Like some Mini owners, I love the concept but loathe its craftsmanship. The Mini concept is a combination of brilliant marketing with unsatisfactory execution. We had our new R56 Cooper S delivered several months ago. Although the process of purchasing the car was amazing the car itself seems like a laundry list of issues. If you are not used to taking in your car multiple times to fix things that should not be broken in the first place, I STRONGLY suggest that you consider another make. This car will test your willingness to bring the car in over and over. As an owner of other so called “premium” German/Japanese cars, I am very disappointed with the lack of QA/QC with our Mini.

Problems with our New Mini:
Screens for the sunroofs will not stay closed (Dealer says it’s normal).
Glue is smeared in several places over interior plastic trim.
A-pillar cover scratched, possibly during assembly (Apparently Mini’s are built with the driver side hanging down).
There is a knocking noise (similar to a warn or loose bushing) that seems to come from the rear wheels when the Mini is driven over bumps.
Squeaks coming from the dash at only 1000 Miles.

More Issues:
Engine made a hideous grinding noise several times at start up, a noise similar to a diesel engine (thankfully this seems to have subsided).
Hood is miss aligning causing a ¼ inch gap to appear just above the wheel well (Dealer says this is normal too).
Hood will not open when the engine is hot.
Clear coat and paint lifting and chipping off hood allowing Cosmoline (a petroleum protectant sprayed on the inside of the hood at factory) to get underneath it.
Engine makes an intermittent strange squealing noise at idle (like a loose fan belt).

To be fair, the dealer has been doing what they can to help us but it should not be this way. So far all the faults clearly lie with the product, not the service. The 56 is a completely new car, re-engineered from the ground up. If Mini considers itself a “premium” brand, it should be built like one. I have read many entries on other Mini Blogs where UK customers get to reject and rebuild their cars. Is this really a reasonable method of QA/QC?

 

I'd recommend writing a letter to MINI USA and also getting a hold of someone at 1-866-ASK-MINI - if you're that unhappy with the car there are ways to remedy some of the issues you're having with the specific car. Also check into the lemon laws of your state as well as any programs your Dealer has with MINI to deal with unsatisfactory products.

Good luck and keep us informed.

 

I think the first thing some SAs learn, is to say,"that's normal!! As kurt mentioned, check your lemon law. No one should have to put up with those kind of problems on a new car.

 

I think my experience has been about the same .Mine is not my daily driver so I dont fret to much . I'm not going to spend all my time fighting to get cosmetic things fixed it seems it would be endless everything is slightly off from an 1/8th of an inch to areas on the bonnet over 1/4 inch off .On the mechanical things I bring it in and always get "thats normal " but at least it's in writing if something gives way all together .That being said it's the most fun I've ever had with a car . I probably wont keep it past the warranty though .

 

I am wondering whether any one is largely happy with their new 2007 MCS? The postings in general seem pretty negative. Are these isolated issues on individual cars or can I expect many or most on any new MCS. Any good experience with your MCS that would make you buy again. I put a deposit down ($450) and have ordered a MCS. Should I blow off the money and run?

 

I would buy again , I'm thinking about the Clubman , a gluton for punishment I guess . Lots of people are happy and trouble free .I'm not trouble free but happy .

 

Search the forums here and you will find an endless stream of nearly identical posts starting from the first days of the site, when NAM was called MiniCooperOnline. The truth is that the base price of MINIs has been sub-premium from day one. The problem is that many owners end up falling into the over-priced options trap and creating cars that have premium price tags of $25k or more. Build quality on the MINI has always been average at best. That's not the point of the car. After more than four years, 100k miles and two MINIs, I've experienced plenty of build quality issues, some serious, but that has had not diminished my love of driving these cars hard.

 

All this sounds more like an inability to get a dealer to repair issues than actual issues with the car and some of them aren't even issues i.e. the diesel sound is a result of the direct injection system in the car and they all tend to sound like that from time to time or the squeaky dash. I have been in may cars, cheap and expensive that rattle. The R56 is light years better than the R50/53 but the nature of the wheelbase and suspension mean the car is prone to making noises.
Obviously if your paint is lifting and clear coat is being damaged then that is a serious issue but if it's just stone chips then it's the price of doing business unfortunately. The nature of the roads combined with the profile of the MINI mean they are going to occur more frequently than on other cars.

