I've had my R56 Cooper for 15 months. I haven't had any problems, either.

I was also concerned about reliability, since the closest dealer is in Portland, 190 miles up the freeway. I've been very pleased with my car.

 

I find it amazing at how people can be swayed by survey results. If surveys al were 100% true then we should've had a different Democratic candidate...

Surveys only are able to get a small percentage of whatever is being looked at. Look at JD's previous survey on customer retention. MINI ranked on the bottom. You really have to know the brands being surveyed in order to see the validity of the survey.... Reading the thread someone else posted on the survey you are worried about, they took apart who was interviewed for this survey. I'm not surpeised that MINI ranked last with the audience that they surveyed....

Every car will have their shining ones and their bad apples. So far the only one that I ever owned that was really bad was a Ford .....

So far 2100 miles on our MINI and everything is good! WOOT!

 

I've had my Clubman since February and not one rattle or squeak or issue at all. I expected something but except for my knocking the rear wipers off when using my California duster nothing has happened. I was pleased to see that those wipers just snap right back in. It made me feel I had accomplished something as I am not mechanical.

Love the CLubman and would not hesitate to buy another MINI of any type. I plan on doing so in the next year or so. I want the garage to be full of them.

 

[offtopic] The Fox dude called the Clubman a club-MANNN [/offtopic]

 

10 months so far, and no problems yet! I love my MINI as much as the day I got her.

 

All I have to say is good luck! My '07 R56 MCS has been, by far, the worst car I have ever had, maybe accentuated by the bad service I have gotten from BMW / Mini. I love my car, how it handles and performs, and I have had much less problems reported here, but I am fed up after just 1 year. It is up for sale. So again, good luck with yours and enjoy it!

 

After one year no squeaks at all. I would buy another.

 

Lucky you! I hope you have a trouble free ownership!

 

What was so bad with your car? I've owned other german cars and I once vowed never to buy another. I had a lot of VW's and I'll never buy one again.

 

Just take a look at this, aside from many other little things. This is the worst!

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=132893

I have owned VW, BMW and MB and have always been great for me, never had to go in the shop for anything other than routine maintenance; and if they had, I got a prompt response from the dealer.

 

Thanks to all for the reassurance and comments.

My order is placed and I hope to see it move to production within a week.

It's "JustaCooper", only option is the multifunction steering wheel to give me cruise control and easy radio access. Everything else is stock. Should be here by late August.

Thanks again.

 

It's a probability game, really. Nobody gives a toot how reliable your car is. They care how reliable theirs is, and they use the surveys and other sources to try to predict the probability of their car behaving within their threshold of acceptability. With that in mind, though, the validity of a given survey should be considered when doing that calculation.

 

If it makes you feel more at ease, I have an 04 S with 52K on the odometer. I bought it 8 months ago with 40K and it has been 100% trouble free, and 110% ***** OUT FUN!

 

Lucky. My VWs and BMWs all required frequent trips to the dealer. Most problems could not be solved in the first or second trip. Mini's been like a rock.

 

Mine just turned 28K kms a few days ago. Only problem I had was the Cooper S aluminum door sill that unglued, that was immediatly replaced by the dealer.

This car is about putting a HUGE smile on your face. It is an absolute hoot to drive. You 'll never regret it.

 

I've been involved in various different car forums, and they tend to share that trait in common. No matter how great a car is, there is going to be a focus on problems, since people come to forums to solve problems and find solutions.

I had a 2001 E39 M5. If you read those forums, you would run in fear from ever considering buying such a car. But it was a pleasure to own and continues to be enjoyed by it's new owner.

 

I think the survey referred to was sent to people right after they got the car (within 3 months), and it didn't deal with mechanical defects/stuff that had to be fixed. Rather it had to do with stuff they did/didn't like about the car. For instance if they didn't like the brake dust on the wheels the car got dinged. If the thing seemed noisy on the highway, or the radio didn't sound right, the stereo was hard to figure out, headlights bugged them. Stuff like that. As long as you know what you're buying upfront you should be OK. This wasn't a reliability survey at all.

 

I have had so far 61 cars, the ones that have given me most issues were Honda, Benz and VW....really nothing in others,,,,listen to your heart ,,,i did

 

I had cold feet last Fall after obsessing over the maintenance threads on NAM. Ordered Betsy in January of this year. Best decision I could have made. No problems with her at all. Great little car.

Fewer (as in none) problems than with my 01 Mercury Grand Marquis, the 56 Chevy, 88 Astro van, the 77 VW Rabbit, the 72 Plymouth Gold Duster, the 67 VW Bug, the 63 Plymouth Valiant.

R

 

Before getting the MINI I was considering getting a Prius. I was very impressed with the car, for the same reasons you mention.

But I drove the MINI three times, as a rental on my City Car Share program. Drove the convertible about 300 miles total.

I also researched the hell out of both cars BEFORE making a buying decision.

I did not see anything that said the later year MINIs [2005 and on] were to be avoided and I noted that the 2006 was rated in Consumer Reports as a best and recommended buy [as you saw too.]

I would not trust anything that JD Powers says. They are hacks whose opinion is available for a price.

