I have a 2006 Mini Cooper Base with 46k miles on it. It was safety inspected at the time of purchase and had a clean bill, but now (only 2 weeks later) I have a couple concerns.

First, I went to refill the wiper fluid, and noticed the coolant reservoir was empty. I called the dealership and asked why this wouldn't have come up in the inspection, and they said that wasn't part of it. I don't know if it was empty at the time of inspection or not.

So, I took it back to the dealership (Ford of Kirkland, whom I unequivocally do NOT recommend) and they filled the reservoir with water. I thought it was a little strange not to use anti-freeze, but I don't know enough about cars to argue so I went on my way. A couple days later, I checked and the reservoir was nearly empty again. I backed it out of the garage, and there was a little fluid on the ground. It looked light brown, but too clean and translucent to be oil, at least what I know of oil. However, since the car was just purchased it has fresh oil in it so maybe it could be.

Does anyone know if the brown liquid and empty fluid reservoir could be related?

I should also note that the car has been running perfectly, and never even come close to overheating, even after driving in traffic. I absolutely love the car, I just want to make sure I'm taking good care of it.

I have an appointment to get it looked at in a couple days, but I would love to hear the opinion of you Mini experts!

 

Your empty resevoir has a 99% chance of being a leaky thermostat. A FORD dealership may not know a thing about MINIs. Take it to an independent mechanic who knows how to work on them, or take it to the dealer. I had the same problem and they replaced the thermostat under warranty (it is an '06 as well.)

Even out of warranty it is not a very expensive job, I think it's under $200. Good luck!

 

Thanks Danny! I really appreciate your help. I've looked around on the different forums for an independent repair place (hoping to avoid the high cost of the Mini dealership as I just bought the car), and I've seen a few people who recommend Group 2 Motorsports. Is there any place in Seattle that you (or anyone) recommends?

Thanks again!

 

Don't waste your time with the ford dealer. Take it to someone that knows MINI's and have them look the car over. You will most likely find a leaky thermostat this is the most common coolant leak. There is an updated one available.
This would definetly cause the res. to go dry. Since the ford dealer didn't even bother with the coolant level, I'm guessing a MINI shop will find a few other things they didn't notice. Then I would compare what is found with the inspection check list from the ford dealer. If you find something that was checked ok, that needs to be replaced. I'd say you had a lazy tech that just checked off the list and got his hour paid. This is what gives us good mechanics bad names.