My wife always wanted a Mini and we decided to plunk down $36K to get a 2011 Countryman in June of 2012. I was warned before we bought the car from other Mini owners that repair costs can get expensive out of warranty. Now I'm nearly livid or what's happened in the last year.

Last year our car began having all kinds of engine performance problems...fits, hesitation, strange noises. The dealership diagnosed bad spark plugs, which is amazing in the modern era...it's not like these things have the same reliability as ons from 30 years ago. But we got the car back and everything seemed ok until a few days later when it happened all over over. This time the diagnosis was the turbocharger. Fortunately the car was still (barely) under warranty. Something like this shouldn't happen so early in the car's life. And to make matters worse, the dealership had to order the parts, and when wrong parts came in, they had to reorder and didn't notify me (until I demanded an update). Bottom line is that they had the car for over a week (two weekends) before we got it back.

Fast forward to this week when the car is having similar performance issues. This time the diagnosis is the fuel pump, where the dealership wants to replace the entire assembly. Of course, we're out of warranty by now and I cannot believe I'm supposed to swallow that a fuel pump dying at 59K miles is within normal standard deviation for a part like this failing. Never mind a coolant hose they want to fix as well. And lastly, I had the brakes replaced at a local shop and not the dealership since the price was obscene and the Mini dealership is a considerable trip from our house. The local shop installed the brakes (and brake sensors) properly but didn't reprogram the computer to monitor them correctly. The dealership wants $200 to correct that mistake. Seriously.

I've given the dealership a piece of my mind and am waiting for a response. In the meantime, I've asked my wife to prepare to put the Countryman up for sale. If I cannot rely it to not have serious engine/drivetrain issues at this stage of its life, then it won't be in my garage. An entry level luxury vehicle should be better than this.

 

I understand some of your compaints about some parts failing prematurely, but the brakes should not be any more expensive than any other car. You can reset the service indicator yourself sitting in your driveway, there is no reason the dealership should charge you $200 for that. It sounds like you need to find another dealership.

Here's how to reset the indicator (from what I remember):

Close doors, insert Key

Do not press clutch / brake

Press Start Button

Wait until Car / relevant Service symbol disappears from Rev Counter Upper Display

Press and hold both Rev Counter Buttons (the ones on the tachometer) immediately after symbol goes out

Continue to hold both Buttons until the Front Brakes symbol shows

You are now in the Service Menu

Press and release OBC Button until relevant symbol (eg. Rear Brakes) appears in Rev Counter Upper Display

Press and hold OBC Button at relevant symbol until "RESET" appears in Rev Counter Lower Display

Press and hold OBC Button again until process is complete

 

I hate to say it, but you should have known (you were even warned) that there was a good chance at reliability issues beyond the warranty period.

I love MINI's as much as just about anyone here, but I also accept the fact that they are a somewhat unreliable German built car with somewhat expensive repairs and labor rates.

My 2006 MCS was supposed to have most of the big issues from earlier models had been fixed, but I still had several (would have been) expensive repairs but I'm comfortable fixing most issues myself and those which I wasn't comfortable with went to a local MINI enthusiast/mechanic that did side work on them for WAAAAAYYYYY cheaper than the dealer.

I'm on my 2nd MINI now, and it's a lease, no way am I keeping another MINI beyond the warranty period. If I wanted to keep it for longer, I'd spend the money on the extended maintenance/warranty packages.

Some people have had a rock solid Countryman that needed virtually zero repairs, others have had much more significant issues than you are experiencing. So I guess it's time to cut your losses and get out.

I'm not trying to be negative, just realistic. I'm a MINI enthusiast, but I'm also a realist.

 

You would think that with all of the available information on the internet about the consistent problems (turbos, fuel pumps, clutch etc) with MINI's that people would look it up before they plunk down their $$$. In this case though, the OP was warned about the potential problems, still spent his $$$ and now complains about it.

 

Yes, we've found this out the hard way. Fortunately I managed to talk the dealership into repairing the fuel pump for free as an act of goodwill, but if a fuel pump fails at 59K miles, a turbo at 48K miles, spark plugs at 47K miles and all new brakes in the first few months since they were bad to begin with, maybe quality control was not first and foremost on the mind of BMW engineers.

My wife and I will be out of this car in the next couple of weeks. The question is what do we replace it with? The two major reasons we bought this car is because my wife always wanted a Mini and I can actually fit in one (an ironic statement considering the Mini brand and my height). The height question limits our choices since I can't fit in 9 out of 10 cars....most Asian brands are out, Fords don't work and European brands are hit and miss.

 

If you like MINI, use your negative experience as a bargaining chip to lease or purchase a new one. The 2015's are improved, and if you purchase, you can buy the extended maintenance/warranty now or later and drive with relative peace of mind.


Otherwise, go to your nearest auto dealer hub and spend a day seeing if you fit in different cars.


A friend of mine is 6'8" and he fits comfortably in his Lotus Exige, so that's one option.

 

Sorry to hear of your disappointment.

I'd agree the car is over priced to start with, but then I'd say that about any car sold here in the UK (hence why i bought mine at a year old, and 38% below its original list price).

In your defence, back in 2012 there wouldn't be anywhere near as much info on Countryman reliability as there is now, 30 months on. A lot of reported issues back then may also have been considered initial production niggles.

Brakes at 59k miles - absolutely normal, and given they probably share parts with the 1 or 3 series models you will pay BMW prices for spares and similar dealer labour rates.

Spark plugs - well I've known other makes to have issues too, miost recent one being a Seat owner in the UK who needed a new engine after a spark plug failed on the highway (out of warranty, but thankfully covered by Seat UK).

The high cost items seem to have been covered by MINI, at minimal expense to you (inconvenience aside). You might not have been so lucky with another brand if those same items failed.