I'm new here and hoping you folks can give me the straight scoop on Mini's. I am considering a new Paceman (S or JCW) to replace my 2002 Volvo C70 (with 150K miles) but am a bit worried after seeing some of the reported problems with Mini's. A couple of the major items were the carbon buildup on intake valves and premature wearing of plastic guides on the timing chain as well as early water pump failures (60-100K). Can anyone shed light on whether these are still problems with 2013 models? For example, I saw one item that implied a redesign of the PVC system on 2011's was suppose to address the carbon buildup. Is that true? And are the early failures of the timing chain and water pump common and still a problem with the current models? Lastly, is a JCW less or more likely to have these problems? As I understand they have a number of heavy duty components I thought perhaps they would be stouter (plus that 208HP is VERY appealing!!) Any insights will be greatly appreciated as spending $35-45K on a car one expects it to be trouble free for quite some time. Thanks in advance for your time and assistance! Mike
Welcome, thanks for joining Motoring Alliance, the FUN and Friendly MINI Community. I see you are in Central Ohio. We gather once a month on the 3rd Sat of the month for donuts, conversation and tire kicking at the Tim Hortons in New Albany from about 8.30 to 10. I sure do understand your concerns, yet please keep in mind that what one reads on sites such as this is the issues people have. There are 10's of thousands of people that have no issues, are not members of these types of sites and are perfectly happy with their MINI. People don't pop on here and report they had yet another great trouble free drive.
Some times they do. Welcome Aboard! Come join us at Tim's on the 18th. The local guys don't care what you drive just as long as your a car guy
Welcome to Motoring Alliance. Please stop out and visit with us on the 18th in New Albany. We're a friendly bunch and can answer most questions that you may have....about MINI's.
Welcome to the coolest MINI forum on the net... I work in the MINI parts business, I have customers who get maintanace parts and have over 100,000 trouble free miles. I hear all the time when something does fail " This is the first time in years or ever that something broke" Like Nathan said most people don't go on forums and say " Today my MINI drove perfect with no issues"...Do a couple test drives and after the first couple of miles you will completely forget about any issues you might have read about.........Happy Motoring!
I don't have a 2013, but I'll be happy to tell you about my 2008 MCS. I'm the second owner, and bought the car while it was still under warranty. I did have the timing chain done at about 45,000 - before the warranty was out, but to tell the truth I may have been overly paranoid about the noise I was hearing. I've also had the clutch replaced recently (about 75,000 miles) but I blame that on the former owner. I've never owned an automatic and certainly do know how to drive a stick, so I know it wasn't me. Other than those two things, my MINI's been rock solid for reliability, and has only required regular maintenance items like oil, tires, and brakes. It's a daily driver that I take out for twisites when I can. I've not modded my engine or anything along those lines - that's beyond my budget and ability. I am planning on slowly doing things like removing the rear seats, and adding a few bits here and there. There are people who do heavy modifications here, and they can tell you about that - this place is a great resource! On the whole, if I think my 2008 is reliable and solid, chances are that a 2013 is going to be even better.
i cannot directly address 2013 models, but i have an 03/2012 build date cms all4 manual it is now 13 months old with ~11k miles, been back to the dealer 2x, once for a service campaign and once for an oil/filter change ... i have changed the oil/filter 3x myself the service campaign was for the coolant temp sensor, i had no trouble from the sensor before the campaign was performed, but as it applied to my serial number, i had it done zero problems, mucho fun my driving style is "aggressive", ~60% rural, ~20% city and ~20% highway and my overall mileage since new is 28.8 mpg this is by far the best automobile i have ever owned scott
My MINI is just over a year old, with 26k miles, and no issues. I had a coolant sensor replaced via a service campaign, done with my first MINI-provided oil change; it had caused no problems. The carbon buildup on the valves issue is not MINI-specific, but affecting several makes with direct-injection engines. I think the jury is still out on whether MINI's crankcase ventilation changes helped remedy the situation, few have many miles on their 2011+ models at this point. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. If not...I'll just assume that it's an additional maintenance item that needs doing ("50k miles: must be time for a walnut blasting; now it runs like new!").
I totally get what Nathan said about what's listed on various sites. A guy never knows how common a problem is that you read about plus you always hear the bad stuff (kind of like the 6 o'clock news). I had hoped a forum like this would give me some true life experience from Mini owners...be it good news or bad. And Wow, I got more than I expected and PDQ too! Many Thanks for sharing all the info everyone....it is very helpful and MUCH appreciated! What a positive first experience on M/A Barring any unplanned events I'll swing by Tim Hortons next weekend and chat with some of you in person. Till then, again, Thank You for taking the time to respond with your insights and personal experiences about your Mini's! Best Regards, Mike
Mike, word of warning. Buying the first round of donuts for this bunch could require taking out a loan. Jim
Thanks for the warning!! I'll be sure to leave my wallet in my other pants when I stop by I may not be until next month though as I have a chance to go to the Mecum auction in Indy this Saturday. Not in the market to buy a classic right now though. But it's still fun to just check things out! Have a couple bismarks for me ;-)
:cornut: My Margi(08 R56 BRG MCS/JCWm) has had a few 'clangers' here and there but she is the most fun car that I've ever driven and she'll be my car until she's only a lump of rust on the side of the road. Jason
Well... here's my report: I had yet another great trouble free drive! In fact, nothing but trouble free motoring! No problems whatsoever!