I have not been on this forum for a while. Saw a video of the 2014 hatchback and would love to own one. However, MINI appears to have a terrible reliability record. It truly frustrates me because I like the car. Just from this forum it appears that one has to be their own mechanic, have a garage or place to work on the car and or have the money for all of MINI's problems which are not covered by the warrenty. Furthermore, it appears that MINI does not stand behind their product. The customer is always to blame. I remember the American President for MINI responding to the JD Powers report and stating that those were just,"Break in problems". I get a new car every 3 to 4 years and I can assure you MINI is truly unique in its break in problems.
Sadly, those of you who love these cars no matter what and have the money to pay your way through all of these ridiculous problems have ruined it for the rest of us. I don't think MINI will change their ways until we stop buying their cars. I know that is not going to happen. To be fair, I do hear of owners who have had their MINI for a year or more and have had no problems whatsoever. Sorry, this has become more of a rant. The truth is when one buys a MINI it is a gamble. Will it be trouble free or will you see the dealership more than your own family? Personally, I would rather put my money on a more reliable car.
Best of Luck to you All.

 

Well to each their own, but quite frankly any car now a days is going to have its share of big problems. Hardly a month goes by that you don't hear of a car company having to issue a recall for something, usually electrical in nature. While I agree that the MINI has a few high cost items of concern, almost any car will to a point in today's world.

 

My R50 has been nearly trouble free, but I probably wouldn't buy an R56 after spending a few years on this forum.

 

I wouldn't base your judgement on the R56 just because of this forum. Think about the big picture. People here just complain(myself included when I had a couple issues with mine) about their R55+ but never mention all the good things. This is like their time to rant and complain, so keep in mind there are many owners out there with great R56's or whatever model from the 2nd gens.

 

Objectively I know you're right, but I'd still be wary of owning one.

I have a few cars in mind for my next toy, and I'll make a point of not visiting owners forums (335i, STi.)

 

If you love the car buy it. If you don't don't. Any car can be a lemon, but the odds are with you, that's what warranties are for.

 

If I had read this forum earlier I wouldn't be the proud new owner of an R56.

 

I own a 20 year old Saab so I'm quite used to quirks, but the problem with the R56 is that it's engine is shlt. If there's one part of a car that should be pretty solid by the year 2013 it's an engine. It's a fundamentally bad design, which is why they scrapped it for the F56.

Whatever engineer decided not to put an oil level sensor in a car that "burns some oil" normally should be shot. It's a design oversight plain and simple.

 

After getting into this forum then taking delivery there was a 5 or 6 month period of pure paranoia waiting for something to fall off or crater. I wasn't even comfortable putting all my weight on the driver's seat. That was 5 years ago. The li'l guy is in the garage waiting for the next adventure as I type. Just do the numbers. How many MINIs sold in the past 5 years and how many forum complainers, it's a pretty small percentage.

 

While NAM is probably the best place for DIY for MINI, I hardly think this is an accurate statement. For most, even for the shade tree mechanic newer cars are a bit more challenging than the days of plugs, points, rotor caps...


Do you base this "conclusion" solely upon personal experience or just some info you have read ? IMO MINI has gone to great lengths to be proactive with many repairs especially in last 3 yrs. Using an adverb such as "ALWAYS" when expressing an opinion hardly makes it true and as a rule not an accurate word to use when expressing ones opinion....I have 190K miles on my 03', and never experienced or seen what you purport here....



Life is a gamble, there is no "sure thing" and sometimes isn't fair.....In 2012 MINI built/sold 301,526 cars. The more cars produced creates more room for issues as well. So on what basis are you making these comparisons ? And just because you perceive something in some way hardly makes it fact. The Countryman is only three years old, the newer hardtops are only 6 yrs old. Now with BMW taking over most of the drivetrains for 2014, and new sheet metal/electronics it's a newborn once again....holding ones breath counting to 10 or suggesting a boycott IMO are both ridiculous solutions.

 

While I understand your point, the problem lies in BMW choosing an outsourced engine for the first and second generations of cars. For the F56, it's a completely new, in-house designed and built motor for all the cars. And in the case of the Prince engine in the R56s, it's been in use since 2006 (or earlier) in other Peugeots, with only minor changes along the way. And the Tritec motor that came in the R53s had been used in other vehicles for some time before the first R53 was made in 02.

