Bout to pull the trigger on a 2010 Clubman S manual. Read about the rattle of death and not sure if that is still an issue with 2010 cars or not. So the question goes out to you Clubman owners....if you had to do it again (buy/lease your Clubman), would you?

 

In a heartbeat. The trouble with watching these enthusiast sites is that they amplify the negative. The "rattle of death" is not a common plague. I am on my second Mini and love it. Take the plunge. I fell prey to the enthusiast site negativity and talked myself out of an Audi TT even though I drove one and fell in love. I was convinced it was going to shut down every time I drove on the freeway.

Bottom line: If you have had a test drive and love the car, go for it.

 

Yes

 

If I knew about the chronic problems concerning the HPFP and the intake valve carbon build-up, and considering the way that MINI has handled these well known problems over a period of time, my answer is NO!

I love the car, and am now stuck with it, but would not have bought it knowing what I know now.

 

the rattle should be fixed. they fixed my 09 no problems, and its now completely gone. It usually comes down to the individual dealers with a lot of things, and most are more than helpful. so ya i would (though mine is obviously not a clubman lol..issues seem to be the same)

 

Yes, I would buy another, no question!

Remember, you are ONLY hearing from a select few on this forum that express themselves freely.

There are thousands and thousands of happy MINI owners who have NO problems and never bring them to this public forum.

If there were Thousands and Thousand of unhappy customers witht the same issues...you would most likely see it on your local news.

Have confidence in the brand, there are a lot of us that do.

 

Yes, very pleased with my Clubman S.

 

Yes, and I have had the so-called "death rattle"...fortunately, I'd been following this forum, and knew what to do. Mini got flatbedded 2 hours each way to the dealer, was promptly fixed, and no problems since. I live in a cold climate, and if you do you might want to consider the cold weather package. Others in cold climates like it, too - the heated seats are awesome! I wish I'd known the car doesn't have engine temp or oil pressure gauges, so you might want to consider that.

Good call on getting the S. I was bound and determined not to be talked into buying an S, but have never regretted it!

Have Fun!

BRIT 09 Laser Blue MCS, cold weather package

 

"I wish I'd known the car doesn't have engine temp or oil pressure gauges, so you might want to consider that."

A ScanGuage II will fix that problem and will also provide a ton of info. that no other gauge cluster can match...

 

Yup.

Except this time I would have been a little more patient and ordered a car instead of buying one off the lot.

 

10 months, 13000 miles, 100% satisfied. Long trips, short trips, and we love it as much today as we did the day we got it.
0 problems so far. Just a fun little sprite to drive.

 

Yes, but I would have bought more options at the time.

 

Although it sounds like a lot of fuel pumps if you read the posts here it is less that 0.2% failure rate which is actually very reasonable. They have not been able to pin it down to one production lot so in that case there is no way to do a recall for it.

BTW "every" mechanical part will fail at some point.

This is not just a MINI problem it is a problem with ALL "direct injection" engines. And they are becomeing more and more popular, so more and more cars will have this.

Now is it a problem? To me NO it is not. Does it mean that there is another quarterly or bi-annual maintenance step yes. This is unfortunate but of the cars I was looking at all of them had "direct injection" so I would still be doing this maintenance anyway, and none of there would be as much fun to drive.

And how would you propose they do a better job?

Yes my fuel pump went but I had the car picked up at their expense at 7am and it was back by 6pm and that is with a 70+ mile 2+ hour drive each way on the back of a flat bed.

It is unfortunate that you feel this way but let me tell you every manufacture has the same problems. Just go an read the forums for "ANY" vehicle and you will find the same "i don't like my car for ..." as you see here.

It is inevitable that not everyone will like the car they chose but to blame it in the brand is totally unfair.

 

I guess I just don't believe the sky is falling. What rattle of death are you referring to?

Think of all the other manufacturers that have car/passenger killing issues:

Toyota: unintended acceleration, sludging
VW: sludging, tie-rods, coil-packs
BMW: main bearing seal
The list is positively endless...

