What I Like About Classic Mini Forums

[MiniDave]

There won't be any threads invoking the lemon law and calling their car a POS!   ;D

[MPlayle]

I don't know about the not "calling their car a POS", ...

I've had plenty of instances where I wanted to call my classic Mini that.  Then I set about fixing the problem that led to the cursing.

Definitely no "lemon law" claims.

[MtyMous]

My car is a turd. I've got over $12,000 invested in making it not a turd. I only bought the thing for $7,500.

Still not a lemon. Haha

[MiniDave]

My car was also a POS in some ways when I got it, but I didn't go crying to the forums about it, I just got busy and fixed it!  ::)

That's my point tho, we may complain but it's always more in line with how do I fix this? Never how can I get someone else to pay for me being a dumbass and buying a car that I didn't have checked out, or how can I get the gummint to make MINI pay for my car repairs so I don't have to?

I really get tired of the whining.

Now BMW/MINI is fixing power steering pumps that are 13 years old and could have who knows how many miles on them.

[MtyMous]

Ok. Clearly I'm missing a relevant link here. Lol

[MiniDave]

I was perusing NAM, I usually only go to the classics page, but for some reason I went to the "New Posts" and it seemed like it was one sour grapes post after another. The most recent was a guy who wanted to invoke the Lemon law because his heated seats didn't get hot enough and stay hot long enough to suit him..... ::)

Secondly, MINI just announced a recall for power steering pumps on 2002-2005 cars. I mean, how long does a manufacturer have to fix their old cars now? Will there be recalls on our Classics next?  ;D

[Jims5543]

I was glad to see Mini own up to the power steering thing. The pumps go too fast and too often. Obvious design flaw and sucks they made folks pay fornitnover and over.

[MiniDave]

The same thing has been true for every car that used an electric/hydraulic power steering system, and there are a lot of them - none of them are being recalled 13 years later.....

The problem with the power steering pumps is that they used a brush type DC motor, the dust from the wear of the brushes gets into the electronics or can in some cases lock up the armature. The only cure is to use a brushless DC motor......which is what they did with the 2007 and newer cars which have electric steering. But that's a completely different steering system that will not retrofit.

[Mudhen]

Wait, did you just say you don't like whiners and then whine about people whining?  or worse, about a car manufacturer shelling out money?

I was psyched when I got my check I tell you...no whining here.   4.gif

Looked at the PS delete block but it looks like even with the bypass it's still really hard to turn the wheel - in rallyx I need to be able to get around on the wheel really fast, so no delete for me.  Will just pray it doesn't go again.

[Jims5543]

The same thing has been true for every car that used an electric/hydraulic power steering system, and there are a lot of them - none of them are being recalled 13 years later.....

The problem with the power steering pumps is that they used a brush type DC motor, the dust from the wear of the brushes gets into the electronics or can in some cases lock up the armature. The only cure is to use a brushless DC motor......which is what they did with the 2007 and newer cars which have electric steering. But that's a completely different steering system that will not retrofit.

PS was failing very early on and Mini / BMW was denying there was a problem for...well... 13 years... it is about time they came bat for loyal customers that just wanted somethign that did not break every 2 years.

Sorry, I am not agreeing on this one, I had a 2003 JCS and while I was lucky to not have problems many did and BMW threw the middle finger up to them and made them pay for an obvious engineering fault.

What happened to PS lasting 15+ years before needing anything? Is it too much to expect 10 years from a component that should last more than 2-3 years?

[MiniDave]

I had to let this cool off a bit.....

See I was talking about the difference between forums that cater to classic Minis vs modern cars......and right front and center are the clear expectations we now have about our newer cars - that they should work for at least 10 years with no failures!

We never think that about our classics, do we? In fact if we get 1000 miles without having to do something, we wonder what's wrong with our cars?   ;D

When I read the threads on rebuilding their cars on The Mini Forum UK for example, if a pattern part doesn't fit, they find a way to make it work - I like that! There is an incredible amount of ingenuity that goes into owning and maintain a classic car and I enjoy the creativity and artistry people show with their old machinery.

One of the other fascinating things I find about classic forums is the length of some of these rebuilds, many of them are in their 5th or 6th year and still don't have their car on the road, although progress is always being made.

I have noticed the steady march upwards in prices for Mini parts tho, and while I know this trend is never going to reverse, it does impact my ability to keep doing what I like.

[Jims5543]

I had to let this cool off a bit.....

I hope I did not come across as hot, because I am not at all. When you spend 30-35K on a new car you expect a level of quality and dependability. I would say BMW failed on that front. I drove mine for 2 years, I beat the snot out of it, Autocrossed it, tracked it, and drove it like I stole it always.  Never had a problem with mine, but then, I sold it after 2 years with about 20K miles on it, I would hope to not have problems at that point. I only sold it so I could buy a 1980 Porsche 911.  I felt that was worth selling it, although I loved that little car. It was a blast to drive.

Jim, Been watching the 2003's since I got it they seem to sell anywhere between 3,500 and 5,500 private party. I was going to ask 4,500 and see where it goes the cars only book at like 2,500 but I have never seen a good one sell that cheap. I think the cvt trans, and power steering failures really killed the book value on these early cars even the 5 speeds had some problems. 

A 2003 Coopers S that cost close 30K once optioned is now worth $2,500, that is Audi depreciation right there.

That is good for us though. I have been tempted by the low prices to jump back into one, small problems do not scare me.

[MPlayle]

I guess I will never understand car depreciation.  In 2010, a $21K base model 2002 MCS with 111,000 miles was still worth $7500 (still over 1/3 original value).  (That was the insurance payout when mine got totaled.)  I guess 5.5 more years would push that significantly lower.

[MiniDave]

I haven't seen them that cheap, around here they're asking more like $4K........

[jeff10049]

They don't go that cheap here either I was just stating book value. They go from 3,500-6,000 around here.

I was just thinking of this thread the other day I was going to post in agreement that I like classic mini forums also. After doing the first oil change on the new countryman, I went into it expecting the worst after reading all the whining on the new mini forums.

The overflow bottle is in the way wahhhh, Then the hoses are too close to the filter lid wahhhh, The engineers are stupid it's too hard to change the oil wahhhh. How about STFU crybabies I'm positive 3 mins. had not passed and the oil was drained and filter out could not be easier very first time I ever did one simple simple simple. I could not find one thing to complain about I thought it was kinda cool how they made it all fit yet easy to service. But on one of the new mini forums there is like a 10 page rant on changing the oil WTF I mostly don't go on the new forums anymore.

I just post my new mini stuff here in the lounge way more laid back and fun.

[MiniDave]

Yep, my '09 Clubby is built the same way - it's way easier to change than the R53's, and you don't burn your hand on the exhaust manifold getting the oil filter off!

It seems like on the MINI forums all they want to do is complain, where on the classic forums, we're happy when our car runs!   ;D

[tmsmini]

You have running cars?...actually we have three running at this time, but I never should have said this.
It is my son's 67 El Camino that needs some serious attention. The people on some of the El Camino forums are pretty helpful as well.

[MiniDave]

Both of my classics are running now, my Clubby and my E-type!

[Merlin]

I think it always comes down to your expectations. I bought my mini expecting for it to be broken all the time. I bought my truck because I expected it to be running all the time. Both are performing as expected. As soon as my mini is working perfectly and my truck is shit, ill be pissed.