I think the point is the cars that got higher ratings like Lexus and Porsche, don't even have something simple like an emblem that falls off. It quality control, and a missing screw on an instrument cluster could mean a mis-torqued bolt on an engine was also missed. Quality control makes no distinction between severity, a defect is a defect. Release control does (the infamous question even with a minor defect do I release as it may not effect what my "user" needs or cares about).

 

I don't give this study much merit.

I owned a Jeep for 12 years and have to say that vehicle was built incredibly well. I sold it w/ 175,000 miles on it for $6,500 (just 3 months ago). I never had one issue w/ the Jeep, yet it ranks last on their list.

I've seen many Ford Mustangs and Chevy's, the fit and finish on those vehicles is horrible. How they wound up in the upper portion is beyond me.

What would be a better survey is customer satisfaction, because that's what really sells cars in my opinion.

 

oh, funny that I own the top on that list and almost bottom, ..yet in my honest opinion both a Porsche and a Mini have many similarities and both are built very well, I would never rank them on opposite ends.

 

Yes, but, do would you as a consumer want to know the difference between poorly designed sunroofs, bad clutch design or poorly designed motors in which every vehicle has to be recalled (ie. Isuzu's Iron Man SUV... they recalled EVERY one of them)

For me personally, a defect is not just a defect.... as a consumer, I would like to know the severity of the problem. I can deal with a misaligned ashtray, I can't deal with sunroofs that don't work.

Had JD Powers differentiated between the two types of problems, I probably wouldn't have bought a coupe with a sunroof.

To each their own I guess.

Mark

 

I'm real glad I've no issues with the Sun roof like Mark has experinced. I'm less than thrilled how it's been handled. I've no issues with the car as of yet...and I'm somewhat confident I won't, but there is always that chance. I won't rank the car until I've had it for 6 months ( 3 more to go).

 

Yeah, unfortunately, there's been a lot of problems with sunroofs. I am thrilled though that Mini has issued a memo stating they know of the problem.

Once they find a cure, all will be well. There is nothing more annoying than buying a new car and when you tell the dealer about it, all you get is "really, I hadn't heard anyone with that problem"

They may not have an answer yet but I'm sure they'll redesign something and that works great for me.

Mark

 

JDP is decieving. I had virtually no problems with Rodney the first year and 7,000 miles, it was after that everything started going south.

 

Boy, After reading all this stuff here on NAM, I'm developing an ulcer at the thought of having potential problems with my wifes currently ordered Cooper S.
Since we are in business for ourselves, And the "Local" dealer, really isn't very local at all, I'm seriously having second thoughts. I just don't have time to spend traveling to and from the dealership every time the car "hiccups". She has already stated that if she doesn't get the Cooper, she desires the BMW 335i. Nice car, but again can be a hit or miss purchase. Quality control? Our past Infiniti was in the shop for repairs twice in four years, One was a corroded ground wire at the block (not a quality issue IMO), the other was the door lock module malfunction. Those happened in the last 6 months of ownership (loaner car was provided). She's decided on a smaller car. The Infiniti has already sold without even telling anyone "it was for sale", (our neighbors wanted it some time back and have already taken ownership).
I realize any vehicle can have issues, but how a dealer handles it, is one of the top ratings for customer satisfaction. The Mini dealer has already stated to me when I asked about The already known issues, that "they haven't heard of any of these issues with the Cooper before" . This tells me that they are only just interested in selling cars, Or, also are possibly dishonest in their dealings. Or are totally separated from the service dept. and therefore clueless. Or , I guess none of the Coopers they sell have issues. I can only assume.
I sure wish I could talk her into the Lexus or another Infiniti! Sure, it's not the same class of car, but dealers for either are only a few miles away. I can only hope that by this late in the '08 model year, these reported issues have been resolved.

 

ericf,

I assure you that your wife and you will be thrilled with your new cooper S.

Yes, there may be something minor wrong but I assure you that if there are any when you receive your car, they should be minor and easily fixed. Remember, even according to JD Powers, they ranked the Mini with 1.6 issues per car. Having been in the automotive field for 25 years, I assure you that almost every car has some silly thing wrong with it.

