2010 MINI Cooper

My wife's rotten apple

Comfort Rating: 3 Performance Rating: 4 Interior Rating: 3 Reliability Rating: 1 Safety Rating: 3 Technology Rating: 3 Value Rating: 1

Don't go look or ride in this car - you will probably fall in love with it, like we did (if you like sporty little cars)! But don't do it, unless you have money to burn. You will be taking this car to the BWM dealer for any maintenance or repairs - need I say more? And, there are many poor engine parts and defects that you will have to do your homework on to know about and monitor: value tensioner and guides, thermostat and housing, oil CONSUMPTION. True, we bought the car used with only 28,500 miles and it was in good condition. We have babied this car; but now with only 70,100 miles the thermostat locks up, the engine overheats, and the head gasket blew ($2900 min repair). Before this event it used at least a quart of oil between oil changes, and a good bit more if you took an interstate trip; and the timing chain noise had been increasing (not yet to the 'death rattle' level). We babied this car, drove it mildly, and changed the oil early ($90 at dealer). I'm looking at selling the car for parts (we paid $17,000 used when we bought it) for probably no more than $3000 with bad engine, or a complete engine rebuilt (head gasket, timing chain, and god know what else by a local euro car shop) for about $4500 for a car that now is selling for about $8000 used, in good condition! Like I said, buy it only if reliability and $$ don't matter to you.