Hi

I've been shopping for a replacement for my 12 year old daily driver. My requirements are that it starts when I need it to, that it is moderately fuel efficient, that it doesn't eat me alive with repair bills, and that it is fun.

I'd say that they are all important, but fun is slightly lower on the list because I already have a British "hobby" car sitting in the garage which eats up most of my spare cycles. I mainly need my new used car for commuting and for wet days when I don't feel like subjecting the hobby car to the elements.

I've mainly focused on 02, 03 models because that's the sweet spot where I can afford to pay cash and because that's about all a daily driver is worth to me. I've driven two, an S and a non-S. I loved them both, very much in fact. I've never had that much fun in a 4 cylinder. They are amazing vehicles. It would also get slightly better mileage than what I have now, certainly better than most things on the market.

The bad news however is that in all my years of driving I have never seen so many catastrophic repair failures reported. There seem to be an awful lot of angry owners out there who have been faced with crazy expensive transmission, steering, and electrical issues, and even cars that have burned up. The trans issues seem to be the worst. However I'm not entirely certain which trans are suffering? I would only consider getting the 5 speed manual. Is this the CVT or is that the auto? Or are the problems occurring with both? People very often aren't specific.

Having also just purchased my first home and being in the middle of remodeling it, it would bankrupt me to spend all of my free cash on a car and then have to fork over $7K because it breaks down. What are the real odds of this happening though? It's really hard to tell because people don't go to consumer affairs to write about the fact that they've never had any problems with their cars. It can give you a very skewed perspective.

How do people here feel about theirs? Do you cross your fingers every time you turn the key, and hope that you won't end up having to call a tow truck that day? Because if so, I already have a car like that and can't stand to have another.

Thanks for the help!!!

 

I've got an 05 S never been to the dealer for repairs ... daily or near daily driven ///

The early 02/03's had loads of troubles mostly ALL the Auto CVT trannies ...
If you are buying from a dealer I'd suggest the extended warranty . A power steering pump can set you near a grand

 

I bought a used 2002 Mini Cooper S a year and a half ago. A year and a half later it still only has 84,000 km on it, but I started having problems with the steering. I live in northern Ontario so I was driving down south to take it to someone who has worked on Mini's before and the transmission went on it. I was told the damage was so bad that they couldn't rebuild it, they could only replace it. The cost to replace the tranny is going to be between $5000-$7500!!! That doesn't include the steering problem or fixing the clutch which I was told will also have to be done. I will probably have to sell my Mini because I simply can't afford to spend this much everytime something goes wrong : (

I have read on other forums these past couple of days that these are common problems with the Minis. If you are looking for a car that won't cost a lot to repair, an '02-'03 Mini probably isn't the best bet.

 

Yep, this is what I was afraid of. I can deal with having to do maintenance, but not the kind that cost as much as the entire value of the car. That's just too much to ask. I ended up getting a Beetle TDI 5 speed. It's not as fast, it's not as cool, it doesn't handle as well, but it won't bankrupt me, and the vast majority of the repairs are relatively trivial in nature, and can be handled by a competent home mechanic.

If the newer Mini's prove to be more stable over time then I may consider one in a few years. Good luck to all you mini owners!!

 

I purchased a Cooper brand new in 2002. December 11th to be exact. I commute 65 or more each day. My Cooper shows 146769 on the odometer this morning and it hasn't been into see a dealer since May 2004. It hasn't needed anything since the warranty expired except tires, wiper blades fluid and filter changes regularly and gasoline. Very little of that however, now considering my commute is 80% freeway at 75MPH, I have averaged between 77-38 MPG since new. I have only had 3 fillups where I got below 35MPG since new. I would drive my car on a 3-4000 mile trip tomorrow without hesitation. Buy a good used 5 speed (never had any of the problems you've mentioned).
Enjoy it, PS I also live in the foothills (7000 ft altitude) so I have driven through plenty of deep snow in it. With 4 snow tires of course.

Scott

 

I own an '03 Cooper that I bought used from CarMax in 2005 with 19,000 miles on it. I have had the following issues:

Transmission replaced at 30K miles because of intermittent problems getting it into reverse (5-speed). The tranny the dealer put in isn't much better in that regard.

