High Mileage MINI's
 

I'd like to hear from some owners of high mileage MINI's as I intend to keep mine for well over 100K milesand am goingI am going to be living in Asheville which is 80 miles from the nearest dealership. Up untill now I have owned mostly Hondas and Nissans which have routinely delivered unparalled reliabilty even when poorly maintained and at well over 100K. Can I expect the same kind of quality with a MINI? I have heard electrical problems are common, any truth to this?

Please advise

RE: High Mileage MINI's
 

Asheville, NC? I have family there. Nice town.

I owned two Hondas before I bought my '04 Cooper. '89, '97 Civics. Strictly on reliability the MINI cannot compare. You WILL spend $$$ just to maintain a MINI with BMW service rates after your warranty runs out. Just the hard truth. It also never helps to have only one dealer to go to. If they suck where do you turn??? I live in NJ and have 3 dealers within 1hr of my house to choose from so your situation is a lot dicier.

Now the good news.....
My '04 Cooper has over 114,000 miles on her and I still love the car as much as the day I picked her up! Sure she shows her age a little bit and has some battle scars, but everytime I drive another car it only reminds me what a great car my MINI is. Driving anything else just doesn't compare. For me that's been worth the $$$. I've never regretted buying her.

I've had repeated problems with the power window motors, but other than that it has just been normal wear and tear.

Good Luck!

RE: High Mileage MINI's
 

Good topic, I have been wondering this myself. Thanks for the inputs! Anyone else have similar experience with high mileage MINIs??

RE: High Mileage MINI's
 

I am new to the mini world. do you have to take the car to a mini dealer after the warranty runs out? there are 2 excellent mechanics specializing in foriegn cars nearby i was thinking of using after my warranty runs out. my dealer is 50 miles away so is ia a concern

RE: High Mileage MINI's
 

no, you own the car, you can do what you like with it. I do not plan to take it to the dealer after the warranty is up due to cost of repairs and the 3.5 hour drive to the nearest authorized dealer.

RE: High Mileage MINI's
 

I too would like to know about the longivity of the Mini Cooper. Thanks for starting this. I have a 93 Honda Accord EX with 321,195 miles on it and feel it should go to above 500,000. I am really looking at the 08 Mini Cooper Clubman S and really want to know if thatsuper charged engine can handle that kind of mileage. Does anyone out there have any information on this? Any information would be appreciated. Thanks......

Eagleman

RE: High Mileage MINI's
 

The bottom line here is that MINI's are NOT Nissans, Toyotas, or Hondas. They are MINI's, and they will cost much, much, more to maintain than one of these other cars.
You can not just take your MINI to a 'Firestone', or one of those other vehicle maintenance shops, and think that they will be able to do maintenance on your MINI.

The biggest issue isnot just anyone can work on a MINI. Sure they will say they can work on imports, and will probably lie to you and say they have actually worked on MINI's before... But the reality is that if you do not trust your non-MINI technician to do the job correctly the first time, you will be paying to have it done twice.

If you have an automatic MINI,you will not be going through clutches every 30k miles, and this is probably the single most important option to consider for the long term. The clutches cost about $2,400.00 to replace each time. The performance run flat tires are about $360.00 each, so you may want to consider getting the all weather tires instead.

They will not be a cheap car to maintain, or get repaired, after the warranty is up. That is for sure! If this is what you were looking for, you may want to get one of them other cars I mentioned above, or the new 'Smart Car' instead.

Either way, have fun!

High mileage? 2004 here - 118000 miles - Midlands 5-speed. Repairs? Changed serpentine belt @80k (Mini dealer). Replaced brake pads only on front.... brake pads, and rotors on rear (performed myself). Thermostat housing leak - replaced by dealer. Replaced driver window motor (myself). Replaced passenger electric lock (myself). Replaced sparkplugs @ 80k (myself).

NO OTHER REPAIRS.

This car has been EXTREMELY cheap for me to own. Maybe I just got a good one. Maybe I just drive it like an old man, who knows?

A note on the window motor - I found out later that this is VERY common. Motor replacement is NOT required. Just bang on the door just below the small speaker while operating the window switch. A few good bangs, and it will roll down. Honestly I have to do this about twice a week, but it beats paying to have a window motor replaced every time you turn around.

I have a "Very High Mileage" 2004 Mini Cooper S. It has 221,000 miles on her and she has been to 49 states, Up Mt. Washington and Pikes Peak, 9 Canadian Provinces, and Mexico.

I had the original clutch replaced at 207,500 miles as well as the electric power steering pump. One headlight bulb ($225), two serpentine belts and I don't know how many sets of tires. At 100,000 miles I put drilled and slotted rotors and EBC brakes even though I had half pad life left. I LOVE this car.



"Make a world of Difference"

Updated:
In my post above, I had 118,000, and now have 141,000. Thermostat housing cracked (again), and had to be replaced. Alternator went out. Mini dealership wanted $850 to replace. Local shop where I take my other vehicles did it for $500. Drivers window will only go down 1 inch now, so I guess I'll have to replace the motor, for real. Took the original stero head out, and replaced with Alpine from Best Buy. Got one that I could splice in the steering wheel controls. Works great.
When I replaced the plugs, cylinder #2 blew out the new plug, and stripped the head. I've seen this mentioned before in several threads, but I think it was probably my fault for not allowing the head to cool enough before changing the plugs. Local shop wanted about $1800 to fix. Went to local tool vendor, and bought a spark plug 'sleeve', (not the spring type). The sleeve came with the appropriate die. Loaded the die with oil, and reamed new threads. Installed the sleeve per instructions, installed the plug, and here I am 60k miles later and still running fine.