I'm looking to buy a new car and have always thought minis were great little cars and it seems like the first gen minis suit all of my needs and wants in a car. The only problem is I can't drive stick leaving me to looks at automatics. My real question is how bad are the CVTs? I have read tons about them on both this forum and other places and everyone says to avoid them like the plague. One thing I haven't been able to find out is how often they fail. I'm sure everyone who has been hit with a $7,000 repair has taken to the internet. Is the failure rate 1 in 100 or is it more like 60 in 100? I've found a 2005 base mini with 92,000 miles but if I'm going to end up paying for a new transmission soon then I'll probably end up looking somewhere else.

A little background about myself, I currently drive an old range rover that I bought rather broken so I'm no stranger to DIY repairs. I'm just concerned about possible transmission failure.

Thanks so much for any input
Tyler