So, I saw the newest Consumer Reports Automobile edition on the shelves at Borders the other day... and WOW... I see that the Mini Cooper and Cooper S get upgraded for the 2004 models... almost all "excellent" ratings for quality. GOOD NEWS!

 

Yep, I noticed that as well over the weekend. The reliability column for the '04 model year is almost full of solid red dots, yet Consumer Reports still doesn't recommend the MINI..... What's up with their biases?


My '04 MCS has been flawless in 13 months and 15K miles of ownership. Not a single rattle or creak, nada, nada. The quality of the product improved substantially at the beginning of the '04 model year.

I truly resent CR's stands on some cars including the MINI. If you look closely there are vehicles with questionnable reliability columns (Lots of empty circles, solid black dots and half black dots) and still these vehicles get a recommendation from CR. I will be happy to provide examples of thier biases to anyone if interested.

CR rates cars like appliances and maybe this explains thier infatuation with anything made in Japan, Inc. I can't believe the high ratings they give to the Toyota Echo, quite possibly one of the most crude, unpleasant and insulting cars in the market today (Yes I have driven them).

 

It's been a while since I looked at Consumer Reports auto issue but isn't it normal for most cars to start off with a lot of red dots. The good ones just stay red longer as the cars get older. Maybe CR is waiting to endorse the MINI until it's longer term reliability has been proven?

 

The staff at CR is made up of a bunch of safety weenies, who wouldn't know a good ride if it ran over them. Any vehicle that is shorter than 12 ft. is pre-disqualified; do not pass GO, do not collect $200. But their loss is our gain. Imagine just how long the wait would be for a new MINI if CR actually recommended it.

 

It's true that CR is biased toward Japanese cars, but it's also true that they almost never recommend models that haven't been around that long. I think their decision not to recommend the MINI has to do with BMW's corporate reliability history and the relative youth of the Cooper models.

Of course, I don't care what they recommend. I go to them for opinions on appliances, financial services, etc. For opinions on cars I go to Road & Track and other automotive press outlets. CR thinks of cars like appliances. If you think cars are more than appliances (as most MINI people do) your opinion won't mesh with theirs.

 

Reading Consumer Reports for info on cars is like reading
the bible to get info on god. Not much use at all.

 

Maybe so, but it seems to me that the reliability stats for the '02 and '03 model years are not as bad as they make them out to be.

Strong reliability areas of the MINI (According to CR) for '02 and '03 cars are:

Engine
Air Conditioning
Brakes
Exhaust
Paint/Trim/Rust.

Above average areas are:

Fuel
Cooling (2003)
Transmission (2003)
Suspension
Power Equipment
Body Hardware (2003)
Body Integrity (2003).
Electrical (2003)

Weak areas (Mostly applies to othe 2002 model year):
Cooling
Transmission
Body Integrity
Body Hardware.

So check this out.... The 2003 MINI reliability stats have a total of 8 SOLID RED DOTS (The 2002's have 5 solid red dots) and a total of 6 HALF RED DOTS but in despite of the good showing of the '03s, CR still gives them a "Reliability Verdict" at the bottom of the list of a black "X" which means POOR. WTF????

The 2002's have 3 empty dots, and 2 Half Black dots and gets a "POOR" reliability rating.

The '04 Column is mostly SOLID RED DOTS and gets a check mark at the bottom for reliability, yet CR does not recommend the MINI.

To me thier rating system is skewed and biased.

 

I'm not a big fan of the car mags either. When the last Explorer was coming out, all the car mags were fawning over the "porthole" IRS. I drove one and it sucked. Not only that, but the car mags were really quiet on the fact that Ford had to push back the V-8 for what seemed like forever because they didn't hold oil! And I got the best news from blueoval.com, not the car mags or websites. Seems like most of the american car mags are just adds now. I like European Car because they do real-word build-ups, quote prices and power gains. Automobile is better than most, but I view it as a long advertisement as well.

but it is true that CR hold recomendation (usually) until a car has been around. It's just that they don't appear to value driving pleasure, road feel or automotive personality, look at how much they love the Camry. It's a great, wonderful, reliable, functional, very, very boring car.

Matt

 

Of the US car mags, I much prefer Autoweek as they seem to be much more objective than the regulars.

CR is the other extreme of the Motor Trend types.

MGCMAN, got it right. These winnies can't recognize a good ride even if their lives depend on it.