First to get an attack of the creaks was the huge glass sunroof. It seems to be worse when the car's cold. Once the cabin has warmed up, it quietens down a bit, though it never shuts up completely. It's hard to pinpoint the source of the creaks, but if I had to hazard a guess I'd say it's where the sunroof fits against the rest of the roof, so that looks like one for the dealer.

Then it's the turn of the seats to join in the fun, in this case the rear ones. They sound 'loose' in their fixings, as if there's a problem with the catches holding the seat backs in place.

Seems I'm not alone with these niggles though. Check out the dedicated website for new Mini owners at www.mini2.com which has an excellent forum discussion area where all known faults on the car are listed. There's plenty to look at, and though later cars seems to have fewer problems than the first ones, they're not problem-free as yet. I imagine dozens of Mini development engineers scurrying around, checking up on the problems being aired on the site for all to see. Meanwhile the site also allows owners to read about dealer responses to the problems they're likely to encounter with their cars.

Latest news is that BMW has just recalled all very early cars to rebuild the rear suspension using longer bolts. It seems the ones used on the earliest cars were too short for the locking nuts to work properly so it's back to the dealer for the work to be done, which should take around three hours.

Despite all the moans I keep recommending the new Mini to friends because the overall package remains such good value and it's truly terrific to drive. Just don't get an early car ΂- buy a new one.