I’ve heard that minis are expensive to maintain—something about the tires, parts being high, etc. Any thoughts?
In general yes as BMW really makes them. Tires are likely performance ones in the Cooper S version however the regular version uses normal tires that actaully pretty inexpensive as vehicles go currently.
Agree; the Mini is not an “economy car” but a specialty car. All parts and services are more expensive that on a tyical Japanese compact. Reliability and life expectancy is also lower.
My son owns a Cooper S, and he says the parts are expensive. And, of course, it needs premium fuel.
It is, after all, a BMW product.
The tire issue you might have heard of is that, because there’s no room for a spare tire, they use run flat tires which are somewhat more expensive and generally can’t be repaired when you get a simple flat. You can ditch them for normal tires if you devise some sort of alternate plan for when you get a flat.
It entirely depends on who’s doing the work, and where you are sourcing the parts from.
If you do all the work, and you buy the parts online from one of the many sources for BMW/Mini OEM parts, you can save a bundle in comparison to dropping it off at the local Mini dealer every 6k miles for an oil change, and other services.
The cars are small and simple to work on.
Just don’t buy one that has a CVT transmission, as I’ve heard nothing good about Mini’s with CVT at all.
BC.
It will cost about 16% more to maintain than a Mazda3. But repairs are a lot more, comparatively (35%). This is for a 2006.
You gotta pay to play, and the Mini is a VERY fun car
Run flat tires cost twice as much as regular tires and last half as long…All BMW cars are designed to insure that BMW service departments remain profitable…
CVT’s insure that the next generation of transmission shop owners will have no trouble making their boat payments…These transmissions are not “new”…They were pioneered by Ski-Doo snowmobiles in 1966…
Long before that, in the 50s, a Dutch car and truck company, DAF, had them on their compact car. The belts were rubber then. DAF sold their car division to Volvo who rechristened it the 40 model.