| PM | Quote | Reply | Full Topic |
23 year Ranger veteran
Joined: Sun Oct 22nd, 2017
Posts: 371
Status:
Offline
Reputation: 
Reputation Points: $user_rep
Back in 2012 I ordered a loaded Mini Cooper S for my wife. I got the car through military sales and paid about $35k for it (it had a retail of just over $40k). We had a few issues that were mostly electrical while it was in warranty and service at one dealership 30 miles away is good while the new dealership near me are total morons. The warranty ran out last April.
In May it died and would not crank. It was $450 for new spark plugs and another $180 for 2 coil packs and a hour labor. In June the thermostat housing started leaking. Dealer wanted just north of $900 to fix that, I did it for $220 in parts in about 6 hours.
In August the TPS board went tits up. My mechanic trouble shot it for about 10 minutes and came back the board was bad and they die easily and he can get me one for just over $400 (no warranty) or charge me $50 and code it out. In November the water pump spun out, it was plastic and this is another common problem. My mechanic wanted just under $800 and the dealer was $1100. I did it in 8 hours for about $125 parts.
This morning the wife comes running up the stairs freaking out because there is a trans error and it will not start - she took the Fusion. No codes but the Torque app told me solenoid 1 was throwing an error. Checked the easy things and tried a few easy fixes and after screwing with it for over 4 hours I called my mechanic. He is slammed. I spoke with his parts girl and she passed on the info but she said it would be at least two weeks before he can see it.
I disregarded a cardinal rule I leaned back in the 70's. Do not buy cars made in England. They are crap.
Buddy of mine bought one of those Coopers for his college bound son and as you said, they are crap, and yes, the 70's Britt electrical headaches never went away. Problem was solved last summer when he dumped the (constantly breaking) car....and a few months later the new owner called, complaining about how it needed an estimated $800 of electrical work. These cars are best to avoid or dump before the warranty runs out.
Last edited on Fri Feb 2nd, 2018 06:32 pm by CBB9M
____________________
-Bill
04 Ranger FX4 Level II, several mods