Do you want to know why when reading the forum it looks like there are tons of problems? The answer is specifically because of people like you. As long as things are going good they never even think about a MINI forum. As soon as something does happen they join NAM and start spamming every thread they can about their misfortune.

It makes for a rather lopsided representation of MINI owners.

 

What is HPFP?

 

High Pressure Fuel Pump...

 

MattMatt just posted that he is tired of hearing Mini owners complain about broken Minis when all the complainers are abusing their cars.

That is what is known as a True misrepresentation of what is happening in the Mini world. Why wouldn't you call him out? I politely asked him to show us the threads he is referring to...

Guess what, I belong to Corvette forums and Truck forums. Neither of these groups has the number of engine failure complaints as the Mini forums. I have correctly pointed out that my engine blew up. Simple as that. If that statistic is making the Mini seem unreliable, then I am sorry for the intrusion. I joined the forum to see if I could gleam a sense of just what in the world is going on with the Mini and BMW. I don't know how many car forums you look through but in my limited survey of about 5 different makes, the Mini is the one that has the most engine failure complaints. Just perhaps there really are more catastrophic failures of Minis than there are of other cars? Ever think of that? Do you really believe that it is only Mini owners that complain about engine failures? Other car makes have their trouble years as well, but to make pretend that the problems do not exist? Wow...

I just thought of something... Ford has had a huge issue with their 6.0 Diesel engines. All kinds of trouble, this is fact and can be found on the truck Forums or maybe this is blown out of proportion by one person posting his single bad experience...

 

Having 2 other makes in our stable and frequenting their respective forums, I will have to agree with you. I have never heard of as many catastrophic engine failure as on this board. Although the car puts a smile on my face, it has also been a headache from time to time. As a result I don't know if I will keep mine, once the warranty runs out.

To the OP I would hold on to the car for a while longer and see if the issues settle down, since everything will get fixed under warranty. If you trade it in now, you will take a pretty big hit on depreciation

 

We'll, guess I'm just hoping that engine problems were fixed by the 2011 Model year. My MCS has been fantastic, totally trouble free (Cept for runflats) but I'm honestly reconsidering my decision to buy a Mini. Maybe time to bail out before problems start and get a GTI ??????

 

to the OP: My first response was a bit of a knee jerk reaction because of my situation... Your car IS under warranty and I am sure Mini will take care of you. It is very possible like others mentioned that the initial issues will subside. If you truly love the car, wait until you get near 50k miles and decide if you need the extended warranty or need to sell the car. The good news is that you ARE still protected by the warranty.

Sorry for all the distraction....

 

Brilliant thinking. You're five months late, you could have had my '10 GTI. Still don't miss it.

P.S.- When you get the VW, don't read VWVortex because you'll bail for a C30. Then you'll read the C30 forums and bail for something else. And the cycle continues.

 

I have no doubt that the new Nxx Prince engines have a higher percentage of failure than most other engines. But statistically, how many have blown up? .3% instead of .1% in an average car over the first 30k miles? Is that really a big enough number to warrant paranoia?

I'm not sure how the N16 is going to age when we all have 100k+ miles, nor am I sure about the N14. I'm really eager for everyone to rack up miles on the N18 2011+ motor as there were unsolved issues with the previous engines that we all want to see addressed.

You have a 4year/50k limited warranty, let's at least use that. I feel truly sorry for the folks with 52k with engine failures, it's unacceptable and I genuinely hope that it has been addressed and that these aren't throwaway cars.

 

Naw, Never a C30.

 

My '09 developed a slight catch when pressing the pedal about half way down. Dealer found that it was in the linkage in the pedal slave cylinder of the clutch. The actual clutch was fine.

To the original poster, sorry about your problems. I do think as long as MINI is standing behind the repairs I'd hang on to it as the depreciation would be painful. It is ridiculous that cars get shipped with this much wrong. However, it seems to be the case these days. If you check other car sites ( even Honda etc.) you will find some posts of similar horror stories.

I have had good service, but MINI's don't rank highly in initial build quality. BUT, my MINI is the most fun car I have ever owned. Hope you get some peace and tons more fun to offset this aggravation.

 

DAMN spoke too soon. 3054 miles and the check engine light went on. closest dealer is 4 HOURS away, closest Dealer where I've got family so I can stay the night for free: 5 HOURS. I'm going to call the MINI dealer tomorrow and see what they recommend.

It's got oil and it's my DD, so I have NO CHOICE but to drive it (I like A/C). I guess if push comes to shove I'll take the 93 mustang (that i've had for 17 years) out of retirement...again.

