[Paul]

Quite an interesting post, and hats off to you for the work you must have put in! That said, I'm unclear on a few things, and I'd like to hear your thoughts on these too.

Quote: Originally Posted by Ken Cooper (original)

There were several (8 – some multiple) early growing pains quality problems that are no longer showing up. These had people pretty concerned for a while (November and part of December). For instance, leaking fuel pump problems were of great concern (safety issue). There were also rattles, squeaks, pieces falling off, and whatever.

Fuel pumps, in terms of a fix on the line and available to dealers, is resolved. I think that's more one for current owners to be watching out for than potential customers.

There's no real evidence that rattles squeks have been fixed, they just seem pot luck, some early cars had none, some do have some.

Pieces falling off, if you're referring to the wheel arch trim, there's been no "fix" for this, I'd say mine hasn't fallen off mostly because I've not been driving my car as it's been at the dealers due to that and other issues. This is probably my main ongoing concern, as trim falling off regularly wont be much fun!

Quote: Originally Posted by Ken Cooper (original)

There were six non-issues (also, I deleted another 4 that shouldn’t even have been posted in this topic string).

There were six little issues that were quickly fixed.

There were 5 minor irritant issues.

I think that could do with fleshing out really, for people reading your post unaware of what you consider minor irritant issues. I'd put rattles in that category, but I think you've covered that one.

Quote: Originally Posted by Ken Cooper (original)

And, finally, there were three issues that warrant watching:

…. Gearbox problems (5 of them). These non-catastrophic issues are currently being addressed by Mini. It’s worth going to that site and reading what popey, craig, tracywebb, aisling and ichy600 have to say. It’s worth it to know what to look, listen, and feel for as we test-drive our new cars.

…. Upgrade speaker problems (several). Fixed by Mini but check out those speakers when you take ownership of your car.

…. One case of Obviously lousy workmanship along with poor QC. Only once, but this kind of thing stands out glaringly. If I had been the owner I’d have not accepted the car.

Cant argue with that, which owner has the one case of lousy QC? Seems to have been a few from just dipping in and outof the forum, but if you've gone through with a fine tooth combe I'd be interested which one you consider the worst!

We were considering doing something similar to what you've done with this post (so it acts as a rolling "buyers check-list" so people can be aware), so it's interesting to see the research you've done, the time you've taken, and the conclusions you've come to. That said from what I've read on here, and certainly from my own experience, I'd be more concerned than you appear to be about potential issues. But keep the faith.

You'd be unlucky to get "a bad one" for sure, but I think there might be more potential issues than maybe you've raised, I'm thinking mostly of those you've put aside as minor and/or non issues.



As a footnote, we're not "European", MINI2 very much international in readership, and more trafficc come from North America than anywhere else.