It's pretty much done. If I have to blow the car out at a fire sale price it will be done. The replacement will be a Toyota Tacoma.

After a few VWs a BMW and a MINI no more euro cars for this guy.

I'm pretty sure that I've made a lot of parts houses boat payments over the years. I'm tired of setting money on fire.

 

That's a bummer, sad to see you go, sounds like you have had some really bad luck. VWs are usually pretty good if you get the right one.

 

I’m going to be sad to see my MINI go, but a man has go to know his limitations.

I've set close to $9k on fire with this car including the purchase price. I still remember the first $250 I spent on an oil filter housing.

 

I guess I am going to have to weigh out the choices and see what's best but I just hit 136k and I already dropped 3k in it this week. Nothing on these cars are cheap, labor is rediculous and not having a garage and tools will kill you

 

9k with purchase price! That's less than most of us paid for the car alone! If your having oil leak issues, find someone else to change the gaskets so it's done right the first time.

 

The new Taco's are nice, hope you enjoy it!

I'm in that boat as well, I only paid $4k on purchase, and I've budgeted about $3k for mods and maintenance. So far I'm at $300 in little mods and nothing serious has shown up yet mechanically. Except for a clunky shifter, making me concerned. Gonna pull apart the shift linkage soon and take a look.

 

$9k is everything i've dumped into this car including the price of the car.

I'm the only one that has changed the gaskets. I know most people will cringe, but the next oil pan gasket is getting Permatex 85409 ultra rubber gasket sealant on it I'm not buying a new oil pan that's what the MINI parts dept has told me the solution is.The oil pan gets distorted because MINI in their poor engineering wisdom decided to the oil pan as a mounting spot for a torque arm.

I've never owned a car where parts had to be thrown away that should last the life of the vehicle like a steering shaft, oil filter housing or an oil pan.

 

Oh these arent even that big of issues. I am personally at about 9k with purchase price, new tires, new coolant system, and all the fun engine mods I wanted to do!

 

I’ve tried hard to convince myself to stay the course, but I no longer want to spend any free time wrenching, or worrying about what’s next.

The biggest gripe that I never really thought about buying the car is parts. If I need parts they have to be ordered. If I need a part coded it’s a 5 hour drive one-way.

The Toyota dealer is less than a mile away and I can fit my mountain bike, a fat chick and kayak in a Tacoma.

 

How in the hell did you do that? I'm about to put a newly rebuilt trans back in my car wit a new clutch kit and other bits for about $1500

 

I think they have an automatic

 

I'm having the MINI dealer do my oil pan gasket Friday, that way it's covered under a warranty, I've done a few and it's always been a pita to do it right, mine always still leaked. 9k is not bad at all imo. I almost paid that for my car alone.

 

Unless you end up buying 2 new transmissions and have a shop do the work, there's no way I can see ANY trans job costing $6k

 

A MINI is not the same as a Grand Prix. A rebuilt auto trans from MINI is about $5800 + $500 core.

 

I do have the 6 speed automatic. The warranty company would only pay out if the transmission had a warranty. Guess what, only one from Mini would qualify at a $5900 price tag. Add labor and extra gaskets and seals ext. ext.. and the total is over $9000k. The crummy non-mini warranty only covered $2750 after deductible. Thus the over $6000k price tag. I even took my wife to see it in progress. The reason why I could not tackle it in a couple of weeks in the garage, after work. The motor, subframe, steering rack, basically everything in front of firewall and in between the fenders had to come out. One of the times that the labor was less than the parts.

 

Yea I have an automatic if the transmission goes so will the car. I could by a new mini for that price. Do you recommend changing the fluid? Cause some people say yes and some say it will further cause damage

 

I have heard both sides of the argument. I feel that if the transmission had been serviced from the start they would last a heck of a lot longer.. I plan on servicing mine.

 

Yea same here I'm just worried that if I open it up now with 136k on it and never been changed it'll open up a can of worms.

 

I put a hardware cloth barrier over the cabin air filter hole to prevent mouse intrusion.

 

Installed Helix FMIC. BSH torque arm unit. Redid the heat shield on the AEM CAI the turbo was rattling against it. Trying to eliminate the rattling going to drill out the bushing, make it mellower; car is driving wicked. Have a OCC being built with AN Fotting coming soon. Then suspension, wheels? Exhaust and done

 

Did you have a previous mice problem?

 

No, but when I see an opportunity for the little bastards to get in I try to eliminate it. I live in the country and they're everywhere and nesting up for the winter.

 

I like your way of thinking. When I first bought my MINI from an older couple they had it living in a barn the mice went nuts on the car chewed wires, hoses, everything. Cost them like 1700 in parts before they sold it.

 

Answered your question in the other thread, but posting here as well for anyone else that had your question. Pierburg is the OEM supplier part 11-66-7-556-919 here and is in stock. We also have a vacuum pump DIY here that can help you with the replacement.

 

The brake pad light came on. And this is why...





The weird thing - the car stopped just fine, no unusual noise, pedal was nice and firm too!



I replaced the rotors front and rear, as well as the pads. Ran out of time last night so I'll bleed/flush the brake fluid tonight after work.