The car will last as long as you FOLLOW THE MAINTENENCE SCHEDULE. I have seen so many people come in needing engines, timing chains, turbos, and it could have all been avoided if they didnt go 8, 12, or 18K miles over the oil change interval. The new 2012 CM has the N18, which hasnt shown any problems so far, at least at my dealer....

Just know this, they do have some that have small bugs. There has been a CM w/ speaker noise, wind noise, and I think even a thermostat has been in the shop, but thats only 3 out of the hundreds sold. Pretty good odds IMO. Overall, you'll like the car, I dont like big cars, but the CM rides and drives like a small car, with the room of a SUV.

 

People seriously go that far over the oil change interval? The very idea makes my skin crawl.

In fact, the CM's 15,000 interval gives me the heebies. I kind of want to pay to have it changed now that I'm halfway. But my friends assure me that new engines and high performance oil can make it that far and that there's no need to go beyond the manufacturer's recommendations.

 

Make sure it is extended warranty not the extended service...
Just enjoy...

 

My $0.02 is that if you're this panicky now, you're probably not cut out for Mini ownership and if you can back out of your order without penalty, I would do so. Then buy a car based primarily on frequency of repair records, probably Japanese, and definitely not any Euro car.

But... as others have said, there is no reason you should not get reasonably reliable service out of the car you have ordered. The odds are not good that it will be the most reliable car you've owned nor will it likely be as reliable as your MDX. But in all likelihood, it will probably be reliable enough that you an depend on the car day-to-day to get where you['re going. The Mini is not a "toy"; its just a car that is probably going to have about double the problems of the most reliable cars. And you have the safety net of a warranty which gives you a long period to see if the car is reliable enough for you. (This assumes you have a close-enough dealer that the issues of scheduling service/repairs aren't a huge problem.)

I do think Minis make better "enthusaists cars" for people who aren't terribly upset if they have a problem now and then. The reward is a car that is somewhat unique, very fun to drive, and that has a true personality. But on a strictly practical basis, there are better and more reliable cars available for less money.

A final thought: I'd take the carping about BMW with a grain of salt. I've owned several BMW cars and several BMW motorcycles and in general, I think they take care of their customers pretty well, all things considered. With any car make, you're going to find some people who have had really bad experiences (or who have taken minor problems and blown them widly out of proportion). BMW is a car company and average to somewhat better than average in customer service in my opinion.

- Mark

 

Good post Mark!!

 

My prior car was a 2003 MCS which lasted for 130k miles.

Now around 120k, I did start to have some issues - but they were expected kinds of things, like the clutch needing replacement...

I have had a CM now since May, and it has just had two minor issues. With a new car, you may get some issues - but one item of comfort is that currently the engine used is the same turbo that has been around for a few years, so it's probably pretty solid at this point.

One thing I did to address the issue of possible maintenance later since it is a new model, was to get mechanical insurance from Geico. It costs very little per year (less than $50 I believe) and should cover anything that mechanically breaks down after 50k up to 100k.

Another thing to note about MINI is that the dealers have been really good about giving me loaner cars for free when work is being done on the car. So even if something does go wrong you are usually not without transport. That was true both with my older MCS as well as the Countryman, even when the MCS was out of warranty.

 

I encourage you to talk to your MA about this, particularly if the dealership is relatively close. When I bought my CM, my MA promised me that they would get me a loaner if I ever had to leave it. With 2-3 weeks' notice, he said, I could typically get a MINI loaner, but even if it was an emergency repair and the MINIs were all taken, he said they'd get me a rental.

So get the manager and the MA to confirm their loaner situation with you.

Oh, and definitely take these heebies with you when you negotiate on price. Say you really want the car, but you're nervous about reliability. You may be able to get them to take some money off one of the plans, and if they can't do that because they have fixed prices, they can take it off the car or add it to what they're giving you on the trade-in.

Nothing like the truth to help you get leverage in a negotiation.

 

We have a 2004 Acura MDX, we just bought a 2012 MCS with all the packages. We are still waiting for it to arrive and the dealer gave us a brand new base loaner. I think that speaks volumes for the service, its been 4 weeks now and we still have the loaner. I had to pull teeth at the Acura dealer just to get a miled out used RDX to test for the day to put car seats in, let alone get a new RDX while we waited for ours to come.

We have 2 kids still in car seats and a Boxer. The dog is not too keen on his new home in the back of the CM compared to the MDX but he is 10 and cranky and he usually rides in my truck anyway. The space differance is the shocker, but how often do you fill up that cavern in the back of the MDX? The wife is saving about $150 a month on gas compared to the MDX, she had cold feet about down sizing so much but she loves the MC and does not regret the change.

We also had the extended on the MDX and needed it a couple times, but overal it was a great car. Boreing but it got the job done. As I wrote in another post we tested the RDX, X3, X1, GLK, XC-60, E35, basically all of the higher end cross overs. The CMS wins hands down, the closest was the Volvo XC-60T it has way more HP but is auto and is not as fun to drive, the RDX made me sleepy with the turbo lag.

All manufactures have lemons. My first car was a 1994 Honda Accord Coupe, it was the best thing since sliced bread. I replaced the factory clutch at 380,000 and 5 people learned how to drive on that car. Never a problem, I drove the **** out of that car from one coast to the other with over 400,000 on the clock. A friend of the family had the exact, I mean Identical car, same color, year, option...everything. It was a POS it was at the dealer all the time. So it goes to show that you never can tell.

We were tired of boreing, thats why we decided on the MCS. I am glad we went with the All4 S because the loaner is a FWD base, and is not half as fun as the S is.

Sorry for the long post but its funny how we both had the same worries about the same cars.