I'm considering purchasing a MINI and have been perusing the forum to determine the pros and cons of the model.

The timing chain issue is extremely troubling. This sort of issue is indicative of some really poor engineering, at least from my perspective as a mechanical engineer.

What I can't determine from the various timing chain related posts is whether this issue affects both "S" and "Basic" models, or just the "S" model. Can someone please clarify?

 

i will venture to say that I think the timing chain issues have been blown a bit out of proportion. If you go on any forums for any car you'll find people that have had similar issues w/ their cars no matter what make and model. There are plenty of us MINI owners w/ no issues. not sure what the percentage is, but i'd guess it is a very small number that has had issue w/ their MINI's. -don't write of a good "S" or "Basic" model because of a small percentage that have had issue.

 

Agreed that pretty much any consumer feedback is biased towards complaints. It's just human nature to be more vocal when you feel wronged, as opposed to when you're happy.

That being said, the fact that MINI has released new parts specifically designed to mitigate the timing chain problem pretty much confirms that this issue is not isolated to a very small number of cars.

I don't expect that any German car will be as reliable as an average Toyota/Lexus or Honda/Acura, and I'm okay with that. However, having to replace a timing chain at significantly less than 150k miles, or seemingly in many cases at significantly less than 90k miles, is pretty ridiculous. If the timing chain design is that problematic, they should have designed the engine with a timing belt that is replaced every 90k.

 

A guy I know pretty well and work with sometimes had his go and leave him stranded on the back roads of PA....he has an S...I am not certain of the year...he was off warranty...he said MINI paid half of the repair...told me that the MINI mechanic told him to change oil way more often than suggested.

He still drives it ...

 

The timing chain issues that you read so much about are almost solely confined to the S models. I can probably count on one hand the number of non-S instances of timing chain issues that I've read about.

My impression is that most of the problems have been eliminated starting with the 2010 or 2011 model years. The issues were much more prevalent for 2007 - 2009.

 

I think there is truth on both sides here. That being said, I do believe that there are a lot more tensioner problems out there than should be. But that isn't the actual problem.

The problem is that MINI refuses to extend coverage to owners who experience failure after the warranty expires. They know they have a problem. They know that the chain is stretching which is why they are now making a longer tensioner to take up the slack.

As of now, there is no recall for this. There is a TSB located here. If you are under warranty, then it is something they will cover.

Back to your question of should you buy one. Well, this is a MINI forum. Those who have not had good experiences with MINI have gotten rid of the car and no longer hang out on MINI forums. I doubt many here would tell you to stay away.

I have a 09 JCW and had the timing chain tensioner handled under warranty by previous owner. I have not had any issues. Oh, and this car is FUN!!!

 

From what I've read online, in here and other forums, and through things like Consumer Reports, the Justas aren't as problematic as the S cars. And given that they've been in this version of the build for a good 5 years now should mean that they've worked out several of their problems. Does that mean they're guaranteed trouble free? Hardly, but the odds are most likely improved in your favor.

As an owner of a problematic S, here's the best advice I can give regardless of which model you go with. If you're buying new or a used that's still under warranty, be sure there's a dealer relatively close to you. If you plan on keeping the car past warranty, get a triple A membership. Even if you're still under the roadside assistance plan, go with AAA, raodside can't help you on private roads like turnpikes (I found that out the hard way.) And, if you want to keep the car longer than 4 years and they offer you a decent deal on the extended warranty, get it.