Your record with Mini may speak for itself, but it doesn't address the issue that Mini has a terrible track record of standing behind their cars when substantial numbers of owners are facing similar problems. Just look what they did on the power steering pump problem for example. They redesigned the pump, but never bothered to go back and replace the defective ones (or at least tell owners of the problem and offer to extend the warranty) installed on many tens of thousands of cars already in service. And when the pumps failed, they charged owners $1000-$1500 for the redesigned pump. It was sheer luck that no one got killed when one of the pumps abruptly failed. Only after the Canadian government forced them to deal with all the cars sold there with defective pumps, and they realized that the federal government was looking at the problem because of all the complaints from U.S. owners, did they offer to reimburse owners for repairs and extend the warranty. Shows you what sort of company you are dealing with. The power steering pump issue is just one of many that clearly shows that Mini uses every opportunity they can to avoid standing behind their cars.

 

It was a Canadian trim level designation.

 

Thanks for the clarification. That's the second time that I've seen the reference.

 

We're on a Mini forum so of course Mini will be the target of such comments.

However, let's keep some perspective. The same statement can be said about every car company out there.

Every company is in the business to make money. They only look out for their customers when it helps the bottom line.

Didn't Toyota just pay a $1.2 billion (with a B) fine because they failed to address an issue not only reported by numerous customers but responsible for actually killing people?

Forums are disproportionately populated with people who have problems, the vast majority do not.

I see this issue reported by Edmund's, a bug in the software, more as evidence that the so called "myth" that first model years have more issues is actually true.

My record with MINI? My 2006 MCS is still going strong with 135 thousand miles so far, and only the scheduled maintenance performed, including an oil change at the recommended 15k interval. The only repairs after 130 thousand miles are what you would expect on a car of this age: hoses, fluids, boots, struts, clutch. The only surprise was a front axle.

Yes, it took my local dealer 3 visits to address the selinoid issue with my R59, and to their credit they voluntarily reimbursed me with free gas, detailing and other items.

I have found Mini to stand behind their cars, no more and no less than any other manufacturer I have dealt with (Audi, Chrysler, Ford, Saturn, Honda and Toyota).

 

I agree and let's not forget about GM and the 50 cent ignition switch. How many people died?

 

You can cite all the examples you want about what other car manufacturers may or may have not done, but the fact is that Mini does not stand behind their cars. What other manufacturers may or may not do is no excuse. It doesn't have to be that way. Go onto any Mercedes owners forum and you will not see example after example of the manufacturer trying to weasel out of making warranty repairs for a widespread problem. Mercedes may have an occasional widespread problem, but when they do, they step up and take responsibility for it, rather than try to blame it on the customers. When Honda and Acura had major transmission problems a while back, they didn't wait for the government to pressure them to correct it. Despite the negative publicity, they recalled the cars and replaced or repaired the transmissions at a huge expense, but unlike Mini, they did the right thing. Look at the Countryman section of this forum, and read about all the owners having clutch problems and Mini refuses to repair them under warranty, claiming that the need for repairs is because the cars are being driven incorrectly. But at the same time Mini has quietly redesigned the clutch that they are now installing on the new cars rolling out out of the factory. It's the defective power steering pump episode all over again. Sure, you can find fault with any car manufacturer, but there's a well established pattern with Mini. You may have a great dealer, or you may have a completely crooked dealer. I'm not referring to individual dealers, I'm referring to the attitude of the manufacturer towards standing behind their products when there's a widespread problem.

 

Every mini product has had an issue mini has dropped the ball on that they should have fixed....
Gen1 the CVT...CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT...oh year...mini lost...
POWRR STEERING pump...only extrnted the warrenty in 2013 (mind you on cars built as early as 2002-2005?!) when NHSTA was getting ready for recalls...
Gen2...where do I start...carbon issues?!
How about timing chains...should be good for the "life" of a motor...folks do them more often than rubber belts....
Melting hood scoops....only 2 for you?! Lol
Leaking turbo oil lines...
Heatshields...pcv issues...
Clutches...when the factory has 3 or 4 revised parts...and still issues contunues on some models...
Gen3....here we go again!!!
Anybody want to bet on what the gen3 will be...lots of threads already...

 

P.S.

I LOVE my min...
But so many dealers are bad...and the dealer effects your experience...
almost MONTHLY we get folks who say the local dealer quoted $800-1200 for a gen1 PS pump on a pre 2005 car that should be FREE....but only the orgional owners know, even though it is transfered to all later owners...
THAT TELLS YOU LOTS....wonder if they pocket the $$ and get paid for the work...

 

I'm with Zippy on this. Certain owners may have lucked out without issues but the 'general' record remains - MINI dodges and plays games when it comes to standing behind its products. My '06 had ~$3k of warranty work done before 35k on items that should last 100k... motor mounts, LCA, convertible top rubber moulding, groaning transmission, thermostat, leaky water-pump and more. After the warranty expired, the AC died.

I've always owned German cars (VW,Audi,Porsche,Mini) but now decided to have at least 1 Japanese car in the household. Most of my relatives have switched from owning to leasing their German rides but buying Lexus and Infiniti.

I've resorted to robbing liquor stores to build up my MINI repair slush fund.

 

I don't participate in other car forums, but have been here since 2007. What's disturbing are threads about how something goes wrong (fuel pump comes to mind, I had one go out, and it was a known problem) some owners' dealers replaced it NQA, but other dealers told owners it went out because they used "bad gas". I remember one person's dealer claimed they tested the gas. Yeah right. Some person's 2015 battery went out. He didn't leave his lights on, but the dealer claimed they could magically tell that he did, and wanted $310. Huh? Another guy's dealer refused to fix some part under warranty, claimed he caused it. He had it towed to another dealer and they fixed it ASAP. A couple people hired lawyers to lemon law cars. Stuff like that shouldn't happen, but it does. It gives the companies a bad name. If it were me I'd yank the franchise out from under them.