Hello everyone,
My beloved 1st gen MCS convertable is now 5 years old and has covered 46k miles .

mINI are offering 3 year tlc for £275 and Comprehensive warranty for £557 per annum.

my question is - is it worth it ?

i drive less than 10k per annum so I"d only get one service for my money.

£800 seems a lot to pay for peace of mind when the car is worth £8k.

What would you do ?


Also can anyone recommend a good independent Mini specialist the birmingham/ worcs area so that I can compare service costs v BMW.

Thank you :)

$1,000 us dollars to clean the valves. An a/c compressor is over $800 not counting labor. $800 is a discounted rate to install 4 new fuel injectors, said to be $1,000 just for the parts. Don't even ask about the death rattle repairs. Mine is an 08 R56 with 52,000 miles on the odometer.

if the car has proved to be reliable then chances are with regular servicing she will continue to have no major issues.

I would either service her yourself or find a recommended independent.

also I would put away something each month as a back up fund for any repairs that may be needed. ( £60-£80 or so )

at five years old she needs regular oil changes, etc and general tlc, which she will not get from main dealers.

Iain

i know its a different car but with the problems i had with my TT im soooo glad i had warrenty without it i would of paid best part of £4000 in repairs!

can you get the TLC and warrenty packs at any time, i bought my mini some months back and not from MINI, would they still arrange something?

For one service only, don't buy the TLC. At one point I would have suggested that extended TLC would make a difference to resale value, but it made no difference at all to mine.

As for extended warranty it all depends on your attitude to risk. It's very easy to buy additional insurance to cover all sorts of risks, but you have to stop somewhere. You need to ask yourself a few questions:

How reliable has your car been?
Would you be able to afford any likely repair that may be covered by the warranty?
Would you be better off with a warranty from Warranty Direct (Google it)? They will be around 1/2 the price and will promise the Earth, though they will dispute claims (wherever they think there's a chance of wriggling out of one) and you will need to pay for the repairs first and then attempt to claim the money back.

Your MINI has one of the most robust engines that MINI has ever built and is much less likely to fail than the later Prince engined cars. However, the convertible hood has a reputation for failure. I would only consider the MINI warranty if it covers hood wear and tear. It's worth getting the answer to that one in writing!