You have to be pretty unlucky to be the one that gets hit by that random piece of sky. In the meantime why not just enjoy the car.

In answer to your question - yes - that's what warranties/recalls are for.

 

It's okay to have to replace a HPFP or have carbon deposits removed while you are under warranty, but tell me that you are happy when you have to spend the big bucks after your 50,000 mile warranty expires.

I've got 40,000 miles on mine and I think that I have reason for concern.

 

The 1.8t engine that featured in a slew of VW/Audi/Seat models from 1997-2006 has a timing belt replacement after 60k which runs about $1500 at the dealer. This is a wear item not covered under any warranty. Then there's the sludging issue (which will pretty much total your engine) that the longitudinally mounted version is prone to that again isn't covered under warranty. This didn't stopped people from purchasing cars from these manufacturers.

If you're that concerned about it why don't you get rid of the car before it fails or purchase an extended warranty?

 

Guys/Gals
Appreciate all the comments - but we don't need to get into a back and forth about these issues. If you would buy the car again I'd appreciate hearing why, and if you would NOT buy the car again, I would appreciate why. That's about all I need.

Thanks in advance!
Doug

 

Then go buy a:

Toyota and have a differenet concern for your life.

or

VW and pay for new engine because of sludge build up.

or

Dodge - steering rack lock up again fear for your life.

different item different car but they ALL have problems

 

Probably not. It is a rather pricey little car and I don't think I would repeat it. The NVH levels are pretty high now that I have 26K miles on the car. Also, the HC door panels are fading on the top, where the sun hits them even though all windows and the sunroof are tinted. The perforated sunroof sunshade is a moronic marketing decision.

The car is fun to drive for a small economy car but at $28K (non-S), it really isn't an economy car.

I don't hate the Mini, by any means, but I haven't grown to really love it either.

Regards,
Terry

PS, fanboys, I have no interest in debating my statement. Thanks.

 

Yes, love it, and no problems that MINI isn't taking care of. Now I want to be able to drive this for ten years, so I hope it holds up.
Maybe by then I'll be glad it's not an S...

 

I would again and so far my car has made me smile but I personally think the way to go on this car is to keep it cheap and non-S and base model. Otherwise you quickly and easily have a 30k+ car and I'm not sure the MINI is a 30k+ car for ME personally. But again, for some it is and I respect that. My car is a very base model car other than the sun roof and the cold weather package and I am still at 25k with taxes.

All that said, if money isn't an option for the buyer and the car makes YOU smile then load it up and go JCW! What the hell!

As for the problems discussed here, I agree that all things bought are subject to return for warranty work and these forums hype problems big time. I have been very lucky with my purchases but recently I had to return a GPS at my cost for servicing one month after I bought it. I was annoyed but given my good luck so far with cars and electronics I tried not to complain. I do feel for those who have been stuck on the side of the road though but again, I am sure they are fewer than seems to be reported here...I hope.

 

I may be in the minority with you brother, but that is a huge reason I am contemplating trading in the car once the warranty is up.

The handling and the joy I get out of the car is pure bliss, but the headache of frequent trips to the dealer for annoying issues is a pain in the ****. I just wish the quality control out of the factory is a bit tighter, and the interior panels were of higher grade. This, of course, is based purely on my experience during the past year.

 

I'd do it again... However, I'd change just one thing if I did: I'd go for the JCW aero kit instead of the factory aero kit.

Other than that, oh yeah I'd do it again.

 

I don't consider myself a fanboi - just a realist about mechanical widgets. If the downtime and hassle factor outweighed the fun factor there's no way I'd hang on to mine. As it is - I just don't think there's a car out there right now that provides the unique package of fun, quasi practicality, performance and style that the MINI does. I don't have much time for nervous nellies.

 

The last time that I looked, the Consitution guaranteed the right of free speech, and the original (OP) asked a simple question, wanting an honest answer from us, not a diatribe from some people telling us that we don't have the right to be honest about our purchase and our opinions. It's supposed to be a free country and a free speech guaranteed website without someone jumping down another person's throat.

Enough said!