I live in south Florida area, and I have seen three Mini Cooper's broken down on the side of the road. I find that to be very odd since the car has just become available here. I feel it is always better to wait a while before buying a new model when first introduced. In this case I'm dying to go to the dealership to place my deposit, but the Mini's on the side of the road are holding me back.

I have been constantly looking out for news reports on this problem, but nobody is saying anything.

Has anybody else observed this phenomenon? Can anybody confirm this problem?

Regards,
Lazcando

 

3 MINIs broken down on the side of the road?? OH come on, are we exaggerating a bit here? I find that very very very very very very hard to believe.

 

I'm just reporting what I saw. I can't believe it either, but I saw them with the hood open sitting on the side of the road. While you think it is very very very very very very very hard to believe, I just think it's very very very hard to believe. :smile:

Take it for what its worth. I love the Mini. It will probably be just a matter of time before I'm driving down the road in one.

Hopefully my observation is just a fluke and not indicative of a systemic problem.

Good luck.

 

We just took our MINI to ATL-JAX and back (about 340 miles each way) with no problems. The car now has 1600 trouble free miles on it. Lets hope those were some very early production cars that had problems.

Joe

 

My Mini it is an early production car, they do not delivered until they change the vibration damper
( crankshat pulley ) it was a factory recall, since I got it I already put 1000 miles without any problem,
in the roads where I drove it is Police free so I run at 100 to 115 MPH average, and let me tell you, I also
Own an Audi TT Quattro (225 Hp) and this Mini feels and handeled better on the curves, do not intend to
" fly " and on the light hills I use the 5th gear and keep the 110 mph w/out a problem , the Audi?? I need
to floor it on 5th gear on this same light hill, on the staright lane the Audi it is superb, but.. the Mini it is
NOT for the straight lanes.
On the other hand, in my area are 14 Minis, I know all the owners and non of them had been having
any problem with the cars.

 

Someone who posts on one of the other boards had there MINI shut itself down. According to her dealer a belt tensioning pully had failled causing a Knock like sound in the engine. The knock sesnsor picked up the knock and shut the engine down(doing what it should to protect the engine, just the wrong knock.) So the good news is that it is an easy fix, the bad news was she had to get a tow. Just another story of hard knocks

 

>>I live in south Florida area, and I have seen three Mini Cooper's broken down on the side of the road. I find that to be very odd since the car has just become available here.

South Florida? Hmmm, could it be that the cars were stolen and abandoned?

 

I heard of one broken down off of the Palmetto, I hope it was one of the ones that you saw, if not, then thats 4 hobbled mini's.

I have one on order with Braman, whose service rep is quite good with some freinds of mine, I heard the other BMW south is the pits in the pit.

 

None of the ones I saw were on the Palmetto. I guess thats four so far.

Go figure.

>>I heard of one broken down off of the Palmetto, I hope it was one of the ones that you saw, if not, then thats 4 hobbled mini's.
>>
>>I have one on order with Braman, whose service rep is quite good with some freinds of mine, I heard the other BMW south is the pits in the pit.

 

I find it hard to believe that all 3 were broken down. Did you get out to ask the owners? Did you look at the engine yourself? Are you qualified to make assumptions about diagnostics on the new Mini?

My point here is before you state that "I have seen three Mini Cooper's broken down on the side of the road", you may want to consider the fact that all 3 may have been there for another reason - othen than being "broken down."

Just a small point.

 

I find it hard to believe too, that is why I brought it to this forum. No, I didn't look at the engine since I was driving down the highway when I saw the cars. I'm not really sure what I would have gained by looking into the engine compartment. I don't think any body is qualified to diagnose a car while your passing them at 70 MPH. So my qualifications are not relevant.

I will tell you that two of the cars had the hood open and their owners were just standing there. The other car I spotted was sitting on a major road with its hazard lights on, and a woman on the phone with at least 2 kids.