So in reality, the F56 is the first car that will truly be BMW designed and engineered from top to bottom, engine to wheels.

 

Hopefully before my warranty is up on my clubbie they will have a new one with bugs worked out and I can trade it in then.

 

N20 engine (in F56 '14 MCS) has been out in BMWs for 2+ years.
It's pretty solid.

No word yet on the 3-cylinder Justa F56 engine longevity or reliability.

a

 

My 2013 R59 is 15 months old with just over 20,000 miles and I have had no problems. My opinion based on my own experience is: The car is great, my dealer is great, MINI USA sucks big time.

 

From what I understand, the 1.5 liter 3 cylinder in the non-S cars is essentially half of the BMW 3 liter V6. That engine is very reliable and has been in use for years.

 

Amen to that.

However, the N14 and N18 Peugeot engines have not been all THAT bad. Yes, they have known deficiencies that MINI has refused to rectify proactively (e.g.: timing tensioner/chain and turbo oil line leakage). Both can be addressed with <$100 in parts each, and roughly 10x that in labor (or DIY).

But beyond that, N14 has been a remarkably sturdy engine + turbo package that has survived multiple aftermarket attempts to grenade it with higher boost levels and custom mappings.
We really haven't heard of many engine/turbo failures. Frankly, that's is remarkable for a little hot running turbo 4-banger !

a

 

My Clubman S will be four years old in May, it has run flawlessly. The only times it has seen the dealer is for oil changes and the turbocharger water pump recall.

People usually come to car forums because there is something wrong with their car, so you can't get an accurate view of the reliability of a car from car forums. Not many people come to forums to say, "My car runs great!"

Dave

 

I have to agree with gray raven. Mini, from what it seems, is actually better than most when it comes to fixing issues. If you want to talk about companies blaming the consumer just take a look at the domestics. I had a Dodge, and was literally thrown out of a dealership after driving in for a legitimate issue because I had put rims on the car, which according to the dealer, was an obvious sign of abuse as why would I need new rims on a one year old car, so they were refusing to even look at my car. yeah....had a similar experience at Ford as well.

forums are places for people to complain about issues and figure out problems. in a car that's out of warranty, you need to DIY or pay for repairs, no matter what the car company is. paying to fix a car that's out of warranty does nothing to "ruin" it for the rest of whomever.

if people only looked at the issues on forums before buying a car, no one would ever buy a car lol

 

I'm on my third MINI. The first was an '06 R50, then a '10 R56 (non-S), and now a '12 R60 (non-S). I have never had any problems with any of them. Actually, scratch that, my first needed a new thermostat, but that was covered under warranty. Other than that, they have all been very dependable cars.

My experience with car forums and NAM in particular is they become giant b#$@ch sessions for a vocal minority. They're a good source of technical information, but that's it. Yes, there are some known issues, but it seems like the majority of people are treated fairly by their dealers. As always, it depends on how you approach the dealer too. I've seen cases here of people who tinker with their cars endlessly and are then surprised when something breaks. I've had many cars, including several Hondas, and my MINIs are just as reliable. If you like the car, ignore the griping here, and go for it.

 

I'm on my third MINI: love them and never want to drive anything else. Dealerships have been great.

 

That could be bad if not done right. Like the first Chevy 4.3's where just 5.7's with the end 2 cylinders cut off and they had a vibration all the time , finally fixed by putting a counter balance in it.

But I do like my 3 cylinder UK motorcycle, my triumph street triple is a blast.

 

Having owned my '08 MC-S only 3 months I will have to say that MINI NA has been great. They fixed via recall: Timing chain/tensioner, aux water pump, and heat shield in that time. That is about $2,500 in free repairs. Just lucky timing I guess.

 

Look, how bad could it be? It's going to come with a 4 year, 50,000 mile warranty. You will know by the time it's up if your car is going to be a complete PITA... If it is, get a new car and move on...

 

well problem is alot of the timing chain and carbon deposits occur right after 50K . My sons 08MCS had the timing chain issue before the recall and going through heck trying to get reimbursed for the $$$ spent to fix it.

 

Statement of the year.