Topic: Mrs Gurgie's new ride

[Gurgie]

Just a small update in regards to how the Mini has been performing for the past year and a bit... oh & btw, the GF still loves the darn thing, smiles every time she's around it 

The rust issue was repaired late last fall (around this time of the year), they replaced the entire hatch with a new one and the drivers side rear quarter panel from the door back. While they were at it, I had them replace the drivers side taillight as it had a crack & I sourced one on eBay for them to install. No extra labour charge since they already had to remove the old one. It ran great all winter with a set of snows that I picked up dirt cheap as they car came with 2 & I only needed 2 more to complete the set, but now they're pretty much done, so new snows are needed for this winter on the stock 17" Mini Alloys. This spring the car was pretty noisy & thru some trouble shooting & the assistance of a lot of you guys I determined the front wheel bearings were shot, so I replaced those one weekend on the driveway at home. Since then though I've noticed that the tires are cupping, the mini forums suggest that the rears are known to cup and that rotation every 5000kms are mandatory and that its possible worn front struts & rear shocks. The alignment was done just before she bought the car & I have the report, so that's all good. Will be taking it to my indy guy that does work on my 951 for me to see what he can figure out. Recently the drivers side door handle wouldn't work from inside the car, so I took door cover off and realized that the cable is stretched... looks like a royal pain in the a$$ to change the cable, so I rigged a temporary solution to hold the cable a bit tighter, but I'm thinking this might not last thru the winter & I'll have to replace it, or come up with a better solution.

Other than the issues above the car has run flawlessly, it's had 1 oil change and fuel, that's it... not too bad for an 11yr old car!!  It's sitting around 145,000kms on it now, so it's getting driven enough. I drove it Sunday to run errands & the little thing pulls like mad with that supercharger, would love to flog it around Calabogie one day... just not sure if she'll ever let me 

[Gurgie]

Well, the Mini is officially gone as of last night. The car served her well and departed her hands last night with 162,000kms on the odometer, so she put on about 45,000kms on it in just over 2yrs of ownership.

I don't have a detailed tally of what it cost to keep it for the past couple of years, but I have a rough idea and it's as follows:
- 2 oil changes ~$180
- 6 used winter tires (2 the 1st winter & 4 last winter) - $450
- 4 used summer tires (put on the car before the sale) - $200
- new rear rotors & pads (replaced by myself) - $280
- new front bearings (replaced by myself) - $110
- new alternator, abs sensor & brake pad sensor (done by my indy) - ~$1400

So in total ~$2600 for 28 months of ownership, mostly wear & maintenance items... except for maybe the ABS sensor & alternator, the brake pad sensor I tried to save, but it was crapped out, so I had my indy do it when he was doing the alternator. Not too bad for a 12yr old FGC 

Oh & she paid $7,200 for it safetied & e-tested & sold it as is for $5,500 with a cracked windshield... again, not too bad 

[OliverD]

Your ownership experience was a lot better than ours has been for our 2007 Cooper S.

What is she replacing it with?

[Gurgie]

Not sure what she's gonna get yet... it's been debated here https://www.autos.ca/forum/index.php?topic=99799.0

We're going to look at another BMW 323i tonight, a 2011 with 120k kms.