GEEZ,... I just found out that the MINI is a box of problems,.... OT by the way,...

[overkill]

I was over at minicooperonline.com and I read all about how everyone over ther loves there mini and how great it is. Then,... I come across all the problems these cars have. Try this,... this one guy is replacing his windshield for the 4th time!!!! He had 2 stress cracks and I think he said the other 2 were cracks that formed from stone chips. What is that all about? Then I heard about windows, sunroofs, and doorlocks all operating all by themselves all at the same time!!! Even while this one guy was driving it back to the dealer to get fixed!!! This one guy parks his mini in this underground garage thing he has at his apartment. He locked everything and made sure of it. When he got back to the car,... all his windows were down, sunroof up, and doors unlocked!!! GEEZ. Then some of the mini's have cold start problems. This one guy was complaining about his his car feels like it wants to shut down when shifting from 2nd - 3rd or something like that. People locking themselves in the car. Thats right,... locking themselves in their cars. The car is one huge computer. The door mechanism is actually a switch and not mechanical. When you pull the door lever it trips a switch and the car lets go of the door. IF I WANTED THIS MANY PROBLEMS I MIGHT AS WELL KEEP MY CAR!!!!!!!!!!! The car is soooooooo nice though. I dont know what to do MINI or Jetta? The MINI S has a six speed transmisson ARGH.

[Z-man]

Moving to OT, by the way... -Z-man. **

[Bob's944]

here are my thoughts on the cars...

Mini- best slalom car in the world currently, F40 like numbers. very limited in carrying capacity, bmw maintance costs, should have excellent resale (approx 55% after 4 yrs), extremely prone to hopping on segmented highways, first year "pain -in -the-butt" nitpicky problems. High profile car for attracting both good and bad attention.

Jetta 1.8T 5sp- good all-round car with limited rear seating, but functional. Excellent trunk space and cargo capacity. Fast out of the box, chipping easily makes it faster ( www.upsolution.com ). Better than average relability, window drop-out has been solved, as has the faulty coils. Should be able to expect about 50% resale value after 4 yrs on all VW's. Stealthy as far as attention getting goes.

Jetta GLI (VR6 6sp) sounds faster, feels faster and is faster than the 1.8T in most areas except off the line where the 1.8T has a 0.1 sec advantage. Part of that might have to do with the fact that the 5sp in the 1.8T gets 65mph at redline in 2nd, the 6 speed is just under 60, requiring one more shift to hit 60. It's a true 6 speed with 2 output shafts, one for 1,2,3 and 4, other for 5 and 6. Great all round road car. More expensive to make faster than a 1.8T.

Jetta TDI... 40 mpg around town and 50 on the hwy is awsome. The Upsolution chip makes the TDI as fast or faster than a stock 1.8T. (they reburn the factory chip, so you shouldn't have any warranty issues). You would need to have factory suspension and tire upgrades to compete with the others in handling, but that can be done at the dealers. If gas goes up, expect resale value to be much better than other gas cars.

GTI 20th Anniv 1.8T 6sp is due out soon, package deal is low $23k range and available only in black metallic, bright blue or bright yellow. Has all the tuner goodies that the model 337 did last year, only this one has a sunroof.

Jetta Wolfberg Edition 1.8T 5sp, Jetta GL pricing (under $20k) but with Sport seats, 16" BBS wheels... my choice for best deal... 16" rubber is plenty in this car, and the price is hard to beat for all that you get.

If you wanna wait and spend alil more then.... this summer the new R32 is out... around $30k for an AWD 241HP GTI w/ 6 speed or Audi/VW's new paddle shifter for like 4 grand more. Badd azz paddle shifter, developed from 80s Audi rally tranny, it blips the throttle for you automatically for you on downshifts, and prespins the next gear on upshifts... if you like automatics.

[Frank B]

Hey Overkill, try to kind the posts that posted on Mini's and few other choice pieces of Shyte... nice looking but a barrell full of monkeys to handle and keep up with...

[overkill]

Come again Frank B???

[JTO]

My 2000 Jetta TDI was an absolute piece of dung. It was in the shop so much, the service writer was sorry for me. It died on a narrow country road, heavily travelled by vacationers. My kids and wife and I were stuck on a blind curve with a completely dead car. Had to tow it 150 miles to get to a VW dealer. A faulty starter relay was the culprit. I went through glow plugs, MAFs, wiring harnesses, etc.

Don't buy a VW, unless you want to get to know your dealer really well!

Troy

[dd74]

The problems you list sound isolated, though I haven't looked on the minicooper.com website.

Take this with a grain of salt: the Mini is SO popular, if the complaints were perpetual errors, there would have been a recall, and this whole board would be talking about it - not just one thread.

For my money, the Mini has it all over everything else, including the R32. I saw the R32 at the L.A. Auto Show, and sure, it's nice, but for 30 large w/o dealer mark-up???

Man, I'd much rather get a first generation Golf or Rabbit, sink down a fifth of $30K and kick an R32's butt up and down a canyon.

JMHO, of course.

[bell]

2 words..........dodge omni glh-s
you can find a nice one for around 2k.
0-60 <6sec.s 1/4 in 13-14 range.
my clone will run the 1/4 in low 13's on street tires.............pull .9 lateral g's and still get 20mpg.
perfect daily driver and will embarass mustangs/camaros all day long
but hey if you want a car that's not 15 years old that's your decision

[scottmandue]

Overkill, I though about trading in my 944 for a Mini, kind of scary how much we have in common!

However...
Strike one - What Wayne said, I never would but a car first year out, give um a few years to work the bugs out.
Strike two - Front wheel drive, not my first choice in a performance car.
Strike three - A few miles down the road a guy had a car for sale, black/black 968 M030 60K miles $18,000... need I say more?

BTW there is a Mini form here yaknow!

[924S-fast]

by a pinto!