Am I about to make a mistake: v.08 MiniCooper S
04-03-2013, 08:09 PM
#22
GF has one - base model with the god awful CVT - there always seems to be little pieces falling off of the damned thing, or other annoyingly simple crap that should never have made it through quality control - as an example, the drivers side interior door handle stopped functioning. Before she met me she had quotes of $800+ to fix the door handle "because it required cutting a hole in the interior door panel and welding it back together again" - After a month I popped the door apart while she was napping and fixed the thing in about 10 minutes. It wasn't a month later that the same damn thing happened to the passenger side door.
Half of the front passengers side "wheel arch" fell off once while she was driving down the highway.
The thermostat housing is plastic - another thing she had been driving with for months before we met. The only symptom she could understand was that she had to constantly fill it with coolant, and that the fan would often run for several minutes after turning the car off. The failure point, I discovered upon further investigation, was the thermostat housing - which is ALSO a combination fill neck, overflow valve, and upper radiator hose connection - is a piece of plastic - which just so happens to warp over time when bolted to the head of an engine (Wierd how the german engineers didn't think of that....?) I think the whole think cost somewhere in the ballpark of $80 to replace...with the only available replacement....another PLASTIC OEM part. Good Grief.
Random little trim bits from the top of the a-pillar fall off of these cars - I've seen it on multiple Coopers.
The CVT - if you are dumb enough to buy a car with a CVT in it - is nothing more than a ticking time bomb. Fortunately, I haven't yet had the priviledge of dealing with this yet, but I am afraid - very afraid. Replacement costs seem to be in the realm of about $10,000 - I am not exaggerating. My hope is that she can pay the car off before it blows.
Half of the front passengers side "wheel arch" fell off once while she was driving down the highway.
The thermostat housing is plastic - another thing she had been driving with for months before we met. The only symptom she could understand was that she had to constantly fill it with coolant, and that the fan would often run for several minutes after turning the car off. The failure point, I discovered upon further investigation, was the thermostat housing - which is ALSO a combination fill neck, overflow valve, and upper radiator hose connection - is a piece of plastic - which just so happens to warp over time when bolted to the head of an engine (Wierd how the german engineers didn't think of that....?) I think the whole think cost somewhere in the ballpark of $80 to replace...with the only available replacement....another PLASTIC OEM part. Good Grief.
Random little trim bits from the top of the a-pillar fall off of these cars - I've seen it on multiple Coopers.
The CVT - if you are dumb enough to buy a car with a CVT in it - is nothing more than a ticking time bomb. Fortunately, I haven't yet had the priviledge of dealing with this yet, but I am afraid - very afraid. Replacement costs seem to be in the realm of about $10,000 - I am not exaggerating. My hope is that she can pay the car off before it blows.
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04-03-2013, 08:24 PM
#23
I own a 03 Mini S as well. Feel free to ask any questions. The only thing I know are "know issues" are the early ones up too 2006 had supercharger seal issues and would go bad if the car sat for a long time or turned around 100,000 miles. I replaced mine at 108k, but it sat in storage for almost 2 years before I bought it. Other than that mines been rock solid and fun to drive. I average 28 MPG city/highway mix.
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04-03-2013, 09:44 PM
#25
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We have an '08 MCS with 109k and it's been a great car. Super fun to drive, great fuel economy, comfy interior. I imagine of course when it needs something fixed I might as well bend over and bite the pillow, but for now it's been an awesome car.
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04-03-2013, 10:39 PM
#27
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I KNEW you were gonna go there.. 
Seriously though, there's nothing there I'm interested in honestly. The only two hondas I would ever own are a 5th gen Prelude which is too old (and kinda overpriced for its age!) and the RSX, which, is too old.
Yeah, lolwtfbbq! I should have known better, it IS a BMW product to begin with.
These points are relevant to my interest. Believe me, an LSx car was THE first thing I looked at.
Here's where you lost me.
Was also attempting to keep this vehicle in the $15k range if at all possible.
Here is below **
Last two cars listed are what I was last interested in. Both very similar in power to weight, both would more than get out of their own way, both get in excess of 30mpg highway along with very high city ratings. My driving consists of about 70% city and 30% highway, an estimation based on the fact that my morning and afternoon commutes are typically slower speed stop and go type traffic, or I'm on and off the throttle fairly heavy most of the way. Didn't really matter they were "hot hatches" or any nonsense like that, I was more interested in the fuel economy first and "sporty" / comfort characteristics of it secondary.
Even though it's a freaking Krautwagon I might still seek out another TDI 2 door if I can find it... Still afraid of the fact that it's German and Diesel..
Seriously though, there's nothing there I'm interested in honestly. The only two hondas I would ever own are a 5th gen Prelude which is too old (and kinda overpriced for its age!) and the RSX, which, is too old.
So, what does this have to do with hot hatches? Quickly reviewing specs for some of the hot hatches, I found that the new price for the G8 was squarely in the middle of hot hatch territory. Also, and even more interesting, real life combined fuel economy was too. I get 19-20 combined with mine.
What's not the same is resale value. Good G8's have barely depreciated at all. This year, I've had offers for it in the low 20's. I bought it in 2010 for $23K. I've never had a car that depreciated so little.
Is any of this relevant? I dunno. Just thought it was interesting. Kind of like peasant wives.
This thread needs pix.
Is any of this relevant? I dunno. Just thought it was interesting. Kind of like peasant wives.
This thread needs pix.
