Hi all, I've had my 2021 Oxford Countryman since March of this year. Over the last couple of months, I noticed the car was struggling to start (it would crank longer and sounded weak). Fastforward to last weekend, I went on a 40 minute drive with the wife. We parked the car for less than an hour. Got back in and it wouldn't completely turnover; the electronics would turn on, and it would crank, but not fully start. I called roadside assistance, and an hour and a half later, a quick jump got us back on the road again.

When we got back from the 40 minute drive home, I shut off the car and tried to start it and the same thing happened. I took my battery charger and let it slow charge overnight. In the morning, it started over once, very weakly. Shut it off and tried it again, and it wouldn't crank. I scheduled an appointment with the dealer on Thursday. They basically diagnosed it as a bad battery and replaced it under warranty (3,500 miles on the odo). But now I am worried it could be something actually draining the battery. I know that bad batteries are a thing, but this has me questioning the long term reliability of the car, especially if it's electronic issues like this. Anyone have experiences or thoughts?

 

Batteries are inherently a weak point lately across many manufacturers, not just Mini. If they internally short out, they simply aren't going to work as designed. Don't worry about it, that's what the problem was. You're good to go now!

 

I just had my battery in a 2018 CM replaced by Mini. Same situation as you. Now everything is running great without issues. Bad batteries happen so just chalk it up to bad luck. If it happens to you again then you have good reason to have Mini take a deeper look into electrical issues.