 

Be careful, if you mention you have a problem with your car you may be shunned for it...
Seriously, that sucks. Hope it is something simple.

 

Me too.

 

Why not run by an AutoZone, Advance Auto, etc., type place and have them read the code? May help you assess whether it is something really serious or something that might clear itself.

 

not unless every single one of his total of 14 posts on here are complaining and griping.
with gems like this:

 

Lots of differing opinions here. Some good some bad. We'll it is a mechanical device and lots of driving styles. My experiences have had both sides of the divide.

My car the Chile red car has been perfect except for a passenger door rattle that drives me a little nuts. It has 26K so far. I've changed to non run flats and that has cured some of the noise from the door. (Yes I would classify it as noise.) My driving style if pretty aggressive. I rap the motor up where it like to run but rarely if ever hit the rev limiter. If your paying attention and not driving like a loon then it's no problem not to hit the limiter. Of course if your on the track all bets are off but I don't track my car.

Now my wife's car is a little different. She has the automatic and well drives like a woman. She does not hot rod the car and generally has a freeway speed commute, 50 miles per day, 4 days per week. She has about 39K on her car. But we have had the top end replaced on the car. She had the cold start rattle and then one day the yellow dash light came on. Took it in and the did the top end. I had the car back in 2 days and it runs perfect now. I did notice something different with her car the other day. After my wife got home from work the radiator fan ran for about 5 minutes at full speed before finally shutting down. Her car had never done that before and neither has mine so that is something new. Not sure if it means anything, we'll watch it and see if we get any dash lights. Didn't on this one. I drove the car with the AC on full blast and ran it pretty hard. Got home and turned it off and the fan did not run. So I'm not sure what that meant.

I guess my point is that you never know. I know lots of people who have Mini's with no problems and then all of a sudden I will hear of something. We have to remember a lot of Mini's are being sold. When I bought mine there were hardly any in my area. Now there everywhere. No wonder people stop waving to one another. You can't drive cause your waving all the time. LOL

Anyway, it has to be a personal decision on whether or not to keep a car, it's a tough decision to make and lets face it these cars are not that in-expensive so the need and want to have a perfect car is pretty high.

I have not given up on the brand by any means. I buy the extended warranty and hopefully by 100K all the kinks are worked out. I'm actually selling my car and have ordered a new JCW Coupe. Chile Red of course. We'll see how this car works. Personally I will take the hassle (to a point, and everyone's point is different) because I have so much fun driving this car. It gets pretty decent fuel economy and as long as I don't have to shell out a ton of money (and it's not in the shop all the time, I can certainly understand that frustration.) I'm going to keep on Motoring.

Regards,

Pat

I think is got letters from Mini stating that the HPFP is covered for 100K for our cars. If it fails they fix it. Yea!!

 

I have never abused my Mini in any way. I was thrilled with the purchase and was sure that I would never sell it. I've had numerous electrical problem since I purchased the car in 2007, and last week the engine hydrolocked after driving through the rain. I did not even drive through any deep puddles. I have been quoted a repair price of $8500.

After doing some research it seems that Mini's are prone to hydrolocking, and the overall quality of the car is lacking. I can not begin to explain how I regret purchasing this car.

 

Oh yeah Ive been there lol

 

What pray tell is hydrolocking?

 

When an internal combustion engine ingests large amounts of water, it cannot perform the compression stroke as the liquid can't be compressed.

 

my 08' MINI has been nothing but trouble. in the shop over 20 times 3 years, multiple repairs done multiple times including the same repairs you have said. I am going to sell it and get something else.....never going anywhere near a BMW again.

 

oh and by the way....MINI does not care about you at all. they have absolutely no sympathy for you buying their crap product.

 

I am a great fan of the MINI, and enjoy mine immensely. But buying a MINI is a crapshoot. MINIs are problems-prone. All the automotive and consumer research bears this out. I have had thousands of dollars of work done under warranty and the problems just keep coming now that the warranty is up. My advice: enjoy your MINI until six months before your warranty is up, then dump it.

 

That is so weird and just not a problem that I have ever heard of. How did the water get into the engine? i live in the Pacific Northwest and it rains a lot and both of our cars have been though lots and lots of water and lots and lots of puddles and on and on. Can you give us some details on this? How did you research that Mini's are prone to this? Can you cite your sources? I've only been around a couple of years with Mini's and this is the very first time i have heard of this. Certainly not a long time but one would think I would have seen quite a few of this problem since they "are prone to hydrolocking".