Now this is ironic. A few days ago I was so sad when our MINI was in the shop overnight ... I really missed it. Now it is gone. (No flames Please. If you want to flame me for selling my car, please take it elsewhere).

 

Continuing

I have to say, this was ONE FUN CAR.:thumbsup : Drove great. Handling? Everyone talks about the great MINI handling and the vaunted twisties. Yup, very good. The best around for the money!. There are better handling cars but cost a lot more. GREAT for the PRICE ... You cannot get better for the price!!! GREAT GREAT CAR.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, and the UGLY

And here is where the rubber meets the road. We have two fundamental needs. A fairly good mileage commuter car for me that can haul stuff (home depot lots of never ending stuff) and the fun car. Reliability is VERY important. I knew full well the issues with sporty cars. I expect my commuter to very reliable and they have. Spoiled on Toyotas. However, my wife drives the MINI every day and I do NOT want her breaking down with limp mode or any of that crap

The Good

Never had yo yo, broken windshield, clutch issues, mushrooming. Car is about the most FUN you can have. EVERY person ever coming to the house, delivering stuff or strangers on the street ALWAYS comment. ALWAYS (I'm talking about people we dont know).

The BEST community and culture of any car vendor I ever seen

 

Some final thoughts ...

Again, I want to thank Mark F, the moderators, all my virtual friends, without this site, I would have never learned so much. I love OT!

As to the car and why its gone.

Our MCS JCW MC40 was just about the MOST fun car we have ever owned.

My wife loved dressing it up. I loved to find small mods and do whatever I could. It is a go cart on rails. It was the perfect size for my wife commuting around time and still having some power. Gas mileage, 25 mpg, not exactly a commuter car but not bad at all for the FUN and that is what its all about.

The MINI HAS to be the absolute best value for the money, bar none for a fun, sporty car.

Why sell it? Two reasons

Too much time at the dealers and lack of reliability.

 

hummm... im reading your long posts and i don't understand..you
say you're a car enthusiast but you kept the RF's as your primary
tire...RF was the first thing i removed from the car along with the
heavy wheels. and now you sold your car for a car that can
carry home depot stuff...

As far as wheels, you could've just ordered one wheel, put it
on the car without using the lugs and see if it would rub the
caliper or not. if not, send that one back and order a whole
set of wheels and have tires mounted on them. nothing that
sounds really problematic...could probably test and have the
tire mounted set within the same week. you'll lose like $25
for shipping, but who cares... (?)

... waiting for Part3.

 

Yes - because real enthusiasts who blast through commute traffic and the occasional backroad at 7/10ths need Volk wheels and Pilot Sport Cups......

Frankly Chows the only thing I don't understand is your fanaticism, nay fetish , for the checkerboard thingy.......


After three years of ownership the crappy customer service, endless trips to the dealer and a host of unresolved issues drove me away too.

 

No, thats not what I meant. I posted about this in the tire forum to get opinions on what people do with the OEM tires. Overwhelmingly, virtually everone said they kept the RFs until bald and THEN bought Eagle F1 or whatever. Nobody wants to buy those RFs and I saw no good reason to just throw away that money. That is what I meant.

After many emails with Alex, he could not guarantee the lightest SSRs would fit. I wasnt going to order one, try it and then send it back ... I'm not that much of a machocist. I also am not doing autox or anything like that so I was waiting until the RFs went and then do something.

 

wow, that was long. Sorry you were not so happy with your MINI. I have had mine 3 years...well, over 3 years now. The only problem I have had was with the gas gauge...which was replaced under warranty, and I got a free hat out of it . I have done suspension, intake, exhaust, seats, and a billion other visual mods to the inside and outside, and still have no problems and I feel the car is the most solid car I have ever owned.

Makes me sad to see someone so frustrated in a car they loved so much.

What did you end up with?, there was so much information, I may have skipped over that section.

you should link parts one, two, and three in each seperate post so as they drift around on the board, people can find them easier....ie--part 3 should have 1 & 2 linked at the top of the thread, and part 2 should have 1 & 3, etc. Just a thought.

 

People are definately finding this out the hard way - this needs to be addressed if the MCS JCW is ever going to fetch top $$$$$$$ at Barrett-Jackson.

 

ROFL ...

Exactly my point. With no racing, I really saw NO point in throwing away tire money until bald. If you want the very last ounce of performance, sure go for it.

I read your story many times and know the MM issue. That was said too.

CHECKS Now that is a story in itself.

When the car was new, the wife said the roof needed checks, she liked them. So they went on and some checkered mirror covers ..... Then it got out of hand

 

Cars.. You have to be lucky to get a car without many problems to deal with. I mean that applies to every auto makers.. If you get unlucky and pick up a car that is bad from the start, everything will go bad later on..

Justtttttt Gotta be lucky.

 

Threads merged.

 

who DO NOT take care of the customer after the sale. My car has 26000 miles on it, was at the dealer once for motor mount and radio issues, and has had NO OTHER ISSUES. I have had several aftermarket suspension setups on it (search koni fsd) as well as popular mods in the pulley/ic/cai vein. I love this car as much today as I did when it arrived, and my wife, who was lukewarm going in until the suspension and tire changes, recently told a sister she loved it!! that was amazing for me to hear from her. My point is, if you had been dealt with correctly at the dealer level, and the jcw suspension dialed in correctly or removed and your $$ refunded if the pull wasn't correctable, you might have had a happier, longer experience.

 

thank you....the 3 thread thing was gonna be hard to follow.

 

chows- yep, excuses excuses. a consistency and pattern i keep
seeing. j/k hehehe.

really, it was chatting with you chows. and good luck with your
new car.

over and out.

 

That experience was a major irritation. I went back and forth, taking time off from work, I was so fed up. And to tell me I might have to buy camber plates???? Please.

I would say though that that dealer was a great dealer. Treated me with great respect and I WOULD recommend them to anyone. I suspect it was all new to the mechanics at the time (but its still customer service experience).

 

yeah, yeah, yeah.....once unhappy, hard to turn someone back around.

so, back to my question...What did you end up with that sparked your interest?

 

chows maybe i missed it in the long post or soemthing, but what did you end up getting to replace the MINI

 

very long read, but sorry that you had to let it go, but you needed a reliable car, and your MINI wasn't doing that for ya.

 

So chows, ya gonna get another p-wagon? We just traded our 04 325i for very similar reasons . . . dealer was great, but things were breaking that shouldn't oughta break . . . keep in touch.

 

Interesting read; I always enjoy reading others experiences (both good and bad).

Funnily enough, I just read the new car part of your story, chows4us, on another forum earlier today (I don't post there, because I'm not getting one of those for quite a few years...) -- since you haven't posted here what your new car is, I won't spoil it; but I will say it sounds like a whole lot of fun

 

since i last posted i saw it too, so let me say chows i hate you in the best way possible.
good luck, and do keep us updated on your mini replacement on NAM, as in id love to see some pics

 

Chows - I've read every single word...I understand how issues like yours can get SO frustrating that you just don't have the patience to deal with them any more....Take care and we hope to see you post in here still...

Donna

 

I get it. Maybe because I have it too

 

:( i'm sorry to see it gone, but i know it's frustrating. I went in for the same problems numerous times. Even though i was aggravated, i just couldn't bring myself to selling it... until i realized throwing 900 a month out the door for it wasn't the best idea for me right now

hope to see you stick around OT. i remember when we were at the same post count, then when i fell off the earth and came back your posts skyrocketed!

 

am I missing where you let us know what you bought/are buying as a replacement?