Consider, for example, that Consumer Reports does not allow anyone, anywhere to advertise a favorable rating by Consumer Reports. All manufacturers or services are allowed to say is "a leading consumer magazine" rated them highly. The reason for this is that CR wants to maintain the integrity of the Consumers Union, two ways being not to accept advertising nor allowing companies to advertise favorable CR ratings or reviews.

In contrast, all the time you see car companies, for example, saying "JD Powers this, JD Powers that." And JD Powers has had its share of accusations that its opinions are for sale.

JD Powers showed their true colors back when American cars were slaughtered in Consumer Reports, but JD Powers consistently rated those same crappy cars as great products. Smart people knew American cars were junk and JD Powers seemed to be the only company rating them highly. Draw your own conclusions.

As others have said in here, all cars have issues. You just see the negatives in here because people are asking for help with problems. But like others question, where's a poll, survey or forum dedicated to people who have no problems. There are none because most MINI owners don't hang around forums and they are simply happily driving their MINIs.

While I don't know how many MINIs have been sold [maybe 1 million?] count up the number of negative posts on NAM and the Net. I am lousy at math, but the total seems a small percentage compared to how many satisfied MINI owners are out there.

Lastly, when thinking about the Prius I joined one of the biggest U.S. Prius Forums. Based on the problems discussed on that Forum one would conclude that the Prius was a troublesome car too. Of course it is not. It's just that the Prius has the same issues as other brands.

 

Consider, for example, that Consumer Reports does not allow anyone, anywhere to advertise a favorable rating by Consumer Reports. All manufacturers or services are allowed to say is "a leading consumer magazine" rated them highly. The reason for this is that CR wants to maintain the integrity of the Consumers Union, two ways being not to accept advertising nor allowing companies to advertise favorable CR ratings or reviews.

Don't forget the controversy around CR when the purposly turned the wheels extremely hard on the slalom course with the susuki samari. (it was on video) against the other competition.

Just saying, you really can't totally trust "any" publications out there nowadays.

 

It should go without saying, but the above needs to be kept in mind with Any Open Online Opinion Source.

Not that there is anything wrong with this fact, but for every post detailing a problem, there are no doubt far,
far more 'no-problem' users who will never post anything.

I find 'forums' to be helpful, I would have never been aware of a Sunroof anomaly except for experiments prompted from here
(an intermintant issue that Never occurs with My Normal use).
_____________________________________________________________

+++ JD Powers never asked Me about Any Product, but seeing all the 'advertising' featuring them sure puts Their Opinions in perspective.

'Consumer' publications are a more useful tool, given the detail they provide with their 'Opinion',
however if you follow a 'Consumer' publication on a subject that you are familiar with,
it will give you perspective on their Opinions as well.

Keep in mind that they are 'human' and come with all the 'editorial' foibles that go along with that.

 

That's one of the things that pointed me to the Mini. I had looked at them before, but I was concerned about reliability on a car that I would need to travel 200 miles to Portland for service. When CR reported that the reliability had improved to the point where they could recommend them, that's when I decided to buy one.

That was a dangerous vehicle. What Consumer Reports later said was that they didn't mean to imply that the Samarai rolled easily in normal driving conditions. They made it clear that it was during accident avoidance maneuvers, a car in your lane, a deer cutting across the road, where it could roll if you jerked the wheel hard.

 

Having been a Consumer Reports subscriber since my college days, I followed that controversy, kind of. I trust CR, albeit like you I keep an open mind on the accuracy of anything they say. CR, just as anyone else, has made mistakes, but IMHO not enough to say that when I read the magazine I distrust what CR says or read articles with skepticism.

At the time I thought Suzuki was like all the others whom at times have gone after CR for their negative reports. Few, if any, have ever prevailed. Related to this suit, in 1988, CR published that the Suzuki Samurai had demonstrated a tendency to roll and deemed it "not acceptable." In July 2004, that suit was settled and dismissed with no money changing hands which to me means Suzuki lost.

I think Suzuki made a mistake calling attention to the CR article. Most manufacturers simply accept the hit, correctly choosing not to constantly ring the bell or call attention to the negative CR review or report. But I heard Samurai sales suffered, so maybe they sued not expecting to win, but for the ulterior motive of making their "taking offense" look legit.

 

Lencap.....Your concerns have valid points however the Mini has had its share of FEW faults overall, you ask anyone on here and they'lll tell you they love their MINI. Owning a Mini is a relationship and sometimes relationships need extra effort. Enough of Dr. Phil.....
In all seriousness, there is actually only few REAL problems with the coopers or at least mine. I had 1 warranty fix and thats the Windsheild noise, (I have a video posted thru-out this site) and the roof glass will ONLY rattle occasionally, its not really the glass its the bug screen that makes a slight noise once in a while if its OPEN. My car has made that odd engine sound maybe 10 times, however it goes away after 2 minutes (only when cold). Other than this, The MINI is push button ready EVERDAY!!!. I dont think you should put much stock in a Magazines report, ask an actual owner and then decide. Another Point....what other car in the world can you drive off the lot and still find a buyer who'll pay you what you paid at the lot. I read somewhere a $30 Grand American car is worth 18 Grand 1 year later, not true with the MINI! simply my 2cents
Autobahn, buy German, there just better engineered....Only my 2cts.