I have a little bit less than 5K miles left until the factory warranty expires. And I'm a bit worried. So far I've been to the dealership for warranty fixes ranging from weird rattling noises in the door panels to a faulty water pump and a faulty supercharger. My S is my everyday driver and I'm worried that even larger problems will occur after the warranty expires.

Does anyone else share these concerns with me? Has anyone with an expired warranty come across any major malfunctions with their MINI?

 

If you are really concerned you should start researching extended warranties quickfast. I doubt all are the same but you cannot purchase some of them after the factory warranty runs out.

 

We have a 2002 Cooper CVT, bought brand new over 4 years ago. Our factory warranty expired back in September. Car today clocked exactly 40K miles. No problems to speak of. We will keep the car until early 2008 when MINI releases the '08 R55 MINI Clubman wagon.

My wife's Cooper has been quasi-obssesively maintained since new and it seems that particular approach has paid off in a very reliable car. We did not buy an extended warranty.

A friend of mine ( and member of our local MINI club) he owns a MINI independent service shop. So if anything happens outside of regular maintenance, he'll get to work on the car.

 

If you are on top of the maintenance, you should not lose sleep over certain catastrophic failures that may well never occur. I have owned 3 MINIs and in my experience and over 90K miles combined under my belt (Driving them day in and day out for over 4 years) these cars are pretty solid pieces of hardware.

 

I looked into an extended warranty. There are only 3rd party warranties available and not factory. There will be a deductable for any and every thing you get fixed. I had a 3rd party warranty on another car and will probably never buy another one again. They are just not worth the hassle. Remember that the only reason the company is offering the warranty is because they have done a tremendous amount of research and are VERY VERY confident that the cost of repairs will be less than that of the amount you pay.

That said I have a 2003 MCS with 32,000 miles on it that is still inside its 4/50k factory warranty. Buying an extra 4 years and up to 80k miles was going to cost $2400 AND included a $100 deductable for all claims. I am playing the odds and hoping that I don't have more than $2400 in repair bills.

 

I did not get one. I figured if too much happens I will sell it for a new one before too much else happens. From the sound of it, many people go far beyond the warranty without any issues and we just hear about the ones that have them here on NAM.