I absolutely love driving my 2007 s (54K)....However, i'm not filthy rich, and once, out of warranty, it starts costing...

I realize it's not an "appliance" car (Honda, Toyota, etc.), but come on, the frequency and cost of repairs is really bad.

In Warranty:

- Chain Tensioner (twice)
- Vacum Pump
- Sun Roof (twice)
- Warped hood scoop

Out of Warranty:

- Dealer wanted $680.00 for front brakes (I did it for about $60.00)
- Dealer wanted another $600.00 for rear brakes (I did it for about ($50.00)
- PVC Valve (it's built into the valve cover) $700.00
- Water Pump $700.00
- Radio display gone dim $1,153.00 (this is the final straw...)

None of these things are major items, but the cost is crazy. And, unfortunately, I think this is just the begining....I can't imagine what a clutch, turbo, or anything of signficance costs....

I have a 2001 Toyota Camry with 150k. It's never been to the dealer for ANYTHING. I paid to have the timing belt replaced at a local shop for about $350 @ about 130k, and I do the brakes myself....THAT'S IT..

Again, the MINI is an absolute BLAST to drive, but the lack of reliability and cost is just not worth it for me....

 

Wow was it the Ferrari dealer ?

Since it is a franchise, I have seen some variances of repair estimates before but even when I subtract parts costs labor seems to have a 30% mark up over most.

Where did you find front pads and rotors for $68 dollars ? ( Surely the $680 quote from the dealer wasn't for just front pads/sensor...lol. )

Guess you must live near one of the expensive ones....

GL!

 

Why would you take it to the dealer if it is out of warranty? Either do the work yourself. If you cant do the work yourself find a local shop to do it at a fraction of the dealer prices. All cars need work done some time or another. I agree the parts for the Mini are more than Hondas and Toyotas but the fun factor out weighs the cost if you can do the work.

 

I agree, mines only been to the dealer twice, both times under warranty, and for recalls. Everything else I've done. These cars (at least the 53) are actually pretty easy to work on.

Nik

 

True...They insist on replacing the rotors when it wasn't even close to necessary. So, if I were to unnecessarily replaced the rotors, it would have cost me about $120

 

I find it strange that you (and others.) include wear items as if they are failures or defects. Every car needs brakes replaced.

 

true....I was just including that to show the ridiculous prices my dealer charges. I don't regret buying this car - it is an absolute blast to drive....I just feel like it will be extremely costly to hold on to it. I didn't mention it above, but I think I'm starting hear the death rattle again (this makes it three times - this one out of warranty), and I can't imagine what that fix costs....I'm sure it's at least $1,200.00.

I also didn't mention above that when I bought the car, I bought the "Tires for Life" program for $2,000, which entitles me to free tires for the life of the car. Well, 7 months after I bought the car, the dealer says, "sorry, but the third party company went bankrupt, so we cannot honor what we sold you"....I admittedly have a little scar tissue over this.

BTW, my SA urged me to call Mini USA re: getting help for the $1,153 charge for the radio fix. Today I called them and they said, "Sorry you're out of warranty, but we will make a note of it...is there anything else we can help you with?" Lol....

 

You should try a independent mini shop for your repairs. I paid 600 to have front and rear both done. so the 600 each from the dealer seems nuts. they timinging chain issue might not be expensive depending on what needs to be done. i had the death rattle myself but it turned out to be just the tensioner and it only cost 120$. the stereo will probably be expensive just because it has it built into the speedo. so i guess my point is you should try a independent shop and see what they cost. i have had a lot better experiences that route.

 

Not to kick you while you're down but I never, ever buy the first model year of a new model or a major makeover of an existing model.

Hope you have better luck with your next car.

 

Yea, I hear you...I've heard that numerous times, and I believe it to be true. I actually purchased this car as a surprise gift for my wife, not knowing anything about Mini's - I'm kind of impulsive like that. And, honestly, we both fell in love with it and have had a blast driving it. I wouldn't be surprised to find myself at a Mini dealer down the road, once I get my kids thru college.

