Mini Cooper

[Nish]

Short version.
We are raising my niece. She is looking for a first car and convinced she wants a mini.

I hear maintenance if killer expensive.

Educate me please.

[The G-FOURce]

I can’t speak to maintenance or repair costs, but I was surprised to find out their rather reliable cars.

[Chuck E Ducky]

John Works over boosted ones have high intake temps that kill longevity.

The S was pretty reliable. They have electric power steering issues. Water gets in them and destroys the power steering system. Other then that they are reliable fun cars that are surprisingly roomy and a blast to drive.

The base model was reliable as well. Don’t think you need to worry about snow performance. They get great gas mileage too.

[Hellion360]

Yeah, service is a real pain on them. Enough of a pain that we sold ours, well my wife's.
I'd give it a pass.

[Kit352]

I have had over a dozen between me and my wife. I still own the og mini Cooper from the 60s but no more newer ones. They are terrible for reliability mostly. Little things will become big things quickly. Only car I have ever had that you needed to put the car into service mode to change the oil. Earlier r53 ones ate the motor due to piss poor oil dip stick routing and newer ones have all sort of problems. Airbag issues are common too which are basically a death sentence for the car. At the end of the day they are bmw so you pay BMW prices and have bmw reliability. Not legendary reliability either, those days are long gone since about 2001 and the e46 chassis. I'm talking about today's reliability where your lucky to see 100k out of them before they grenade themselves.

Buying one for your daughter would be a costly mistake but if she is paying the bills it's a good learning experience on what cars to avoid in the future when it bleeds her dry. And if your paying for everything well then you have been warned.

[flyweightnate]

I had an 09 manual, non-S.

It was... OK. Bought used, most things worked OK, but the clutch was wearing out by 85k. Dallas city commuting will do that. Maintenance was expensive, and I heard the clutch required pulling the whole freaking thing out the front, so I sold it as soon as I felt it starting to go.

Fun little car, though, and I got a good 55k out of it (from purchase to sale) with maybe $2k in maintenance.

[The G-FOURce]

Looks like what I read wasn’t very accurate. It sounds like they’re problematic enough to make them an illogical choice if you’re concerned about the bang for your bucks

[Tarsun2]

there was/is a BMW connection. so, just look at it like a little inexpensive bmw and go from there.
i tend to buy cars based on the engine and thats what i predominantly look at.

I Do Cars has some really good videos on this engine.

[Ecapnation]

Looks like a mini costs like a BMW to repair.

Buddy of mine had one totaled by insurance because a leaf clogged a drain tube and it back flowed water into the control system and the repair costs was quoted at like $15k

[tyronejk]

I think the extremely low price on the used market tells you what the maintenance cost is like.

I bought a 2004 JCW manual for my retired dad to take to/from golf courses (was too good of a deal to pass up) and the only easy maintenance item on it was that taking off the rear brake rotor can be done without removing the brake caliper mounting bracket. It needs a new clutch soon and that requires disassembling the whole front end. Even replacing the brake booster involves removing the windshield trim(???)

[Kit352]

And when the brake pad sensors go you can climb under the rear and cut the sensor wires and tape them together and poof, no more warning lights with brand new pads. I think that sensor is several hundred dollars these days.

[tyronejk]

Nice! Thanks for the tip

[Chuck E Ducky]

I put 80k on my S it was pretty reliable for me. I drove the hell out of the thing. Only real expensive issue I ran into was the Electrical power steering. Mine was an early one and manual. I wouldn’t get the goofy club van thing and definitely wouldn’t buy an auto. I do my own work and serviced the thing myself.

BMW parts are expensive for certain things like axels and such. They are probably getting more expensive now that they are getting older. It’s more important to buy the right car vs a particular car. Especially for a new driver. Probably not the best choice but if it’s a good deal and runs good I would drive one. They are a blast to drive.

[Nish]

I drove my boss's S when they came back out. It was fun, I agree that it's probably not best for a first car, and I've told her as much, but she worked hard, saved the money and gets to make the choice.
I'm just an old man giving advice they don't listen to.

[Nish]

Thanks everyone.