Hello,

A few weeks ago, I got a pretty significant and relatively unexpected bonus from work.

Net, net, net it easily pays for a new car.

Now, like 90% of the country, I've still got a job. And truthfully, I think I'll have one 'til things get really, really bad.

Up 'til now I've been a very cautious man. I've still (despite 40% portfolio, 401K, IRA & Non Qualified Plans, etc. losses) got a good cash position, college tuition's are secured etc. Estate Planning all wrapped up. Nobody's missed a meal in my house for a long time..

I've wanted to buy a Mini for YEARS.

So, with no crying need unmet, and a sudden abundance of cash; I placed an order for a 6sp black convertible w/ all the bells & whistles (Prem, Cold, Conv., LSd, DTC, Tuscan Leather, yada, yada) except the Sport Susp. --a sop to the rotten roads on which I must commute.

Since then, I found this forum.

Ye Gad!
Cold start rattles
Limp home mode for no reason
Windows w/ a mind of their own
Projectile spark plugs
Electronic gremlins
20K mikes on OEM tires
Reset ECU's...
It sounds like a British Leyland era MG, not a clever BMW design!

I've got a Week 14 Production.

Is this a $35K mistake?

Will I, on balance, regret this decision?

I just wanted to have a little fun and prove Fitzgerald was wrong when he said words to the effect of "We go through life with a diminishing portfolio of enthusiasms."

Should I forfeit my deposit, buy 34,000 shares of CitiGroup and go lease a Toyota?

At one point the choice seemed obvious. I have LOVED every test drive I've made over the last 4 or 5 years.

But will I hate owning this car?

I read about the Texas Wildflower ride & knowing that route well, I feel the pang of how sweet that will be. I look fwd to spring, summer & fall here in the Midlantic and know just the roads I want to tour in New England...

But I'm conflicted.

How much pain is owning this car going to bring into my life.

Is it worth it?

Thanks.

 

Gulp...snifff....(wipes a couple tears from cheek)... you sound like me accept the part of having everything all tidy for college and the food on the table. O.k. Seriously, I feel like I can sympa-empathize with your situation. My philosophy is if you can enjoy it now and the TRULY important things are not being sacrificed, then its a go! The virtual green flag is waving at you, time for some topless driving!

I have also ordered a cabrio and have a build week lined up. The nice thing about our situation is that the R57 will benefit from what MINI/BMW learned from the previous cabrio and the R56(hardtop).

You have to remember, that you are getting 4 years of maintainance with the vehicle. So it might suck to have to take it in for warranty/repair, but don't plan on that definitely happening to you. Stay optimistic. Could you live never driving the car as your own? Could you be happy in something else without ALWAYS pondering about the what ifs?

I said, hell no! I am getting my car and if worst comes to worst and I need that money back. I'll sell, but at least I drove it and enjoyed it.

Imagine that 34K is already spent and cancelling the order is not an option...how do you feel? Worse stomach pangs than missing out on the twisties in your MINI means consider backing out.

I don't think you will hate owning the car. But that's me guesing for you. I look forward to driving my Chili Red R57 in the DC area.

Maybe you'll see me...honk and flash your lights...I'll wave back and we'll both be smiling about it! Motor on!

Ps, if you need more info, try www.mini2.com , it's also an awesome site for MINI Aficionados!

 

Please remember that on forums like these, you WILL here more about the cars with issues, rather than the hundreds of thousands of problem free ones.

 

Not all cars have problems. Mines Great!!!

Get the car, it's worth all 35K of it!

 

My MCS has had a couple of problems, but I have never been sorry for buying it. Nothing else comes close. You are going to love your new cabrio

 

Saturn's right...........there can be a lemon in any mfrs production, but that means 99.9% of them aren't.

I have an '03 and an '09 R55 MCS, neither have been problem children............

Emjoy your life while you can, let BMW/MINI worry about the car.........

 

Relax. The silent majority have never had any major problem with their MINI(s).

Relax. MINI offers a great warranty and you can always get an extended warranty for additional peace of mind.

Relax. The ECU reset thing ? It's optional, takes two minutes, and can only increase the performance of your MINI.