Here is below **
Last two cars listed are what I was last interested in. Both very similar in power to weight, both would more than get out of their own way, both get in excess of 30mpg highway along with very high city ratings. My driving consists of about 70% city and 30% highway, an estimation based on the fact that my morning and afternoon commutes are typically slower speed stop and go type traffic, or I'm on and off the throttle fairly heavy most of the way. Didn't really matter they were "hot hatches" or any nonsense like that, I was more interested in the fuel economy first and "sporty" / comfort characteristics of it secondary.
Even though it's a freaking Krautwagon I might still seek out another TDI 2 door if I can find it... Still afraid of the fact that it's German and Diesel..
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04-03-2013, 10:43 PM
#28
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Same car dealer with the Mini has a 2003 Golf GTI that looks pretty nice, until I saw under the hood:
I'm always skeptical to buy a used turbocharged vehicle, but when I see that stuff.... I cringe..
I'm always skeptical to buy a used turbocharged vehicle, but when I see that stuff.... I cringe..
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04-03-2013, 10:55 PM
#30
Scott, you know that those numbers aren't right, right?
I've got an 87 Iroc-Z with Tuned Port batch fire injection, and I get 18/25 MPG. It's been a long time since I've driven it that much, but I was getting 18 solid around town.
There's a G8 in Phoenix for 16k with less than 100,000 miles on it. And they don't deprecate, and parts and repairs are pretty cheap.
I've got an 87 Iroc-Z with Tuned Port batch fire injection, and I get 18/25 MPG. It's been a long time since I've driven it that much, but I was getting 18 solid around town.
There's a G8 in Phoenix for 16k with less than 100,000 miles on it. And they don't deprecate, and parts and repairs are pretty cheap.
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04-04-2013, 10:38 AM
#33
LOL at circling fuel prices!
I haven't looked into this as deeply as you have. I was just struck when looking at the Mazda 3 and similar cars how their fuel efficiency was much closer to the G8 than I expected.
If your primary criteria is fuel efficiency, then you're looking for a different type of car altogether. Honda? Toyota? You really should resist the European urge on an out-of-warranty car. Expensive parts and repairs buy a lot of fuel. If you must, then VW is probably your best bet.
Unfortunately, fuel efficiency will not be a strong point for the current crop of fully depreciated used cars. In the 2000's (up until 2008), fuel was cheap and performance was king.
BTW, my Euro experience is mainly MB (still own one). So I've felt the pain.
I haven't looked into this as deeply as you have. I was just struck when looking at the Mazda 3 and similar cars how their fuel efficiency was much closer to the G8 than I expected.
If your primary criteria is fuel efficiency, then you're looking for a different type of car altogether. Honda? Toyota? You really should resist the European urge on an out-of-warranty car. Expensive parts and repairs buy a lot of fuel. If you must, then VW is probably your best bet.
Unfortunately, fuel efficiency will not be a strong point for the current crop of fully depreciated used cars. In the 2000's (up until 2008), fuel was cheap and performance was king.
BTW, my Euro experience is mainly MB (still own one). So I've felt the pain.
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04-04-2013, 12:50 PM
#35
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I have a 2002 Mini cooper S. i have had it for a year now and I have done a few things, but its an 11 year old car.
replaced the window regulator-was bad when i bought the car $300 for the part at mini.
replaced my rear control arm bushings $80 for poly bushes with a better design
replaced my supercharger belt and tensioner. (my car came with a 15% reduction pully and was still on the stock belt, so i changed it to the proper belt)
besides that in year i have only done 1 synthetic oil change and I am ready to do my next.
I have driven the car about 15,000km or ~8000 (?) miles. Not so much for trouble.
Here is a link to my fuelly page where i keep track of my fuel economy.
http://www.fuelly.com/driver/shlammed/cooper-s
I average 23mpg over the 11,000km that I have tracked.
replaced the window regulator-was bad when i bought the car $300 for the part at mini.
replaced my rear control arm bushings $80 for poly bushes with a better design
replaced my supercharger belt and tensioner. (my car came with a 15% reduction pully and was still on the stock belt, so i changed it to the proper belt)
besides that in year i have only done 1 synthetic oil change and I am ready to do my next.
I have driven the car about 15,000km or ~8000 (?) miles. Not so much for trouble.
Here is a link to my fuelly page where i keep track of my fuel economy.
http://www.fuelly.com/driver/shlammed/cooper-s
I average 23mpg over the 11,000km that I have tracked.
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04-04-2013, 04:59 PM
#37
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I already have a miata and they're **** for daily drivers...
You're also comparing a non-USDM Supercharged (I believe) 2002 Mini-S vs a USDM Turbocharged 2008 Mini-S. Different vehicles. It's actually a 100% completely different engine, too.
This would be similar to his:
You're also comparing a non-USDM Supercharged (I believe) 2002 Mini-S vs a USDM Turbocharged 2008 Mini-S. Different vehicles. It's actually a 100% completely different engine, too.
This would be similar to his:
Last edited by elesjuan; 04-04-2013 at 05:15 PM.
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04-04-2013, 05:29 PM
#40
A better desription might be that the German propensity to design over-engineered, overly complex equipment (with attendant reliability/maintainability issues) at least partly CAUSED THEM TO LOSE THE DAM WAR!
Thank goodness.
BTW, the MB forum loves it when I drum up this stuff and recommend that people get Miatas instead of SLs. They go ape-****. It's fun . . . and I just might save someone.
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