No Deal

deron3085

Wow.

I was ready to drop over 36K on a brand new Mini Cooper S convertible, but after reading the nightmare threads on reliability, the deal is definitely off. I thought BMW would have high ethics and quality control...way too many red flags. You've got one less driver abuse tale to tell.

Owners forums = penance for BMW's sins.

violetdc

Really? :confuse: Like, what red flags have u read about/researched? I have an '06 S, and haven't had any problems. I don't know much about the '2nd gen' cars (mine is 1st gen), but u must take in2 consideration that there are going to be lemons out there no matter what u decide 2 purchase. Just 1derin' ...

deron3085

Yikes, the clutch issue thread alone, coupled with the fact the BMW classifies every instance as driver abuse is reason enough to scram. The clincher was when I asked my Motoring Advisor about the multitude of clutch/transmission problems that have been documented and he stated they have never had any issues with them. Well beyond a fishy response, especially after my wife and I did clearly notice the mysterious acrid burning smell after a relatively test drive, which I had not noticed on my first test drive by myself. I'm guessing it was more noticeable since the top was down. Anyway, I directly asked the MA about that and he shrugged it off as no big deal.

Believe me, I understand lemons happen but when there are so many concentrated problems in one area it screams mechanical design flaw. Where there's smoke there's fire, or in this case a burnt clutch from owner abuse.

No car under a 100K miles should ever need a clutch replaced.

busiris

Remember also that what you read here comes mostly from unhappy owners, and you can find horror stories in just about any manufacturer's model lineup.

My wife has an 05 Mini convertible manual with 60k miles and no clutch issues.

Personally, I suspect many of these clutch "horror stories" come from those who drive the living crap out of their car, or aren't very good with a manual transmission.

That doesn't mean I don't think some of the cases are valid, but I have talked to a few owners with these complaints... And in those few cases, I highly suspect driver "contribution" to their clutch failures.

In any case, I would not base a decision to buy/not buy based soley on what I read on a couple of forums. The Toyota section is littered with those claiming UA yet no one has been able to demonstrate it happening.

Just some food for thought...

puffin1

I agree with you. I have wanted a Mini for 5 years.
However, the Brits build is bad. The Geartrag tranny scares me. I had 2 MGB's nothing but problems.You can go back on here for 4 years and they make a VW look like a better build.
I Have a BMW 3 RWD and my dealer told me to stay away. I also have a 2010 VW basic Golf 2.5 Manual, I put 16 inch alloys on it and a clear mask. It came w/ sr and multi level seats and I put foggs on it. I use it for Home Depot and I never thought I'd buy one as I thought VW was junk, no more. My Gas milage is just as good almost on the highway as the mini, and I have 170 HP and a 5cyl. However, that new what looks to me 2 seat mini on auto express is tempting. Check it out. Also do you think with the price of gas and the ec onomy there will be deals? We get the losy cars from europe Second hand Rose as usual right flyer? :shades: