The MINI was towed yesterday and the mechanic said it wasn’t the clutch, it was the transmission. Again. This will make it the 4th transmission in the 8 years we’ve had the car. Luckily, the first one was replaced under warranty. I believe the 2nd, we only paid half the price and the dealership covered the other half because it had been less than a year.
There comes a time when it’s not just worth it and I think we’ve come to it. The transmission issues, at least for manual cars (2002 – 2006), are known problems that BMW/MINI USA will not recognize. It’s something about metal bits rubbing off and winding up inside.
Unfortunately, it’s no longer 2002. Being carless is not an option. We have two small children now and don’t live in Hollywood any more. Cracking down on finding a car for our family. I am very sad over this. I like driving the MINI. I had no problem with the idea of getting a larger automobile, knowing that we still had the MINI to drive. I just assumed the larger car would be parked most of the time.
Time to be flexible. Everything else seems so big though! My driving habits will have to change. Driving a big car for a few days is one thing, but getting one to drive “forever” is different. We’ll figure out something.
The MINI DEATHWATCH: $2200 for a 4th transmission by Anika Malone, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.