[JD6]

Originally Posted by E60525d

Did you get a 2nd opinion on this?

I didn't get a second quote, but the firm that quoted and the person they sent out are both sensible. Even if it had come in at £4k, I don't think that would have made sense to do.

Given that there is existing wiring to the garages, I wondered if that could have been sufficient for a charger, which would have made this vastly cheaper. Unfortunately the wiring wasn't sufficient.

That said, using a low capacity EV as a second car appears to work fine with a 3 pin socket.

[davyk31]

Can you not place the charger near to the consumer unit rather than at the garages? Well worth having a charger as they are a lot quicker especially if you have an overnight EV rate with just a few hours of a window to charge.

[E60525d]

Originally Posted by JD6

I didn't get a second quote, but the firm that quoted and the person they sent out are both sensible. Even if it had come in at £4k, I don't think that would have made sense to do.

Given that there is existing wiring to the garages, I wondered if that could have been sufficient for a charger, which would have made this vastly cheaper. Unfortunately the wiring wasn't sufficient.

That said, using a low capacity EV as a second car appears to work fine with a 3 pin socket.

If someone was quoting me a price that is 5x the cost of a standard EV charger installation, I would definitely get a 2nd opinion!

[G50]

Originally Posted by JD6

Quite a size difference!

Really jealous of how close you are to the fells, that’s amazing. Trying to see if I recognise them!

[JD6]

Originally Posted by davyk31

Can you not place the charger near to the consumer unit rather than at the garages? Well worth having a charger as they are a lot quicker especially if you have an overnight EV rate with just a few hours of a window to charge.

I did get a quote for a charger on the house at the closest point to the consumer unit. That was £1700, however, I prefer to park the cars in garages.

I thought exactly the same about the overnight EV rate - that I needed a 7kW charger to make the most of that. It was pointed out to me on the other thread I started about chargers, that Octopus Intelligent Go gives you 6 hours of cheap rate but will continue charging at cheap rate beyond those 6 hours until you reach your desired charge level.

Consequently, the car gets fully charged at 7.5p/kWh via a granny charger. Here is the charging plan for tonight having just plugged the car in and the one below it was on Wednesday night:

[JD6]

Originally Posted by G50

Really jealous of how close you are to the fells, that’s amazing. Trying to see if I recognise them!

It was a prerequisite for buying a house up here - I had to be able to walk straight out of the back door onto the fells without crossing a road. The estate agents probably thought I was a real PITA, and I only visited a handful of properties which met this criterion in the 3 years I was searching.

[davyk31]

So long as you don’t need the car before 10.00am then your charging plan seems to work ok.

[JD6]

Originally Posted by davyk31

So long as you don’t need the car before 10.00am then your charging plan seems to work ok.

I set the 10am departure time and it adjusted accordingly. I imagine it would start charging earlier if I set an earlier departure time, but I only picked up the car on Tuesday so haven't tested that.

2.3kW charging seems fine for a 33 kWh car like the Mini, particularly as a second car, but I don't imagine it works for a car with 2 or 3 times the capacity

[JD6]

The Mini is at the local dealer today to have 3 faults sorted out. As I have found previously the 'Approved Used check' is probably nothing more than a wash and vac. Quality control is left up to the buyer.

In my case there's a grille panel which isn't properly fitted, a broken parcel shelf and a seat which doesn't return to its position when letting someone into the back.

The supplying dealer blame Mini - they say that this ex-staff car was prepared at the main Mini Preparation Centre in Yorkshire. So I'm having to broker an agreement between the supplying and local dealer to get this stuff investigated and resolved without me picking up the tab. A bit of a pain having to act as the middleman...

[KRS_SN]

Originally Posted by JD6

The Mini is at the local dealer today to have 3 faults sorted out. As I have found previously the 'Approved Used check' is probably nothing more than a wash and vac. Quality control is left up to the buyer.

In my case there's a grille panel which isn't properly fitted, a broken parcel shelf and a seat which doesn't return to its position when letting someone into the back.

The supplying dealer blame Mini - they say that this ex-staff car was prepared at the main Mini Preparation Centre in Yorkshire. So I'm having to broker an agreement between the supplying and local dealer to get this stuff investigated and resolved without me picking up the tab. A bit of a pain having to act as the middleman...

It's a shame you are having to work to find a solution. I can't see why the local dealer can't fix it if its under warranty. Or liaise with Mini to recover costs.
I only buy approved used not because I expect to find no issues..more so because I believe they get to choose the premium crop out of the lot before the leftovers are handed to non bmw etc. I could be wrong but the one time I didn't buy auc that car gave me major problems. AUC ones touch wood have all been ok but yes post sale I've had issues (like 3rd row seat not folding electronically ) which should have been picked up and fixed pre sale.

