Most liked posts in thread: Forget Mileage, Let’s Talk Time

The car was a joy to work on, since it's lived its whole life in a nice dry climate, none of the fasteners were rusted and corroded. Everything came apart easily and went back the same way.

Bruce drove up from Texas to KC so we could work on it over Xmas break and after a week on the rack we drove it straight out of the shop, spent a few minutes at the alignment shop and he drove it straight back home to Texas, with no issues.

Happy Birthday, Cooper!

 

Great Story, thank you for sharing.

I was on the waiting list for a year before I got my 2002 MCS just like yours (MRSP, but I paid 500 bucks for a key chain!)

Mine has 168K, original clutch that I taught both son & daughter on. Like you wanted them to know how to drive stick (and helped keep them off the cell phones) We have been all around the New England area with it.
With help from this forum and others I have done most of the work on it myself and hope to tackle the clutch job before winter. (unheated garage in Saratoga Springs, NY)
Keeler MINI has been great to me, could be the 2009 Clubman S & 2011 Countryman S All4 I bought from them too !
But seriously, Brian the parts manager and his staff have really helped me out getting the right parts with a decent discount and repair help.

My wife wants the 02 MCS "running or out" so it can't stay on the jack stands long.

Highlights

- P/S pump sent out to be cleaned and put back in (fun when done in winter, and her car was outside!)
( MINI Corporate refunded me the 200 I spent)
- new alternator
- new starter ( help from here when I messed up the wiring)
- new hubs / rotors
- 1 muffler (drivers side) "upgrade" to put off new exhaust expense
- new water pump / replace SC oil (long time on jacks for that)
- normal maintenance

I need a lift for the garage, keep telling the boss about all the money I have saved on labor. No dice yet. Patience and PB Blaster working so far.

It is a daily driver (@ 80 miles round trip to work) and I do really still love the car.

Thanks again for your post, made my day and I just had both my wife and daughter read it too.

 

Congrats! Thank you for sharing your story!

My wife and I celebrated 13 years with her '02 R50 two months ago (adoption date: April 13, 2002, build date: Feb 26, 2002).

Like you, we have no inclination to get rid of it and it has been amazingly reliable (with a few minor exceptions). Also like you, the mileage accumulation rate in the last 5 years has really slowed -- we also have low 100s (just turn 110k actually).

I always wonder how many of us original '02 owners still have our '02s. Certainly cannot be a very large number.

Attached is a recent photo after the Spring detailing. Still looks great!

 

From one 2002 original owner to another - Happy Birthday!

 

Welp.... With all your trials and tribulations.... You could have named your MINI "Dog".... But instead, I'm glad you named your dog "Cooper"... That was a much better choice...

 

My Mini is 35 years old now, and it's anybody's guess how many miles are really on it - but the speedo says 5500 (as in 105,500)

 

Sorry, ... 2003. Time flies when you're flying in a MINI.

 

Awesome, thanks for sharing.

I posted about your experience on the M/A FaceTweetAgramTrist page.

 

Great story... Thanks for sharing...

 

Great story!

 

Welcome to M/A Greg!

 

My Cooper will be 13 in August (built June 10th)..

Mine does see snow and salt, but is a weekend car the past few years since my work commute is now walking and train. About 86K miles..

Hope to catch a few people form here at MINIs on the Mack this August!!

 

my sonoma 4x4 pickup will be 300,000 miles and 19 years old 12/2015

my cms all4 will be 4 years old 3/2016

 

Feb/March 2003 build (sticker says March, VIN indicates last week of Feb)
which makes him over 12 1/2 years old.

 

Really? You live in a time warp or something?

Math not your strong suit?

Typo?

:biggrin5::biggrin5::biggrin5::biggrin5:

 

My MINI CooperS is only eight years old. I am looking forward to the ten year mark in 2017. My office is on the second floor of my house, so my MINI doesn't get a daily beat-down in stop and go Dallas traffic. It rests comfortably in my garage until I need to go somewhere. It also gets pampered with regular maintenance and service by Sewell MINI, arguably the best MINI dealership in the country.

I would love to celebrate thirteen years with my MINI.

CD

BTW, my next-door neighbor's dog is named "Cooper." I don't know why, but I'm sure it has nothing to do with my car.

 

What about the rears?