Just wondering what is the highest mileage CVT equipped MC out there?

With some horror stories about CVT failiures on MINI2 ... I'd like to hear some positive stories.

 

I have an '03 I bought used with 2200 miles in Spring of '04. Since then, I've put about 28k on it. I've gone to the Dragon 3x with it, tracked it at 2 2-day Phil Wicks schools, and have driven all over. The CVT has never given me ANY problems. I generally average around 34 mpg...more on the Interstate.

 

The car I bought had made it to 110,632 when the CVT failed - providing me with a significant discount as I bought it broken. I installed a new (reman) from Mini and have put about 4000 trouble free and super fun miles on it. It is so much fun to drive now that I understand how to wring the power out of the belt-box setup. I would do the same again.

 

So MINI is remanufacturing some of those broken CVT's now? Do you know if they are beefing up what breaks (what is braking in these things)? How much do they get for a remanfactured CVT? Sorry for all the questions....enquiring minds and all...

 

Apparently the belts degrade or break. On the one I replaced, the belt was intact, but made a loud grinding noise when in gear, moving the Mini enough to move it into the garage. I took the pan off after it was out and there were metal shavings that looked like the edge of the belt attached to the filter magnet.

I scouted all over for a used one, but the best I could find was going for over $2k plus shipping. A used one would also have potential issues. There was a company working on getting these from the Belgium factory for sale outside of the Mini Dealer network, but they were months away (that would be about now) from doing it.

The retail price for a reman is $4250 (Feb 06). My local dealer wanted over $5k with their parts margin . I bought it from Classic Mini (the BEST!) at a 20% discount from retail with a 2 year part warranty (along with all the supporting parts). I had to pay around $150 for freight and return the core for another $100 which got me my $500 core charge back (above the ~$3380 I paid. They also wanted a few % for using credit card, so I sent them a check).

Based on my manufacturing knowledge, I assume the reman contains the improvements made to the components but I can't verify it. The swap was a one-person job with a trans jack from Harbor Freight and the typical garage tools - couple full-sized floor jacks. The manual calls for pulling the engine, but I went the route of dropping the subframe and lowering the CVT with the engine in place. The fluid, new fasteners, seals, etc. brought the total to around $4000. My labor was about 20 hours and pretty standard difficulty for a front wheel drive transmission swap. Look for my posts either here or on Mini2 with same username for additional details and pictures.

 

I've got 71,000+ trouble free miles on my '04 (11/03 build) MINI. And while there's lots of highway miles in there, a good portion of them have been to get to the Dragon and similar places! I'm also rarely accused of driving like a sane person. In other words, my CVT hasn't had the easiest life!

I'll admit though, I am a bit nervous about it. Enough so that I got an extended warranty to 100,000 miles. Hopefully if it decides to blow up, it'll do it before then!

-Paul!

 

Thanks for the reply strZ0001. Great info and I'll check out your other posts here and at MINI2. A couple years ago I thought I had read that this CVT was built with a larger belt and other parts for another application with more power and was hoping that by the time I need to replace mine that this tranny would be available for MINI application. Probably only wishfull thinking though and since MINI is dropping the CVT they will never be interested in fixing the weak links.

You are very right about what fun the CVT is once you learn how to really utilize it. I suspect that many users just aren't gearhead enough to figure it out and really wanted an automatic (which this isn't) thus leading to some of the negative response the CVT has received. And from reading all the webs it appears that the other trany available at the time for the MC (2003 for mine), the midlands 5 speed, had its share of failures also. I love my CVT and have never had the software upgraded or anything. Actually the car has never been to a dealer since I bought it over three years ago. No dealer within days of here so I do all my own maintenance and on a more frequent schedule than required. So far the car has been flawless except for a failed HK amp....knock wood. Thanks again.

 

my 04 MINI has about 26,000 miles on it now and have had no problems. I am having the trans fluid changed today, using the RedLine CVT non-slip fluid

 

My wife has an 05 cabrio with 44k on it. not a problem yet, but be sure you change the fluid at the recomended intervals. It made a noticable difference in shifting. And she drives like a sane person unlike me in my 07 mcs.

 

I read a newer thread on this a while back that went on for about 3 pages; "Post miles of problem free CVT Minis" started in early March '09. Forty-two CVT drivers responded positively, with the high mileage winner being 165k miles.

On the other side of the coin, my search for "CVT failures" here led to 16 reported cases (10 on a single thread). I don't know what their failure rate is, but replacement is expensive (reports ranging from about $6k to $8k at dealers).

 

I read a post on here where someone bought one from Classic Mini for around 4000, before the 20% discount you get from them for being a member of NAM

 

I just hit 70k. No issues so far. Somebody mentioned a warranty though... How reliable are these so called "warranties" and who is the most reliable?

 

I traded mine at 74K.......the Clubman is GREAT!

 

I'm a little afraid to jinx it, but my '03 Mini just rolled onto 140k and no CVT issues yet. Actually in 7+ years of ownership, besides regular maintenance, I've had to replace 1 fuse and the mechanism for one of my automatic windows.
Wow, now I AM afraid of a jinx

 

Just hit 92,500 miles with no problems. I changed the CVT fluid at 37K, 62K and will do it again at the end of this week. I use Aamco for the fluid change. With the fluid (which is expensive) they charge $250 plus tax.

 

I have 95,500 miles on my CVT. Unfortunately I didn't put them all on there since I bought it used. I am hard on her, but I keep her maintained. We just had the fluid changed a few thousand miles ago too. I've had more trouble with other odds and ends than the big stuff. I hope I haven't jinxed anything either!!

 

I got 47k on my MC so far! Will be changing fluid in August.

 

A friend of mine traded his '05 in recently with 153k!!!! on it. Truth be told it was pretty clunky towrd the end.

 

98,600+
2nd owner. Had it for a year. No problems. Just had the fluid changed with Inspection 1.

 

Appreciated your post on the cvt not being what some might expect in a transmission and some of the negative responses, about it. Love the feel of my cvt and wouldn't have it any other way.

 

80K so far...and expecting to get a lot more out of it.

 

I'm the second owner of mine and it has the second CVT. First on lasted until 96K she now has 132K. No issues so far. I have the receipt from Mini of St. Louis and the previous owner spent almost $6500 having it installed at the dealer. I plan to change the fluid as soon as it arrives from WMW. As well as the control arm\sway bar bushings.

 

I just put rear pads on an '03 that's closing in on 200K on the original CVT, and his car gets tracked at least 2-3 times each summer!

The only thing he does is have the fluid replaced every 30K at the dealer, he figures even as expensive as that is it's way cheaper than replacing the transmission!

 

My 03 has 250,000km. Haven't had any problems with the cvt yet(knock on wood).

 

I am closing in on 100,000 miles on my 2003 mini cooper CVT. runs fine and i like it!
Other then random repairs i have done for my coop, runs like a champ! I love minis.