Mini Cooper Problems

[Warmoth]

I just wanted to vent . . .I bought a 2002 Mini Cooper S in 2004 exactly 2 years ago, with only 18,000 miles on it. It was perfect and very clean. I will admit that the car was extremely fun and fast. Chicks loved it and I got a lot fo compliments on it almost every other day. Having said that . . . was it worth the CRAP I had to go through maintainence wise?? Probably not . . .

Mileage at 38,000: Overheating problems and strange ticking noise coming from engine "area". Turns out it is a thermostat problem and a hole in my resevoir tank for the radiator. Thankfully it is under warratny (until 50,000 miles) and fixed for free. Boy was I lucky ... or was I???

Mileage at 54,000: Now out of warranty. I take it in for my oil change like a responsible Mini owner should. The Engine ticking noise is worse. I am told that it needs a clutch soon and that will be $1500 bucks to fix since it is out of warranty. Why was I not told this at 38,000 miles? ? ? ! It was the ticking noise I heard at 38,000 miles!!!! Also my drivers door sometimes wont unlock and my power window wont roll down. They somehow fix themselves in about 2 months thank God.

Mileage at 66,000: I am told the clutch needs replacing immediayely and on top of that they discover a new noise which turns out to be a power steering fan that is bad. Total cost now is $2500 to fix for everything.

The car is 4 years old and 16,000 miles out of warranty.

I call Mini Cooper corporate per recommendation of BMW since "their hands are tied". They lead me to believe that they are going to help me out. They eventually say "sorry" after 2 days and advise me to call the service manager at my BMW shop. So I get the mighty BMW Service manager on the phone and he tells me that BMW "doesn't have take charity cases or have a goodwill program." Can you imagine the nerve? Damn ... atleast give me a break on the labor for God's sake or something.

I finally decided to trade my beloved, sexy, fast Mini in today and wash my hands clean of Mini and BMW. As much as I loved that little car, it sure was a bitch in the long run. I got a 2003 Accord EX fully loaded with leather, premium stereo with 6 CD changer, V6 Sedan, 40,000 miles for 19,000. The dealer I got it through gave me $500 more for my Mini than I owed so I was not upside down. I got out good on this one and am very happy... it just feels like I have been through hell and back.

Other things to consider: Run flat tires for Mini Coopers are almost $300 plus each so you have to buy the cheap non run flats if you are a normal non rich person like me. And there is no spare tire with the car. You get about 25,000 miles tops on Mini Cooper tires.

Oil changes are $85 every 15,000 miles and should be done by Mini service shops only. They have to reset some timer in the dash and it takes synthetic oil.

BMW loves you when you are spending money but they could give a Rat's Ass if you have a problem. Drop the attitude guys and focus on your customers.

Thanks for listening. I feel better now!

[Phatie]

Dear Warmoth,

That was one of the best laughs I have had in a very long time, and I appreciate the very funny post about your dealing with the BMW car guys.

hahaha.. especially the BMW exec who gave you back to the service manager..hahahahah dude, that is just so classic I am flowing tears of hysteria.. oh..make it stop...haha

Did the head gasket blow at any point after the radiator went low? The water pump had to die at some point also? It's all related man.

Honda is great resale, high theft insurance, and a solid car, but 19,000?? How much did they finance? The negative equity was rolled over on the certified Honda? I'm smelling one of those nifty Honda leases the Honda guys used to laugh about. Okay, so keep that car for a very long time Warmoth.

Hopefully its not a manual transmission?

Enjoy!

[onefootoutthedoor]

Funny. My wife has a 2003 Mini with over 50,000 miles on it and it runs like a top. Her tires lasted over 40,000 miles and the few problems she did have with the car, (all cosmetic issues if I remember correctly) were fixed by the BMW dealorship without any hassle at all. Sorry about your bad experience. She loves that car.

[Warmoth]

My wife loved the mini cooper too and it made me sad to have to get rid of it. I almost convinced myself to trade it and get a 2006 mini just because she loved it soooo much ... but I just couldn't do it.

19,000 for the Accord the total financing cost... tax, title everything included .. that's all I financed. It is an automatic. (No more clutch problems please!!)

I owed 14,500 on the cooper. They paid that off plus $500. They had a sticker price of 19,000 on the Accord which was a bit too high. But considering I got out from that $2500 repair bill and they ate the tax and gave me new tags etc... I was ok with the deal.

I know there are plenty of mini owners out there that are satisfied ... and you know what. I was too for 2 years. I think I am just unhappy with how it all turned out in the end.

My motor never got too hot to damage anything when the thermostat went out. It would only get hot when idling too long and we had it fixed on the spot.

I would consider getting one sometime down the road ... just not for a while. I've had 1 prelude and 2 accords in my past ... I'm glad to be back in the Honda family again.

[billy007]

A guy I work with has a Mini and a couple of years ago after one of the hurricanes he drove through a Burger King drive-thru and there was a puddle that was deeper than it looked and the bottom of the engine touched the puddle and the hot engine hitting the cooler water caused some to blow up inside the engine - threw a rod or something, can't remember the exact details. Seems as if it took forever for him to get it fixed. But I'd never heard of running over a puddle like that causing engine damage.

[sisca]

yeah i have problems with mini coopers as well....i keep running the damn things over!

theyre cool cars, but theyre also deathtraps in a wreck.

[ZeoBandit]

A guy I work with has a Cooper S with the John Cooper Works package on it. He loves his car and hasn't had any issues with it, other then the accident he was in, which wasn't his fault.

[InTheBeginning]

I thought you were going to say, "It's too small"!

P.S. I drive a PT Cruiser, so I can't really comment here.

[Buckeye]

It may not be as sporty and sexy as the Cooper, but you will love your Accord. The '03 was a new design, very sleek detailing and added horsepower to the V6. I had an '02 and put 200k miles on it w/nary a bit of trouble. I moved closer to work and drive an Element now. Good luck, but with the Honda engineering, I doubt you'll need it.