I have a Mini One (04 plate) with over 152,200 miles on the clock! Are there many other Mini Ones (first generation) with higher mileage out there?
I have had the car since it was 1 year old with 5k on the clock. It has been a great car and served me well. My thoughts now though are - has it come to the end of its useful life at 152k miles?
It has been well looked after and serviced, original clutch! and apart from usual service comsumables plus a new radiator it hasnt really cost me lots of money to keep it on the road. However in saying that recently I have had two problems:
1. Power Steering failure - this happens every now and again. The steering goes stiff and is just about controllable. The wife has lost confidence in driving it though!
2. Central locking on drivers door. Every now and again the drivers door refuses to open from the inside - meaning an embarasing exit after climbing out the passenger door. After fiddling with the door handle from the outside it seems to free itself. Again another confidence issue with the wife - jokes about climbing out Daisy Duke style (Dukes of Hazzard) dont go down very well!
I would be interested to hear thoughts on the following:
- Is the car at 152k (with things like the original clutch that will need replacing at some point - but currently ok) at the end of its useful life?
- should I spend money to get the steering pump replaced (or steering issue investigated)?
- Who else has a high mileage Mini One - is 152k high or nicely run in?
I have an 03 one with 117,000 on the clock which also needs a new pas pump because the same reasons as yours but will be fixed in the next week or so.....I dont have the issues with the lock tho (yet?!)
I dont think it is at the end of its life tho....maybe with you it is but will definetly be fixed by someone else and be running around for many more miles years.....I think if you dont want to invest good money on it then chop it in but unless you are going to buy new then you are buying an unknown again and may have loads more troubles....I would fix it if it was mine and keep using it
Mini steering pump is a cheap and easy diy fix......reconditioned pumps with 2 year warranty are around £200 from BBA-Reman and any good garage can fit one in a couple of hours if you prefer. BMW MINI 2000 - 2007 POWER STEERING PUMP | eBay
Your Mini will sell privately for a much better price with this job done, unless you are going to trade in against a new Mini or other car.
If you have an early pre-June 2004 (pre-facelift) Mini it will have a Rover Midland gearbox.....if so and you intend keeping the car get the MTF94 gearbox oil changed asap to prolong the gearbox bearing life.
One shouldn't worry about high mileage. The most important thing is regular servicing and dealing with issues as soon as they appear. Quite often a slight adjustment or tweeking is all that's required, which may cost nothing. Always use GOOD quality oil and change when specified. Think of it as your blood, if your blood was thick and gunged up you wouldn't feel too good, therefore your engine will be the same. My Mini is a 2006 1.4D with 220k. All of which have been Hard miles as I'm a driving instructor. Best tuition car I've had without many issues. [/FONT]
Sounds like you have looked after your mini well
Give it a bit of tlc where it needs it and it will be good for another 152k better the devil you know and all that.
I totally agree with all the above comments.
I have a 2004 MC40 mini. It's got over 200,000 but has been well kept. The only thing I have had a problem with is a wheel baring and I need to fix a wheel speed senior now. But other that that she runs like a charm. I look at like this if you had a classic car would you be worried about the miles on it. No just take care of it and treat it right and they'll keep on running.
My friend has an 05 I think it is now with 181000, bought it at 30000 on the clock and its given sterling service, almost faultless, 120 miles a day minimum use everyday.
Never had to spend anything much on it except normal service items and tyres etc, but things are now starting to fail one by one on a regular basis and the costs are adding up, so it looks like a new one is on the cards for the sake of reliability.
So looks like youre ok up to 180000
Hi my Mini is identical to yours. 2004 and has just hit 152k miles.
I bought it last years and have covered around 3k miles. I had the fuel pump replaced which cost me about £60 for part second hand and fitting. That's about it.
I also found on the paperwork the gearbox and clutch were replaced. The car drives fine I can't complain and to be honest it feels solid and I reckon it's got plently life left.
Just had a small water leak the other day could be the raidiator but very cheap to replace.
Mines does lack on pickup though, it does take awhile to build up speed but it's something I can live with.
I wouldn't worry - get the PAS fixed and maybe put another 150k under it's belt!
The problem always is the perception of mileage on the used market...regardless of how well the car is looked after.
The public tends to see 100k as the absolute maximum a car should do before it blows up on them, a sort of imaginary mileage barrier - this is a silly throwback to the days of Cortinas and Hillman Minxes when a car would be lucky to get to 70k miles before throwing a piston and expiring on the side of the M1 in a cloud of steam and a lake of smelly GTX .
Nowadays with modern engineering and oils the mileage limits are amazing and the sky is really the limit.
However , in the real world of Autotrader and Ebay it is a shame that your car would be judged to having 'Starship Mileage' and living on borrowed time...
I have a Mini one 1.4 with 117,000 miles on the clock.
I've replaced the water pump (however coolant loss is still present), cat converter, both pre/post 02 sensors, alternator belt and now timing chain needs replacing. I need to stick and drive this car until September then sell it for the all new mini cooper 1.5.
Mine is a baby as far as mileage is concerned and I'm glad to see MINIs with greater mileage. I've only done 95,500 miles so far in the 2006 convertible. Only problems I have had is a leaking radiator (our of warranty of course) and a leaky passenger door seal; the latter fixed under warranty. As mentioned above we may as well keep these little cars when they have "high" mileages as peoples expectations will be so low.
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