now first off I come in peace. I'm not here to bash just here to share some views and get some feedback to get the right car for my needs. I've always been a honda guy for my commuter car. I have a 100 mile trip to my office every 2 days, 98% freeway. As long as I get 30 mpg I am ok with that. I drove my mother in laws mini the other day and fell in love with it, it is a sheer pleasure to drive and has a ton of character. On a cosmetic and driving standpoint it is tops as far as small commuter type cars would go.

So I get online and started doing some research and was surprised and concerned at what I read. I have come across a large amount of complaints with mechanical issues, especially the tranny (cvt I think it is called correct?) and how horrible the dealers are with warranty issues. While I do recognize that there may be a million drivers out there with no problems, it seemed to be a larger than expected amount of issues, all major and much sooner than expected. Now I am the type of guy to buy a car and drive it 10-12 years, at least 200-250 thousand miles before considering a new one. Thats the situation now with my accord, 248,000 miles and am just now having some minor mechanical problems. The more I read about the mini, the more I wonder if I could even make it to 100,thousand miles without a major issue like electrical or trans problems??? I did see they have since stopped using the problematic cvt tranny, so maybe that resolved the problem? What about the electrical?

There is no comparison from a driving aspect, the mini is a blast to drive and wins that catagory hands down. The mpg are in the same arena as the accord, maybe a little less that a civic. My only concern is the reliability aspect of it all. I see no reason to buy a car, no matter how fun it is to drive that spends as much or even half as much time on the road as it does in the shop.

Is this an issue of the older minis when they were new to the usa and now it's got the bugs worked out or is this always been the trend with mini? I can afford a nicer car but it's the principle for me, why buy a problematic car as the fun is taken away with numerous visits to the mechanic and excessive cost.

Again, this isn't me slamming mini so please don't get offended and just tell me to "go buy a honda then!". I WANT to buy a mini, but I need to be convinced I'm not opening up pandoras box here because from the reviews it is getting online, it appears that is what I would be doing if I purchased one. I know no car is free from problems, hondas and all the others do too. But when I see post after post of trans rebuild/replace befrore 150K, it's a BIG red flag for me.

Sorry for the novel and thank you in advance for your replies.