Www.consumeraffairs.com/automotive/mini.HTML

Please accept my apologies if I inadvertently mess up this post somehow; really new member. Background: mom of two, put less than 5000 miles on my car a year, almost all city driving. Currently drive a 2001 Acura MDX with over 100K. Never had a single thing go wrong with it except a bum trip computer which was replaced under the extended warranty with no problem. Just placed an order yesterday for a new CM S with almost every option. I have been lurking in this forum for weeks learning as much as I could about the brand, the car and the customer service everyone was receiving. I especially appreciated the tip for zag.com or penfed.com as the two sites saved me well over $1400 off MSRP in my negotiations for my Countryman S. So here I was, all proud of myself and excited about my new car when I found the consumer affairs website in the link at the top of my post. I am so sick to my stomach after reading the hundreds of posts about how BMW/Mini has treated owners when it is apparent that design flaws were to blame in most cases.

So here is what it comes down to: I have extensively researched this car, spent hours test driving, building and rebuilding, deleting and adding options based on members' opinions and experiences, but at the end of the day, I need this car to transport my children and my dog safely and reliably for years. I don't mind driving a car until the wheels fall off, provided they stay on for more than 100,000 miles at least! Do I need to look elsewhere? Is a Mini more of a toy than a car? Thanks for all the honest opinions up front. This forum is a veritable wealth of information!

My girlfriend has put on over 8,000 miles since May on her CM S All4 without a single hiccup. Will it last 100k? No idea. But I'd bet she's going to try.

I have a 2004 with over 110,000 miles on it. Has been the most reliable car that I have ever owned.

First off the 2012 Countryman is a new model and there is not enough history on the problems that a 2011 - 2012 Countryman might have.

Second, the Countryman is made in a completely different factory with completely different workers than all the other Minis. The Countryman is made in Graz, Austria where BMW makes other vehicles and the other minis are made in Oxford, England.

3rd, the Mini is a very safe vehicle. It meets or exceeds the safety crash test standards used for all vehicles.

4th, You will have a warranty good for 4 years or 60,000 miles with options to extend the warranty if you need. That is better than most warranties offered by other manufacturers.

5th, All manufacturers have issues, and a lot of times these boards have more people with problems than people with perfect problem free vehicles. If you search for problems with certain Hondas you will find lots of issues as well.

Having said that, Mini seems to have had more than its share of problems on certain vintages of vehicles. Some problems were before BMW acquired mini and some were after. But the newer vehicles most likely will have fewer issues as many have been corrected or redesigned. The Mini is definitely not a toy, it is a high performance complex automobile.

All dealers are different. Some are very good, some are outright bad. Find a good one with a good shop and give them your business.

Only thing for sure is you will LOVE the car! Everybody does. Some peace of mind is the warranty and you can extend it if you like. Maybe drive it for 3 or 4 years and see how it holds up. There are certainly better options if dependability is your main concern in choosing, Lexus comes to mind first, but any car can have problems. I see Mini/BMW as not nearly reliable as some others, but some people put major miles on one with few or no problems. My main complaint are the known issues with this car (High Pressure Fuel Pump, Carbon Build up, etc) that have not been fixed.
How you are treated when an issue comes up will have too many variables to say now how that will play out. Sometimes the same dealership will bend over backwards for someone, while someone else feels screwed over by them.

BTW, your link is invalid on the referenced website, did you type it wrong or use cut and paste. Did not find any MINI dealer information on the website. I might have missed where you were looking.

Don't worry, lots of MINIs have been made. The Countryman is new, you have warranty and hopefully your dealer service department is a good one.

If you find you have a bad dealer experience, then go to another MINI dealer, if you have the option.

We have found our MINIs lots of fun, good daily drivers and reliable. Not sure about the 100K, but we tend to keep ours for many years, too.

Enjoy it and do your upkeep, oil changes, etc. Treat your MINI right and it will treat you right.