 

I completely understand. And sincerely.... sorry you had a bad experience with this MINI and good luck on your next car and your next MINI, should there be one.

 

8/26 Update:

I got the car back last week after the PVC/Valve cover replacement. The symptoms were still there: runs rough at cold start for few seconds. Dealer asked me to bring it back the next day, which I did. They told me that they were unable to recreate the problem, but would keep it another day....they did give me a loaner even though I was out of warranty...much appreciated.

The following day they sent me an email and told me they were finally able to recreate the problem and diagnosed carbon buildup. This fix would cost $988.00, but MINI USA would pay half...Needless to say, I was not happy - questioning the need for the PVC fix in the first place. I told them not to do it and I would be in to pick up the car. When I got there, the SA told me that when they went to move the car, it started really rough and they were in the process of replacing the fuel pump. I know these cars are complicated and hard to diagnose, but this blew me away. If I had given them the "go ahead" for carbon fix, I still would have had the same problem, and possibly would have been stranded on the side of the road after having $1,700.00 worth of repairs done.

Another reason for my frustration is that when I filled out the form when I dropped of the car (in the night drop box), I wrote:

"Rough starts: codes P2188, P2065. Possible fuel pump?"

This was based on research done on this site.

They stood by their diagnosis for the PVC and the carbon, but were very understanding of my frustration and agreed to do the carbon fix for free. As you may know, the fuel pump has an extended warranty (10 years) from Mini due to so many failures.

Who knows, maybe my symptoms of rough starts actually did have three causes (PVC, Carbon, and fuel pump), but seems pretty coincidental.

The dealer was very understanding of my frustration, and did take care of me...My SA was very good. Having said that, I still think it may be time to let it go. I'm just not convinced I'll be able to get 150k+ miles out of this car without sinking thousands of $ into it...

I'm really not posting this to bash Mini...I just wanted to relay my thoughts/experience. In fact, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I may just find myself back in the Mini showroom once the kids are out of college...

 

get over the dealer and find a good shop that knows minis, so that labor and parts become reasonable. I don't know the Gen2 foibles, but here's my experience with Gen1:
it's a small, complicated, high performance powertrain, so most repairs and maintenance are a little more expensive than in many other cars just due to the amount of remove and replace needed just to get to the parts. there are some components that aren't the best design (such as radiator overflow tank, low speed cooling fan resistor, dip stick, motor mounts, etc.) that can be replaced with better designed aftermarket parts. real preventive maintenance and fluid changes at realistic (NOT FACTORY RECOMMENDED) intervals will also go a LONG way towards keeping you happily motoring.

If you take care of it and don't let little things become big problems, it should last a long time. the basic design of the Gen1 motor is sound. Gen2, not so much.

BUT, it's a limited production performance vehicle (compared to a Civic or Corolla) so the parts are more expensive, less readily available, and the whole system in general is more "high strung" and closer to the performance/breakdown edge than a boring econobox. things will break more often and cost more to repair. If the fun:cost ratio does not work for you, you will never be happy.

But if you compare it to owning a Porsche, BMW, Jaguar, or most other high performance/luxury brands, the cost of ownership is similar or less. And it is actually not that hard to do a lot of the work yourself if you decide to become handy with a wrench, a Bentley manual, and the internet.

Comes down to what you want and are willing to put up with. If carefree ownership is the only acceptable option, either you can afford to trade for new and let the 3/36 maintenance program cover your needs, or you need to buy something different.

 

A little late on my update...After getting the car back from the valve cover replacement, carbon cleaning, and fuel pump replacement, the CEL (p2188 - rich at idle) came on again. Took it back and they said a hose (not sure which one) was cracked and leaking oil into the PCV system, but they said it was possible that they caused it when the replaced the valve cover so they fixed it for free...

Since then, my wife and I have taken a few long weekend road trips (about 500 miles each) into the mountains of West Virginia to watch our son play college football....We have had gorgeous weather here in the east, and the mini has been a pure joy to drive....so I'm torn...

I'm thinking of looking into an extended car warranty...I saw that Costco offers something for cars with < 75K...I'm a real costco fan, and typically they offer quality products/deals....Anyone have experience with the Costco offering?

