Losing confidence in my mini

[coopiewk]

In the last three months I have had a new engine, new clutch and now a gearbox put in my '05 mini.

My warranty is up in 250 miles..

Dealer said engine failed because I didn't top the oil between services.
Clutch was wore beyond spec.. at 45k miles.
and gearbox is being replaced because of a noise that sounds like a bearing going out..

I should either be excited that this basically resets the odometer to 0.. or worried that these same parts will fail again..

or maybe I just shouldn't let my wife drive my mini anymore :>

I had planned on putting 150k miles on this car... any chance of that happening?

If this wasn't under warranty, these repairs would almost of cost me as much as the price of the car.

Are these common issues that Mini has fixed?

[super c00per]

Sorry to hear about your mini!!!

Cant really give you advice, but i felt the same when I picked up my 03 MCS a couple of months ago. it had done 9k and I had to have the gearbox done, clutch spring sorted and a few little things aswell. Its not a nice feeling is it??

[Tigger, Eeyore & Roo]

Of the 3, admittedly major, faults there:

1. The new engine: the dealer could easily be right about the oil level thing. 15,000 miles is way too long between oil changes; I've certainly found that extended oil change interval cars usually end up loosing oil worryingly quickly and, combined with the oil not being topped up between services, this could have meant disaster for the engine.

2. The clutch wearing out at 45,000 miles is unfortunate, but might be down to the way it's driven. For instance, is it held on the clutch on hills?

3. The gearbox failure is not good.

Consequently, I'd look upon this as only one major fault over the car's life (the gearbox) and it's a fault that could have happened to any car. If you like the car otherwise, I'd stick with it. If you are planning on keeping the car to 150,000 miles, change the oil at 7,500 intervals as a maximum, not the comedy 15,000 intervals (AND after the first 1,500 miles - whatever the dealer says!) and check the level every two to four weeks as well!

Tigger.

PS: If they changed the engine (which may have been run low on oil) and the clutch under warranty, then you did really well!

[MINIMANIAUK]

We have seen a couple of cars that suffered engine failure ,both due to no/low oil in the engine,both in warranty and under TLC ,and both times not covered by the main dealers so you have been well treated by your dealer.
about 50% of the cars we see need oil top up ,many owners simply never open the bonnet
The clutch is a wear item on any car ,but the MINI does seem to have poor life in this area ,the S being better than the cooper
gearbox failure on the later cars is rarer .
150000 miles is well within reach without major failures ,however as with any complicated mechanical thing servicing and more importantly inspection is vital
, It is in the inspection area that the problems are found before they become major or expensive problems but this area is not well catered for under the TLC - a quick look at the faults and fixes section show how many problems are found or questioned by the owner not the dealer!!!
most of the gen 1 build problems have been rectified as the production aged,the gen2 cars still have this process to go.
A six monthly check of your car regardless of the service indicator due prompt can aid the reliability of your car and reveal problems , its not the cars fault if the owner has kerbed it or ground the exhaust etc