New MINI in the garage

[Mudhen]

Brought home another MINI a couple weekends ago...



It's an '09 JCW 'S'...only 9k miles on it.  HOLY COW...can't believe how quick it is compared to our '05 'S'.  Unfortunately, it's my wife's...  :(

Now I need to step up to the plate on the '05.  Really ragged - anyone ever do any body work on the new cars?  Wondering about the paint - isn't it some water based stuff or something?  We had the hood/front end redone a few years back and it's pitted and rusting again...wonder if I can do it myself...

[94touring]

Very nice man!  I've painted new cars, no biggie.  Send that 05 to me, I'm looking for some extra cash for my truck!

[Mudhen]

Very nice man!  I've painted new cars, no biggie.  Send that 05 to me, I'm looking for some extra cash for my truck!

If you were closer I'd consider it (which is a funny coincidence since I bought it in OK!).  Except then I'd have less money for the '80 - so I'm ignoring it for now.  Not only is the front end pitted and rusting from 155k miles of commuting, but it has started rusting around the rear tail lights, too, which worries me.  A couple years ago the rear plate light electrical contacts disintegrated which meant replacing the rear hatch release strip and I discovered rust in there, too.  Cleaned it all up and it is now showing through again - guess I didn't clean it up well enough.

I wonder if there's some sort of rust perforation warranty I can take advantage of...

[94touring]

Yeah thats odd I wouldn't expect them to rust.  My 05 is perfectly clean, minus some door dings I've picked up. 

[Mudhen]

Yeah thats odd I wouldn't expect them to rust.  My 05 is perfectly clean, minus some door dings I've picked up.

What color is it?  The only reason I've seen it is that there's a little brown bleeding down from the tail lights onto the white paint.  If it was a dark color I probably wouldn't know.

Now if I look carefully between the bottom of the tail light and the body I can see the paint bubbling up, though.  Hmm..paint now, or paint AND metal in the future...argh.  It needs a new AC compressor, too, which I hope you never need done.  $1600?  Guess I'll do it myself - but step 1 is to 'remove the modular front end'... :-[

Time to sell maybe.

[94touring]

Mines silver.  I was gona ask if it was the waxoyl stuff they use bleeding down, but if the paints bubbled, guess not. 

[MPlayle]

The new MINIs do have a rust/corrosion perforation warranty.  I don't recall how long it is supposed to be for.  I think it is mileage independent, so only age limited.  I had a silver 02 for 7 years before it got totaled.  There was no indications of any rust anywhere.  Based on where you've indicated, I would begin to suspect the car may have been flood damaged.  If that was the case and it was not reported to you, there may also be legal issues become involved.

[Mudhen]

Yikes, there's something I didn't consider.  We did buy it used on ebay...but it was a private sale from a doctor.  We flew out and met him in person at his house when we picked it up - only had 12k miles on it.  Of course, none of that really matters...the guys first name could have been doctor.  And you can't be too careful when dealing with people from OK!   :D

I can't remember if I ever did a VIN look up on it - might try that and see what I find.  Do TX and OK use salt on the roads in the winter like we do up here?  We also live about a mile from the ocean.

Looked up the MINI rust through warranty - 12 years for '03 onwards!  A buddy with an old Disco 1 used to use his all the time - they took care of him for years with no real perforation.  Wonder how strict MINI will be - but with 5  years left to go it's only a matter of time before it does rust through.  Accessories installed at the time of purchase are covered under the regular warranty, too - I wonder if I could have gotten the driving lights covered - those things rusted apart a couple years ago...

[94touring]

Well they use salt in Tulsa once or twice a year, depending if we get those ice storms or not.  Its infrequent enough its not something I ever worry about.