200K Miles in a MINI Cooper

It’s official as you can see from the photo. My MINI eclipsed the 200,000 mile mark recently and thought it would be a good time to give you my thoughts about this car since it has more than 10 years worth of normal driving miles on it.

I got my MINI on March 9th, 2003 and hit my first 100K miles on October 7th, 2005. Lots of miles for work, lots for SCMM events and just general motoring.

This 100,000 miles did take a little bit longer, mostly due to the extreme increases in the price of gas. When I bought my MINI, I was paying $1.899 for a gallon of premium in SoCal. We all know the rest of that story. I also drove less for work, which is another reason why it took a bit more than 3 years to hit this 100K versus 2.5 for the last.

I’ve said this here many times before, but the MINI is the best car I have ever owned. Except the alternator going out and getting 1 flat tire, this car has never left me stranded and never not started. I’ve driven this car in pouring rain, searing heat and even snow without a hitch. Never thought I would lose control and have always felt safe, even driving next to 18-wheelers with 60MPH gusts!

The following is a recap of the life of my MINI. Follow the jump!

Where I have been

Thanks to this amazing little car, I have been able to do some pretty cool things, meet almost all of you plus other great people and go to places I’m sure I would have not gone to otherwise.

I have…

• Helped to start one of the largest MINI Cooper Clubs in the world, Southern California MINI Maniacs (SCMM)
• Started a little podcast called White Roof Radio with Todd and Gabe. Thanks to you, it is one of the most popular automotive podcasts in the world!
• Been an editor at Motoringfile.com for more than 2 years
• Been the “Official” something at AMVIV, MTTS (covered it twice) and MINI United 2007.
• Driven to the Grand Canyon
• Driven on the track over 40 hours!
• Driven on the Las Vegas Strip with over 200 other MINIs, more roads than I can count with 30 or more

Pretty amazing stuff, all because of the MINI!

Repairs

Since my MINI was built in the first year (11/15/02 to be exact), the first 50k miles were slightly problematic, but covered under warranty. Steering wheel, seats, latches, numerous software updates and a new transmission are on the list of things that were replaced or repaired. In total, my MINI spent over 1 month at the dealer for the first 50K miles. Did I mind? Not even a little bit.

From 50K to 100K everything was exactly perfect except for the A/C pump going out during the hottest summer we have seen in 20 years. It was replaced and now my MINI has a part on it that can turn sub-12 second quarter mile times, should I ever need to do that.

Once I was passed 100K, wear and tear started setting in. First thing to be done was a tune-up, which is fairly minor. I was amazed it didn’t need it until 120K miles. After that was the battery at about 145K. Should you need this, I highly recommend going to the dealer. I’ve recently tried a battery that was non OEM and the bracket to hold it in it’s little box wouldn’t fit correctly.

Next up was the power steering pump. And it wasn’t cheap. If you are getting up in miles and think yours might be failing, be sure to have an extra $US1,000 handy for the job.

Following that, I had a control arm break. Scary, but cheap and easy to fix.

Finally, at exactly 200K miles, the alternator decided to give up the ghost. While I was driving in the middle of the California desert. At night. It made for a fun experience.

Wish List

I’ve really not had to do to much to my MINI to make sure everytime I put in the key and turn it, it starts. There are still some things that I really need to get done, hopefully sooner than later.

• Complete suspension rebuild, including new upper control arms for the rear, shocks and springs. And all the parts that make the MINI front-drive.
• Radiator. It doesn’t really leak, more like a slow steam. Not a concern now, but I want to replace it before it becomes one
• Belts and hoses. After installing the alternator, replacing the main belt on my car might be doable, if not terribly time consuming. Hoses shouldn’t be too bad either.
• Wiring harness. This is a concern for many reasons. I’m hopeful that getting it replaced will also turn the airbag light off. Pretty sure this one will have to happen at the dealer
• Brakes. New rotors and pads this time around. Power slot rotors have lasted me 170K miles, so I’m pretty sure I will use them again.

