What's everyone's thoughts on this?

My 06 (49000mi) MCS has already given me almost as much trouble as my previous car (92 toyota Celica 70kmi-145mi 2000-2005) did the entire time I owned it...

The power steering has been replaced
The windshield cracked (no known impact)
I loosing antifreeze and I'm afraid it's getting into my oil

You look at the forums at peoples problems but what's typical?
Consumer reports loves the car and thinks they're very reliable but Consumer reports uses very small samples for they're ratings.

 

Haven't had hardly any trouble with my 06. Leaky rear washer early on, but that's about it.

 

Well I have had to have it in for the following:

-T-stat housing (pretty common)
-Mystery CEL, twice (admittedly this wasnt doing the car any harm, the dealer said I could have driven another 100k like that)
-Sounds like my timing chain tensioner is on its way out but I havent confirmed
-Have a glazed flywheel (also common, but not something that has to be fixed unless it bugs you)

For comparison my dads 08 Accord:
-Busted sunroof switch

94 GMC suburban: (did pretty well for a car that only saw city and off roading)
-Dead alternator (in 1996)
-Dead starter (in 2004)


So, IDK. Not the most reliable car my family has owned, but it has always started, which as far as I am concerned is what matters most.

 

I have a 2003 MCS, build date 3/23/2003, 64,000miles, been in to the dealer maybe 5 times in its life. I do the oil changes and such. Still runs like the day it rolled 1500miles, and aside from some rock chips in the bonnet, it still looks the same too.

 

No problems at all with my '08 Clubbie with 10k miles and no problems with my '05 MINI that I put over 20K miles. You could call it a problem on my '05 if you wanted to. If I topped it off, it would run badly for about 10 miles and then completely clear up. So I stopped topping off and it solved that. Remember, there or tons of lurkers out there with no problems also.

 

I had some issues very early on. But the car has always started, never left me stranded, and has had 0 issues in over 4 years. It runs as good or better than new, mods help.
It's an 03 MC, with 103k miles on it, going for 200+k miles

But not all MINIs are created equal

Mark

 

The only cars I've had that were measurably more reliable were my '80 Toyota Celica GT -- It was absolutely bullet-proof (and I seriously abused it) -- and my '98 Saturn. But there are few cars more reliable than those models and years. And, by the way, neither one of hem was half as much fun as the MINI!!!

Still, your coolant problem is one that you need to get checked out. If you have a head (or gasket) problem, then it needs to be fixed ASAP. That is NOT common as far as I know, though losing coolant IS a common complaint, and there are many possible culprits. The thermostat housing is common, the water pump is not uncommon, and the cheap plastic reservoir tank is pretty weak, too.

 

Had mine since 2003 August, here a list so far of what had to be repaired/replaced:

Passenger window motor
Front right wheel sensor
Bonnet intake cowls
Headlight adjustment motor broken
Aircon needs to be repaired

That's about it.

 

'06 Cooper, purchased new . . . replaced battery at 40Kmi; normal maintenance only. 52K miles now.

 

I have owned 4 MINIs and I consider all of them to be very solid cars. Driven daily, no garage queens here.

My 2005 MCS has 52K miles. Its only weak link has been the clutch and flywheel both of which have been replaced twice under MINI's dime, no questions asked. Last week I replaced the rubber suspension bushings with superior Powerflex Polyurethane bushings and the car drives better than new. Other than that, the car has been problem free. Engine, gearbox, electrics/electronics, A/C, etc, etc all have been flawless. Oh and I still have the original factory windshield too.

The 2008 Clubman S auto my wife drives has currently 7,600 troublefree miles. Only minor issue was a failed gas filled strut for the rear right barn door, quickly replaced under warranty (10 min swap).

My friend let me tell you this... All cars have problems. People have this fantasy notion that some cars never break or are invencible to the rigors of time and wear/tear. Go and read Honda, Toyota, Nissan forums just to name a few. Think the grass is greener in Japan, inc? Think again.

Also some people hold the notion that all American cars are garbage but most of the newer products from GM and Ford are spanking Japan, inc in their long withheld turf of reliability.

To me your problems pale in comparison to a filed gearbox, a blown engine or electrical gremlins.

But Hey, even Rolls Royces, Ferraris and Bentleys have problems too.

 

The key to long term reliability and dependability is MAINTENANCE. You'll be surprised how many people buy high dollar autos but are absolute cheap bastards when it comes to spend any money in maintenance.

 

I completely agree with the above statement. It all comes down to doing the proper upkeep to reduce the chance of problems later.

 

My '06 has about 25K miles and I have:

Replaced the power steering pump.
Replaced the T-stat housing
My clutch squeals, but I am told this is normal. Yeah, right.

This is more issues than my last 4 cars (Hondas) had with a combined total of over 600K miles.

But, the MINI is actually fun to drive ...so that makes up for the issues ...for now. I'm hoping the issues never get to the point where they can't be tolerated.

 

Minus the tranny going out on my 03 MC right at the end there, I got 120k miles out of it over 6 years and never had any issues.

 

I agree, but a lot of stuff breaks on these cars that cannot be prevented by maintenance. The power steering pump issue, the T-Stat housing, the squealing clutches, the cracking windshields, the window motors that burn out ...this is all build-quality related. Maintenance won't help any of these things.

 

I think that one thing everyone is forgetting is that complaints tend to be louder than satisfaction. The majority of folks aren't going to post on a forum such as this and say "Hey! I don't have a problem!!! Thanks for the help?!" I mean obviously with some of their models there are common issues that need to be fixed. But one of the things I noticed going from my R50 to my R56 is that a lot of the "complaints" I had about the R50 that were related to build quality were fixed (i.e., the paint on door panel pieces wearing off easily). I think overall though, they've built a very reliable car. There just seems to be a few "bad batches" of stuff squeezing through. Which will happen with any car company.

 

'06 MCSa here purchased new and no problems at all... but only have 16K on it.

 

My R53 was reliable to the extent that it started every time I inserted the key. beyond that, my dealer charged back over $7,000 to BMW for warranty repairs in a 3.5 year and 20K mile window. The list of problems and defects are waaaay too long to go into here, but I had a lot of drivetrain (clutch and steering) related defects, and an interior that was nothing less than a cacaphony of rattles and squeaks, plus wind leaks thru the back hatch. Horrible build quality!

 

WOW ive never heard of a 06 with any problems. i have had an 04 for 2 YEARS. only problems were the handles freezing (replaced them with 05 handles) good to go! *thumbsup*

 

Other than me wanting to let her loose ALL the time... 78k and no hiccups

 

06 w/65k miles:

Windshield replaced (rock hit)
Steering rack replaced (under warranty)
T-stat housing replaced (under warranty)

So is a Honda Civic? No...but it still beats the heck out of my old Cavalier that regularly had 2 inches of water standing in the trunk after a good rain...