High Mileage MINIs

[JohnDonahue]

I drive a MG Midget 4x4 presently but I am so impressed with the MINI that I want one. I am looking at ordering a 2006 model. I would like to hear about how your high mileage cars have been treating you and how high a mileage have you put on your car. As well has the supercharger been treating you OK. This will help me decide what to buy.

[Bilbo Baggins]

I had an '02 MCS with 36,700 smiles on it when I traded it in on a new '06 MCS. My reason for trading up was only to get the newly offered LSD.

It was 100% mechanically reliable. It had a few squeaks and rattles that the dealer repaired under warranty.

Until the factroy mandated an upgrade to the ECU I had no problems with the dreaded yo-yo, stumble, or hesitation. After that the factroy never solved any of the problems in their subsequent software upgrades. I installed the VGS (vaccum gain system, you can find out more about it by searching on this site) and that basically eliminated the issues.

So far my '06 has not displayed any of the problems. Touch wood!

If you are used to driving an MG Midget you will be blown away by the MINI.

[northandy]

Quote: Originally Posted by JohnDonahue

I drive a MG Midget 4x4 presently but I am so impressed with the MINI that I want one. I am looking at ordering a 2006 model. I would like to hear about how your high mileage cars have been treating you and how high a mileage have you put on your car. As well has the supercharger been treating you OK. This will help me decide what to buy.

An MG midget 4x4 .... I take it its a custom job ?, what donor 4wd system did you use ?...

Theres a member on here with 100,000 miles on his 3 year old S...

[il-mostro]

Someone on here overheard someone talking about a 170,000 miler. Think they went on a trip to the Moon and back?

[coded2112]

I have 42,000 miles on my just over 2 year old MCS, no major problems!!

[Richard Crofts]

I have a 52 plated (2002) S with 27k, no faults reported by the previous owner and in the few days I've had it nothing untoward...in fact feels better than my 03 car!

[Richard Crofts]

100k+ in 3 years!...and I thought I had high milage on 40k in 2 years!

[JohnDonahue]

To answer your question about my MG Midget 4x4 its on a Suzuki Samari chassis as well as the motor I drive it on the beaches here on Cape Cod but it no good on the highway because of the factory gearing. So I want something that is just as much fun to drive that can handle the highways and be fun there to, that brings me to the mini. The only other car I have found is a 1973 Volvo P1800ES sport wagon and thats going to cost me $14,000.00 so for the difference I can step into a MINI. I figuree I may go 30,000 miles with no problems on that 73 ES considering the shape its in (Concourse) what I can't figure exactly is will I be ahead of the game 4 years down the road with the MINI or this collectable 73ES Sport wagon and then again I may start getting speeding tickets once again if I buy into the MINI and start running these back roads here the way the car is ment to be run. I don't think I want to getr the S, I am afraid it won't last 4 years, thats why I want some feed back thaqnks for asking about my car any other questions on it I will be glad to answer. I've gotten 5 years out ofd it so far. I built it in 1999. I am doing 36 MPG and thats not bad for any 4x4. It will end up my summer beach buggy to cruise in if I get a new car, but it has been my main car since I built it.

[Neil the Hat]

Quote: Originally Posted by JohnDonahue

So I want something that is just as much fun to drive that can handle the highways and be fun there to, that brings me to the mini.

This definately describes the Mini, by far the most fun car to drive!!

It loves the twisty back roads but is more than happy to cruise at motorway speeds and at speeds a lot higher too. As I found out recently in Germany, it feels the same at 130mph as it does at 70 (just a little louder).

If your thinking about one - you won't be disapointed!!

[snid]

It's a bit of a sticky question. The high mileage cars are going to be the early build cars, which are known to have more issues than the more recent cars.

87,000 miles on my 2003 (built September 2002) Cooper (not an S). The engine hasn't given me any problems.

[JohnDonahue]

SNID, what kinds of problems did the earlier built cars have and how have they been resolved. Are there any overheating problems? how about supercharger problems or CV joints. Just what should I look for and be aware of that makes this car special and yet I should expect these things to occur vs. the unexpected things to occur may be what I am afraid of when I jump into a new brand of car. Thats why I built my own car out of an MG and I maintain it. I know the car and know whats instore for me down the road. I can predict my car beforehand. I want to be able to learn as much as I can about MINIs so that I again can predict whats coming dowwn the road. Knowing the early history will be useful and give me an understanding of where they have gone with building this car. THANKS JOHN

[snid]

The things they have "fixed" from the early cars include:

leaky coolant expansion tanks
windshields that crack, just for the hell of it
the 5-speed manual transmission in the Cooper - they switched manufacturers for that
front seat recline mechanisms
gear ratios on the MCS 6-speed manual
etc. etc.

If you're not looking to buy used (which you shouldn't - new is just a tiny bit more expensive than used, and you can get exactly what you want), I wouldn't worry about those early car problems.

I was just trying to point out that by asking people about high mileage cars, you are going to skew the results because you'll only be hearing from people with the early cars, which are not as reliable as the newer cars.

As I don't have a supercharger, I know lilttle about what problems that might bring.

[matt21]

i have a late 2003 cooper with 38,000 miles and generally it has been fine.

however the old rover sourced gearboxes (prefacelift One/Cooper models ie before July 04) are prone to going. mine went after a trip to the Ring at around 23,000 miles. New one has been fine but bear that in mind as if its out of warrenty its an expensive repair. postfacelift models on these use a Getrag box which i believe to be far more reliable and the One D and MCS used this from day 1.

apart from this and the odd rattle etc. its been great

[JohnDonahue]

SNid tell me about what they did with the transmission. You say they switched it to make room for the arm rest assemble. I can understand that but what do you end up with for a transmission and is it the same trany as they use in the S. Does it have sychro-problems or chipped-teeth problems. What did they do to compensate or are they still working on it ?

[Willy]

I just turned 100,000 miles on a 2003 Cooper.