Are Mini's that bad?

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Friend of mine wants me to buy his 2005 Mini Cooper S. It has 186K on it so he wants very little for it. He bought it from the first owner, a friend (that I don't know) but a mutual friend said the first owner was always working on it.

It's not for me but am curious if Mini's really are that bad.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Yes, I've had two. They have a number of very common issues and are terrible to work on. Everything is cheap plastic and snaps together, and gets loose with age.

[sand_man]

Back when I was in Porsche sales, we had a couple pre-owned ones on the used lot. I wanted to like them, but as already mentioned, eveyrthing had a cheap feel to it, as if all for show. Can't imagine what's left after 186k? I never worked on one, so just sharing my impressions of the cosmetics and fit/finish as I familiarized myself with the inevntory.

[Nostril Cheese]

Yes, they really are that bad.

Avoid.

[Christien]

I had an 06 convertible S for about a year and a half. Had about 40k miles on when I bought it. Loved every minute with it. Top down was great, decent in the winter, even without snow tires. Spent a day at the track with it, which was a blast. Torque steer is pretty bad, but you can have fun with it.

As said, everything is plastic, and yes, feels cheap. The "brushed steel" dashboard was plastic, all the "chrome" is plastic, even on the exterior. Mine had no problems at all, other than a recurring airbag light, which I read was related to the sensor under the driver's chair. The solution, if you can believe it, is to clear it and not move the driver's chair forward or back while the car is running. Maybe ours was the pick of the litter but we had very few problems with it. The ONLY reason I got rid of it was that the kids hated the small back seat, especially in the winter with boots and snow pants. I definitely see another one in our future, once the back seat isn't required anymore.

Automatics of that period are problematic - stay with manual.

[Joe Ricard]

Yes mini's are that bad.
My 07 Cooper S is spread all over the garage right now recovering from a blown head gasket.

The whole effin front end has to come off (service mode) to do anything. and something else has to come off to get to what needs to come off. Mini Dealer wanted 2800 to start to fix. and it would possibly go up from there as things were discovered. I have 800 in it doing it myself with new t-stat H20 pump and head surface and all the gaskets. been 3 weeks and it sucks. will certainly be for sale when done. NEVER AGAIN.

[aschen]

With friends like those........

[zelrik911]

The young chick who lives in our block of units has a mini wagon and she looks pretty cool as she darts around in it. She is a girl driver and doesnt stress any of the mechanicals.

Was a huge surprise when the timing CHAIN let go and destroyed the engine.

She was fortunate to find a low mileage mini engine out of a wreck from Japan - the whole thing cost her over 8K.

If you can get the mini at a realistic price, it might be a fun car, but just be prepared to be the last owner.

[Rick V]

At least the switches for the windows and fog lights are way cool.
I have worked on a pile of them and you couldn't run fast enough to give me one

[Nostril Cheese]

Yep, thats right. The pulley on the Mk2 Mini is a press fit.

Lots of cost cutting in these cars.

[Brillo]

Avoid!! Wife had an '08 Clubman S. Fun car to drive, terrible everything else.

[Por_sha911]

These are probably worse but worth the effort:

[targa911S]

I had a 1965 COOPER S The most fun car ever. You could NOT break it.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

it wasn't a real consideration but thanks for posting, good to know. I bought a set of used wheels and tires for my Tundra today on CL, 4 Toyo Open Countries 2 of which were new, 2 good, for $120 (LOVE CL!) and while driving was thinking that I haven't had a car break down for 3 years. Last time was my white E320 wagon axle snapping in half. Other than that, I've just done regular maintenance like the timing belt on the truck this summer. I can't imagine owning a car that needed things to be fixed all the time.

[JDC PDX]

I had a JCW Clubman and hated every second of it.

[5String43]

I dunno, I'm on my second S model and haven't had a lick of trouble. I like it a lot. Sure, the fitments are a bit on the cheap side. What do you want for the price? They sure are a blast to drive, and way faster and more reliable than my SC was. Plus, it has AC that works, important here in SoCal.

[sc_rufctr]

Originally Posted by Por_sha911

These are probably worse but worth the effort:

Actually the classic Mini's are very reliable. They were hugely popular in Aus. When I was a teenager they were often a first car for many young people.
Even today there are many still being driven daily and we have a very active local club.

This is one variant that was a lot of fun to drive and again very popular locally.
There was even one featured in a Love Boat episode (filmed in Australia)

[R K T]

We had two S's....there won't be a third.

Best thing was we could squeeze it into the garage with three other cars.

[Scuba Steve]

A friend bought a convertible one used from somewhere in Maryland for his wife. It's probably about four years old and at this point I'm waiting to see what happens after reading a few Mini threads here and elsewhere. Should be interesting.

[jhynesrockmtn]

Ex GF had an 06 I believe, automatic. Cheap feeling car but would probably have been fun with a manual. The auto in that car was horrible. By 60k that car shaked and rattled like coins in a soup can.