Mini dealers & engineering are something else...

[Deschodt]

We bought a used Mini cooper last week, seemed like a decent deal for a fun beater that we'd use both as a backup car and week end toy (cabrio). Things started to go wrong upon exiting the dealership parking lot, but that's not really the issue (modern cars, you know) I'm ranting about the design of the car and fleecing of customers....

The airbag light came on - turns out the sensor mat under the passenger seat (a US only addition) goes bad. No biggie right? Ha ! The sensor mat is glued to the seat bottom in a manner that requires replacement of the entire seat bottom, or in some cases the whole seat (at the rate dealers charge you can be better off swapping instead of disassembling) - $1600 to $2000 depending on dealers... (the selling dealer is covering this but I almost feel bad for them). It's recalled till 2005. Not after! ??? Same part is recalled on Bimmers for 06-08 I think, not Minis (same part, same manufacturer too).

Then the water pump supposedly leaks. OK fine, we can do this while the seat is on order (we got a lot of time). Get this: $1400 quote, with a straight face. For a water pump. As I recall my old Cayman S pump cost $800 to do. A Mini Cooper's is 1400? Apparently you must disassemble the entire car to get to it. Clever ! I declined and passed by an independent mechanic who quoted me $500 or so... How do those people stay in business with such blatant fleecing? And such poor design? The car is a riot, but that's gotta affect the used market, wouldn't ya think ? (not even, high resale values). I don't get it. Anyway that's my warning if you are considering one of these cars....

[GH85Carrera]

A buddy of mine bought one new. He loved it but after the clutch went out TWICE in 20,000 miles and fixed under warranty he sold it before the warranty expired. And no it was not abuse. He only drives manual transmission cars. He sold his old Honda appliance car with 200,000 miles with the original clutch. His Miata has over 100K now on the same clutch.

[Rednine11]

I bought a used Mini S I only kept it a year or so. I had nothing but trouble with it. I liked the car and it was a blast to drive but its hard to work on and parts are too high. something was always broken on it

[biosurfer1]

My parents sold their 2001 not long ago, one of the first of the boat. Not sure if the issue is still around with your model but make sure you tighten the spark plugs OFTEN, other wise they blow out and cause major damage that all falls back into the engine through the plug hole!

[5String43]

I hear all this but on the flip side, I'm on my second MCS - the first was a 2005 Hardtop, the current one is a '13 Clubman - and both have been flawless. Maybe I've just been lucky.

[Deschodt]

I already know this is not going to be a long termer in my household.
Besides getting a Cab was a bad idea - it's more flexible than cooked pasta.
From what I read, everything (clutch too) requires taking the entire car apart to get to... Shoulda researched this more, but I owned one of the first Minis years ago and had zero issues with it, so I did not think to do my homework. It's all the more frustrating in that it's a hoot to drive...

[aschen]

ive heard alot of similar stories with the minis

Even people who love them usually say ownership is a bit of a pita

[Deschodt]

The car is on thin ice... Next big bill and it gets traded in. Shame, there is nothing else like it in that size (great for city parking). It is a lot more fun than, say, a Honda Fit ;-) BTDT with a GTI (great cars, just not that small). Hopefully we can drive it more than 2 days in a row soon...

[twobone]

I like my 2015 Cooper, but small trim parts are falling off.

Also I keep getting recall notices:
-Did not pass side impact standards - they need to add additional bracing
-Not accurate sticker in the door jam

I think when the lease is up, I will be walking away just out of fear of long term costs

[Dantilla]

Thanks for the confirmation.
At one time, I considered a MINI after hearing how wonderful they are to drive, but after learning about their maintenance history, I'll pass.

[Deschodt]

Originally Posted by Dantilla

Thanks for the confirmation.
At one time, I considered a MINI after hearing how wonderful they are to drive, but after learning about their maintenance history, I'll pass.

That's the truly sad part. I hate FWD cars..except this one ! It truly is a gem to drive. But clearly they cannot build/engineer them to be reliable.

[VincentVega]

Funny, I feel the same way. I'm on my 2nd one and I'm still on the fence. I really like driving it, its just what I need for 90% of the time but I'm not thrilled with the rattles and I'm not sure of his long term viability.

[John Rogers]

I am not sure about the newest Minis but the first ones had an engine and drive train that was designed by Chrysler, built in Brazil (I think) and sat for a while until some bean counters found a "good deal"! There was some strange engineering design in the 2003 model I bought and sold in 2009 when the engine started making some unusual noises when cold. I used heavier oil and made sure it was hot whenever someone came to see it and finally sold it for cash to a guy with a funny accent from L.A. I got a ticket for car pool lane violation about 7 months later and sent back the copies of the paperwork from the sale with his info on it and that was cleared up.

[Deschodt]

Tell you what though. I'm super impressed with the dealer that sold me the car (Ford lincoln of Livermore). "As-is" car... Not sure about the legalities of an airbag light in their parking lot, but....
They agreed to replace the entire seat (stupid design) for $$$$. And they are trying to meet me half way on the water pump, buy the parts, put in some labor $, something... That's really pretty good on a used car. If only Ford made a car I want, I'd really consider those guys!

Fingers crossed I get the thing back sometime this month !!!

[jwasbury]

I've posted this in other MINI threads...

Great cars to drive, but terribly designed POSs IMO. Wife and I bought an '06 MCS new. To be fair, the car was reliable for us, but there were far too many stupid little maintenance issues for my taste. Once out of warranty, I had initially planned to DIY on the car. Spent the $ on the Bentley book (excellent, BTW), some special tools, and my first DIY project was an encouraging success (serpentine belt replacement). When I decided the clutch needed bleeding is when DIY went sideways. Let's just say that the clutch circuit appears to be un-bleedable (to me). Yes I know the factory method is to maintain the slave cylinder in a compressed state during bleeding, I did that. No dice after literally hours of futzing. I gave up, called AAA and had the thing towed to the dealer. Service writer at dealer said their tech took "several hours" to bleed it. That's a factory trained tech, with all the correct tools. Ridiculous!

My wife really likes the MINI so it was her call to trade up for a 2013 model. I told her I wanted nothing to do with it. Still trying to convince her that the Cayman is her next car...might be getting somewhere with that

[jwasbury]

^BTW, anyone interested in a slightly used Bentley manual for up to '06 model year, PM me

[onewhippedpuppy]

Agreed on the fun to drive, but the lack of quality and sound engineering is absolutely incredible. I've had two, you couldn't give me another because I might have to work on the POS.

[911SauCy]

This thread has inspired me to complete a little creative writing piece I left unfinished about a month back...you'll see

[recycled sixtie]

Reading about the Mini's in the latter years I am amazed at how problematic they are. It seems that since BMW deanglicized them they have issues.

My 1970 Austin Mini had 30k trouble free miles until it started to burn oil. Even though not enough heat it was a blast to drive and was an economical car to run.

I think BMW/Mini marketing is very effective and I question its long term future. Too bad. Great concept but quality issues.

Guy

[onewhippedpuppy]

I find BMW build quality sorely lacking. So you take the same engineers and designers and ask them to make a CHEAP car? Yikes....