Any thoughts? I have no loyalty to either company, just looking for a good deal on a functional hitch. From what I've read the Curt is a fairly accurate copy of the Mini Do More, but at substantially lower cost. Any experience with these you'd like to share? I'm going to pull my lawn mower trailer (ZTR) and use it to carry bikes on a hitch type rack on my Clubby....
I've never used either, my own thoughts are to go with the Mini Do More based on the fact that Curt purchased and then copied the MDM brand product. Makes me question their ethics. For that reason alone I'd spend a few dollars more.
It's about $100 more, is there that much more value? $221 vs $325. I'm not sure I see the problem with the ethics thing, just because someone copies and modifies a good idea does not make them evil. Being first does not give you carte blanche forever........ Unless there's more to the story I don't know?
To me the value is in the support Mini Do More provides the community. Again, this my opinion and I fully understand the cost ramifications. See New reciever hitch option coming from Curt MFG
I have the MiniDoMore on my vert. I use it to haul my bikes. And after reading Nate's link... I would not buy from the other place. If they are willing to screw a "competitor" it would be reasonable to deduce that they would be just as willing to screw over a customer.
Hi, I actually have one of each. Both are good quality it seems. The instructions for the MDM seems possibly a bit better. I too would like to support an innovator like MDM. Only thing really I have to gripe about is it took MDM two weeks to ship the product, and the Curt one ARRIVED in 2 days. Since I am in Canada, the Curt one also cost FAR less to ship, but that's not MDM fault really (other then there are no Canadian distributer I could find). Check the price on the MDM one again. The Curt is cheaper, but don't recall that much. I got the Curt one for $150 shipped.
MDM and MINI Fini we sell and install MDM and have also installed MINI Fini-2 companies whose owners ACTUALLY OWN and DRIVE MINIs. We had an issue with an early MDM that was not welded correctly-he shipped out another one immediately and told me to go ahead and put the wrong one into the metal recycling bin, no problems. Curt is nothing more than a U.S. made chinese rip off artist. Support the community or take the cheap way out, but should you have an issue don't be surprised when they cannot solve it, since they do not know HOW to design anything.
Wow, that'sa pretty strong reply, Motoring Magic. If you go to the Curt site and read their history you'll see they are more than a "chinese rip off artist", but I'm not trying to change your mind. I have no history with either company.
I appreciate the above, could someone point me in direction of preference of the MDM vs the MINIFINI (MF)... I was reading article in MC2 about the MDM, and it alarmed me that on an S, which i have, that you need to pull the pin from up under the rear fascia. Plus, I don't have rear light, so I'll need to mod the fascia for either... I didn't have opportunity to read up on the MF but it appears cleaner install, but then there are two posts/recievers vs one hidden away??? I'm looking for way to transport bikes and the roof rack installation, requires holes and is not on/off option from what I've heard... that could be mis information as well. I think we could have an entire folder on Bike options. Thanks for any/all feedback
This is slightly off topic and I can't vouch specifically for the MDM products but I can say how much I go out of my way to buy North American (followed but European) whenever possible. I typically expect to spend 50%-150% more than "made in China" but I'm glad to do so. If we don't continue to support our N/A manufacturers and especially those who take some risk to inovate and bring a new product to market we're going to see more and more jobs shipped over to China. My kids say I'm a racist, which is the arguement everybody makes everytime anybody says anything negative against somebody from overseas. I'm sick of the lame comebacks. What really funny is I am Chinese by birth and heritage (Chinese/German) and I'm NOT a racist. Thanks for letting me vent
+1, It has nothing to do with being racist. Moving jobs overseas does nothing but hurt our countries. North & south of the 49th.
Yes there are two "receivers" that will slightly poke out of the rear bumper grill area, but IMHO it really doesn't distract from the looks and it is below the actual bumper. And with the large number of types of attachments you will have exactly what you need.
Those receivers that poke out on either side remind me of James Bond oil dumpers.... :smile5: 007 FTW!
The Curt is made in the U.S.A. while being a lot less expensive? Two weeks to even process the order, versus arriving in two days? Curt improved on the safety-chain hooks? Why is the MDM more expensive with such slow processing/shipping times? If they're the same materials and design, what does my extra $70 get?