I love my mini and the fact that I have an issue with the sunroof doesn't bother me because Mini is working on a fix. They'll find the correct part needed and make the fix.

Like I said, don't fear, you'll LOVE the car.

Mark

 

Gents and Ladies,
Lets's get real. The JD powers ratings are real. Our love of Minis should not get in the way of demanding better quality.

John D.

 

7000 miles, in one year. I've just a tad under 5000, in 3 months. So I guess in 3 more months I'd should be good to go as far as a short term rating.
Yes our average yearly mileage is 20k, has been for years. All my Toyotas were sold with 200K on the tickers, the Bimmer has over 200K now, none were sent in for service, none.

 

Right... a squeaky cupholder is considered a problem.

An ongoing joke around these parts is that BMWs have squeaky cupholders... and Ford has a missing motor.

Again... each constitutes as one problem, right?

 

My car is 3 months old and no problems so far, plus I have a Mini dealer 6 or 7 miles away. So I am pretty confident that any of the typical problems that come up can be resolved. However, if i lived 150 miles from the nearest dealer, like some people on this forum, I would have second thoughts about the Mini. When you have such a sparse dealer network, quality becomes a bigger deal.

 

Before buying my Mini I thought this review was a case of the squeaky-cupholders, but unfortunately I'm going to have to agree. My 08 R56 has 2500 miles on it and already has multiple dash rattles, an occasional squeal downshifting from 3rd to 2nd, and a very slight chatter from the flywheel/throwout bearing that just started a week ago. I do not drive this car hard or abuse it in any way, it's just very evident the build quality is lacking.

 

I asked my Service Adviser about this and he said that it's the cupholders. Apparently people are unhappy about the new design (as opposed to the old, useless cupholders in my '05).

I work in the automotive industry for many different manufacturers, so I know a bit about these surveys--and it's NOT JD Power's fault. As has been posted earlier, these surveys are the result of "In the first 90 days of ownership did you have any problems with your new ______?" The problem is that hard to use cupholders that won't fit your Big Gulp are rated the same as 'my transmission won't shift past second gear' or 'the airbag spontaneously deployed when I hit a pothole."

The good news is that most people don't look at these surveys before they buy a new vehicle. The better news is that there's nowhere to go but up

 

I like my car and am happy with its quality, a few problems but all cars will have those - nothing looks or drives like a MINI

With all our local dealers sold out, I imagine there will be a lot of disappointed new owners out there that expect "Honda quality" out of the MINI. I know most of us dedicated types look past many of the problems that exist because we simply love the car.

 

Well, if you love your vehicle, you will look past problems. Believe me!

I purchased my first vehicle when I was sixteen (with my own cash, by the way!) for a little over $1000. It was a 1992 Mazda Protege DX (98hp?). It hit sixty in around 13.2 seconds, did the quarter mile in probably 30 seconds, but handled like a dream. It had manual windows/locks, no stereo or speakers, no headliner...

But I looked over it. It is a good car, and I'll love it forever.

 

NOEGEL says,
"Well, if you love your vehicle, you will look past problems. Believe me!"

This is a nice sentiment that I know all too well. I have a 1970 Jaguar E-type and a 1953 MGTD. Owning these cars requires you to put up with all the shortcomings of British engineering and manufacturing but I would never replace either. But loving your vehicle and demanding quality are not mutaully exclusive in today's market. Historically British made cars fell on bad times because of quality issues. I'm not equating a BMW Mini with an MG in quality but we can still love Minis and demand better quality. Don't forget Minis are not the cheapest cars around and many say they are overpriced. Don't let the 'love affair' with the Mini make us lose site of the need for excellent quality.

John D.

 

Too true... I suppose my thousand dollar car is in a different quality range than a mid twenty thousand car... yikes!