[JD6]

Originally Posted by KRS_SN

It's a shame you are having to work to find a solution. I can't see why the local dealer can't fix it if its under warranty. Or liaise with Mini to recover costs.
I only buy approved used not because I expect to find no issues..more so because I believe they get to choose the premium crop out of the lot before the leftovers are handed to non bmw etc. I could be wrong but the one time I didn't buy auc that car gave me major problems. AUC ones touch wood have all been ok but yes post sale I've had issues (like 3rd row seat not folding electronically ) which should have been picked up and fixed pre sale.

I think with a regular warranty issue, it's should be straightforward. The difficulty here was that the parcel shelf and grille were damaged, although it wasn't immediately apparent, so there's scope for buck-passing. Fortunately, after a little pressure, the supplying dealer agreed to pay the local dealer to replace the damaged parts, and will seek to recover the costs themselves from Mini.

I agree that AUC has a major advantage over non-franchise dealer stock in that they can be pushed to sort everything out. Just slightly annoying that they don't give them a proper check-over before sale.

I just got the car back an hour ago and it all seems to have been resolved. I do really like the car - it'll be interesting to see how the EV thing goes.

[JD6]

6 months and about 5000 miles later, I’m very impressed. It has a few flaws, but on the whole it’s a very entertaining car to drive.

Negatives -

Torque Steer - Instant torque to the front wheels does leave limited grip for steering. If you go for an overtake, you can’t floor the accelerator and then steer to move out. You either have to be more progressive, or move out before. I remember having the same issue with a loan Lexus RX400h (where the electric motor is on the front wheels) about 20 years ago. Disconcerting at first.

Range - about 100 miles in winter, more like 140 in summer. It would be a PITA on a long journey. For my use, where I always have the 8 available, it works just fine.

Weight - it disguises the weight very well in normal driving, but if you hit a bump or a pothole, particularly on a bend, there’s no mistaking the excess weight. It loses composure in the way the petrol one doesn’t.

Tyres - it seems to eat front tyres at quite a rate. Looks like they’ll need replacing every 8-10k miles with my use. Rear tyres probably last 3 times that, so it’s more about torque than weight.

Positives -

Drive - It is very entertaining to drive. The instant throttle response combined with sharp handling makes it a lot of fun. The one pedal driving and regen as it slows lends itself very well to rapid progress on country lanes, slowing hard for bends and accelerating out.

Kit - this one is a Level 3 and has every option minus the black belt line. I’ve taken un1eash ’s advice and fitted the black wrap tape as the chrome just looked wrong with everything else black. Pics attached.

For my use, it works a lot better than the Cooper D it replaced. Highly recommend them if you can live with the range.

[KCH1984]

I do like that. I'm sure the replacement addresses some of those issues (mainly range), it's just a shame what they've done with the styling IMO.

[Bryans69]

Nice write-up. Now looking at Mini Electric as possible alternative to MG 4......

[JD6]

Originally Posted by KCH1984

I do like that. I'm sure the replacement addresses some of those issues (mainly range), it's just a shame what they've done with the styling IMO.

The range is certainly better. I hope that the larger battery and greater weight hasn’t blunted the handling. I’ll try and get a loan one when mine is in for a service.

[JD6]

Originally Posted by Bryans69

Nice write-up. Now looking at Mini Electric as possible alternative to MG 4......

If the shorter range isn’t a problem for you then I expect the way it drives will win you over. If you’re not used to the one pedal EV thing, see if you can get an extended test drive to get a proper feel of it.

I wasn’t even considering one, when getting one by chance as a loan car for the day really surprised me. I found it even more entertaining than the Cooper S petrol, which is a car I have always rated.

[Bryans69]

Originally Posted by JD6

If the shorter range isn’t a problem for you then I expect the way it drives will win you over. If you’re not used to the one pedal EV thing, see if you can get an extended test drive to get a proper feel of it.

I wasn’t even considering one, when getting one by chance as a loan car for the day really surprised me. I found it even more entertaining than the Cooper S petrol, which is a car I have always rated.

Range isn't an issue, as it will be second car to the camper, used for wife's commute and dropping kids to various local clubs. Only question will be whether it's a bit too small in the back even for short journeys, so will need to have a proper look.

As it's a second car, don't want to spend too much, so rules out of few things.