Hello all: I just got a red with black top 2009 Mini Cooper non S with 92K Kms for my step daughter. The car was a one owner car with all sevice records from a local Mini/BMW. Being a 2002 Miata and 2011 328i owner, I can appreciate a fun car and a well built car. The MINI seemed like a good combination and I thought the car would be a safe buy.

Less than 100kms in, I have the CEL on and a local BMW/Mini specialist is saying it’s a $2600 timing chain issue. THE car also seems overly smoky and seems have a leak or is burning oil that is definetly noticeable in the cabin.

Any suggestions? I really love the way the car drives, but it already seems to be a money pit. In comparison, in 16 years and 135k kms on the Miata I’ve never had one issue or light come on. Even the BMW at 88k kms has been quite reliable.

Did i I get a Lemon?! You guys seem great and ALMOST as passionate as the Miata forum users and I want to enjoy the car as much.

Please help! Love the car. Hate the idea of it never working.

I Have scoured this site for relevant threads and I know there are several possible issues to resolve, but I’m wondering if anyone has any logical path to resolve the issues I’m having in a cost effective path.

I really love the car and want to keep it, but I suspect my Miata will tell my ‘I told you so.’ When it comes out of winter hibernation in a few weeks.

Thank you for reading.