MK1 New MINI- reliable?

[sat1983]

Are they by and large reliable? I have to 'downgrade' from my 2011 Polo GTi and would still like something fun.
What should I look out for?

Many thanks!

[Defcon5]

Which engine? The Cooper S is the most reliable, but fairly thirsty

Powersteering pumps, xenon lights, wishbone bushes, door locks are all common problems

Gearboxes on the non - S cars is prone to failure

I had a Cooper S for about a year, really good car. Supercharger is excellent

[ollywhite]

Try and get a facelift car if you can.

http://www.minitorque.com/forum/f29/r53-cooper-s-p...

[mike9009]

ollywhite said:

Try and get a facelift car if you can.

http://www.minitorque.com/forum/f29/r53-cooper-s-p...

Facelift cars also do not have the gearbox problems of the early cars..... change happened at about mid 2004....

[sat1983]

2005 onwards then?

[Silent1]

sat1983 said:

2005 onwards then?

a 54 onwards should be fine, there are some earlier facelift cars, the easiest way to tell is if the reversing light is at the bottom in the middle it's pre facelift.

[Defcon5]

04 I think

[sat1983]

A lot of ads do seem to mention reconditioned gearboxes. Don't know if that's good or bad somehow!!

[Defcon5]

Just buy an S, no gearbox problems then.

[eatcustard]

Post July 2004 are the better ones

[watchnut]

I wouldn't touch an early BMW Mini, we had a 51 plate.....and it was so badly screwed together we kept it for 6 months and gave up.

Since then I have always asked Mini owners what their car is like, and it looks like any one with the "MK2" "face lifted" one has faired better, and I have heard nothing bad....so that's why we bought an 2013 model, and 3 months and over 5000 miles to date all is well.

If you do buy an older one the power steering motor is very loud...and normal (but irritating)
CHECK the boot does not rattle, so try to test drive it on a bumpy road
Ours pulled very heavily to the near side, and in the end BMW replaced the whole steering rack/suspension, so don't be fobbed off that it is the "camber" effecting the steering

good luck in finding one, they are lovely cars to drive and spank your Polo for smiles per miles

[Challo]

I have a 2002 Cooper S for the past 14months. Mot'd twice and passed with flying colours.

Inside the plastics are starting to wear, and its starting to squeak more and more. The only thing that has gone wrong was the heater matrix failing, but other than that just the normal tyres, wipes etc.

I know everyone says to go for a the post-facelift but mine has been faultless, if a little sparce equipment wise.

Not sure if the One/Cooper is as good as I know the 5-speed box was prone to failing.

[mike9009]

Hi

We owned a 52 plate Mini ONE for 6 years/ 48k miles. We had very few problems with it. The major issue we had was the airbag light kept illuminating. It felt well screwed together with a nice compliant, quiet ride. I know the gearbox can be troublesome.

We also owned a facelift Cooper S 954 plate) for a year and bit too. It did not feel particularly better built - partly because the ride was more jarring. The power steering pump also failed on this later car during our ownership.

Mike