Are Minis unreliable and expensive to repair?

[JacobReesMogadishu]

Dd has passed her test and we’re car hunting. I keep seeing sensible micros, etc which apparently are all very boring. She’s seen a 2002 Mini with about 100,000 miles on the clock which she likes. I’m put off as I’m sure I’ve read about expensive repair bills for minis?

I have a 2002 mini, bought it 2 years ago for £1800, 90k miles on the clock. It’s been great, love it, not had any problems at all (touch wood!).

I've good at 2006 mini convertible, its running well but it often needs help. I don't have a comparison in terms of cost as it was my first car 6 years ago. (I paid £4000 then). I would get a cheaper newer car though, any 18 year old car is a gamble I wouldn't do.
I'm currently expecting it to die in the next year and worrying about how I am going to pay for a new car.
There are lots of websites giving ideas about good fun second hand cars for ideas, a convertible fiat can be fun( with roof off) and cheap .

I've heard they're unreliable but I've also had french cars with the same reputation which have been fine. Some of it is pot luck but it mostly comes down to how well the car has been driven and looked after.
Does it have service history? Also you can view Mot history online. With any car that age and mileage, unless it's had significant work done over the years, it will likely have or develop some problems.

All the cars we’re looking at are pretty old to be honest. Only got a £1500 ish budget, though the mini is 2k and I’d stretch to 2k for a good car. There’s a real shortage of cheap, second hand cars currently. Not helped by needing an automatic.

Oh good tip about checking old MOTs, it’s failed 4 in it’s life. So even though stuff has been fixed that hasn’t helped my opinion. I have a ten year old car which has sailed through every mot without an advisory.

It's pot luck unfortunately, although I did read that mini's of that age are more reliable than newer ones due to better engine.

I've just paid £1800 for a 2008 Mini with 95k miles, so I'm hoping it will last 2-3 years without any big bills, anything more is a bonus, but I will keep it for much longer if it keeps going. I do see a lot of older ones around so there's hope.

Fortunately DP is a 'car man' so will do things like replace brake pads and we have a good reliable honest garage we can use for anything he can't do, but there's always a risk of clutch, gearbox or engine problems that are expensive. Plus auto boxes tend to cost more if work needed.

Have you checked insurance and road tax costs, some are quite high for minis, especially insurance for a young driver.

Who is paying for the car? Non boring cars are a luxury for a young driver, so unless she's paying insurance and repair costs herself, I think you should have a say in the matter. Although you could suggest she gets herself on YouTube and Mini enthusiasts forums, and gets herself a Haynes manual, do she can do some work herself if needed.

What did it fail the MOT on? Some people don't even bother replacing brake discs, tyres, bulbs, windscreen wiper blades etc, so a lot of failures are due to consumable parts that your car would have needed at some time anyway.

My first car was a 52 plate mini, it was wonderful and barely ever had any problems, never failed an MOT, I still think very fondly of it.

I have a new shape beetle now, but should I be in the market for another smaller car again in the future I wouldn’t hesitate to buy another mini.

I’m paying for the car and insurance and any big future garage bills. She’s paying tax and petrol.

We’re Now off to look at a convertible Peugeot this morning. 🙈

I've got a peugeot convertible. No problems and it's great fun.

My daughter had a 2006 mini and it was a nightmare. She paid $5500 (AUS) for it and within a week there were problems.

She was only able to drive it 4 times before she scrapped it. The ECU completely shat itself and that’s a mini dealership job. The repair would have cost more than the value of the car.

She’s now got a 2008 Mazda 2 ($5500) and it’s great. A lovely little car that’s cheap to run, cheapish to insure and everything works.

The mini was a very expensive lesson for my daughter - it’s only because she paid for it that she got the mini. If I was buying it she would have got the much more sensible (boring!) Mazda to start with.

My first car was a Mini and was fine. I had a Cooper S convertible a few years ago and it was an uncomfortable ride and felt cramped. Servicing and repairs were expensive. I had a Countryman after that and again, repairs and servicing costs were high. I think you pay for the name to a great extent and I wouldn’t have another.

You're right there is a big gap in the market for cheap second hand cars these days. My car is on pcp, which I didn't want, but there was just nothing decent around for what I could afford to buy outright.
Could you pay for it to be checked over by someone, or get a warranty of some kind (be warned some third party warranties that garages sell you aren't worth the paper they're written on.)
Service history is a big indicator of how well the car has been looked after.

OK, we decided against the mini without viewing it. Saw an old merc which was awful. The Peugeot convertible isn't available for viewing until end of the week. So bought a polo with about 100,000 miles on the clock.... But new mot and service history. It drives nicely. But yes, a real lack of choice of cars.

We had a 2002 Mini Cooper back in 2006. We traded it in in 2007 and a few weeks later the whole suspension failed! Lucky escape for us, not so much the dealership I guess. That car will be 13 years older now so I’m sure there’ll have been more problems. It also used expensive run on flat tyres that cost a fortune to replace.

OK, got home with the polo. The speedo stopped working on the way home. The acceleration also seems intermittent. We bought it from a garage and it has a 30 day major defect warranty. I take it these things will be covered by that?

I’d take it back. Main things when buying an older car is if it’s petrol and 100k+ miles has it had a new cam belt? If not it’ll need one soon. Petrol cars have a max life of 200k miles useually. Same applies to diesel but they can usually got 300/400k miles. Check the MOT History if the last 4/5 years have had minor fails for things like tires/brakes then it’s a good run around, although I wouldn’t buy if the MOT was done over 6 months ago as anything could’ve happened.

Also have you been using Autotrader? I’m looking for my first car now, I’ve set my distance I’m willing to travel, minimum age of 2006, max miles 90k and trade dealers only and excluded any car D etc cars and some fab ones come up for your budget, I only know as I have a max budget of 2k too

It passed an MOT last week. I'd looked at previous MOT history and it had failed previously for exhaust and some brake issue but that was all fixed. Its had 4 new tyres, a complete new exhaust and Cat, the brake caliper thing was fixed. It has a timing chain not a belt.

My last car was a POLO which finally expired at 164,000 miles, all driven with the engine warning light*.

She needs an auto which really limits the choice and increases the price.

I'd spend a bit more and get something newer and boring.

DS got aSkoda Citigo. Was 3 or 4 years old cost about £4500. Very cheap to insure, fuel, tax and so far has been reliable.

Older cars are a gamble.

Fwiw I drive a mini automatic and its been okay repair wise. A couple of things that have been a bit spendy though. So I wouldn't recommend for a first car on a budget

I have a 9 year old mini, but lower mileage - about 45k miles.

First service once we were outside of the free servicing package was extortionate. Then we found a reliable local mechanic. Servicing with him is inexpensive, apart from the new clutch I needed at Christmas.

So, they aren't expensive to maintain if you have a good, honest local independent.

I'd also recommend a Citigo, VW Up! Or Seat Mio, all effectively the same car, but sadly likely to be above your budget because too new.

But great cars, possibly cool enough for a young person and very cheap tax and insurance.