Your right but I like to drive and not work on it. I don't think this is true of all enthusiasts. I consider myself an enthusiast but I also don't like changing my own oil. I don't change my oil on any of my cars. Once I was able to afford it I like someone else to do it. When I was young and didn't have the dough I had no choice. But I also rotate my own tires so that I can clean the wheels. We all know how the brake dust is. I enjoy that but I don't enjoy changing oil. I also don't do engine work. If I was a modder then I probably would do my own engine work. But I don't mod and just enjoy a track event now and again and I just motor. (I leave the wrenching to someone else.) In my younger years I built my own engines and raced plenty of cars. I have left some of that behind. Some due to kids, some due to just wanting to drive without all the other worry. My hands stay pretty clean now. I enjoy that for sure.

But I get your gist so no worries.

Pat

 

I agree but sometimes life gets in the way of such things. I have no garage and while I have a friend who has a lift and would gladly let me use his garage sometimes I just do not have the time to do the work myself and I prefer not to take advantage of his generosity. Also, in my climate sometimes it is hard to do the work in your driveway, or even in a garage if I had one. A garage is a luxury and a heated garage is almost unheard of. Temps in the teens makes it difficult to find the motivation to change my own oil, though I have done it on many of my vehicles in the past.

And for me, when I can get a factory trained BMW mechanic to change the oil with the correct replacement parts using the correct tools as I stand 3 feet with him and chat with him and can watch everything he is doing, I will take it in a heartbeat. And all for the amount I would pay in parts alone.

 

Don't get me wrong, I completely agree with you and PatM. And luckily, I have a 4 car garage that can be cleared out when necessary to do work. I was really mentioning that little tid-bit due to the comment saying oil changes were really expensive, that's all. Like PatM said, if you can afford it, why not? You get certified mechanics change your oil and if anything goes wrong it's covered because it's their fault. But high oil change prices shouldn't be a reason to not get a car...especially one as fun as a MINI. Knowing how to change your own oil can save you a good amount of money, and if that's the hang up...it's worth learning.

That's all.

I just like to do as much work as I physically can to my cars. It certainly doesn't hurt that my Dad is basically a mechanic either

 

I'm with you

 

I'm now the proud owner of this '07 MCS with 25k+ miles.

 

Congrats and enjoy!

 

I love it. I could probably bet money you had a mighty big smile on your face as you drove it off the lot for the first time.

 

No bugs in its teeth. What's up with that?

 

Geebob,

I am a new MINI owner also retired and would offer my $0.02-worth here.

Got a lovely '09 a couple of months ago - regrets, yes one huge one - why did I wait to get this fun, car. I am perhaps older than you but this has been a drink from the fountain of youth.

Problems? None. Don't anticipate any serious ones as well. If so, will get them fixed and keep on going.

Don't mean to offend anyone here but - recognize that many of the people that are within this forum are interested in performance, drive the stuffing out of their cars and also do lots of modifications to them. They get enjoyment from this and pay the price - hopefully, gladly pay but deservedly pay in any event.

I imagine from your current stable of autos that you are looking for an additional increment of fun to go along with your accomplishments as a retiree and a parent of left-the-nesters and I am recommending that you scratch your itch and do it and I hope that you will have the same regrets that I do - should have done this sooner.

About your maintenance questions/concerns - oil changes - just not a big deal in the scheme of things - purchase price-gas-tires.... do the arithmetic and divide the difference in oil costs on a per-mile basis and you will find that it is insignificant.

If I could offer you some advice (won't be well received here) but seriously consider just a MINI (aka Justa on this site) the Justa will have vastly more performance than your current cars and will have fewer bits and pieces to go haywire - I live in the mountains and have great twisty roads to enjoy and at my age, at my level of expertise and particularly, at my level of... no lack of competitiveness - the Justa is just-the-ticket. It will beat the whatever out of the geezer-mobiles that my peers are lumbering around in - and with a measure of poise that is commensurate with my age.

Dip your toe in the water and I hope you'll get hooked and enjoy the decision that you might make (I bet you will) as much as I am enjoying it.

Best,

 

Had just washed it. Just drove it 100 miles home the night before. It was terrible, the wife followed me home and she'd given me strict orders not to lose her!

Bakeson - The smiles still there!

 

 

PHOXX47,

You are dead on. Some mods are just going too far especially when a vehicle is still under warranty. and then they complain about the repairs. Yeah, I'll make some minor changes to mine like changing the standard air filter for a K&N to help with the air flow and some aftermarket items that will enhance the vehicle's beauty . I don't regret the decision to order our Countryman.Base. The vehicle was perfect for my wife and I. The size, the fit for my back (able to drive without back pain) and it is a fun car. If we didn't order it and settled for something else we would have been full of regrets. It's two more weeks until delivery.

Just continue to enjoy, I have been following this site since April and have read and been able to feel good about becoming a MINI owner.

 

I have to admit I have passed "half-life" and waited too long to get a car than ALWAYS makes me grin from ear to ear! I'm glad you decided to get one!!

 

me too!!!!! Can't wait to start enjoying driving again!!!!

 

Annual? I thought they only changed it when it hit the required maintenance light?? (approx. 18K miles)

Mark

 

No offense taken but one point, I have almost 40K miles on my ’09 JCW. The car has exhaust, tune, intercooler, CAI, racing clutch LSD in the front end producing quite a bit of HP and TQ.

I GOOD chunk of my driving has been track time and I’ve only had three problems.

1) fuel pump went out twice in the first few months... got that fixed, never had a problem again.

2) melted 3 valve covers (bolts backed out of exhaust to turbo)

3) timing chain tensioner.

The car was totalled last year when I hit a wall at a 120mph. Being in the bodyshop business, I’m here to tell you that the car can take a hit.

Anyway, point is, any car can have a problem but I hardly think the mini had that much more than any other.

My .02 worth..


Mark

 

Hey, Orangecrush. This is completely off topic...but i love the way your car looks if that's it in your signature. Is that custom paint?

 

Not to hijack the OP’s thread but here’s the link for the build.

Back to our regular programs.


Mark

 

Annually or when the car says to change it, that's what my dealer says.
My odometer had 6500 miles on it when they changed it.

Dave

 

If you were to let the computer tell you when to change it, I think the first oil change is about 20K miles. I’m on my 4th mini and I remember that my ’08 the light didn’t come on till 20K and my ’09, the light came on at 18K. Personally, I think it’s ridiculous to wait that long for the oil change.

I changed my oil at....

1200
5000
and every 5K after that using synthetic.

Since it it synthetic and you could go 6-7K miles, changing the oil at 5K might be a little overkill but since I do it myself, it’s worth the 35 bucks for oil and filter.


Mark

 

"Since it it synthetic and you could go 6-7K miles, changing the oil at 5K might be a little overkill but since I do it myself, it’s worth the 35 bucks for oil and filter."

Right On!