Bottom line... RELAX.

 

bought mine may 08 best car i ever owned

 

i think youll be fine.

 

You'll be fine. It is good to educate yourself about potential problem areas, but that doesn't mean it will happen to you. Don't obsess over the future my friend. That is no way of living.

 

Hi,

I have owned two MINIs. First was a 2005 Cooper. Was a great car, couple minor issues (had a couple of O2 sensors go in it), but nothing that stopped me from enjoying the car, and the minor issues were fixed quickly under warranty.

In Feb of 2008, I had a weak moment, and traded the 05 cooper for a 08 clubman. Been a great car. The Gen 2 refinements have been nice. Again, I have had a couple of IMO, minor issues. I have had the window issue, and an issue with the sunroof. Both were fixed under warranty, and so far so good. Both of mine were just coopers though.

I am also the webmaster for our local MINI club, and as such, I have seen people complain about issues with their car, and yes, you have mentioned most of them. However, as with any forum, those that have issues make the issue known (usually with just 'hey have you had this problem' inquiries). But you do not have people posting 'ok, no problem here'. So the forums are biased a bit towards the negative, after all, if you got nothing to talk about then you don't talk.

So, having owned two, I would still buy another. The support has been good to me for the cars, and generally, they are a blast to drive and a great fun car. With any car, you have the potential for issues, and IMO they have been improving the cars over time, and are committed to improving it.

That said. If you expect 100% no issues at all, and would be really annoyed if you had to do a service call, then by all means take it back. Most of our club members appear to be very happy with the cars, with limited issues. There are a couple though that have been without cars for some time getting issues fixed...

So in summary to this long post. Get the car. I would love to join you in your purchase of a cabrio too.

 

My 40K dollar Jag spent more time in the shop than on the road....except for when it was on the back of a flat bed....

I have an 03' MINI Cooper S with almost 70,000 miles, and has been in shop only once for stuck oil plug, and some regular maintenance I was not able to do myself....."knock on wood".....best car I have ever owned.

Folks here are just devoted owner's whom enjoy the "full" MINI experience, and that part is "Optional".

 

Get It! I'm trying to get my third...so that I'll have red, white, & blue...or a station wagon, hatch, and a vert.

The car is Fast, Fun, and Green. Geez...Having fun driving fast and doing your part saving the world.

You live once! Go for it!

 

I think you should get the car. If it becomes a nightmare to own, sell it. It still enjoys the best resale of ANY car out there!

 

Ev'ting gonna be alll reee.

 

I posted this in another thread...

I just placed my order for my MINI, and I had been going back and forth based on what I've been reading on the internet.

Although' I've driven hundreds of cars, I've only owned 4 cars in my entire life. A 1963 Chevy Truck, a 1991 Honda Accord, a 2001 Honda Accord, and a fiberglass VW Dune buggy. The truck stills sits at my folks house in Arkansas. The Dune buggy was purchased for 500 bucks and sold when I moved and ran out of room. The 91 Honda sold for $2000 and had 275,000 miles on it and was running strong after being a relatively trouble-free car. Outside of routine maintenece and having to change the clutch at 174000 miles and having a starter go out at 153000, I had no problems with the car. my 2001 Accord has 134000 miles and has had no problems either.

I would have gotten another Accord, but I am so in love with the MINI that I couldn't justify buying something else based on what everyone else said or didn't say.

If you base your decision on what you read on the internet, you won't by ANY car. You have to remember that for every 20 people having a great time with ANY brand of car, there is someone else that is highly ticked off. Some complain about the smallest things as though they are the end of the world.

I've read threads in forums where people are complaining that they bought a 2002 Cooper with 84000 miles from some pimply-faced kid with a lead foot and no way to make the payments, and had the cigarette lighter go out at 90000 miles. Now they're claiming it's a lemon and are writing letters to congress and trying to pass laws and take BMW/MINI to court... etc... and they don't even smoke.

