Clubman Reliability

[tattedXB]

Thanks Dookie - and i got mine, with the hid's and brown leather and i love it, 3k miles, no issues yet!

38K miles in 14 months. Only niggle is the sunroof sticking in 100+ degree days, but only when angled towards the sun. It was 104 yesterday, and it opened just fine, sun was at a lower angle than midsummer.

[jbrowland]

People keep mentioning extra oil changes. The manual says once every year/15k miles. So what's the deal?

I drive only about 8000 miles a years so should i only change my oil once a year on my new clubman or should i be doing an extra one in between??

[OLarryR]

I remember when oil changes were every 3000 miles or 6 months, whatever came first. Then many car companies went with 7500 miles (unless short drives or abusive service - 3000 miles) or 6 months. Then I buy this Mini and it's now indicating what will be about 19000 miles or a year whiever comes first....and you are right in that many change there oil sooner or with less mileage.

So...8000 miles in a year...I probably would change it at the 6 month interval. I would think your short distance rides are just as bad on the oil as running it for many more miles. An in-between solution instead of going for a full blown oil change is to get a hand operated vacuum pump from a boat store (believe they cost ~ $30-$40) and suck the oil out of the dip stick. It's much easier than messing with the drain plug and also leave the oil filter replacement for the yearly oil change. It's not as good as replacing both the oil and the oil filter but you get rid of most of the contaminants in the oil and start with fresh oil - You save the cost of the oil filter and the cost and scheduling regarding labor if you leave it at the dealership or gas station for them to do it. I have used the vacuum pump and it sucks virtually all the oil out.

[TorchMINI]

I think it's clear that any small engine needs more frequent oil changes than our Mini computers tell us. I think it's just BMW getting off cheap on "free maintenance". I would never let my car go over 8 or 10 k miles without an oil change. Others have had their oil evaluated and found abrasives present. Why not be satisfied with every other, or every third oil change be on BMW?
Save your MIini's motor. Change it often.

[jbrowland]

I don't know. It absolutely makes sense to me to change the oil more often than recommended by MINI... BUT at the same time it also makes sense to do what your manual recommends as well. Thread after thread on NAM suggest following the manuals recommendation on many things (91 gas for ex.) so why should we do otherwise now? It seems if BMW were just being cheap that it may cost them even more in service repairs during the free warranty years if it were in fact bad to change the oil as per their recommendation. Why would they do that to themselves?

Again, I agree that it should probably be done more but I will also add that I think most people change their oil way more than it needs to be changed. Every 3k miles is kinda silly IMHO unless you drive your car like it's in a race all the time. These are the same people who spend 20 hours a week hand detailing their cars. (and there is nothing wrong with that if you do ;))

So has any one out there actually followed the MINI manual and changed their oil every yr/15k? And were there issues doing this?

[JavaAddict]

I just found the JD Powers reliability report from JD Powers:

http://www.jdpower.com/corporate/new...spx?ID=2009043

This report shows Mini having higher number of repairs. However, the number of repairs can be misleading as you could have 2 issues of rubber gasket needing to be reglued around a window versus an entire transmission failling out, and according to JD powers, car with the window issue is worse.

I also checked consumer reports before buying and it shows strong (top rating of full red circle) for reliability. So who do you trust? I trust the fact I want to drive a Mini and will deal with a few small issues (that may not happend at all) to get the fun factor.

[beasleyboy]

Originally Posted by tigermann

I bought mine mid April 2008 and now have about 14K miles. Here's my list of issues or concerns:

1. Oil changes - I paid the dealer to do mine at about 5K ($130), then got the second one free after a year went by (11K). And they didn't reset the service interval so I will get another free change at 18K. Otherwise, I will continue to pay for extra ones myself and try to keep it changed every 5-6K miles.
2. Window dipper issues - first re-initialization lasted a week, second time lasted a month. Third time must have been the charm, it's been OK since and was not enough trouble to return to the dealer except for oil or other issues.
3. After the first few week I noticed a front window pillar plastic molding cover did not fit right, and the front inner wheel liners were trimmed too short and did not fit right - both fixed at first dealer visit
4. Missing driver door lower rubber molding that a lot of early Cubmans had - paid $17 and just put it on myself.
5. Door sills started coming unglued after 6 months, dealer replaced for free with ones that have upgraded glue

That's about it - everything else working perfectly. SO, basically I'm out about $150 so far, but been back to the dealer 4 times, so if you are far away from yours you might consider that.

Then there are a few annoyances:

1.The car (at least a stick) needs to be driven with the SPORT button on all the time to work well - but you have to push it down every time you re-start,
2. The seatbelt buckles catch between the seat and door - just a pain
3. Mini's come with some sort of anti-corrosive stuff that's between the metal pannels under the hood and in the door jams - which oozes out over time and requires frequent cleaning
4. The black plastic/rubberish components around the outside of the car (wheel well covers, moulding, etc) get wax on them and tough to clean
5. Mini's have serious brake dust - every car wash requires a lot of time on the wheels to look good
6. If you get run-flats and pick up a nail, the dealers won't fix them due to liability issues - need to find a tire shop with a run-flat mounting machine, most will patch if the nail is not on the side walls

Tigermann, what exactly does your post have to do with reliability? Fit and finish issues seem to be the main issue in your list of highs/lows. This has nothing to do with it. You seem to be talking about quality issues, not reliability. I've owned a Dodge Intrepid and in the 80,000 miles that I've driven it, it had TONS of little niggling problems with body panels coming loose, molding breaking off, the dash lens fogging up!, the steering acting funny. But my point is, it was a crappy feeling car and must have been built by a drunk but NEVER have I had to get any major repairs on it. I've never had to get the engine or electrical system repaired. The brakes never suffered from any fade and the A/C worked first time every time. Now my current Clubman has passed 10,000 miles and the driver's side window is jammed. (Can't get it to roll up that last 1/4 inch.) I'll have to be up at 6 a.m. Friday to drop it off at the dealer. I have a bad feeling about this and wonder if something else is going to go bad in the near/distant future.

[MiniCarver]

My 2 cents. I own a 08 Clubman S with 20k on the odometer. I've had only one issue which is the drivers window "snug-up" after closing the door feature. Fixed with a software upgrade under warrantee. Not a big deal. Got a loaner and got to see what a Suzuki SX4 drive like. It's like the TV news.....mostly bad news gets reported and good news doesn't. You can't buy a better car for the handling fun factor and every time you pass an approaching Mini, you get a wave. That's got to say something.

[tattedXB]

Nice - well i've had mine for 4 months, fuel pump went out - got to drive a 335i for 3 days (nicee!), and i've had some rattling inside the frame which they subdued with some foam.

Hows the sx4 drive btw, my girlfriend is wanting one

[MiniCarver]

The SX4 was surprisingly (sp?) good. Lots of pep, handled corners pretty good, and the interior fit/finish was quite good for a economy car. Definitely worth a look.