Overall impressions

There isn’t anything that I don’t like about this car. I can keep up with you in your MCS on the track and get 35MPG on the drive home. I can cruise at 70MPH all day long in comfort. I can suffer in bad traffic or dodge the cell phone using idiots on SoCal freeways with ease.

Besides the cost of dealer service being extraordinarily high in my opinion, this car hasn’t even cost me too much. Sure the repairs I need to do will be a bit spendy, but my car is, essentially, 10 years old (depending on who’s math you use). Most cars that are as old as mine always require something.

Like I mentioned above, Roxy has always started when I turn the key. Always moved when in gear and has done so with more style, flair and fun than any other car I have ever driven. This is a car I hope to keep in my driveway for as long as possible!

Updates, Upgrades and Uniques

I’m starting to serious wonder about my resume writing skills. No kidding, I have sent over 40 copies out in the last 3 week without so much as a nibble. Working on a re-write this week, but if anyone has any tips or pointers, please feel free to leave a note below.

As soon as I hit Publish here, I’m going to the gym. This is worthy of posting since I haven’t been since the weekend before MTTS. I managed to catch something that week and was congested and 1/2 deaf (yes, again). It’s finally cleared up, so I’m going. 3 weeks is a long time, and it’s going to be tough getting back into it.

Secretly, I want an iPhone. Not so secretly I don’t want to be an AT&T customer.

I’m still upset about missing the New Media Expo. Cool stuff happened there from what I could tell from the tweets and video posts I saw. I’ll have to try again next year.

I am extremely pleased with the way the new sites have turned out. And the redo on WRR (if you haven’t noticed). Helps keep the self confidence up. All new sites should go live this week.

I have a feeling a new computer will be purchased in the next couple of weeks. It will be for either myself or my Grandfather. I hope it’s me. 15″ MBP or 20″ iMac would be keen. Not sure I want to edit video or help Grandpa relearn his computer with Vista. And, since I will be doing all of the editing…

I hate that Wordpress releases a dot update a month after a new version. I need to figure out how to script Transmit to handle that all at once. Also not happy that the photo feature of “Press This” still doesn’t work for me. Although, they said it’s fixed for IE7.

I have a baby shower and wedding happening in the same weekend. One Saturday, the other on Sunday. Oh, and they are 1,000 miles apart. Wedding wins if I can swing it, otherwise a trip to Vegas will be in order.

Which would be good, since I need to get to the resort for maintenance and checking of things. Big upgrade might be coming their way after the first of the year.

Church bus full of screaming kids just drove by. That was weird.

Just so you know, you can count yourself among the 1,500 or so w(t)f readers. Sure, not huge numbers, but I’m still fairly pleased. Thanks for stopping by. Don’t forget, you can subscribe to get the posts easier. Don’t worry, I’ll let you know if there is something worth click back about.

After I take the new sites live, I will be able to get started on The Hollywood Car Show site. Go ahead and click it if you want, should be a placeholder page there. I think by the end of the week it should be up and running.

Ok, that’s it. Time to start my day. Have a great Sunday everyone!

While I sleep to prepare to close out MTTS with photos and posts, watch this.

More MTTS to come.

We’ll be recording audio, I will, again, attempt video. Plus I’ll be posting a bunch of photos to my Flickr. And, if I can, I will be posting to Twitter.

Posts here from Thursday to Monday might will be lighter than usual.

On another note, later this week I will be giving the pressd section it’s very own Wordpress install right here at w(t)f. New feed and everything. I will post when that happens.

Cameras will be with me all week too. Hopefully I will get some stuff posted before MTTS.

On video cameras

I took the The Flip with me for MTTS. Heck, most of you saw that video. Most of someone saw the video because I have over 30k views (combined) on the dozen or so that I posted from the week. The bulk of those views are from Motoringfile.com, primarily the JCW MINI in action video I posted last Friday.

And damn if I didn’t get more complaints than compliments on that thing.

Sure it’s shaky. Sure the sound isn’t that great. It was take with a The Flip Ultra video camera for craps sake. And the entire shoot happened in less than 5 minutes from the time we found out we could ride in the car to the time we were done.

