Hello all. I am brand new to the Mini. Just got a 09 Clubman S auto.
Got it friday and put 700 miles on it this weekend and drove awesome.
I know NOTHING about these cars. How good are the 09 Auto's? I have one with the paddle shifters.
I know NOTHING about what package my car has, anyway to find out? Can the vin but run anywhere that would tell me what I have?
Anyway to find the maint history of the car if it were done at a mini dealer. I had carfax pulled and it is clean but showed not maint history that I have seen for other cars I have bought.
The car is clean like friggin new with 77k. The motor is spotless, interior like new. That tells me it has to have been taken care of.
What are the weak spots with these cars? At 77k any maint things I need to tend too?
It is an S with the turbo, never had a turbo, anything I need to pay attn to there?
ANY hints, tips, what ever would be great guys and gals. I have a few pics of the car in my garage when it was still at the dealer. I drove it two days in a row, test drives then got it last Fri and put 700 miles on it. Drove great.

 

No one can help me with my questions? Please?

 

Everything under the hood is a weak spot. Really, get an extended warranty. It will pay for itself on a mini.

 

Really, everything under the hood is junk? Where should I buy this warranty then? I just bought the car off a Ford lot.

 

wow. no, it's not that bad.

yes, you should get the warranty, contact mini directly and see what they can do. i believe the extended warranty will cover you to 100k, but double check that.

check the forums for the r56, the motor is the same in the hardtop and the clubbie, so you'll get more info there. the r55 isn't nearly as popular so that's going to be of more use to you than posting here.

as for finding out what the car has on it, try calling mini directly. there are vin decoders, but it probably will be easier to just call and ask. i know that if you sign up for the owners lounge and use the "track your mini" feature it does give you a list of the installed options on the car. maybe try that. you can also get the maintenance records from any mini dealer, they just need to run the vin (as long as it was serviced at a mini dealer). they can also probably tell you what's in the car. it's not a bad idea to take it to your local dealer and have them take a look at it (and change your fluids), there they should be able to give you all the info they have on it.

the major things to look out for - timing chain tensioner failure and carbon buildup. again, check the r56 forums for more info on that, there are tons of threads. turbo's don't require too much extra maintenance as long as you don't mod them. just use premium gas, get your oil changed, and don't do ghetto mods and you should be fine.

good luck with her and enjoy!

 

^This^

It's not that bad. I'm not a warranty kind of guy (I think warranties pay for themselves less than 50% of the time), so I wouldn't advise you to get one. To each their own. MINIs are not Toyotas in terms of reliability, but then again, you're not driving a Toyota

 

register with mini usa. timing chain recall (may?) be coming. keep up the oil changes regardless

 

Just look at the list of things that are considered "common" failures of the N14 engine.
1. Water Pump
2. Aux water pump
3. Thermostat housing
4. Timing chain tensioner (can also destroy the engine if it fails)
5. Vacuum pump (can destroy the engine if it fails)
6. Carbon buildup ( catch can+meth do not stop it)
7. Turbo oil feed line clogs and destroys the turbo (I am on turbo #2 at 50k miles.)

These cars are fun to drive but they have weakpoints on some very basic engine components. I have a 20 year old saab 900 that has the same water pump it left the factory with 20 years ago. Saab reliability is spotty at best, but atleast the simple engine parts like the timing chain don't **** up.

 

I did called the Mini dealer here in Cincy. He was able to tell me the warranty work on the WP for the Turbo was done. He says that a year ago the timing chain was replaced. What is the cause of that failure and when fixed do they use upgraded parts/
It had the carbon buildup issue, also fixed when TC was replaced. He saw no other info on other repairs.
He did say there is recall now, just released in the last few weeks to put a heat shield on the turbo oil line to stop the buildup in the line.

What is all this N14 or R56 lang I see all over the site. What does it mean? Version of the car/motor?

Thanks for the help guys.

 

So I can call MINI USA or whom ever it is and they could poss offer me extended warrant? I assume I woul dhave to take to a mini dealer first to look ove the car. What do these extended warranties cost? How **** are they to honor them?

 

Owners Lounge? Here on the site?

 

I am reading that if these car overheat that if don't shut it down quick you are possibly looking at a new motor in your future.
Why are the tstat housings failing? At 66k should I replace mine? Flushing the radiator a job I can do on my own. i prob can't get most of the fluid out but most it better then not doing it.

 

Seems this car can be more testy then the 97 Jag XK8 I owned. ha ha

 

got a 2009 clubman S and bought it also from a ford dealer, 77000 too
got it , sept of this year, after a month of using it, i had coolant leak, brought it to a mini dealer & they charged me 333.00 to fix IT 163.00 for labor & the rest are for parts,
anyhow the service advisor told me that i got a 3 major leak so it need to be fix, after paid them & i check my receipt when i got home , all they did was to replaced the expansion tank (WTF .. that i could have save lots of money not paying the labor. $ 65.00 only for that part + coolant, yes they charge me 44.00 for coolant)

same time told them there is a open recall, so they installed a turbo heat shield, drove the car back home, the following day used the car & white smoke ( burning oil) is coming on top of the turbo, where the installed the turbo shield, i think that they Damaged my turbo oil line when they clip that damn shield, because i drove the car for a month, never saw white smoke, until they installed that shield ,

then they told me that my oil vacuum pump need to be replaced too..
WOW giving me a MAJOR headache & killing my wallet

I did ask a local mini dealer in my area, how much is to extended my warranty, he told me 2100.00 for 2 yrs, and you have to pay it upfront, to financing or terms

i have your clubman check at a dealer if theres any problem, bring it back to ford if you still have your 30 days warranty from them, i did not had the chance to to go back to ford with my problems, because everything happened as soon the 30 days was up

Good luck

but i still love driving this car & hope to solve all its problems

 

Well no warranty from the Ford dudes. I tracked down the dealer that serviced my car. It was a one owner that was maint'd quite well. Did have the timing chain tensioner and cam bolts replaced, had the Turbo water pump replaced. So I feel pretty good about the car at this point.

 

that dealer said he would charge about 400 or so to flush the auto tranny for me but said he would do it at 100k, I am at 66.7k.

 

R56 is the car 2007-2013.
N14 is the S engine used from 2007-2010. It was replaced by the N18 which is supposed to have a better PCV system.

 

Thanks man. This is a confusing car for a newbie. ha ha