I'm sure your issues are real and frustrating but they don't represent my experience with the car and probably not the vast majority of owners here.

 

Not to diminish your experience and those of other on this and other MINI boards. But what we see mostly online are problem cars, not the customers that don't really have any issues at all. So it seems like a bigger issue than it really is. Although the sun screen thing is very annoying, and I don't understand why it does that, they should remain closed when you want them to be closed. But overall I have had no mechanical issues or problems, and I really enjoy the car.

With your issues I do hope you see a final resolution to your issue.

 

Still Motoring is a perfect example of how the forums skew towards problem cars.

Would you have posted at all on NAM had you not had a problem? Probably not since all three of your posts have been about problems.

 

ZERO problems here.

 

Exactly. It's a case of the silent majority. That majority being the many of us that have had zero issues and wonder want you're talking about when you accuse MINI of poor craftmanship. Three MINIs and not so much as a single funny squeek.

I'm sure there's more of us than there are of you. (You being those that have issues)

 

+1. Advice to poster: If you really want to get help on your issues, tackle one at a time. Search the forums first, and if you don't find an answer, post a specific question about that particular issue. Use what you find to get the best response from your service department. Might not always produce the desired result, but it's surely more useful than posting a broad rant, and expecting sympathy from a bunch of folks who plainly love their R56s, warts & all.

 

certainly not me. when i have to pull off highway 880 and into the carpark for work in oakland, i am tremendously frustrated that i don't have more time to drive it.

other than that, i'm delighted. have never owned a more fun car.

in fact, it has made me reevaluate my belief that you need lots of horsepower to enjoy yourself. all you REALLY need is light weight, sticky tires and nimble handling.

 

Thanks for the advice everyone, obviously Mini has a very passionate following. Sorry about the long list, breaking the issues down would be a better way to address the issues. Although it may not sound like it, I really like the car and what it stands for. The car handles like its on rails and the power is more than adequate. The go-kart aspects of the Mini Cooper S are for real; this car really loves to be driven hard. I love driving it until I slow down to hear all the knocking and squeaking coming from all over the cabin.

Again, it’s the quality of build that I’m focusing on. Every make has its share of issues…Mini may have more than others. The reason for this posting is really to point out that Mini’s are really not the “premium” make that claim to be (due to build quality). This might upset some of you but I haven’t heard or of miss aligning hoods since the days of the Yugo. Really! Also, one needs to ask the question, if Mini can’t get the sunscreen right what else is not right. The sunscreen is a minor thing, and as such it should not be an issue right? Some might find these characteristics endearing...I do not find this to be the case. As all of you know there are many cars at lower price points with fewer issues than the Mini. It’s a fun car for sure, just not well crafted.

 

Sell it and get a Kia.

Problem.

Solved.

No more complaining about MINI craftmanship.

 

Thing is, I generally hear very little complaint about build qualility of the R56. Mine's been fantastic...so have a whole bunch of others. However, the list presented by Still Motoring is troubling...in his shoes I'd be bummed, too.

 

Sure, I understand complaining about his specific issues. What I don't understand is his generalization about MINI craftsmanship. To make those kinds of sweeping generalizations, I would hope he'd have statistical data from at least 10,000 MINIs. 100,000 would be even better.

 

True....most owners seem quite pleased.

 

Actually I was thinking about getting the new BMW 1 Series. Rear wheel drive in a small package, what a true sports package should be.

 

Maybe we should look this up or take a poll here on NA Motoring. I'm really curious if the majority of owners just put up with these issues or just ignore them.

 

You will always generate more comments from the disgruntled minority than the happy majority. It's human nature.

Poll results would be skewed.

How about if you continue to post about your problems and get some assistance with them but stop making sweeping generalizations about the hundreds of thousands of MINIs that come out of the factory each and every year ?

 

Here’s just one of the examples of poor craftsmanship. Attached is a photo of the corner of the hood where some cosmoline started bubbling underneath the clear coat. Yes, the clearcoat lifted from the bonnet and filled up with melted/liquid cosmoline.

 

Another shot of the clear coat lifting from the bonnet...

 

You're right, maybe we should try polling on the the regular R56 Coupe thread and not on the Stock Problems/Issues thread.