http://www.roadandtrack.com/article....rticle_id=3231

To net out this new article, owners love their cars (Surprise!), but "The Mini was one of the more problem-prone cars that we've surveyed in recent years."

 

The article did say most of the problems were in early cars and that is normal. We, as MINI owners, Know the appeal of the car and I am not supprised by all the fantastic comments. MOTOR ON FOREVER

 

Did they mention the superb MINI warranty? I think the R&T MINI even had some warranty work done. Not to mention the maintenance package. I know folks here and there have had issues, but from what I can tell the vast majority of problems (which all cars have) were dealt with pretty painlessly. Mine certainly have been...same w/ all maintenance. I've never owned a car that...three years in for me...overall cost so little to keep on the road.

 

...okay, read the article and nothing in it I haven't already figured out for myself...but good reads for new comers or those considering a MINI. Mick

 

Nice article. I had an 03 MCS which frequented the shop multiple times at 200 miles a trip. It was dependable but had a few nagging problems. Software related mostly. I eventually sold it and purchased an 06 MCS. So the article is correct. Especially the person who commented on if theirs was stolen even after a half dozen trips to the dealer. The MINI is such a joy to own that some problems can be overlooked.

 

But it seems to me that the underliying tone of the article is this: "MINI owners are a group of fanatical idiots that are willing to put up with a car that has worst build quality than a Yugo, yet it drives as good as anything else costing 10+ times more".

A lot of things were left out of the article and survey. Nice read but wasn't impressed by it, honestly.

 

and they practially admit that the early cars aren't indicitive of the new car quality. Also, if you look at the number of issues, it's IDENTICAL to other cars. And the freakin' crappy stats at the end don't show any comparitive frequency numbers. Since the numbers aren't there, they can't break them down by year.... Hmmmmmm Nor do they comment on other new cars "teething" years.... Hmmmmm. But what really got me was the number of people who really liked the dealerships!

Uh, markups? Uh, less than knowledgable SAs? Guess the R&T respondants just got a lot luckier than I in this regard.

But it does say what we all know.

Minis hold value.
Mini owners like their cars a lot.
Minis are real fun to drive.
Minis are more practical than non-Mini owners think.

Matt

 

and we all think our cars are still better.

 

Exactly...not to mention that MINI owners tend to be incredibly good looking and of vastly superior intelligence.

 

oh, that applies to all MINI owners? i thought i was the only special one.

 

Even those of us who aren't...
...like our MINIs!

 

I was one who took part in the survey. Though mine rated MINI higher in all categories, I do realize it’s an average of what all surveyed responded. I found questions of the survey vague or misleading as to how too respond in favorable light many times. The few samples of the survey in my opinion do not represent the full four plus pages of questions, just the overall likes and dislikes of the MINI.

I’ve had my 02 MCS over three years and have never had one problem or actually thing go wrong with it that was not self inflicted. I have only been to a dealer two times from the day I drove off the lot and both times were for servicing only.

I will have to say one of the nicest thing said in the article was;

“When we asked the owners if they'd buy another Mini, 88 percent said yes. In our 22 most recent surveys, only the Acura NSX, Chevrolet Corvette C-5 and Lexus LS beat that figure.”

When was the last time you could buy any of those cars new for 22K?