I guess my 03 has just been lucky to have had only one minor problem in 17 months of ownership.

Think this will hurt our resale value?

 

Hey, good thing I don't plan on selling mine!

 

I received my copy of this issue yesterday. My personal belief is that they prefer Japanese cars. My Mini has been trouble-free in over 2 years of ownership, and it was built on 12/6/02 (an early build). I take everything that magazine says with "a BIG grain of salt" as the saying goes . If their opinion steers perspective buyers away from the Mini, then I say fine with me...they can't wipe the smile off my face after 2 years of happy motoring .

I'd reorder it all over again without a moment's hesitation.

__________________________________________________ _____________
'03 IB/W MC, 1&2, CVT, chrome, Euro shelf, Alta stubby, official Mini first aid kit & Euro warning triangle

 

I agree with Consumer Reports. My two years of completely trouble-free ownership is far too short to indicate it is worthy of a good rating.

Also, the resale value is terrible! (???? )

I also would do it again in a heartbeat. In fact I may buy a second this fall!!

 

Not surprised, since Consumer Reports rates everything with the emotional enthusiasm one might apply to a washing machine or toaster.

(BTW, the HE4T washer excites me. Should this be cross-posted to "I'm embarassed to admit this, but..."? New thread- Appliance ****!)

Consumer Reports treats a car as simply an appliance that performs a function. To them, the sole function of any automobile is to transport people from point A to point B in safety, without breaking down along the way, as inexpensively as possible. Fun simply doesn't enter into it. Which is OK with me, since it's what I expect from Consumer's Union. They are a valuable resource for information, but certainly not the sole deciding factor for such an important purchase. The test drive outweighs all the black circles they assign to the MINI!

 

I think Consumer Reports still has the best data for consumers making a buying decision. The below average MINI reliability has been biased by the 02-03 models, which had issues that presumably have been addressed in the 04s. The cars they labeled "Used cars to avoid" were the ones that had below average reliability, I believe (compared to all car models). How bad was the MINI? The lowest marks it got were for "cooling", "body integrity" and "body hardware". And for those problems "9.3% to 14.8%" of respondents reported a problem (for 02 models). I would have liked to know how many respondents they had for the MINI data.

But then when we look at "owner satisfaction" and "depreciation" the MINI got the highest score. Which I think accurately reflects what we all know: the MINI has had a few problems, especially in the first year or two (enough to make it "below average" in "reliability"), but we still love it!

 

who here bought their Mini because it made good economical sense?! I don't think so. True, it does make good economical sense to buy a Mini, but if you were buying a car based on that would you buy a Mini? Not me! I bought my Mini because I:
a) couldn't afford a good used Countach
b) am still waiting on the 4th gen RX7
and c) fell in love with them after my test drive

I guess what i'm saying is that people who want to buy a used Mini probably won't put much credence in the CR list.

Probably

 

I'd say it is fairly credible data, but people may not give it that much weight. As you say, people have various reasons for buying and these reasons carry different weight for different folks. :smile:

 

I’ve never put a lot of faith in those reports and I’ve always done my own research in to things I’ve wanted to buy. Real research not someone’s opinion from a magazine.

My 02 has been 100% indestructible and trouble free.

I bought this MCS long before you people reading Consumer Reports even thought about a MINI or even knew what a MINI was. I bought it blindly on the name and experience of owning a 64 and 67 years ago.

I do not doubt some people have had problems, real big problems, but many of us have had none. We just don’t say it daily on the board. You only hear from the people who have problems.

If the 02/03 MINI has that bad of a track record why is its resale value higher than any other car on the market 5 years running. 5 years had to start somewhere and I’d think it started with the 02’s.

Get you head out of the reports and follow your instincts. I did and have a fantastic MCS I will never sell.

 

Good points, Ofioliti. I have my suspicions that folks might be quick to pan CR if it says anything negative about something they like (and heck these same ppl may KNOW it's a GOOD product not deserving of bashing, so maybe I kinda understand how they could get defensive).

