BMW MINI

[Michael Shillabeer]

So potentially £1500 of problems in a year.........?
For quite a lot of non mechanically minded people that would be considered a little excessive.

Yes, its a lot for two faults. MINI parts are priced at BMW rates!

Michael

[zwilnik]

So potentially £1500 of problems in a year.........?
For quite a lot of non mechanically minded people that would be considered a little excessive.

Yes, its a lot for two faults. MINI parts are priced at BMW rates!

Michael

Fortunately there are a lot of very good independent garages with BMW qualifications now and they work out a lot cheaper. If you're driving a Mini that's out of warranty you don't have to get BMW sourced parts either.

[IanUK]

Never owned a Mini but, after several years of owning a big cars I bought a new Ford Fiesta 2 year ago, I part exchanged a Renault Espace in for it

You could call the Fiesta Girly car, and the only jibe I've had since owning it was the other week when I pulled on the car park at work. There stood the van driver standing next to his gas guzzling 4X4 in front of the women trying to take the you know what, with overtones it was a girls car.

My response was something to do with the limited size of his lower regions, they sniggered at him and not at me. I smile each day I drive it as it saves me loads of money and I have never had a problem with it, and I feel no less of a man.

Today I was in my wife's Pug 207cc with roof off, so if I am being seen as being Girly then I stand guilty as charged, but I was having a good time, with the wind on my bald patch and getting a tan.

If you like it, buy it and raise the victory salute (rotated) to the rest of society and do this 

Ian.

[B757-236GT]

The turbocharged 1.6 ones (THP) are great when they work. Trouble is they seem to suffer with problems concered with the timming chain which has an adjuster which slowly slips, at first you notice a slight rattle when cold and then its down hill from there. I only know this due to having research up on the 207. If the cars not under warranty its £1000 from BMW, Peugeot are £300 to change the change and adjuster! Me personally id save three grand and get a 207 GT. Same engine but no badge snobber and you dont have just another Mini.

Richard

[Pete Mc]

I don't know a great deal about the BMW Mini,however,what I do know is that even though they are supposed to have the same wheelbase as an old type Land Rover Discovery,there is no space in them,apart from the front,they ride like a go kart and they're expensive to buy.They are a nice car though and my preference,if I was to buy one,would be the limited edition Mini Cooper Clubman Chocolate.It is a dark metallic brown thing with gold stripes a la Cooper on the bonnet and is fully loaded with leather and all the toys.

I am not a badge snob though,I own a Skoda Octavia 1.9TDI.My mate told me a funny story about badge snobbery a while back.Him and his wife went out one night and booked a taxi.It was dark and the taxi took them to where they were going and she commented on how nice it was,how comfy it was,etc,etc.A few days later they went out to look for a new car at the local dealership.My mate saw the same model if car on the forecourt as the taxi and went over to have a look at it as he really likes them.His wife followed him over,saw the badge and dragged him away from it.

He said as he was being dragged away,"You said you liked these the other night."
She replied,"That was before I found out it was a Skoda.I don't care what you buy,I am not going to drive,be driven in or have one of those on our drive."
The car in question was a Skoda Octavia 2.0TDI vRS in Race Blue.They ended up with a Volvo V50 d5 Estate.How tragic.

Pete

[H]

So potentially £1500 of problems in a year.........?
For quite a lot of non mechanically minded people that would be considered a little excessive.

Yep, £500 for a headlight failure sounds excessive. You could get a CJM loco for that. 

H.

[Michael Shillabeer]

Yep, £500 for a headlight failure sounds excessive. You could get a CJM loco for that. 

H.

Yes, it's excessive! I'd hope to build a layout for less
Interestingly, my neighbours work for MINI and get company cars. None of them have MINIs... they opt for BMWs...