Just in case anyone might have missed it, I operate on a very low budget. Esp. for the show. I have spent less than $600 in total for my gear (and one of the other hosts) and that includes the The Flip.

But the The Flip works very well for me. It takes video that is very easy to edit and my Mac doesn’t choke on them too badly. This is one of those things that I have to think about.

Well now I’m thinking about upgrading to a better camera. I really hate complaints. Complaints mean that someone, somewhere, was not 100% satisfied with my work. I think it’s pretty good, but what do I know.

So, research has ensued. What I’ve been looking for is a camera that, at the very least, shoots 16:9 and uses SD Cards for storage. No tape, no hard drives, no DVDs. And it has to have external microphone support. Remarkable, in low end cameras, this is a tough combination to find. So, I dialed the money up a few notches and this is what I have found.

For a while I was very keen on the Panasonic HDC-SD9. You know I’m keen on Panasonic, and I’ve used my point and shoot (Panasonic DMC-TZ3) for video and it produces great results, albeit with horrible sound. The problem with this video camera is it doesn’t have external mic support, and that’s kind of a deal breaker.

So, the other camera I’ve been looking at is the Canon HF100. It’s about $100 more expensive, doesn’t have as good of sensors (CMOS instead of CCD) and it’s a bit larger. But, it does have external mic input (and monitoring) and great video quality (here is an example.) Plus it will shoot at lower than HD resolutions and still keep the 16:9 format.

Hopefully I’ll be able to upgrade before MTTS LA. If not, I’ll leave the The Flip at home and either do video with the point-and-shoot or not do any at all. I really don’t like complaints. I would rather have no comments at all then have complaints.

And, if you are on WRR and look to the right and see a donate button and want to click it, feel free. Someone suggested I do that, so I have. Camera money only. Should I get enough to cover the cost, the button comes down immediately after I order.

I haven’t had that. Not since my PC died in early ‘07, shortly after I got the MacBook. And, while the MacBook is a great little mobile machine, it just doesn’t have the horsepower I need for doing other things. As it turns out, there are a few other issues I have with it as well.

So I’ve been watching the refurb shop at the Apple store for a 20″ iMac (the good one, not the low-end model), a 24″ iMac and a 15″ MacBook Pro. After my last trip, I’ve made my decision.

15″ MacBook Pro.

This came to me as I was trying to edit video on the road on the 13″ MB screen and watching as iMovie brought the machine to a smoking, screeching halt and declared 200+ minutes to export a 15 minute long video. No good that. Also I got the chance to check one out in person at that ginormous Apple store in Boston. If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend it.

So, when the time comes, I will get a 15″ MBP for my desk. Run it off the juice with the battery removed (if I can) and use it mobile when I need the extra power.

Something else that I discovered after last week was just how cool the iPhone was. Every day during MTTS it saved our asses no less than twice, and some days more often than that. Whether it was finding the nearest Starbucks or giving us directions from point a to point b, just have access to Google Maps, even as slow as it is over EDGE, was a godsend!

Now, I’m not going to do anything foolish like drop Verizon and go to AT&T. Besides not liking AT&T, the coverage, where I spend most of my time, is crap. And, since it’s the only phone I carry, I like it to work all the time.

What I’m actually hoping to be able to do is get my MBP sometime before Apple stops that student special so I can also get an iPod Touch. Um, sure, it’s, um, for teh lad. Yea, that’s the ticket!

All of which hinges, directly or not, on my getting work. Don’t forget, I am for hire! Feel free to pass along my contact info and whatnot to anyone that you think could benefit from my skills.

Ok, back to processing one more video. Then, and only then, will this round of MTTS be done!

I actually enjoyed Virginia Beach quite a lot. My room was ocean facing on the 3rd floor with a balconey, so I slept with the door open. It was exactly like sleeping on the beach, except without the sand.

If you happen to make it there and you are looking for a place to eat, be sure to check out The Raven. And, if you do get there, ask for Jessica. Tell her the White Roof Radio boys sent you. Some of the best service I’ve ever gotten from a teenager. No foolin’.

Travel today went without incident. Flew through Denver again and even got my bags when I got home. Must have been my lucky day!