Failure of window switches.

Failure of oxygen sensor.

Rewire of left headlight due to intermittent failures.

Failure of rear window washer (still haven't fixed this).

Failure of cooling fan for power steering pump.

Replacement of rear brake rotors at 50K miles (not enough metal left on them to turn them, even once).

Intermittent problems with automatic climate control and computer/GPS.

Have gone through two sets of tires (which cost about $250 per tire) in 60K miles (they just wore out - and I'm hardly a hot rodder).

Add to this that the thing is an absolute slug getting onto the highway and it gets about the same gas mileage as my old Chrysler LHS, and no way would I buy another one. I wouldn't still have this one if I were in a position to trade.

 

I must follow up to some of these posts. I have heard of several of these issues, I just tried to point out that someone who takes care of his vehicle would find a MINI to be as reliable as anything on the road and in my case it has certainly been frugal both from a repair standpoint as well as a fuel perspective.

Brake disks on BMW's are never turned (BMW owner since 1982) and 50,000 for a city driven car is respectable besides they brake disks are cheap. If you want expensive check the price on Toyota or Honda brake disks that will stop your heart.
Window switches, oxygen sensor and headlight wiring are all new incidents to my knowledge. I have been watching threads like this since 2001 when this car became available in England.
cooling fan for power steering is somewhat common but, in my MINI Club,(MINI5280) I am only aware of one other person who had that issue. NO one has had transmission issues to my knowledge.
Navigation units have shown occasional problems but, I would love to hear details about the auto climate control and computer. These are usually a lack of knowledge about how the units were meant to work.
Tires, wow first off, don't let anyone sell you runflats very expensive and not great treadweat because they are high performance tires. High performance tires typically will see 15,000 to 20,000 miles before replacement on any car. If you don't need the high performance runflats, buy some name brand H rated tires and expect 35,000 to 60,000 miles out of them.
Comparing the acceleration of a Sedan the size of a Chrysler LH and a MINI is silly of course they won't be the same and as for fuel mileage, unless this was an automatic you are driving mostly city stop and go and aren't driving moderately at all.
It's too bad forums such as these are primarily filled with na sayers because they feel they were taken to the cleaners. Go to some real enthusiasts forums like North American Motoring.COM or MINI2.com you'll get a little more unbiased comments.

 

I think all opinions have some validity. The problem with asking a question like this in a true enthusiast forum is that you get answers that are predominantly, well, enthusiastic. In cases where people have either the time, expertise or or inclination to resolve problem themselves, then they generally cease to view it as a real problem if they love their car enough.

As I mentioned in my post above I ended up settling on a VW TDI which when viewed objectively is not exactly trouble free either. The deciding factor for me was that the list of complains on consumer affairs was many times longer against Mini as against VW, and the complaints against the car I went for fell into a few specific themes, whereas there seemed to be many more themes with Minis.

I loved the two test drives I took in minis so more than likely I'll be checking back with a similar question in a few years to see whether problems seem to be stabilizing in later model years. Unfortunately I have a religious objection to paying over 10K for a driver level car, so I would have to wait until the later model years have some time, and depreciation behind them

 

Add me to the nay-sayers group. I have a 2002 Cooper S, that has been babied. All maintenance done on schedule, never seen snow or cold weather, and has had all kinds of issues considering it is only driven five months out of the year. Clutch and flywheel, head gasket, and now the water pump, for $1150.00, and an oil pan gasket for $550. Add up the odds and ends and Ralph Schomp Mini in Denver gave me a bill this morning for $2800.00. My 540i M Sport isn't this expensive to fix.

Do I love the car? Absolutely? Dependable, not so much. Expensive? I guess it depends on your perspective. I'm kind of over it. I love it when it runs, but the repairs are starting to get a little crazy.

My comments are hardly biased. I drink the kool aid, and love my car, but this is a bit over the top for maintenance.

 

They've fixed a lot of the issues w/ the 02 and 03 models, but of course, the newer models are going to be more expensive. I have a blast with my 05 Mini and haven't had to make any unneccesary repairs yet so I'm in the Yaysayers group.