Now that the “just brought home from the dealership” feeling has worn off, how do you all feel about your Mini’s? Have you had trouble with it? What was your experience with the dealer? Do you wish you had done anything different?
Would you recomend this car to someone else?
I know two people who’ve had CooperS’s for a few months, and are quite happy with them. Don’t know what they thought of the dealers. One person is a dealer and had his pre-ordered.
I want one. They’re really cute.
I really really want one, and am trying to justify the cost (and subsequent monthly payments!) I have heard that some people have had mechanical problems with their Mini’s, and I was curious to see if any of the Dopers 'round here had had similar problems.
Are they still going for way above what they should, btw?
I’ve had mine a few weeks now, and I think it is simply smashing. Really hugs the road, excellent gas mileage (I’m getting about 35 mph), super handling. I have the CVT transmission which is great fun to swop to manual on hilly and curvy roads.
My partner is 6’7" and not permitted to drive it, but he has ridden with me on longish trips, and can’t stop raving about how much room is inside – he says he’s quite comfy.
Shan’t bore you by turning into an advert – but I think I got an excellent car for an excellent price; it suits my needs exactly. I read and researched them almost from the beginning when the new versions were available, and read a lot of users’ reviews on-line.
I think where people get into trouble with the price is once you start adding all the extras – they add up FAST…heated seats, promixity alarm, this little thing on the stock that tells time, no wait…
The local reaction has been interesting, as I live currently in a rural part of Virginia, and they aren’t a common sight! People like to wave, especially little kids. A couple people have tried to race me from intersections. :rolleyes:
I’ve won both times.
People think they’re little clown cars, and yes, they have 4-cylinder engines and weigh about 5 pounds, but the engine is powerful for the size of the car it’s pushing! I’m getting ready to go on a fairly long car trip in 2 weeks, and I cannot wait…
My dealer was all right; they tried to add $700 to the price for what amounted to 2 floormats and 3 washes and waxes…I was able to negotiate out of this with very little trouble. They never made me feel pressured at any time, like about adding features and things (mine has virtually no extras, just the CVT, and, yes, yes, I confess, I got the Union Jack on the roof.)
The girl (she was only about 20) who sold me the car was extremely competent and really knew the product. The only time her inexperience showed was when she became flustered (eg when I balked at that $700 thing, and also because I wasn’t able to pick the car up the day it came in – my partner had gone in for emergency surgery!), she would become a little bit sullen – but she recovered very quickly, and her boss was very good at helping her get back on track and restore her good humour, and how to work through such a situation without taking it personally.
Only thing I wish I had done differently was talk my brother-in-law out of his 1968 Mini Cooper what’s just rotting in his garage!
35 miles per gallon!
:smack:
I still am mad for my mini. In all honesty, there are two problems: one minor, one major.
Minor: the stick shift has a metal top. Do you have any idea how hot this thing gets in the Teaxs heat? I am planning on replacing this, so this is a minor drawback.
The major one:
Mini Coopers in Texas and Florida (and othe hot climates) are having a bit of a problem called “The mini stumble”. At approximatly, the 2500 rpms the car stumbles momentarily before picking back up again. It is as if you are a novice at shifting, even if you aren’t.
So that you see I am not the only one with this problem, here is my local message board:
http://metroplexmini.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=599
It infuriates me because my car was doing this ever so slightly. I was told by the dealer that reloading the software would clear this problem up. Nay. It made it WORSE. They promise that they will fix this problem soon and are working on fixing the problem.
The newer cars (mine was purchased in October of 2003) are not having this problem as much.
Despite all, I still love my car and wouldn’t trade it for anything. It’s still my dream car! But, I would feel it unethical to not warn a prospective buyer about this problem. That way, they can test the car looking for that issue specifically.
>(mine was purchased in October of 2003)
Wow, talk about early delivery !
yeah, those Mini dealers know how to deliver, don’t they? 
heh.
I was thinking that my car is a 2003 and typed that inadvertantly.
It should read, as you imagine: October 2002.
I’ve had my Cooper S for almost 3 months now and I still love it, although I have had a couple minor problems:
The windows have this BMW feature whereby they go down 1/4" when you open the door and then back up when you close the door in order to make a better “seal”. Sometimes the window goes up before the door closes and so when I close the door, the window is “too far” up. Because of this, a piece of trim on the roof cracked when the window corner pressed against it oddly when I closed the door. The dealer was happy to fix it, but it was a PITA.
THe rain sensing wipers: if they’re on and I turn the car off and then turn the car back on, I have to turn the wipers off and then on again. They don’t remember they’re “on”. I’m not sure if this is broken or a design flaw.
I have the “stumble” mentioned above, which I figured was me (even though I’ve been driving stick cars - both regular and performance - for 20 years). Glad to know it’s not. I’m going to call the dealer about this because it bugs me, particularly when pulling into traffic.
But even though I listed these 3 things, I still think it’s a great little car, esp. for the money. Fun to drive, room enough for almost anything, and it does draw a lot of attention.
My wife bought hers about 4 months now, and my wife still loves it (she bought an S model). Great dealership experience (though she got pulled over by the cops in her test drive, LOL), and no regrets. It even packs in a lot more than we suspected, and the back seat is not an issue for normal size passengers. Also, since then she gets a lot of good customer service correspondence and offers from BMW. High recommendations all around.
Those with the “stumbling” problem, if you discover it is not a problem with the computer, you might want to check all the ground in your car, and perhaps add some new ones. You could probably Google “gounding mod” and find more info. That has been known in some cases on some cars to reduce momentary hesitation.
My brother has an S. It’s a very cool car. If you want to work on it yourself, I would strongly advise against it, but if you buy it new and sell it when the waranty runs out, it should be fine. I would not keep it after the warranty period, however.
Necros, why would you not keep it beyond the warranty? I am very curious for your opinion on this
My group has been over the stumble problem for a long time, Necros. We also have a lot of mechanics in the group. It really is software issue.
I would also recommed getting an S. Everyone in my group that has a regular mini wishes they would have waited a bit longer to get the S.
My mini is pretty much fully loaded except that I didn’t get the auto-rain wipers or the GPS.
I didn’t get the rain wipers because, well, it seemed silly. It’s not to hard to tell if it’s raining. Wireless, in hindsite, do you think they were worth it?
I didn’t get the GPS simply because I thought that the placement was ugly. Part of the mini’s charm is having the speedometer smack in the middle.
liirogue, where in OK are you? I am in Dallas and our group meets regularly. There are some in our group from OK city.
Stupid question here from a non-owner - do minis have trunks? Or is it a hatch in the back. Where do you put stuff and how much does it hold.
Just curious. Thanks.
“Little”?!?! They look large over here - they give the impression of being twice the size of real minis!
Minis are actually comparable to Honda Civics for size. Not a big car, but not a toy either.
Why do they wish they had gotten the S? Was it the sportier feel, or did they feel that it was better mechanically, etc?
I am just outside of OKC.
It does have a trunk, though not very deep (2 feet?), but the back seats fold forward to convert to a hatchback. We haven’t bothered using it for any major moving, but we’ve still been able to fit some awkward/oversized objects with little trouble.
I just have the plain Mini, and I have no regrets that I didn’t get the S.
I think of size in Dog UnitsTM , and with the seats down, I would have no problem transporting my Rottweiler cross and my Great Dane cross (at least in terms of size. No way are these mud machines getting into my car!)