OP: You should know that I am green with envy. I think they are so cute, but I’m afraid to drive anything so small. Still… JEALOUS!
The slowest acceleration of any car rated by Consumer Reports. Be careful on highway entry ramps.
Don’t be, they’re plenty safe.
And a fucking blast to drive. I had mine (an '04 S) for five trouble-free years.
A base MINI with CVT? Possibly. The S that the OP bought? Not even close.
Learn to change your own oil and filters.
You want to stay as far away as possible from a BMW service dept. (or any service dept. for vehicles built by a German owned company: Mercedes, VW, Audi, Porsche). They are a bunch of thieves. Avoid them. They are thieves. Did I say it, they are thieves.
They play you on this superiority complex of “German engineering” (which is BS) making you think that there is something better about your car while using that rip you off. $80 for an oil change is not “German engineering” it’s a blatant rip-off. Then they laugh at your naivety while they do it.
Did you buy the car as a certified pre owned mini? If so, It should come with 6yr/100,000 mile maintenance. If not, then follow Spartydog’s advise. If you don’t change your own oil find a good local mechanic that will do it for less than half of what BMW will charge.
The base model mini convertible was one of the slowest cars tested by Car & Driver, but the cooper s is quite fast.
I did indeed, I never have done that with a used car before. I have always felt it was something of a rip off. But I know so little about Mini Coopers, I felt it would be wise
I cannot testify for all Cooper Ss, but I will say I took it out on the highway and had to pass a truck quick, and I went from about 67 to 80 in the proverbial blink of an eye. I was impressed.
I did discover something else about the car yesterday. It has a proximity sensor. While I was parking it, I got a bit too close to the car to my right and it (the cooper) pointed it out with a mini beep.
I saw one the other day, from that I’d say it’s a awesome car that you can have a lot of fun with.
I’m hoping to go test drive one this morning myself. Wish me luck!
We’ve noticed that local MINI owners all wave at each other on the road. So if you spot another MINI, give a friendly wave.
I wave at other MINIs. My oil changes were $65 at the dealer, once out of the maintenance warranty period - I’ve only paid for one. For the first 3 years all maintenance items (inc. headlights, oil changes, even my broken cupholder on a MINI I bought used) were replaced/done for free. I realize your car is out of the maintenance warranty, but I thought that was cool. By comparison, my SO’s Mazdaspeed also includes free oil changes, but to get them they require you take your car there for “service inspections”, and they require “service inspections” every 7,500 miles and those aren’t cheap.
My former MINI was a hardtop S model, but I currently have the base Cooper, convertible model. When I went to buy my second one, I really wanted a convertible, but the S convertibles were a little out of my price range. So I bought the base model, used. I do miss having an S, but it makes up for it when I put the top down on a sunny day.
The S models have plenty of acceleration, as I found out after a $250 speeding ticket that I got when I was passing a left lane slow poke one day (another reason I chose to get a base model - tickets are expensive and something about the MINI S makes it easy to speed). I have no problem accelerating and merging on freeway ramps.
Well, good luck!, but probably by now you have already test driven it. How’d it go?
They don’t take 87 octane
Adding premium gas adds a couple bucks per fill up - no biggie.
Don’t drive through deep puddles unless you really have the time to have your engine replaced.
I’ll try to get Lillith Fair in here to testify…
When the runflats wear out (or sooner if you’ve got the dough), replace them with non-runflats for a smoother ride and add a bottle of fix-a-flat to your emergency kit.
Find your closest Mini Cooper car club/Meetup and attend. You’ll get lots of good info.
Good advice. I don’t find the ride that uncomfortable, but will consider the replacement idea. How will that affect the runflat sensor on the console? And I never even thought about a Mini Cooper club. Great idea.
I am not a Mini Cooper mechanic, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t affect the flat tire monitor at all; certainly hasn’t on mine. This thread at NAM jibes with my understanding of the flat tire sensing mechanics.
As long as your wheels are the same size all around, you’re good.
It doesn’t affect the 1st gen models, as I have had different sets of tires and wheels put on both my MINIs. The 2nd gen cars use a different system and those need additional/new sensors if you change wheels.
The difference in run-flats and non-run flats as far as ride goes is pretty dramatic, IMO. I ditched my runflats and never looked back. They are expensive and don’t last very long (<20k miles in my case). There is an off chance that you might get stuck out of cell phone range with no spare and die, but from what I’ve heard, very rarely happens.
The driving through puddles (shouldn’t do that!) is only a problem in base Coops, not the S model. The intake is higher on the S.
Is that a whoosh or a WTF? Might have been the slowest of whatever group of sports cars they tested them with. I have a 2005 Mini S and acceleration is not a problem.
Do be careful of driving through any standing water and check your tire wear a lot sooner than you would with other vehicles, especially if you like to slide through turns like I do.
I was bummed because today at the rental car counter, when I told the nice young woman I wasn’t wild about a Citroen Picasso C3, she offered me a (regular) Mini. Sadly, I might have to lug a couple of other cow-orkers around and instead ended up with something that is called an Opel Astra but I suspect is a Chevy Malibu. Total POS.