Looks the MINI brand just received a swift kick to the nuts.

JD Power has ranked the MINI brand dead last in its 2011 vehicle dependibility study

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/03/17/j...incoln-best-b/

MINI has got it down in making fun cars to drive, but it looks like they still have a way to go in ensuring the cars are less proned to bugs.

Still room for improvement guys

 

What I don't get is how they already have a "dependability" study for the 2011 models? My 2011 still has less than 2000 miles on it and has been tremendously dependable! Touch wood....

 

"A brief explanation of how this particular study is compiled: J.D. Power polled 43,700 original owners on problems experienced during the past 12 months on 2008 model-year vehicles after three years of ownership. As such, this study is not ranking the latest vehicles by any given manufacturer, but is instead intended to help consumers predict the durability of a potential automobile purchase."

 

Thanks Lithium. I figured it was something like that, I was poking fun
Not really the kind of news a new Mini owner wants to hear.....

 

Meh.

You have to take the JD Power info with a grain of salt too.

The numbers look bad for MINI when you initally look at them, but when you really look what they mean, it's not so bad. Basically, a MINI owner has 2 times more chance of having issues with their car when compared to granmpa and his big-*** Lincoln. According to the JD Poers numbers, every Linclon owner with a 3-yr old car reported roughly one problem whereas a MINI owner reported 2.2.

Nothing to poop our pants over

 

Hrmm....not sure what to make of that study. I'm a new mini owner and have no particular favoritism toward any brand so I'm a little disappointed and I guess somewhat concerned about the future reliability of my new mini.

That said, I don't know what they're smoking with that study. Cadillac and Jaguar ranked above Honda??? I don't think so. I know several people who drive caddys and jags and they're in the shop on average once every 3 months. One of my coworkers just traded her relatively new caddy for a lexus because it was breaking down so much.

 

Nothing to poop our pants over[/QUOTE]


Too late.

 

I've always trusted Consumer Reports over JD Power. I'm with you Guitar Man - Jaguar over Honda Gimme a break.

 

Actually, Jaguar has been rated very high in reliability in all the ratings for the past few years. Cadillac and Lincoln as well. They use all the same criteria when rating all the manufacturers and achieve a very broad sampling of owners in all the brands. Unfortunately, the American consumer is hard to shift in opinion because they tend to listen to what they traditionally have heard in years past.

Having been very involved in the process since J.D. Powers first came on the scene, I do have an opinion about MINI. I think it starts with the dealers and many negative ratings can be traced back to them.

There has always been a very limited number of MINI dealers and basically no same brand competition within a given market. They started out with a very hot product and very low inventories. They often asked and received either MSRP or more for the units sold. They had no units in operation when they started and a very limited number in most markets, even now. As a result, they spend little time developing their service areas and cut costs on personnel.

Inexperienced or poor service results ultimately in an irritated owner body. In most cases, you will attract more returns from dissatisfied cutomers than you will those who are very satisfied. At the end of the day, begging for or trying to buy positive survey returns as many MINI dealers do, works far more poorly than actually producing an excellent service experience.

 

Excellent points

Also, there are the ongoing issues that MINI Corp is just not addressing: failing power steering pumps, low speed fan resistor, etc.

 

Meh, I knew the day I bought this thing that it would be traded-in the day before the warranty runs out.

 

I hear yall ! I just traded in my 09' cooper for a 2011 and I am disapointed so far . Stealerships are way to few and that is the major problem . They always say = loaners cars for you to use = when something goes wrong = what a joke ! I have to drive two hours to get to stealership already & they want keep their part of bargin . I don't know how long I will keep my New Cooper just over a month old !!!!! I have had enough with this stealership !
El Tiger

 

Yeah, same here, either that or I will invest a couple grand in an extended warranty as long as I can find one that covers the convertible top.