Hi Mini folk- have been reading the forum here for a number of days now, as I relentlessly scour the local CL for 2006-2007
MCS, which seems to be the preferred pick of the wife & I. Looking for a third vehicle that's fun to drive, great mileage, yeah all the stuff people buy Minis for.
What has me on the fence is the fairly high level of discord for this vehicle. Are some disgruntled owners just more vocal than others? or are the "bad" Minis really that bad? I've been reading about high pressure fuel pumps, timing belt tensioners, transmissions, and window gremlins for days now. I come from the Toyota side (Land Cruiser mostly, maybe someone here knows me from there?) so the idea of stuff just failing after 50k miles is I'll admit a little premature.
Not expecting to tour the country here, or get something that doesn't require a little maintenance.. but at the same time don't need to inherit a head ache or money pit. I'm ok with doing most repairs myself, but hey I've got a family too so I'd rather see soccer games on Saturday than replace valve cover gaskets. I guess I'm looking for some voices of reason here.. we really want a Mini, love the looks, fun to drive, but keep wondering how much more ahead we'd be to suck it up with a boring Honda.
Someone tell me a 2007 with normal amounts of maintenance will be a good purchase.