Michael

[B757-236GT]

Actually having re read the thread again. Go for the 10 plate focus and as long as you avoid the diesels they are very good value for money. Most 1.6 Zetecs can be had for £7500 (you wont get a 10 plate mini for that) with as low as 5k miles on and full main dealer history. If you want toys look for a Titanium but find one with options, in standard format it only had over the zetec, auto lights/wipers and rear electric windows, quite a few by 10 plates had satnav (which if you have parking sensors shows you a little plan), heated seats, cruise control, bluetooth etc having said that the Zetec is quite adequate toy wise as it has the heated front screen, air con, electric mirrors, windows and a trip computer as standard. Some also come fitted with full size spare wheels, the only problem is you loose about 8 inches of boot heigh, having said that you can cut the packing down to about 4 inches.

Ive driven quite a few and owned a 1.6 focus and can get over 40mpg easily. I can certainly get 42-44 mpg even with some town driving mixed in! Also they are dead reliable, the power steering HP pipe which failed on some older ons has been sorted, the only problem they seem to suffer from is door seals but if you complain loud enough to Ford they will replace them and theres also a ford dealer on most town high streets.

Richard

[Tackleberry]

Just to throw something else into the mix - 06 plate Citroen C2 VTS 1.6 petrol 

[B757-236GT]

Just to throw something else into the mix - 06 plate Citroen C2 VTS 1.6 petrol 

ah yes but pse or vti engined though? The pse engine gets a pfft but the vti gets a hmmmmm!

Richard

[d-a-n]

I don't think you've said what the car is to be used for yet...

Do you want space, ride quality, cheap on fuel, cheap insurance, straight-line performance, chuckability, comfort? How many miles will you be covering in it a year?

I would say no to the C2, the electrics will go wrong as they have on everyone else's French cars where I work.

Don't worry too much about it having £30 tax etc - Mrs Dan's Panda has £30 a year tax and it returns worse fuel economy than my 17 year old 1.3 16v Starlet in most day-to-day, real world driving scenarios. The £30 tax thing is a gimmick to sell underpowered cars and you end up caning it and breaking bits/prematurely wearing tyres which costs more in the long run than the £90 'saving'. 

[moogle]

When you said 'Mini' I thought you meant a proper Mini, not a Mini on steroids stuck on a Golf chassis! 
One of these in other words:


Classic Mini - Review 2013

[Michael Shillabeer]

I would say no to the C2, the electrics will go wrong as they have on everyone else's French cars where I work.

I must of had the three good French cars lol I changed my Citroen XM at 250,000 miles for a new Peugeot 307sw which I kept for 170,000 miles and then needed more space so got a Renault Espace. I kept this until 210,000 when mid-life crisis hit and I bought a 'Marmite car' - a Chrysler PT Cruiser! No electrical faults on any of the French cars.

Michael

[B757-236GT]

I had a pug 106 (1.5D) which i put over 140,000 on and the electrics still worked fine when i got rid of it. I sent it for scrap at 172,162 but ive since seen it back on the road and i sent it to scrap 4 years ago!! Also ill give you a tip, got a TDCI ford with a 1.4, 1.6 or 2.0 engine could well have PSA group electrics for its management system, just depends on the model year. The old days when car makers made all their own parts have long since gone!

In fact thinking about it apart from and oil change every 5k (book said 10k but regular oil changes never do halm and for £20 for the cost of the bits it was silly not to) and filter changes every 20, two cambelts (second included a waterpump but still only cost £200 at a main dealer) and a clutch (£159 fitted at the local main dealer), the only unplanned repairs were one rear brake cylinder, fitted with new shoes both sides for £30 and a clutch cable fitted at a Peugeot dealer for £50 and a few bulbs at £2 each! I consider £90 to be very good for unplanned maintainence over 8 years and 140k! I used to get 60k out of Michelins on the front, the rears perrished before they wore out, i only used one set of brake pads on the front too. The fiesta (1.4 TDCI) im driving now is still on its first pads at 65k and they dont even look worn yet!!

If want electrics you should have seen the Skoda Fabia that just got sent back, it had 13 seperate glitches, the most dangerous of which was the cruise control would activate and begin accelerating the car, dabbing the foot brake would cause it cancel but still quite scary. Its gone now and we are promised a new one!

Richard

[EtchedPixels]

If want electrics you should have seen the Skoda Fabia that just got sent back

A Skoda with electricity, my how they have changed