Mini melt down

My 2002 Mini Cooper just crapped out by way of carbon buildup in one of the cylinders. It’s basically a $5,000.00 job to rebuild the engine. Other than this little problem, the car is in good shape. My issue is do I invest more to rebuild the engine or take the plunge and start all over with a new vehicle? $5,000.00 now verses $20,000.00 over 4 or more years.

Well, $5000 is $15,000 less than $20,000. If you are happy otherwise with the car, and feel confident in the mechanic, I’d go with the engine rebuild.

How many miles now ? The value is about $5k. It all depends upon the overall condition and how many more miles your expect it to go. I would hedge on repairs worth more then the car if it has high miles. One speck of rust through could turn me off.

No offense, but Mini Coopers are not known for stellar reliability. If you fix it and hang onto it, there’s a decent chance that you will again run into expensive and unforeseen repairs.

Everyone has a different values system, so you may disagree with me, but…I just don’t see the sense of sinking $5k into an 11 year old car that was made by a company whose products didn’t have great reliability or durability even when they were new.

Certainly over 11 years, the reliability and durability of the car have not improved, and–IMHO–you would likely wind up spending a few thousand $$ more over the next couple of years in order to keep it running.

Define “crapped out”. What exactly are the symptoms?

The reason I ask is that carbon buildup can be removed. And while it might also include some new valves, and perhaps springs or whatever, heads can be cleaned up and valvetrains repaired.

Besides, I’m curious as to whether “crapped out” suggests that it can no longer be driven and his traded in.

I’m also wondering about the statement that it’s in one cylinder. That could be cleaned up and, since it may be an injector not spraying properly that caused the carbon buildup, the injector replaced.