Just finished going through a ton of emails. I have more photos to post, I have some more video to edit and post and Todd has more audio. All of that will be coming up later this week.

MTTS was very very very cool! It was great to meet everyone that I hadn’t, and awesome to see those I already know.

Complete write up to follow soon. After I eat. And sleep. And do laundry. And kick the jet lag.

So, for those of you that haven’t driven from Miami to Boston in a week before, I have a few tips.

1. Orange cones with lights are evil, hateful things that should be destroyed.
2. South of the Border between the Carolinas is awesome and not to be missed. If you have already been, skip it.
3. Savannah, GA, is a very nice city with a kick ass ice cream and coffee shop.
4. If you are ever in Virgina Beach and are looking for a restaurant, might I recommend The Raven? If you go, ask for Jessica and tell her the WRR boys set you.
5. When going to Miami, pack a sponge. Trust me
6. I95 from south to north is really like a giant corn maze. Except with trees. And asphalt.
7. Route 13 from Virginia Beach to Philly sucks. Unless you like orange barrels with lights. Please see above
8. Best weather so far was in Philly. Couldn’t have gotten a better day if we were in with Ma’ Nature herself.
9. Navigating New Jersy and Boston; I think I would rather hang out with clowns at the dentist office. Night. Mare.
10. Worst roads of the trip? Boston. By far.
11. Todd mentioned this tonight, but isn’t it ironic that I am currently in Boston celebrating a British automobile?
12. In Florida, there are convenience stores called Kangaroo. Get you a good cuppa there if you are looking
13. Social Engineering can almost get you a bacon wrapped donut at Dunkin Donuts. If we would have pushed it, we could have made it happen.
14. Social Engineering can be effective to get all manner of things. Interviews. Drives in cars that aren’t quite ready to sell, tshirts, coffee and the occassional cocktail or meal. I’m just saying, it pays to be nice.

>

Last day of the event is tomorrow. I have tons more to post and Todd has more audio to edit. You’ll be seeing mtts stuff at MF for the rest of the week.

Fingers crossed my bags make it home with me. I just spent 3 hours tonight getting them all clean!

I kept it easy there, but the trip here was pretty rough. Early start from ONT to Denver, and that flight was pretty ok.

Until it was time to land.

By far, the worst turbulence I’ve ever experienced in a large (Airbus a320) airplane. Ever.

Until I left Denver.

Holy crap. And, just for good measure, holy crap.

A collective gasp from all of the passengers on the full plane (again, the Airbus a320) 3 times from take off to cruising altitude. We shimmied to the left, shimmied to the right, rose, fell and, quite possibly, did 3 barrel rolls. My eyes were closed, so I’m not 100% sure on that last one. Since this was a flight to Orlando, there were more than a few kids. Some were scared quiet, some were excited like it was their first trip on a roller coaster and 1, the poor girl sitting behind me, got a bit sick. Bru. Tal.

The woman next to me started by patting herself on the back during all of this which I thought was interesting. Until she ended up clutching her husband for dear life. Imagine 10-15 minutes of this. Ugh. It wasn’t any fun that’s for sure.

I get to Orlando without incident and, if I might say, that airport sucks. It’s currently in a state of tear down/rebuild which is the only reason I can figure for there not being any signs that should have directed me to the correct shuttle/train thing to get to my gate. I didn’t miss my flight, but it was close.

Embrarer 120 Turbo was the equipment from Orlando to Miami. I had seat 4a, which means nobody on either side of me, right at the wing. And, for UK Paul, that was the best flight of the day. Yes, on a plane with propellors at 18K feet, smooth as butter. A bit loud, but that’s to be expected. But it was a nice way to end a very long day of travel.

Or would have been had my bags made the journey from Orlando to Miami with me.

Also would have been nice if the server was up at all yesterday. For those of you inconvenienced by that, I am truly sorry. Something about fsck not running. I certainly hope whatever the problem that has been plaguing the server all week is fixed ’cause I really need it to work for the next 12 days or so.

Time to get cleaned up as best I can, get my MINI and see what’s going on for the rest of the day. And, maybe another cup of coffee. Not sure yet.