I recently sold my 2012 Countryman S ALL4 at CarMax. No regrets other than getting a problematic car.
In September 2012, I bought my MINI home, I was very happy, but shortly after, too many little issues occurred and made the driving experience less than pleasant. With 2 local dealers unable to fix any problem aside for oil changes, I decided to sell.
I gave it a fair shot, 8 months 24k miles. But 53 days in shop, and neither dealer able to give a loaner car, except to get to a mall to eat for an oil change, I have no interest in dealing with this brand again. I am truly happy for those who have good luck with their minis but this was atrocious.
I did not get a "deal" on my MINI, it was custom ordered at full asking price. When I asked of trade in value, I was offered 15k and 17k both less than 1/2 of the initial 32.4k paid. Less for cash/check as they wanted a trade in only.

How is my mileage so high you may ask but I'm so dissatisfied? 184 miles round trip to closest dealer, and 1500 miles round trip to see my father in VA who is not doing well. They add up.
Mechanically, its fine, motor runs decent, trans never an issue. But electrical issues are another story.
~AC shuts off when it pleases, FL is hot, unacceptable
~Comfort access buttons don't half way work
~Rear hatch would not open towards end 1/2 the time, just clicking noise
~Rear passenger window module replaced 2x, 2nd time fixed it, but window could be pushed in about 1/2 an inch, noticed when washing. Dealer cant fix it completely, now its 1/4 inch push in if you press on glass.
~Overly sensitive passenger seat sensor, absolutely nothing solid could be placed in seat without angering it. iPhone, a CD, library book, everything set it off. Dealer refused to fix unless it was on 100% of time, buy a chimex, sorry, but its wrong from factory, why do I have to buy a faker to get it right.
~Rear wiper stopped working 2 times.
~Dealer installed garmin holder never powered up. defeated the purpose of buying an OEM expensive navigation holder.

I wish you all well, and happy motoring. Both dealers are in the Clearwater area/Pasco county FL, and car sold in Tampa

 

I'm sorry your experience has been less than satisfactory. Sounds like with all those issues, you should've looked into lemon laws rather than sell it to Carmax. You could've gotten a lot more back.

 

First off, thank you for sounding off with such a civil tone. With nagging issues like that, it would be easy to become irate. I'm truly sorry your experience with the brand was so negative. We're on our 5th MINI now (two MCS's, a Clubman, and now a Countryman and a Paceman), and the few minor issues we've had with any of them were promptly corrected by the dealer. Much better experience than we had with the supposed quality-leading Honda and many trips to THAT dealer several years ago.

But these things happen. Sometimes all you can do is cut your losses and move on. Best of luck to you with your next vehicle.

 

Yowzah, that sucks. You'd think they could at least scramble a loaner for you if they sold you a car with so many problems!

 

Thanks for the replies and well wishes.
In my issues with the car, I forgot 1 key issue that I had. On 4 separate occasions, I would go about as usual and then the car would act as if I had no key, even upon sliding the key in the slot in the dash. It left me stranded 4 times.

Honestly, I liked the car, but for the down time and the no AC at times, I have a track car for that sort of discomfort. The lack of responsibility from MINI/Dealer (s) and a complete lack of help kept me from keeping my MINI.

The dealers always came to the "could not replicate" or "must have been a glitch/snafu, everything is good on your diagnostic"

Hopefully, Rupert's new owners will love him the way I did, and maybe they can find a dealer that can fix the issues with him. He has been replaced with a 2013 Lexus IS-F. Its been a change, but My wife has had one since '11 and it had no issues. I do however miss the floor mount pedal setup.

Someone mentioned the Lemon Law, I tried that with the dealer I bought it from and I got 2 answers, 1- they need to further investigate the problems (4 weeks minimum) [over the phone]; 2- when I got to the dealer, my complaints/service records were not "suitable for Lemon Law". I did use choice words at which point they offered to buy it back @ under 50% value due to "problems with the car". Funny they could not fix it or Lemon it, but they could buy it as damaged value. Its over and in the past.

 

Fair Winds and Following Seas.

 

Snap.... Bought mine in October and got 27k miles on it with NO issues!!! Love my MINI!!!

 

I'm pretty close to your situation. You can look up my posts to see the myriad of problems my All4 has had. I'm close to the warranty end and am trying to figure out what to replace it with.
Current front runners are Subie WRX but will come with a hefty Insurance increase or Focus ST which I am trying to decide if I can live witout 4wd. Also intrigued by Volvo C30 but would like to stay away frome euro cars.

I want to add that I love this car but I cant imagine being on the hook for its mechanical repairs.

 

Ive replaced my ALL4 with an IS-F, but I also have a STi for a weekender. I missed the mechanical AWD and Brembos. In the AWD cars, STi/WRX are great, Evo 8-9, X are fun and less expensive + easier on insurance, the new AWD RalliArt is a WRX comparable Mitsubishi. In the way of used cars, 04 STi is the best of the bunch from Subaru, Evo IX MR is nice with the 6 speed and BBS rims, rare and unique, Mazdaspeed 6 has AWD.

Focus ST has nice options like HID (I cant live without that feature), turbo, 6 speed. Vivid Racing already has a lot of good quality parts for them, plus Ford Racing is no slouch in the world market, euro parts are available too.
FWD that are easy on wallet to maintain are Mazdaspeed 3, Civic Si, CR-Z.