Just hang in there. Think oranges instead of lemons!! You said you had a warrenty, excellent! At least not all of this is out of your pocket! I have a 2002 MC and so far, it's had just 2 really minor things like the overhead shade (fixed for free by a bmw dealer) and a really scary high pitched noise that shouted at me for a second, left me panicky for about 2 days...no noise or problem has shown up and dealer went over it and thinks it might have been a rock in the brakes. Good luck with your baby!!

 

wow. ok. I just read more and are you serious. You said owning it 3 months like its brand new. its got 51k miles on it. what do you expect? its used.

 

My '02 is trouble free at about 87k miles. (Somethings needed fixing years ago, but nothing for some time now.) I guess I'm saying, at least for me, the car is not falling apart as it gets older... so I've got that going for me, which is nice.

 

Buying a used mini can also work in your favor when you find one that seems to have been pampered with low mileage!

1st run a Car Fax...then contact the serviceing dealer to find out what services were performed (and/or repairs). Sometimes, your own Mini dealer can get MOST of this info if the Mini was serviced by another Mini Dealer.

After you do your DD...then decide. IT'S WORTH IT! I have saved a bunch of $$ and the autos are "fully tested" not used

Here was my routine...after doing the above (closest mini dealer is 120 mi away). I learned how to do my own oil, filter, and air filter chg. I immediately ordered in oem parts and did them even though the service records showed proper mini service interval ((one 2003 had 24,000 and the newest 2004 has 18,500 miles)

In each case, the filters and oil were filthy as was the oil! I AM NOT A FAN OF THIS 10,000 MI SERVICE STUFF! Oil/filter every 3-4000mi and air filter serviced at 10,000mi/ or as needed. I am not a great fan of K&N but one was readily available and I think better than the oem paper one!

Car makers today with the maintainance warranty (service included) could care less if your auto engine blows after 50,000 warranty ends!)

 

You are right, it's used and I should expect things to start failing, like the sensors, but the upper strut mount and the seat frame, no way. Those items should last longer then the car itself. That tells me sub-quality parts are being used on these cars.

I'm also used to Toyota's, that's all I've ever owned until now. Toyota's are built to last but are not near as much fun to drive, hence the trade off. The Toyota's spoiled me.

She's back home now and the ride difference with the replaced upper strut mount is noticeable, a more solid feeling in the front end. Keep your eyes on these mounts fellow MINI owners, any sign of cracking get them replaced. They inspected the drivers side and it is in great condition.

My frustration is coming from the frequency of the repairs, a lot in a short amount of time more so then the failing parts themselves. I expect things to fail, it's an imperfect car built buy imperfect people, I just did not expect so much in so little time, that's all.

 

Look at the bright side - now you have got those things out of the way. And with the extended warranty, you have got coverage for anything else that fails for n more months & y more miles. I would be much more unhappy if I had had to eat the cost of all the repairs. Since you are out $50, that sounds like a pretty good deal. As you have said, none of the repairs were lethal to the car; just things that needed attending to.