Don

Sorry to say this but car has 12k, in for repairs 4 times so far.

Mine is 4 months old, 3,500 miles, and not a single issue (other than the trim defect that they are planning to fix.) I don't have a rattle. The lounge leather seats are comfortable as anything. The car is a blast to drive. It has the AWD that I know I will need once winter hits. It gets better mileage than I expected (31MPG to date) As far as repairs go, I saved the money I would have spent on the nav system and sunroof, and put it into a 100,000 mile maintenance/Warranty program. If anything fails for 100,000 miles, it is fixed. I also get free oil changes for the 100,000 miles. I plan to drive this car for many years, and so far, it has been great.

Mark

According to consumeraffairs.com, the NHTSA recalled about 600,000 vehicles, including 2001 Acura MDX vehicles for transmissions that were faulty.

A Google search on the term "2001 acura mdx problems" yields 611,000 hits.

If one were to go off Internet information, it seems the MDX would be a risky, unreliable vehicle to own. But your own experience says otherwise. Odds are your experience with a MINI will be the same.

Had my CM since April, and no problems. Plan on passing down to daughter next year when she turns 16 as the CM is one of the top 3 safest vehicles in it's size/class. One note, both Hardtop, Clubman and CM owners that have or had "S" versions seem to have had the most problems to date. My Clubbie was a Non S, and my Countryman is a Non S...again no problems!
If you like the car and take care of it(and don't get a Friday or Monday made car) it should prove to be reliable!
Enjoy it, we love ours.

I have 13K on the CM which we purchased in Dec 10...it's all good.

I just got the brakes done and oil change per the service computer...part of the maintenance plan.

I drive the ALL4 hard.

I had the same heebies because so much in the R60 is essentially new. So I put money into something I'd usually avoid: the extended warranty. That way, the car is going to 100,000 miles whether it's reliable or not, and my dealer is giving me a free loaner every time it goes in for every little thing.

We'll see whether there are enough problems that it's too much of an inconvenience for me to take it to 100,000, but I'm very, very optimistic at this point.

Mine has 7,000+ miles on it right now, and I have a sunroof rattle. I'm also seeing brake errors on my screen, but they go away almost immediately, and the brakes are behaving completely normally. Nonetheless, it's going in Monday for the rattle and to have the brakes all checked out.

So not a perfect start, but also no issues affecting reliability or safety.

I only see a single complaint about the Countryman on that site:

"I purchased a brand new Mini Countryman in May. It has now been in the shop four times for problems that have escalated in degree. Now it has brake issues. They have now had my car for six days this time."

Jacqueline of Fort Worth , TX

Pick any manufacturer on that site. All of the ones I tried look like anonymous ranting.

The CM is a fun, practical and safe vehicle. If you are worried about whether it will last 100K miles, I would definitely consider extending the warranty to 100k Yes it may cost $3k but it is well worth it. It took us four months to place our order. Delivery is in 2 weeks. Am I nervous, no I am not!!! It's a car. I will be good to it and I expect the same in return. I have a warranty up to 48k and will probably extend it to 100k. No matter what I purchased, it would have that extended warranty, hopefully I will never need it but you never know. and this is not just on a MINI, if I bought a Toyota (heaven forbid) I would take out the extended warranty as well. Some people think I am crazy but I'd rather be safe all it takes is one breakdown. In short I would not cancel the order move forward and you will not regret it.

If it takes 6 days for my CM to be fixed, Imma have a MINI loaner that whole time, so I'm not fussed by the concept.

I think the latest White Roof podcast answered that question at length and quite well. MINIs in general are not as reliable as, for example, a Toyota Camry. But a MINI is not just an appliance with wheels to get from A to B. It's a combination of pretty good gas mileage, a good community of fellow owners, above normal grade materials, and gobs and gobs of fun driving experiences. Not many MINIs go 100k without a problem or two. But if you love cars and love driving you'll enjoy those 100k miles a lot more than with a trouble free appliance. Again, not my words, but good ones.

