MINI Cooper - READ ONLY

2671 messages, Last post on Mar 31, 2009 at 1:03 PM

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#2523 of 2671 Re: MPG 2006 v 2007 [duke15] by bodble2 Jun 05, 2008 (7:56 am)
Replying to: duke15 (Jun 05, 2008 6:11 am) The '05 had the CVT auto which was jerky, and sluggish off-the-line. Once it got going it was pretty smooth. The new 6-sp steptronic eliminated the jerkiness, and it is fairly peppy off-the-line. Overall it performs well, although at times when you're caught in too high a gear and need to kick it down, it can be a bit slow and harsh in doing so. One other thing is that I find first gear is quite short, so that it is good only to launch, and then you would have to quickly ease off to get it to shift into second gear. Otherwise you would be redlining it, with lots of noise but not much forward motion! We got the auto primarily because my wife does not know how to drive a manual. But now that my son will soon be getting his licence, I'm a bit tempted to get another one with a manual and teach him how to drive a stick, although 2 Mini's in the same family seems excessively impractical! Replies to this message: duke15 (Jun 05, 2008 12:26 pm) bodble2 (Jun 05, 2008 1:01 pm) Mr_Shiftright (Jun 05, 2008 1:25 pm) and 5 more...
#2524 of 2671 Re: Mini Quality Sucks, Latest JD Power Owner Survey [duke15] by mayroge Jun 05, 2008 (9:58 am)
Replying to: duke15 (Jun 05, 2008 6:04 am) http://www.jdpower.com/autos/ratings/quality-ratings-by-brand Is that the survey being referenced? Replies to this message: duke15 (Jun 05, 2008 12:24 pm)
#2525 of 2671 Re: Mini Quality Sucks, Latest JD Power Owner Survey [mayroge] by duke15 Jun 05, 2008 (12:24 pm)
Replying to: mayroge (Jun 05, 2008 9:58 am) Judging by the 163 number quoted in the original post, I am thinking the survey was the one posted on MSN today: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/SaveonaCar/WhoMakesTheHighest- QualityCars.aspx
#2526 of 2671 Re: MPG 2006 v 2007 [bodble2] by duke15 Jun 05, 2008 (12:26 pm)
Replying to: bodble2 (Jun 05, 2008 7:56 am) Thanks for the reply. The 2nd mini might be a bit impractical, but it would be less so if it were a third car... (tell your son to send me a check in the mail) Replies to this message: bodble2 (Jun 05, 2008 1:01 pm) Mr_Shiftright (Jun 05, 2008 1:25 pm) british_rover (Jun 05, 2008 1:58 pm) rtboon (Aug 17, 2008 6:17 am) and 3 more...
#2527 of 2671 Re: MPG 2006 v 2007 [duke15] by bodble2 Jun 05, 2008 (1:01 pm)
Replying to: duke15 (Jun 05, 2008 12:26 pm) I'll let him know, but be forewarned that he writes rubber cheques! Replies to this message: Mr_Shiftright (Jun 05, 2008 1:25 pm) british_rover (Jun 05, 2008 1:58 pm) rtboon (Aug 17, 2008 6:17 am) Mr_Shiftright (Aug 17, 2008 7:08 am) and 2 more...
#2528 of 2671 Re: MPG 2006 v 2007 [bodble2] by Mr_Shiftright HOST Jun 05, 2008 (1:25 pm)
Replying to: bodble2 (Jun 05, 2008 1:01 pm) I research MINI reliability TO DEATH when I was thinking of buying one, and finally decided that if you avoided the very early ones, that these were pretty good cars overall. I also drove LOTS of them, in all configurations. I like the newer transmission 6 speed, and the newer BASE engine over the old trans and old base engine (rough), but I liked the older SC engine over the new one (more responsive). Replies to this message: british_rover (Jun 05, 2008 1:58 pm) rtboon (Aug 17, 2008 6:17 am) Mr_Shiftright (Aug 17, 2008 7:08 am) kyfdx (Aug 17, 2008 7:58 am) and 1 more...
#2529 of 2671 Re: Run Flats and Spare Tires [waterflame] by coupah Jun 05, 2008 (1:26 pm)
Replying to: waterflame (Jun 04, 2008 5:52 am) Hi. I agonized over ths for a month! I read every post at MINI2 and tirerack. Finally, decided to ditch the runflats and went with Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 summer tire. Good year is a US company and the tires I bot were made in Germany. i lked that! I have dunlop snows (although i decided NOT to drive this Mini in snow) so I have one in my garage if I needi t. I also bought a can of flat-tire sealer. I think the quality of the F1 is such that i HPOE I won't get a flat! The performance is NIGHT and DAY! Even if you don't get summer-only tires, DITCH the RUNFLATS! Buy goodyears!
#2530 of 2671 Re: MPG 2006 v 2007 [Mr_Shiftright] by british_rover Jun 05, 2008 (1:58 pm)
Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Jun 05, 2008 1:25 pm) I can confirm all of that. I did much the same thing before I bought my 2004 MINI Cooper S new. The early cars could be troublesome but nothing was more troublesome then a base MINI with the CVT trans. The base 5 speed was better but not by much. Slightly off topic but still relevant is this... I sell what is supposed to be the lease reliable vehicle line in the US Land Rovers and I don't see nearly as many cars coming in broken as you would think. Sure the older ones come in but anything pre-2003 is a completely different vehicle to what is sold now. I have customers in Land Rovers that supposedly have three or four faults per vehicle on average that have never been in for warranty work in three or four years of ownership. Two people in particular that I sold Range Rover Sports to have over 75,000 miles on their vehicles and for the most part have only done routine maintenance on them. I think those two people both had one warranty repair each but they were both minor problems that didn't cause driving problems. We are talking about things like squeaky brakes and rear hatch supports that won't hold the lift gate up.
#2531 of 2671 Re: Run Flats and Spare Tires [waterflame] by blueguydotcom Jun 06, 2008 (6:16 am)
Replying to: waterflame (Jun 04, 2008 5:52 am) Just drive the car. I don't care if there's a spare.
#2532 of 2671 Re: Mini Quality Sucks, Latest JD Power Owner Survey [fmko] by blueguydotcom Jun 06, 2008 (6:25 am)
Replying to: fmko (Jun 04, 2008 1:32 pm) That survey's a little misleading as any problem you report gets listed. For instance, my Cooper arrived with a few problems and I filled out the JD Power. ABS/DSC lights flickered on at stop lights. CEL goes on every few weeks and then turns off for no reason. Brakes squeaked/grinded once in awhile. Rear hatch had cosmetic damage. Two of these things were fixed rather quickly. Another took a few months for me to bother asking Mini to fix it. Finally, CEL makes no difference so I don't bother reporting it. I also complained that the HVAC always blows hot air and that the runflats are steaming piles (repeated this constantly in the survey). Overall, 4 problems on delivery. HVAC was the same on my last BMW so it seems it's just a thing now for HVAC when off to seemingly always blow warm air unless one shuts it all down tight. The RFTs were my issues and I handled that. In reality, most of the problems were easily handled and only a single one really impacted my enjoyment of the car (RFTs). But on JD Power's listing, that means I had 6 problems within 3 months. I'm four times the average per buyer. And I'm picky!