say wait until 2008 to gauge the market at that time. All rates will likely have changed.
P.S. Welcome!

 

Hyper Blue is not Indi Blue. For a while, I was thinking of getting Hyper Blue. Until I saw a Hyper Blue parked next to an Indi Blue. Then you can see the difference. Why MINI dropped Indi Blue I have never been able to understand.

 

Are alignment adjustments covered under warranty? My car is out of alignment at 1600 miles

 

Non-sequitir? Anyway,
RIP Indi blue. I'd have an '05 if they still had it. I miss the gearing a bit, but IB just does it for me in the looks department.

and back on topic...

Not unless you can convince them that it was out of alignment when you picked it up - road hazards, and all.

 

According to MSN Autos, the MINI has a low total cost of ownership:

Total Cost of Ownership: $23,621 (average: $33,085)

 

Well that depends...

They're not part of the maintenance plan that covers oil changes and the like, however if there's an issue with your suspension that has caused you to fall out of alignment then your warranty would probably cover it...

But let's keep it clear, your warranty covers defects in essence, it does not cover any regularly scheduled maintenance issues (oil changes, wiper blades etc...) In the US your MINI also comes with a maintenance plan that does cover most regularly scheduled maintenance.

 

The finance guy at my dealer really pushed hard for me to buy extra coverage like the road hazard and the maintenance extension. I turned those down, but Geico offers a "mechanical breakdown" coverage only on new cars .

It's not a direct comparison, I know. Once the service coverage is up, I'll try to do some maintenance myself. I was mostly worried about getting stranded somewhere after the regular warranty was up and having to pay for BMW/Mini dealer service. The Geico folks said that breakdown coverage applies to any vendor I choose, not just some list of Geico approved stations.

 

geico is great. I opted for the extended service coverage too

 

There really are NONE...Most have parts from mexico, Canada, china, korea etc and the costs of maintaining one are not cheap either! The bigger question is reliability...American cars have come a long way,,,just not far enough for me...My other car is a Honda Element...Uglymobile....same price per hr of labor, built in the USA but with japanese engineering...Refinement usually means reliability!

Why do you think they are all in trouble? Buy what you like,,,do your DD and do not look back! I usually buy a new car every two years (2 car single guy...My USED Mini is a keeper! FUNMOBILE!

We are just learning from the Europeans and Japanese how to refine autos,,,and we still have a ways to go! Cost of ownership can also be found on the net,,,I think one spot is KBB.COM

I have learned to do the basics on my Mini since my dealer is 120 mi away and I enjoy it! HOWEVER...places like kragen will stock parts for American cars before the exotics!

 

In my experience, once out of warranty the MINI is VERY expensive to maintain. Brakes are easy, oil is easy, the belt is simple enough, but thats about it. Anything that would require the dealer service is expensive.

 

Your dad is worried about the reliability of German cars? It's definitely not up to par with Japanese reliability, but compared to the American car companies... . FORD=Fix or Repair Daily?

Sure, maintenance isn't cheap, but like others said, what maintenance is? If it costs 180 on a Mini, and 140 on a mustang, and that's enough to sway your decision, then this isn't the car for you.

Also consider what everyone else said. Free Maintenance for 3 years 36,000 Miles, and a warranty for 4 years, 50,000 Miles.

 

Which sounds like a pretty compelling reason to get an extended warranty....