You guys are awesome! I think I just needed some fellow owners to talk me off the ledge. I will definitely purchase the extended warranty. I did it with the MDX as it was the first year of production. Luckily, I never had the transmission issues there because I had one of the first MDXs before they upped the HP from 245 to 285.

And thanks to those who posted about developing a relationship with a good dealer. Luckily I have some options there. I would be livid if they try and blame owner error/neglect for issues they know are manufacturing defects. It looked like most of the posts on the consumer affairs site related mostly to older cars, but there were a couple from Countryman owners. What scared me the most was Corporates attitude towards the issues. Hopefully, especially in this economy, the customer will be elevated back to a position of importance and Mini's Public Relations team will realize the vital importance of forums such as these.

PS. I have never had a brand new car before. I have definitely never been able to order one exactly the way I wanted it. I cannot WAIT to get in this car, and thanks again to all who helped me realize just how much fun this is going to be!

IT IS SO FUN.

Just wanted to add that. From the stripes, to the Sport button, to the big MINI logo you press to open the boot, to the adaptive headlights, to that growl when you put down the hammer to get on the highway, to the comments you get from people at the gas pump, it is such a fun car to own and drive.

My current daily driver is a 2006 MC which I ordered 6 years ago, at about 95000 miles right now and the only time I have brought the car in for anything besides oil changes and new tires was 6 months when the thermostat died....

My experience with this particular car is that it is the most reliable car I have ever owned....and my replacement, the CM is on order...

My wife has a 2010 BMW328 purchased new a year ago.....has been in the shop 6 times and she is ready to unload it...

You just never know.

I would cancel right away.....that way mine will move up the production schedule one notch ;-)

No one seems to have addressed what should be a consideration. The MINI, no matter what it says on the boot, is a BMW. And the CM maybe more so with its platform and Euro build. People are either BMW People or they’re not. They’re willing to put up with the niggles because it’s a BMW. Multiple trips to the dealer for the same problem, electronic bugs, run flat tires, delayed solutions to common problems, delivery of vehicles that are not quite ready, and overpriced everything – it’s all fine because it’s a BMW and BMWs (and MINIs) are special. I have the chrome problem, a one touch window that requires multiple touches, and the unconnected connect system. I know it will all get resolved – eventually. My old Mazda, on the other hand, went in only for oil changes and was just as much fun to drive and just as practical. I knew I was taking a chance going in and was willing to gamble. I don’t regret buying the CM – it’s most everything they say it is. I do regret getting sucked into the BMW family again.

Sealy - Who's not a BMW person.

Also make sure you negotiate down the price of the extended warranty when you do get it. I don't remember how far we got the price down for my mom on her Countryman but $1600 sticks in my head and I got the guy to come down to $1500 on my wife's Clubbie without even trying very hard. If I had pushed it I probably could have gotten them down to $1400. Depends somewhat on your dealer and how much profit they want on the warranty.

SirIsaac,

Was it the extended warranty or the extended service. The extended warranty can range from 3000 - 3400 and the Extended service has a list price of 1895. You know the addage that money talks. It's a long story but I am getting the car before I come into a huge sum of $$$$ So I am only adding what I have to now. The Blemish buster plus is one strong want. If that is not available, I will be purchasing the tire/wheel protection plan. I have a bad track record with wheels and tires.

mrluckypa,

Yeah, I didn't even let them offer me the extended service. He threw out the $3000+ number and I replied, maybe for $1400. He stammered a bit and said $1500 I can do, $1400 that I would have to go talk to some one about. Okay, well we'll pass for now. You can always go back and buy it later as long aill under a certain amount of the factory warranty as well, and it's price is negotiable at that point as well. You also don't have to buy it through the same dealer you purchased the vehicle from. Shop it around and see which MINI dealer will give the best price.

Never owned a BMW and never will....I purposely "forget" who the parent company is that owns MINI......I own a MINI, NOT a BMW......