On the other hand, I see people that are so overly-enamored with the car, that they could order the car, pay 39,000 dollars for it with no discounts, have the order lost and delayed for 6 months, have the dealer forget that it was a special order and let people test drive it, have $2000 added on at time of the delivery that wasn't indicated when the order was placed, deliver the car with 1600 miles, covered in bird-poop with door dings and scratches, drive it off the lot, have it catch fire and explode, spend 3 months in the burn unit, and just consider it one of the "quirky" things about this cute little car. They'll be back in with no complaints and no eyebrows.

Do what I did,... Get what you want.

I worried about alot of things going wrong so I left alot of potential problems out by limiting what I put on the car. More options, gadgets, and doohickey's means more potential trips to the dealer and more frustration. Turns out, I got less and I feel pretty good about it. I still got the Premium package, bonnet stripes, and rear fog-lamps. Even standard it comes with alot more options than my old car. My car payment will be much smaller and I'm still gonna have a fun ride.


I drive like a sensible person. I maintain my car. I put quality oil and gas in regularly, pay attention to lights/guages, hear small noises, etc.. I can pick up on things that are potential warnings. I wonder how many of these people with complaints drive like they are shooting a scene from Starsky and Hutch... I wonder if they pay attention to guages and lights and do the recommended maintainence.. I wonder if they over-modify their cars because they wanna pretend they are Tokyo Drifters... Of course they would never admit to that.

The internet is as much hurt as it is help if not more.

Bottom line, if I had bought a different car, I KNOW that I would always wish I had gotten a MINI. I knew that even if I bought a nice new car, that I would regret it everytime I passed a MINI or saw one in a parking lot. I've wanted one of these cars from the moment I first saw one of the classic Mini's years ago. I let the first generation go by because I was so nervous about problems. Never again.

 

OP - I am going to assume you got an S. I just passed mile 800 on my Clubbie S and i am thrilled. During my time between ordering and driving i went through the exact mental cycle as you are experiencing. What a waste of energy that was! Remember all the professional reviews you read when first looking into the car ? All the good stuff from the peeps who get paid to drive ? That stuff is pretty much all true.
As long as you bought from a good dealer, have faith that any "problem" will get fixed. Then get ready to buckle up and accelerate out of the turns. Also get ready to clean your MINI ~ALOT~

 

Just don't think you will have a problem before you get your new Mini. I'm sure you will like the car as much as I like mine. I only have a little over 3,000 miles on mine right now and they have been incredebly trouble free with no rattles, cold start rattles or any other problems at all. I'm liking this car more every single time I drive it. I just got out of a Corvette I thought would keep forever and thought I would miss it a lot not having a Corvette. Wrong, I don't miss the Vette at all. I'm thinking that this JCW Mini Cooper is the best car I have ever owned. It is fun to drive, It gets great fuel mileage and it is very fast as well as comfortable.
Even if I ever have a problem with this Mini I would just get it repaired and keep on driving it. It is still a great fun respected car that I get complaments on it every time I park it.
When you do get you Mini please let us all know how you like it.
Ronnie948

 

LetzDanz: Just do it. I ordered an '09 a few weeks back and it will be here soon. IMO, all cars are equal in reliabilty. If they make you FEEL good, just do it.

I grew up in Detroit and drove American until 1990. I'm a high mileage driver, typically about 30 to 35,000 per year. I buy a new car every three years or so, not because they are wore out but because I want something new.

From 1990 to today, its mostly been a string Japanese cars: Toyotas, Hondas, and Nissans. I had as many problems with them as my domestic rides. My Maximas (3) and Pilots (2) were constant niggling issues. Nothing major, just PITA stuff. Electrical, HVAC, transmissions, etc. If not for Asian re-sale, I would have gone back to American. (Sorry BMW 3 or 5 series, your cost of ownership is too high. No lux Euros for me.) My wife's company American company cars (Taurus, Pacifica, Dodge Mini-vans) were no better or worse.

So at this stage of my life (age 53, daughter grown) its time to have a fun car. I don't think there is a perfect car. The MINI will be as good as any made. But I can tell you this, I've never had the pride of ownership for a car since my first Mustang in the early 70s, and my MINI is not even here yet. My '09 MINI Convertible S is going to be fun.

Just do it.