 

My new Mini had a little "quality" problem on delivery. The driver's door panel was scuffed up a little bit on the black plastic. Rather than replace the entire door panel, my dealer suggested that they have an interior touch-up guy who they use to do interior repairs, and they claim when he is done with it, it will look like new. So I figure that is probably a better idea than having them take apart the whole door and order a new door panel.

 

MINIs are in part made by BMW...there are bound to be problems! That comes with the territory of purchasing a vehicle from them.

 

I own a Lexus, and I have owned a BMW. Over past months I have stepped back from what was, for over a year, a fervent interest in purchasing a new MC. Why? Because of the manufacturer's poor quality control, and BMW's poor service. Mini, like BMWs, are excellently marketed. It's all up-front. The companies create and perpetuate desire for ownership of these neat little packages, and their marketing machines fuel the infatuousity factor to a degree that interested customers will spend $25K and much more (per unit) to become owners. However, once the beast is yours and in your garage/driveway -- it's a another matter. You quickly become aware of the defective workmanship. When you begin to engage the other-side of the BMW/Mini Center aisle -- the service folks are quick to tell you that your issue is not a warranty problem, and that if you want it fixed, it will cost you $plenty. Alas, you reluctantly accept the realization that you've been had by the slick BMW/Mini marketeers and now you get to contribute even more $$$ to the BMW/Mini coffers.

My point: Caveat Emptor! Don't get carried away by the marketing fervor. Is the quality of the Mini product really worth the expenditure of your hard-earned $$$? As a Mini owner you may not agree with the JD Powers findings, nor with the opinions and anecdotal findings of forum contributors who've expressed sentiments in support of those findings, but -- beware. Where there's smoke there's fire. Mini-Cooper manufacturing quality control is not performing Job #1. Moreover, the company and it's BMW/Mini Centers are not honoring many bonifide warranty issues. And third, BMW/Mini Centers are not providing quality, timely services at reasonable prices. If you don't believe me, read the forums (but first, remove those rose-colored glasses). -- Vim

 

I have owned 2 BMWs in the past, and now a Mini, and I have not found this at all. While the cars do occasionally have issues, the service has always been top notch and I have never had to pay out of pocket for anything.

In fact, here is a story for you where they fixed something for me that I probably should have had to pay for.... My first BMW was a 1997 Z3. The early Z3's came with really lousy stereo systems, so I had a local shop install a new system including new speakers in the doors. In the process, the stereo shop damanged one of the door panels. Apparently the backing behind the leather on the door panel (the part that helps the leather on the door panel keep it's shape) was basically made of thick cardboard, and when the door panel was to be removed, you would have to handle it with great care. While the trained BMW techs knew this, apparently the stereo shop did not, and by the time they realized it was so fragile, it was too late and the cardboard, along with the door panel, had a nice crease in it. The panel still fit back on the car properly, but it had a big bend/crease running across the top section.

The stereo shop apologized and offered to pay for it if I showed them a receipt. So I took the car to my dealer and told them what happened and asked them to order me a new door panel for replacement. The service rep then went and spoke to the manager, and without me asking, the service manager came into the room and offered to replace the door panel under warranty. He said the Z3 door panels were pieces of junk and that the only way BMW would learn their lesson on this was to have lots of warranty claims for new panels. He said that I was not the first one to have this problem, and he actually apologized to me for the inconvenience of having to have the part replaced. They ordered me the new door panel, and when it came in they gave me a loaner car for the day while they installed it. The BMW tech even removed the new aftermarket speakers from the old panel and installed them in the new panel for me.

 

Well said. I do not think anyone should buy a MINI if reliability is their main criteria. That does not detract from the MINI being high on the fun to drive scale. I have had many British cars, Jags, Triumphs, MGs. I always thought no one ever could produce a car that was a much fun to drive as the Brits, but I also came to accept if its a British car, you better have your toolbox close by.

 

That's not my experience, and it makes no sense.

Just about everything is covered either under the warranty of the maintenance. The few things which do go wrong just get fixed. Also it makes no sense for a service advisor to tell you its not covered, they get payed for warranty work, and you have a happy customer.

I definitely don't have a problem with MINI's quality.