 

I have not personally dealt with Costco, but if you financed the car, you may want to double-check with them as well. Some banks/credit unions offer very decent extended warranties. I, like you, have an 07 Mini Cooper S with 55k and I am starting to run into trouble as well. Definitely check for local shops that specialize in European vehicles, or even better, MINI's. I knew anything BMW was going to be a pain in the rear, BUT, I absolutely love my MINI. Heck, if this one ever dies, I will more than likely consider a newer one! Anyways, back on topic, check with the financial institution you financed from - IF you financed.

 

I can relate to the concerns of the OP. We have 6k miles on our CMJCW right now and it's perfect. No hint of an issue. BUT, I have read a LOT about many serious problems with Mini's....And it's not just a few folks with problems barking loud....JD Power is no friend of Mini if you know what I mean.

We are struggling with what we are going to do at 50k miles. My dealer wanted $3800 for a 100k miles/8 year warranty(actually it's only a 50k mile extended warranty).

When we are close to 50k, we are going to call Mini dealers all over the country to see if we can get an extended warranty at a somewhat sane price.

The repair costs remind me of our Porsche Cayenne S we had. We loved that vehicle more than anything we have ever had. But when the warranty got close to running out, we started getting electrical problems out the wazoo.

We begged Porsche to let us get an extension to the warranty, but it was not available, so we had to get rid of it....Mini and Porsche are very close in their parts/labor costs...astronomical...

 

Get out while you can, OP, these cars are money pits once you're out of warranty.

 

OP, if you don't have any warranty on the vehicle, I would sadly have to say that it's probably best to part ways.

I knew the cost of owning anything BMW before purchasing my 07 MCS, so I got the extended warranty for my car. Brakes and basic maintenance like those listed in your owners manual are not going to be covered under a warranty, that's pretty typical for most cars. Of course, this does also vary by manufacturer but that's at their discretion.

 

We did get the extended service plan which handles maintenace items to 6 years/100k miles, including the clutch. We both drive the car like the engineers meant for it to be driven, so I'm pretty sure we are going to go through normal wear items pretty quick!

 

Lucky! My extended service plan doesn't cover normal wear components. Absolutely love my MINI though. The boyfriend has a GTR, and sometimes I prefer my little MINI over it.

OP, MINI's are not cheap to own. Always do research before buying a vehicle. BMW's are notorious for repairs, and especially the MINI line.

Stinks that you are considering parting ways, but you have to do what is best for you!

 

Just hit 52,000 and got a cel. And a $400 repair bill for an emissions pump. Traded it in today for a new Forester. Had a blast for 3 years but I have zero confidence in the reliability of a warranty-less MINI. Esecially when still making loan payments.

 

It goes on...Since I started this thread, the CEL (P2188 - Rich at Ilde) has come on 3 times, reuslting in 3 trips to the dealer. Here's what they've done so far:

1. Valve cover replacement due to bad PCV
2. Carbon Cleaning
3. Fuel Pump
4. Intake Hose leak. They said they may have cause this when they replaced the valve cover so there was no charge

Last week I got another (4th time) CEL - again P2188. The SA tells me this was caused by old software??? He said I was multiple versions behind - it was the original software.

Two Questions:

1. Why didn't this happen in the first 55K miles? His answer: "I don't know...maybe different tolereances"

2. Why didn't they update my software while the care was there before? His Answer: "We only do it if we find there is a problem." This makes no sense. Software, unlike some hardware, is either good or bad. It does not "gradually wear out".

Does the software explanation make any sense to anyone?

My SA is very nice and patient, but I must say, this has been frustrating...

Thanks for listening.....Still on the fence about keeping it...

 

For starters, find a good, independent shop that has the correct diagnostic tools. As a comparison, we charge $349 for the carbon cleaning: about 1/3 the price of the dealership. We use the factory cleaning tools.

It sounds like you have a pretty good understanding of the MINI trade-off. It's not going to be reliable like a Toyota, but then again, you're not driving a Toyota (you're having some fun).

 

^^^ Well said.