OT Mini Cooper

Harvey9

Member
My daughter is looking to buy a 2003 Mini Cooper. Mileage
is reasonable and looks to be in good shape for the year. I know
little about these cars. Can anyone give me some real world
experience on these cars? Pros and Cons welcome.

Thanks

Harvey
 
Harvey,
All in all pretty good little cars but be careful. of the earlier ones with CVT transmissions. A girl in the office at work had a 2003 and got it stuck in some snow. To quote my transmission guy "Some transmissions just weren"t made to be rebuilt." Second trans shop wanted north of $9K for a used transmission plus labor which they wouldn"t quote because they hadn"t done one before. These are both good shops that I do a lot of business with, not a corner rip-off joint. The owner ended up towing it to the dealer who wanted crazy money to fix it so she traded it for a huge loss on another, newer mini. Go Figure?
HTH Jf
 
if slick roads are a concern. stay away from it. it has a different kind of tranny; that doesn't lend itself to slick roads. I've been around them enuff to know, it's not for me but then different people like different things then I do! I would call it more of a 'chick car'
 
Stay far away from any Mini older than 2007. The CVT transmissions were a disaster and BMW would not back them once they were out of warranty. I had a 2003 that had the transmission replaced at 27,000 miles and was showing bad signs again at 43,000. I unloaded it. There are major class action lawsuits on this problem. You can find the history on line.
 
If it's got a 5 speed manual transmission they weren't the best, chronic clutch and throwout bearing problems.
 
My wife has her 2nd Mini. I rate #2 in the household behind the Mini only because the dog died!

OK..her 1st one was a 2003 with the 5 speed. Everything considered, it was a good car and gave excellent service UNTIL the clutch went south. The cost of clutch/bearing replacement was too expensive considering the age of the car and she traded for another new one (a leftover 2010) in the spring of 2011.

I personally do not like to ride in it as I am tall, and old, and...well...I just like a larger, heavier vehicle. I have trouble getting out of the darn thing.

Your daughter may very well enjoy the car...tey appear to be a "fun" car to drive and fuel mileage is great!

Good luck!
 
My son has a turbo Mini. He says it does poorly in snow. Other wise he likes it. Not my cup of tea thou, just showing my age.
 
European cars are big $$$ to maintain... I normally do not work on euro cars but do maintain a few Mini's... I brought the factory manuals and charged them to the customer. The online help has been great... It helps that the customers are blank check customers and very understanding and patent and can back it up with there wallet... :wink:

None of them are daily drivers they are just scoot around toys... I would not advise one thinking its going to pay for itself. I think that's why you see allot of low mileage ones for sale,,, They made their victory lap and lost the trill of it...

If you could put a MG body on one of'em it would make a for a interesting fun toy to scoot around in...
 
Mini is the most reliable Euro car on the market. Very little maintenance, but some parts can be steep. CVT trans is not a problem, people who have trouble don't understand it, abuse it, or don't maintain it. The CVT needs the fluid changed every 30k, that is in the manual. Filter and fluid are pricey, but lots cheaper than a trans. Minis are nice because there is no timing belt to replace like other Euro trash of the same size. Useless car in the snow, have something else to drive on snow days or stay home.
 
(quoted from post at 18:50:07 12/22/13) Mini is the most reliable Euro car on the market. Very little maintenance, but some parts can be steep. CVT trans is not a problem, people who have trouble don't understand it, abuse it, or don't maintain it. The CVT needs the fluid changed every 30k, that is in the manual. Filter and fluid are pricey, but lots cheaper than a trans. Minis are nice because there is no timing belt to replace like other Euro trash of the same size. Useless car in the snow, have something else to drive on snow days or stay home.

Wow! I will stay away from all Euro cars then.
 
A buddy of mine has owned several - they"re pretty cool little cars and great performers.

The big downside is maintenance and repair costs. According to him, they're so specialized that they have to be taken to a dealer whenever it goes down. In his case, that involves a 2hr trip to either Nashville or Birmingham. He's had to do flatbed them on a couple of occasions....
 
BMW got the Mini name, trademark--and tried to build a retro styled economy car for Europe in England for the tax breaks. Original Mini was a fun car-but the Morris Minor and Ford Cortina had the better rep for reliability- The current Mini outside of England and Germany has some parts supply problems- but is sold as a fun car for the limited warranty period, has some new features for the driver to be the Beta tester. Get a PT cruiser and you"ll be able to fit inside, the Chrysler dealers are still around and a Mitsubishi dealer can also handle the drive train maintenance. Won"t look as "cute", but will be drivable longer. RN
 

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