Here is the link to the article
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43066895/ns/business-autos/

 

I really wish this were true.

 

.....Dan is a spoke in the wheel as to why their ratings have tanked.

 

This guy has a bunch of facts wrong. He says the engine is really loud. Mine isn't at all loud. He says there's no USB or Bluetooth option, which there is. He says that if you want an S, you have to have sport suspension. That's false too.

And it shows an embarrassing lack of research to say that the Countryman is "bucking" the iPhone trend, since MINI-Connected is an ambitious (if ill-implemented) attempt to embrace that trend.

He also says "With the Countryman’s extra mass and the power-sapping effects of the ALL4 all-wheel-drive system, some drivers may conclude that the base engine’s 121-hp is overmatched and opt for the S version just to get the turbocharged engine." That makes it sound like you can get an ALL4 without the S engine, which you can't.

If the dude had spent twenty minutes in the configurator, he would know all of this (except the engine noise thing). It's really a crappy piece of journalism.

 

It's really a crappy piece of journalism.

TIPPYKAYAK........You took the words right out of my mouth.

As a new Mini owner, I have found as people check out my car...they either GET IT or they don't. When i was looking to get my CM, I found 100 reasons to not get it. But, and most importantly, I only needed ONE reason to get it. It makes me happy. I haven't had this much fun driving in 30 years. The Dan guy from MSNBC is a douche.

 

I appreciate the link to this review, but you need to keep in mind that it is MSNBC, so are you really surprised they reported back several pieces of incorrect information about the car? Their reporting here is like their reporting on everything else... just plain off and outright wrong.

I dont expect much accuracy of any kind from the liberal media. Lol.

 

Not for nothing, but inaccuracy of a review has nothing to do with the liberality of the journalist, especially when the subject has nothing to do with politics.

Bad research is bad research, no matter where you are on the political spectrum.

 

Definitely not not going to turn this into a political conversation lol. This is automobile message board, but its MSNBC for crying out loud. I think there are ten people in the whole world who watch it lol. They have a history of shoddy reporting all around just not in politics. Their rating are the lowest of all news networks except for HLN.

 

I definitely agree that MSNBC doesn't seem to do any worthwhile reporting, and this review is an undeniable example of bad journalistic homework (I mean, for god's sake, give an intern the article for an hour and let him research it for you). I just didn't dig the "liberal media" comment.

 

I apologize because it was inappropriate for the site.

I will stick strictly to Mini related comments from now on lol.

Political discussions can go on forever and usually neither side will ever see eye to eye ( even though my opinion is always the right one ).

Take care.

 

No worries! You motor in the right lane, and I'll motor in the left.

 

You can get an ALL4 without the S engine, you just have to live in Europe where you can get the D and SD in ALL4.

 

Tell me again why we cannot get the D in this country (USA)? Oh wait, I know, bloody americans.

That said, I still thought the review wasn't all bad. Press is press, and the MSNauto reviews have been pretty crappy for the last year or so anyway. At least the got the name right .

 

Yeah, but that's not what he's talking about. He doesn't mention the diesel engine at all. He's talking about the standard engine and the turbo engine, and he implies you can get the standard with ALL4, which doesn't exist.

 

Diesel has a bad reputation in this country. Contemporary diesel engines have solved most (all?) of the problems people used to have with diesel, but attitudes change slowly. I think we'll see more interest in diesel as gas prices rise, since there's more energy in a gallon of diesel fuel than there is in a gallon of regular. Certainly, there are more diesel options out there right now than I remember from ten years go.

I certainly would have considered and perhaps purchased a Countryman All4 D (or SD ALL4 or however they would have branded it over here).

 

...and Fox News (if one can call it that) is such a paragon of honesty...

 

FWIW both are extremely slanted, I don't think one any more than the other, but this is not the forum to debate this.

 

Hey Tippy, I enjoy your posts.. Just tell em you can't pass on the "right"

 

That's not the reason at all. The guy who runs MINI USA is a huge proponent of diesel. It's mainly an issue with the U.S. regulations being out of whack with the rest of the world... do a forum search for Diesel Interview, you should find a really long post where he goes into great specifics why the U.S. will not see a Diesel MINI until 2013 or so.

MINI buyers are more astute than most; there would be no problem selling a Diesel MINI and MINI USA knows it.

 

There are very few CM reviews that "get" the car or their owner constituency. This review is one of them.

 

I just read that article, and I still do think diesel's reputation is part of the reason. The manufacturers that do have EPA-compliant diesel cars still aren't selling them as well as you'd expect, and diesel does have a reputation for noise and smell in the US that hurts its ability to sell.

Thanks for the info, though. I hadn't realized that the problem was that the US's emissions regulations aren't clear and consistent. As he says, in Europe, where they're actually tighter, they've been able to deliver a car to market because they were able to plan better for it.

 

I have owned a VW Beetle TDI diesel in SoCal for 10 years...and a Golf TDI was on my short list while researching my CM All4. USA buyers have a perception issue with diesel. "Where will I buy the fuel?" "Why should I pay $1k-$3k more for a diesel car?"; "Won't it make a lot of black smoke"?; "Why do I see diesel fuel the same or more expensive as high octane gas?".

Of course these misconceptions are hard to change. There are more and more passenger car diesels starting appear (nearly all VW's in the US)....but it is going to take a long time.

 

Once upon a time... (back in the 80s) I owned a 1982 Monte Carlo with a V8 5.7l Detroit Diesel under the hood! kinda sounded like a dump truck when it idled! Never had a prob finding fuel, took two 700amp batteries to start it, and got upwards of 30 mpg on the highway... once it finally got to speed that is....

oh and it had dual exhaust that would spew the most magnificent James Bond smoke screen you ever saw on heavy acceleration I think it held 10 quarts of oil that would turn jet black within days of an oil change

ahh the good ol days... the technology is so different now

i totally would get a CM-D if it were available in the US