In my own paranoid/conspiracy theory way, I suspect MINI can play both sides against the middle, and win. Maybe they're sittin' pretty with DEDICATED owners (from 2002 to present, who know they got a keeper) on the one hand, and BMW/MINI dealerships who don't seem to have any trouble selling their "allocations" each month, and then there's CR to keep the drooling masses from making the "mistake" of buying a MINI...

who knows,
Tatt

 

I agree with the previous post that CR has a bias towards Japanese manufacturers....they once completely bashed my '95Dodge Neon Sport ( which admittedly has some issues ) because of the placement of its headlight switch location....the whole review kept harping on that headlight switch, while Motor Trend, Car and Driver, and Road and Track were gushing on its 0-60, accident avoidance and stopping distances and value....it actually tied the 'vette for the time in a slalom course

 

oops...just reread my post....this was from ten years ago afterall, but that year the neon was beat by the vette for the slalom time, but that was the only car to beat the neon...at least at the time the reviewer wrote the article in either R/T or C/D mag

 

I have no idea what you are babbling about.

A vette has never beaten a MINI in anything outer than 0 to 60 and price tag. So where does the Neon come in?

 

CR is so heavily biased toward japanese cars it's not even funny. before i got my MINI i went thru and checked out what cars got the best ratings (i was a young and naive 18 at the time people) and my final list read as such : Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Pontiac Vibe (japanese car badged as a Pontiac), and a Toyota Celica. all the cars i'd considered before the MINI were bashed in some way or another. so know, when i drive any car, i measure the value in smiles per hour.

 

I spent my CR subscription money on my MINI...

 

first came on the market it had a lot of recalls and safety issues. It was still touted as a great car to buy. We opted for the Civic because of this. Now the focus is doing great after they worked the bugs out. Seems to me all cars go through this process. Love my mini.

 

SNDWAVE...I thought by the first sentance in my post it would not seem like babbling....apparantly I was wrong...the point of my post was simply agreeing with SCMINIGUY that CR has a bias towards Japanese cars...to show that you must take what they say with a grain of salt

 

Screw Consumer Reports!

2002 Cooper CVT with 28K troublefree miles. Still looks and feels brand new!

No problems with this baby whatsoever. Hard working daily driver that runs with the precision and reliability of the finest Swiss watch machinery.

Good rideance I cancelled my CR subscription years ago.

 

OH YES. Another person who never says what's bad, but only what's good.

 

Consumer Reports really does like the MINI and along with the Focus it was their favorite sub-compact to drive. However, they will not recommend a car they feel may be unreliable. They believe that European cars have great designs and are well engineered but have become extremely complicated. They pointed out that on one BMW there were something like twenty servos controlling the motorized front seats. Because of this complexity more things can and do go wrong. I am selling my Passat to get a MINI and the Passat is a beautiful car. But the Bosch electronics are absolutely terrible and I have had some major problems. VW wants $2400 to repair the ABS system. When it comes to reliability the Japanese really shine. I imagine that BMW has an interesting time trying to assure that the parts they receive from twenty different countries to build the MINI are all first rate.

 

Hey, cool your jets!

What you want me to say? That my car stalled 25 times today?


Geeez!

 

Also, I will gladly list IN DETAIL every single service visit of my '02 CVT ever since taking delivery 9/2002.


I hope that our menopausic friend in this thread calms down

 

That means that 85-90% had no problems. I think they may be right about the '02. Our '02 has had: Steering rack replaced, steering column replaced, steering wheel replaced 2x (peeling), Door panels replaced 3x, finally painted, center downtubes replaced 2x, seat wiring harness replaced 3 or 4x, seatbelt sensor replaced 2x, rear latch assembly replaced, and currently the driver power window shudders. Sounds like "body integrity" and "body hardware" problems to me. Our '03 (Jan 3, 03 build) had a bad transmission within 400 miles, but has been fine since.

 

My 03 MC is great,even having had some real bad problems.When I first got the the car my plan was to keep it till the extended warrenty ran out.But now I'm thinking I'm going to drive this car a LONG time.I figure it will be better to work out all the bugs under warrenty,then keep it.May buy another,but not for a long time.

 

Cars that enthusiasts buy get comments on everything that isn't perfect, whereas everyone expects less than perfect in a Ford Torus, or the like. Two of the "manufacturing defects" I reported I would have fixed myself, but with free oil changes, I just had them do it when I took the car in (loose S badge and loose nuts holding the scoop trim on). But these were logged as two "manufacturing defects". I have an 02, and have had no real problems (even though my car is from a "problem" year). Consumer reports doesn't normalize this out (I'm not sure how one would, really).

On a related note, I read their review of the 2005 Mustang GT. Interesting to see the Camry lovers comment on a muscle car....... Said it was a good value, but crappy rear seat ergonomics, and a bit rough over broken pavement at slow speeds. But they did comment that for a solid axle rear, it was pretty good (and it is!)

Matt