MINI has a long way to go

 

You mean to tell me that Mercury, Buick and Cadillac are among the most dependable cars???? That's nuts... Are they pulling a Halliburton with J.D Power? LOL!

 

Wow, very interesting.

Note to self: Don't buy a Land Rover.

 

After all...I had a 97 Land Rover and there were a lot of +'s
1) new oil seals at 3000 mi
2) in the shop 13 times in 5 months
3) Wrong Homelink garage system installed...entire assmbl'y replaced at 5000 mi..Would not work w/ rolling code garage opener although the manual said it would!
4) FANTASTIC MPG 12 city 16 hwy!PREMIUM
5) Felt like you would roll in a stiff wind
6) would just stop dead for no reason...
The list goes on and is now a memory!

BTW: NOTE THAT HUMMERS COME IN BELOW THE MINI!

 

The JD Power survey is based on consumer reported problems. So in some cases, problems may go unreported. For example, my mom's old Ford Explorer had several things that I would have called problems, but that she never had the dealer fix

However, I don't think you can just dismiss the results based upon that.

The domestics are clearly making better cars than they get credit for. Not that I'd buy one, but I won't mindlessly bash them, either.

 

Another thing to note is that Buick, Mercury, Cadillac, Oldsmobile, Lincoln are often purchased by older people that drive slooooooow and do not put many miles on their cars. They are not going to run into many problems if they never go over 35 or hit 3k miles a year in a car.

It is kinda sad though that the domestic brands (that we all know are built with lower quality parts) beat us in the J.D. Power results...

Drew

 

I think you have to take some of these surveys with a grain of salt. I'm not saying they have no value, but this particular survey measures the number of problems experienced after three years (Does anyone know what JD Power classifies as "problems"?). For this survey they polled owners of 2003 model year cars. I'm not sure they exact parameters they used for this study (including sample size, questions, etc) but remember 2003 was only the second year of production for the MINI Cooper. Also while JD Power claims these polls have an indication on long-term quality, I don't necessarily agree. It really depends on how you define dependability. Some people may classify minor problems as dependability issues, but I consider dependability to be more along the lines of meaning durability.

For example my family has owned 6 Volvos over the course of my life. While they have had minor problems (ie. electrical components, loose trim, etc.), we have had very few major mechanical problems and absolutely no problems with the engines. Two went over 200,000 miles before we sold them, and the ones we own now all have 120-160k. Volvo has typically been ranked toward the bottom-middle of these types of surveys, but they have been great cars for us. Likewise, MINIs seem to be great durable little cars despite a few minor issues now and again...

 

I own a Landrover!

 

Ford has really taken land rover downhill. Sad, really. . . .

 

Taking the "problems per 100 vehicles" and putting it on a per car basis

• Lexus - 1.3 problems per car (1 problem per car less than industry average)
• Toyota - 1.8 problems per car (1/2 a problem per car less than the industry average)
• Industry Average - 2.3 problems per car
• MINI - 2.8 problems per car (1/2 a problem per car more than the industry average)
• SAAB - 3.3 problems per car (1 problem per car more than industry average)

So EVERY car maker except Land Rover is +/- one problem per car of the industry average.

My own take: I'd rather have one more problem in my MINI than the average toyota owner, than own a Toyota and have one less problem than a MINI owner.

 

I think the reality of this is that MINIs have rattles while other cars have more major problems. But I bet they are all lumped together and weighted the same in this survey.

 

Good point. I think obsessive MINI owners are more likely to notice the tiniest paint flaw or rattle. My grandparents who drive Buicks probably don't notice such things.

Maybe it is our own obsession that is driving MINI down?

That being said, my wife's 2006 Cooper is approaching its 1st birthday and it has not had one single tiny flaw or problem in nearly 8000 miles. The build quality is much much much better than my 2003 rattling bucket.

 

Me too! 2005 LR3 HSE. Love it. The dealership let's be borrow it once in a while when they're not fixing something. It's all part of the "LR Experience" Go with it.

 

So you question their sample size, and then go on to make a statement based upon opinion and a statistically insignificant sample size of 6?

I have never cared enough about this survey to investigate, but generally anyone who presents a statistical study with also share some of the statistics if they want to be taken seriously. Go check out the JD Power website, they may answer all of your questions there. Myself, I still don't care enough to go click around

 

I'm starting to think that I need to trade in my 06 MC for a Mercury due to the Mercury's superior quality... Do they still make the Grand Marquis? Maybe I'll buy one of those.

By the way, how does Mercury get so much higher ratings than Ford. They literally are rebadged Fords...

 

Touche , yes, my evidence was anecdotal. But really, do I care what thousands of other owner's experiences are? I just go with my own experience of what works.

 

I have a MINI MCS. I have an Audi S4. At least I can be consistent with my expectations of reliability.

 

Ya, me too I always read things like the JD Power survey, but it's only a minor factor in my decision.

 

MINI is getting better!!

Ok so 280 reported problems per 100 cars for the 2003 model year or 2.8 per car.

2005 jd power dependibility study or 2002 model year numbers were 383 problems per 100 cars or 3.83 problems per car.

So not a bad improvement and lets hope those numbers continue to improve for the 2004, 2005, 2006 etc..


http://www.jdpa.com/corporate/news/r...asp?ID=2005089

 

So does this include 2006 cars, or was it published in 2006 and only covers 2005?

 

JD Power does several different surveys. The one that is most commonly known is the Initial Quality which measures problems for the previous model year (ie. 2006 survey covers 2005 models). The particular survey cited in this thread questions owners after 3 years of ownership so it would theoretically cover the long-term "dependability" of car manufacturers. This survey covers cars from the 2003 model year.

 

Suggest reading these reports also.

http://www.roadandtrack.com/article....rticle_id=2808

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/s...lth_search.y=0

Me? I don't care. I've owned British cars all my life, and know what to expect!

 

I'm just hoping that since I have an 06, all the problems of a few years ago have been ironed out and that I'll have years of carefree motoring ahead!

 

Based on my sample size of 2 (Yucca Patrol and me), I'm predicting MINI will lead the industry with the 2006 models with a Dependability score of 50 problems per 100 vehicles.

my window regulator failed two weeks ago.

 

2? Yea thats definitely statistically significant. Works for me!