I have a 2012 Fiat 500 which has been flawless much to my surprise with close to 150,000 miles on it and I'm looking at purchasing a Mini Cooper for my next car.

 

 

Not sure about the 3rd gens. We are not to far off from a 4th gen now too. Maybe another couple years at most. I have had to put a ton of work into my r56 though. Im at about a 100K now and will probably keep it another year or so, im thinking of going a bit bigger and getting a golf r next. With my second gen it seems to have all sorts of electrical gremlins. The other though I had is even though its a different class of car and more $ I may get the new supra when it comes out. In that case I would keep my mini as a 3rd car.

 

Coming up on only three years and my experience has been good. Consensus is that build quality is much improved over previous generations. We’ll see how I do when I’m out of warranty. I remembered this article. http://www.motoringfile.com/2018/02/...ts-struggling/

 

Allot of it depends on your budget. There are still some great Gen1 cars out there with either low miles or excellent maintenance records. Yes the MINI is a complicated vehicle and if not maintained properly can be a hole in the ground where you throw money, but there are allot of other cars that fit that same description.

 

Mini is stupid expensive to maintain and repair. If you do get one, go with the base and skip the S model.

 

150,000 flawless miles on a FIAT. Doubt anyone has ever done that with a MINI or BMW. It sounds like a pretty rare thing for any car. I guess the term "flawless" needs to be defined.

My 14 F56 needed several things, all under warranty
Our 16 F55 has been pretty clean running, but still low miles.

 

I had 41,5 on a 2012 Fiat 500 Sport - minimal issues. There's also a 2015 Fiat 500 Sport in the family with minimal issues (and its in Alaska).

 

Yup!
My first gen MCS has 155,555 miles and it's perfect. No leaks and no loss of power.
Just get a car that's been well maintained and you'll be happy.