I guess what your saying is that people normally just pull over to the side of the road and open their hoods for reasons other then car trouble.

I guess there is a chance that all of these people were so enamoured with their cars that they had a spontaneous need to pullover on the most dangerous highways in the country to admire their cars. This phenomenon will now be called "SPOTAC" and it stands for "Sudden Pull Over To Admire Car". Now, I will use it in a sentence.--> I was driving down the highway and I had a sudden urge to SPOTAC. Here is another sentence -->On my way to work I had a SPOTAC attack.


Cheers
Mini On,



>>I find it hard to believe that all 3 were broken down. Did you get out to ask the owners? Did you look at the engine yourself? Are you qualified to make assumptions about diagnostics on the new Mini?
>>
>>My point here is before you state that "I have seen three Mini Cooper's broken down on the side of the road", you may want to consider the fact that all 3 may have been there for another reason - othen than being "broken down."
>>
>>Just a small point.
>>
>>

 

meow! thats all i have to say

 

where did they brake down again, Florida? They wanted to turn around and get away from retirement so urly in life!!

 

Good points Laz. I was just thinking that I see Coppers now and people are stopping to talk. I was just thinking that they may have been in a caravan and pulled over for some reason - they guys may have been looking at the engine for discussion, etc. Just another side of the coin so to say.

 

Well, last time my MINI was parked along the highway, it was because I couldn't wait another 20 miles for rest stop! One problem with a small car is that it provides very little shelter for privacy. Luckily, it is not a well-traveled highway...

 

k.. here's the dealio - take it for what it's worth.. i went to test drive a mini this weekend and really didn't care to drive the CVT because i like to get off the line fairly quick but the the only stick was out being driven.. so i waited... and waited.. and figured these people were having a damn good time with the mini.. after about 40 minutes the salesman came up to me and told me that he knew this wasn't going to help his sale but that something was wrong with the gearshift and that they were going to have to tow it back.. so i reluctantly took the CVT out for a cruise and enjoyed it but as i thought, it didn't have much torque on the low end.. can't wait to get ahold of a cooper S still..

 

Just to jump in..most of the time I am on the side of a road with the hood open, I was showing the engine off to a person that was interested in the car. This occurs about 5 times a week and that's when I'm out and about. Don't even get me started on when it's parked in front of my bldg!!!

Today, the MINI broke...shifter snapped and I didn't even have to open the hood!

 

>>Good points Laz. I was just thinking that I see Coppers now and people are stopping to talk. I was just thinking that they may have been in a caravan and pulled over for some reason - they guys may have been looking at the engine for discussion, etc. Just another side of the coin so to say.

I think we need to call ART BELL!!!!!

Hey Blue Potato! nice to see you over here from Miata.net!
Ches

(P.S. when is Greg T. gettin a mini?)

 

I've never seen one broken down anywhere and I have never heard anything about the Cooper having any less than a shining reputation. (I sure hope that's true considering that I have one on the way). I live right near a dealership too so there would be plenty of the cars in my area to break down if it were going to happen. It must just be some strange phenomenon....

 

Having read a lot about the problems the MINI is having....many seem to come on when the a/c is on....and since those 3 cars were stopped if Florida...my guess is the heat had something to do with it

 

Zappa - Greg no longer works at the shop - went to BellSouth - painted his Miata Honda S2K yeller.

RSpeed has 2 Minis now - mine and a silk green. We may be at Deals Gap this weekend with them.

Good to hear from you.



>>>>Good points Laz. I was just thinking that I see Coppers now and people are stopping to talk. I was just thinking that they may have been in a caravan and pulled over for some reason - they guys may have been looking at the engine for discussion, etc. Just another side of the coin so to say.
>>
>>I think we need to call ART BELL!!!!!
>>
>>Hey Blue Potato! nice to see you over here from Miata.net!
>>Ches
>>
>>(P.S. when is Greg T. gettin a mini?)
>>