Mini’s latest is known as the Crossover Concept and is expected to debut at the Paris Motor Show next month. This will be the fourth variant in the MINI’s current model availability and features all the bells and whistles and it all comes down to the number 4. Read the rest of this entry »
After reaching sales goals of 164,000 unites for the convertible Mini Cooper, the model has reached the end of its life cycle. The latest run of the Mini Cooper Convertible has seen its last run, and a successful one at that after selling the most unites in Great Britain and Ireland, with countries USA, Japan, Germany, and Italy following close behind. Read the rest of this entry »
If you were one of the billions of people glued to your sets during the Beijing 2008 Olympics, then you more than likely saw a few of these around the city. The Mini Cooper Rickshaw was the transportation of choice for the millions of tourists that swarmed Beijing last month. Read the rest of this entry »
The 2008 Mini Cooper is expected to be hybrid, as BMW plans on building at least 500 all electric Mini Coopers. According to Autopia, BMW will be coming to California in order to help the auto manufacturer comply with its zero emissions mandate. Read the rest of this entry »
MINI showcased its huge range of vehicles recently at the 2008 International Motor Show at ExCeL London. Visitors and guests were delighted to see many opportunities to personalize a new MINI. The display included a quadrangle sized area that showcased the lastest MINI, the MINI John Cooper Works. Read the rest of this entry »
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Forbes just ran an article with data showing that used MINI Coopers are benefiting from greatly increased market demand. People who thought they could get a deal on a used Coop are finding themselves paying an average of $2,300 more than they would have just six months before in January. While hybrids like the Prius grab the spotlight for efficiency, MINIs can hold their own, getting around 29 MPG on average (and looking a hell of a lot better in the process). From the article:
“It’s not just used hybrids seeing a price increase, however. This year’s Mini Cooper buyers expecting to find a lower-priced used 2007 Mini were in for a big surprise. They paid, on average, $2,300 more for a used Mini in mid-June, a 12% increase over the average transaction price on Jan. 1 of this year. The car has proved its value during the past six months; it gets an average EPA estimated 29 mpg.”
Garage419 recently asked the designers at Thunderdog to trick out his Cooper S with completely original “body art”, inspired by BMW’s Art Car Project. The end result can be seen below, and you can watch how they came up with the design using reflective vinyl in this video.
As I’ve mentioned here before, I run MiniCooperNews as an owner of a 2007 Cooper. This past Friday I was headed up from L.A. to San Francisco when my yellow “check engine” light came on. Yikes! Now my Coop only has 8,148 miles, so I was completely caught off guard. I pulled to the side of the 126 in Ventura and turned off the car. The manual advises to “drive with caution” and “service the vehicle as soon as possible” when this light appears and does not go away. Of course at this point, I realized my trip north was probably going to be delayed, at the least.
I called MINI Roadside Assistance, and (thanks to that wonderful 4-year warranty) was provided with a tow truck and a friendly driver. The driver took over an hour to reach me, which sucked, but it was a Friday night so I cut him some slack. The MINI was taken to Bob Smith BMW/MINI in Calabasas, while I was left to find myself a ride north on very short notice.
I found out that, unfortunately, MINI’s “Concierge” service is really nothing more (at least in my particular situation) than a dispatch center where you are connected to rental car services in the area (and yes, you have to pay for your rental car out-of-pocket).
Since it was after 7:00pm, Enterprise–the only carrier that apparently comes to you–was closed. The Concierge operator asked me where the nearest airport was, and how soon I could get there. Um, let’s think about this for a moment: I’m stranded now with no car thanks to a mechanical failure, and I’m being asked how soon i can get to an airport to pick up a rental car.
After I called a friend in Agoura Hills to pick me up, I got to my worn yet trusty Honda Passport at home and made it up north. Saturday morning, a friendly services coordinator at Bob Smith called me to let me know they had my MINI and would be working on it over the weekend and keeping me updated as they found out the cause of the tripped engine light. Today (Monday) around lunchtime, I received another call that my Coop was ready for pickup, and that the cause of this mess was a completely bad catalytic converter! All mechanical parts have a rate of failure of course, but I was really surprised to have this part go out so soon in the life of the car. All I can say is, thank goodness for that warranty!
