After nearly 20 years and 250,000 miles motored…it is official, I am no longer a MINI owner. Yesterday evening I sold my 2013 MINI Cooper S Clubman, as my Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road will be arriving any day now.
It’s bittersweet. While I loved my 2003 MINI Cooper S, and I would consider it the best car I have ever owned, I had a strained relationship with my 2013 MINI Cooper S Clubman. When it was new, and when it was running well, it was thoroughly enjoyable to drive and had surprising utility for it’s size. However, after 40k miles, I would not call my Clubman reliable.
There were a host of issues after 40k miles, which are outlined below…
45,200 miles: The rear shocks were done and had been done for several thousand miles, and the rear sway bar end links were rattling like crazy. I was never a fan of the OEM struts/shocks, they so I was not disappointed to replace them, but it was disappointing they barely lasted 40k miles. I installed new Koni Yellow struts and shocks, and replaced the rear sway bar end links. I also took the opportunity to upgrade the rear sway bar, with a beefier unit, which fixed the chronic understeer the Clubman was plagued with from the factory.
57,736 miles: Driving home from a weekend trip, the onboard computer displayed a CEL and the engine went into limp mode about 100 miles from home. My code reader showed error codes warning of a misfire on cylinder 3. I was able to limp the car home, and performed a full ignition service…replacing all 4 spark plugs and ignition coils…which cleared the issue. This was the first of MANY ignition coil replacements.
68,791 miles: The onboard computer again displayed a CEL and the engine went into limp mode. My code reader displayed error codes warning of misfires on multiple cylinders. I swapped the ignition coils between cylinders, and the misfires traveled with the ignition coils. I replaced the faulty ignition coils, which again cleared the issue.
81,203 miles: Yet again, the onboard computer displayed a CEL and the engine went into limp mode. My code reader again displayed error codes warning of misfires on multiple cylinders. Another full ignition service was performed…replacing all 4 spark plugs and ignition coils…which cleared the issue.
91,484 miles: This was the last straw for me. Driving home from work, the on-board computer threw up a CEL warning light and the engine (yet again) went into limp mode. Thankfully, I was pulling into my neighborhood, so I was able to limp the car around a few corners, and into my garage. My code reader indicated misfires on all four cylinders, as well as a list of other codes. Given that all four ignition coils were barely a year old, it seemed odd that all four would fail simultaneously, but it given the vehicle history, it seemed the mostly likely cause. Yet again, another full ignition service was performed, replacing all 4 spark plugs and ignition coils. This time, however, the issue remained. I took the car to my favorite independent MINI mechanic, and what he found was not what I wanted to hear…but probably explained why ignition coils had repeatedly failed on the car…the ECM (engine control module) was faulty. It would need to be replaced, and would cost about $3k. Ouch. I swallowed hard, and had the ECM replaced.
It was at this point that I began looking for a new vehicle…in the midst of the worst new vehicle market just about ever. In December 2021, a few months after the ECM replacement, I put down a deposit on a 2022 Toyota Tacoma TRD Off-Road. I hoped I could limp my Clubman around for a few months until the Tacoma arrived, but the MINI wasn’t done with me just yet.
107,658 miles: March 2022, 3 months after putting a deposit on the Tacoma, and about a month before it was originally supposed to arrive. On my commute to/from work, I traverse an extremely rough train track crossing. It’s so bad, I slow down to 10-15mph to go over it. On this day, I crossed over the tracks at my usual slow speed, but this time I heard and felt something in the front suspension pop/snap and the suddenly the steering and handling felt all wrong. I pulled over into parking lot at the first chance I could, to find the driver’s side front suspension collapsed. The car was sitting low enough that I couldn’t get a jack under it (not that it would have made a difference), so I had the car towed to my MINI mechanic. He found the front coil spring had snapped, and the sharp edge had dug into the tire gouging it down the cords. Thankfully, the front strut was fine…so he replaced the coil spring and tire…almost $1k.
109,252 miles: My new Tacoma is literally in transit. I will have it in less than 2 weeks. While commuting to work, I turn onto a stretch of road with a 45mph speed limit. I accelerate up to about 4k RPMs, and just as I am about to pull 3rd gear the car stutters. The onboard computer throws a CEL, and the car goes into limp mode. The string of expletives that left my mouth would have made a sailor blush. My code reader indicated misfires on all four cylinders, and a bunch of other codes I could not decipher. Thankfully, I was less than a mile from work, so I was able to limp the car into the parking lot. I parked, turned the car off, swore a few dozen times…then started the car back up again to capture the error codes. But the car started and ran fine. Weird. After work, the car again starts and runs normally, my commute home is uneventful and I make it within a mile of home. I turn onto a road with a 50mph speed limit, accelerate to about 4k RPMs, the car stutters, the onboard computer throws a CEL, and the car goes into limp mode. Commence more swearing. Hoping it was just another simple ignition issue, I replaced all four spark plugs…but the behavior continued. When the engine accelerated to about 4k RPMs, it would stutter, throw a CEL, and go into limp mode. After a bunch of research, I figured out it was very likely the high-pressure fuel pump was failing. This part had an extended warranty placed on it for 2009-2012 MINIs, but not for the 2013 model year. So I would either need to replace it, for about $1500, or live below 4k RPMs. I chose to live below 4k RPMs and sell the car as is.
All that said, it wasn’t ALL bad. We took two great family road trips. The first was out to Tybee Island, GA and Myrtle Beach, SC. The second was out to Jackson, WY…which included Yellowstone National Park, a trip though South Dakota’s Badlands National Park, Deadwood, and a return trip through Denver.
While it’s bittersweet to no longer own a MINI, I can’t say I will miss my Clubman. In the 109,429 miles I motored in my Clubman, here are a few stats (assuming my math is at least somewhat correct) that only I may find interesting/entertaining…
- Used 3,933 gallons of gasoline, over 328 fill ups at the pump.
- Averaged 27.89 mpg (combined city & highway) over 109,429 miles…with a best of 36.6 mpg.
- 19 oil changes, changing oil every 5000 miles or so.
- 4 sets of tires.
- 3 sets of brake pads & rotors.
- 18 ignition coils & 16 spark plugs (4 sets)
- 2 sets of struts & shocks.
It was a fun 20 years driving MINIs, but off to Toyota Tacoma ownership I go.
