I'm so sorry to hear that, but I think you will bring your MINI to service more than you did with AUDI for sure...hahaha

 

I'll let you know. You really think it will be more that 13 visits in 9 months? I doubt it.

 

"PROBLEMS" is a pretty broad paint brush to paint a supposed statistical analysis on quality control and dependability. I 'd like to see more footnotes defining what is a problem and how they reached this measurement. Also no coincidence that VW and MINI are at the bottom since they offer the 4 year/ 50000 mile warranty. Isn't JD Power those folks who send out surveys to owners saying, "how do you like the car?" How would they measure out of warranty "problems" that are taken to a mechanic other than a dealer or even fixed by the owner?

I think this could be a question of comparing apples to oranges. My statistics professor was very poignant when he said, "why do you think statistics is in the liberal arts discipline? I can make the numbers say anything I want them to by how I frame the question." It's not the same as how statistics are used in the scientific community, where every experiment must be duplicated by a peer group before it is publishable as a scientific finding.

 

Hahaha...you're too funny. Please, don't tell me I don't want to hear 14 complains in 9 months.

I just can't believe that you're so concern about dependability of the car and now you just bought a MINI without knowing that it has almost the worst dependability of them all.

If people care much about dependability, you would see only Lexus on the street.

You're just bad luck with your AUDI purchases and now you wish that your MINI will not break your heart. Good Luck!

I have never had any major problem with my VW GTI, MINI, CIVIC, NISSAN Z or AUDI. May be I'm just lucky.

 

Then don't read it (well obviously you didn't, it was 13 and thery weren't complaints, they were returns for mechanical problems).
Hahaha... you're too funny. Where'd I say that? Take a look at my signature. I own five vehicles. If one doesn't work I just take a different one, if it becomes a problem, I sell it. I made a simple statement about my personal experience, take it or leave it.
Hmmm... I see psychoanalysis isn't one of your strengths. Some of us don't feel like paying premium $$$ for what turns out, at least in my experience, to be an inferior product. OTOH, the cost of a MCS for a year or two is throwaway money. The whole bloody car costs less than this seasons rebuild of my 911 motor. If its a PITA, I'll go elsewhere. Resale is high.
Nah... Obviously, you don't drive them hard enough.

 

Did you just say it here? Earlier you said reliability is your concern, now you said take it or leave it. What is your point?


Driving hard did not break the car, obviously did not know how to drive is what break it.

 

Or maybe it was knowing how to write English, deal with lucid thought and ultimately ignore fools.

 

Yep! That's how educated people deal with reality. This is wasting my time.

 

One of the things that I found interesting is the tolerance to items not "working" correctly on a car. My wife's '03 Range Rover just went in and had 11 warranty issues corrected. Lots of little things that we let pile up to make it worth doing. Others were a pain to put up with. Now the Mini has a few, but it has fewer moving parts and electrical options compared to most of the others, so the chances of something going wrong should be lower. But those few are a pain to live with like having to slam the rear trunk to kill the light.
Having had a few Audi's and getting ready to buy the new Q7 when it’s available, car problems doesn’t stop me from buying again. I think that any of the high-end cars with lots of electrical gizmos is bound to toss a few problems. I just chalk it up to the level of amount of junk in the car to make it special and interesting. If I wanted a perfect car, I'd ride the bus, then somebody else has the problems to deal with. Better yet, horse and buggy. But you have to feed the darn thing, and those run-flats are a bear to put up with.

 

I'm going to resurrect this thread, being a new A3/MINI MCS owner as of this week. As stated months ago on this thread, I previously had two TT's and had good luck with both of them. I am starting on an extended home improvement plan and needed to downsize automotively. My 2003 M3 had 56K miles on it and was very expensive to operate/maintain. I needed something bigger than the MINI on occasions, but still wanted something that was fun to drive with decent performance. Picked up an A3 2.0T/6 speed/Sportpack/OpenSky/Bose, black on black. It has a great road feel to it, not as hard-edged as the MINI FWD-handling wise, but very competent. So far after just one tank of gas, I'm guessing it's going to surpass the MINI in mileage. I think the interior/exterior is much more "mature" than the MCS, a perfect complement for the garage and Audi leather is hands-down the best smelling hides out there. I'll probably chip it after break-in because it's just so easy on turbo motors, but will leave it stock otherwise. Biggest bonus is it's half the cost of the BMW, 4/50K warranty and maintenance, it'll likely be gone at 3 years. I'll try to get some pics of the brothers together.

 

Being the owner of an Audi A6, and having come to my MCS by way of a GTI VR6, I'd say that I'm a prime candidate for A3 defection. Ain'tnevergonnahappen. Not because I don't like either my Audi or my MINI, I love 'em both dearly. Not because of reliability issues; the Audi is complicated, hell the Bentley Manual I have for it is three volumes, at over 1,000 pages per volume, but I can manage lots of things. Not because I get physically ill everytime I have to buy a genuine Audi part (VW parts sometimes interchange and they are about 15% - 20% cheaper - for the same damned widget). No, the reason I wouldn't defect to the A3 is because there are two vehicles that do it better IMHO: the MCS and the GTI R32/R36. You can only put so much luxury and hype into the Golf platform. I'll just stick to the original. Likewise if I want a really great handling hot hatch, the MINI is my choice. As far as Audis go, gimme an S4, RS4, S6, RS6 or S8. the A3 is too much of a gussied up Golf for my tastes. Sure it's a hot property today, but whether Audi will be able to make serious inroads where both BMW and Mercedes have already failed (hatchback luxury - an oxymoron?) remains to be seen.

Good luck to all you defectors, hope to see ya back here sometime soon.

 

I have the same thought... Even I think the Golf V interior does looks much better than the A3's (if you've seen the speedometer on A3, it is base on Golf IV, and Golf V's is a newer design which is much better).. There is no reason for me to get an A3.. if they are going to introduce 4 drs GTI / R36 here.