The only people with mini problems go to the forums, why? To get answers by other people with problems. Think about it... this forum is biased and making it seem as if EVERY mini sold has major issues, the people without issues are out driving enjoying their mini vs's going on a forum to seek help. Just my opinion

 

This is a very good point. But I would also add that if you look at every reliability report (JD Powers, Consumer Reports, etc.) then you can see that it's average at best. They simply are not highly reliable cars on the whole, and that's something to just take in stride and accept, and hope that your individual MINIs are reliable. Obviously there will always be people who have no problems -- I envy them!

 

I LOVE that the original post referenced Toyota as a reliable car. So far my Mini starts when I turn the key, accelerates when I press the throttle and stops when I hit the brakes. I'm a happy puppy.

 

MINI is not a mere transportation device, more of a vocation;
A MINI needs a caring owner; a Honda or Toyota is like a cat: it will survive in spite of the caretaker; a MINI is an interactive experience which requires an attentive and diligent caretaker, and will reward such an owner accordingly. Those who desire a mere appliance to convey them from one location to the next had better purchase one of the plebian object proferred by one of the Japanese purveyers, or maybe one from the Koreans.
Vive la difference!

 

Heh, call it what you want. I'd rather have a car that I didn't have to invoke my warranty on every 4-6 months.

 

I admire your positivity, but this is more of an excuse and is romanticizing the fact that it's not reliable. I wish I could look at it this way, but I just can't. MINI/BMW could make the car just as great yet more reliable if they really wanted to.

 

At least it not boring.

 

True, they could make the car with proven parts rather than using the customers' experiences as defacto proving grounds. Don't know how much this would add to the cost of the car though.

On the other hand, the MINI has not left me stranded, so for me it has not (yet) been a problem with reliability so much as questionable quality of some components. To some extent, I am romanticing - but keep in mind my other car is an MG!

 

Remember that the MINI, as introduced in 2000, was an new, never before made design. If they had used all "proven parts", you would have been buying some other pre-existing car, not the MINI we know and love

Just sayin'.

 

True in 2000, but it's 2010 now!

 

Also remember contractors make most of the parts that BMW and MINI install in their cars, and some of these contractors have little to no QC. LuK Gruppe Drivetrain Systems (clutches and flywheels) is a good example. As such, quality is streaky: for example, you will get a batch of great clutch components installed at the factory, then a batch of bad ones. All in the name of keeping production costs at rock-bottom.

However, after owning and dealing with a 2005 MCS shop queen, replacement parts seem to be better engineered and hold up better than oem.

 

good point. Many of the 1st gen cars' parts came from the Rover leftover bin

 

So far I've had to have a new water pump, and today, some redesigned bushings in the rear suspension to end a "clunk" that had been bugging me.

I'm at 5500 miles and the little car seems to be settling down to be a pretty good and consistent runner. I get 34 to 36 mpg most of the time. I changed its oil at 5000 miles -- the original oil looked pretty good and there was no sludge in the filter housing (which I broke by dropping it on the garage floor -- $62 mistake). I still hate the run-flats and I hope to live long enough to understand the radio/bluetooth/ipod stuff, but it mostly works all of the time (although my phone gets unpaired sometimes for reasons I can never understand).

I have a little rattle in the rear hatch that bugged me till I figured out what it was. It still rattles, but now its OK.

The upside is that I love this little car more every day. I fight with my wife over who gets to drive it and I still find myself taking the long route home when I have it. I've gotten to know the service guys at the Mini shop. They're good folks and I like to talk to them. They let me go into the shop to look at the car while its being worked on. The service guys and I both complain about the run-flats and we all wonder why BMW put them on the car. They're car guys, and when they're done, they send me on my happy way till the next visit.

I've had a bunch of Hondas. I loved them, for the most part, but I finally paid a small fortune for a Pilot and had to buy it two transmissions. The Honda guys were not friendly, they wouldn't let me into the shop and they told me that Pilots just need new transmissions every 60K miles -- that's the way it is. They installed my transmission cooler then forgot to add fluid, and when I took it back in, they charged me to add it. I had to buy that car new front rotors twice before it had 30K miles, and like it or not, it had more rattles than my Mini will ever have. And it cost something like $36K. I never bought another Honda. And for the most part, I either hated that car, or I thought of it as an appliance -- it was the Britney Spears of automobiles. It had great potential, but it never made it.

In the end, I guess its kinda like wondering why you fell in love with whomever you fell in love with (or, put another way, wondering why anyone fell in love with you). If you have to ask, you'd never understand anyway, and, once it happens, you're powerless to do anything about it, so why not just sit back and enjoy the ride, bumps and all.

The Mini is a strange little car. It has lotsa issues that bug the h**l out of you. But its a car you can fall in love with, and its the kind that you can take home to meet your folks because you know its going to be around for awhile.

My wife and I agree, its probably a Hobbit.

 

Well, you know, lots of iconic cars have used proven parts, but the difference was the way they were assembled, and the tuning: Cobra (small block Ford/AC body); MG, Triumph used off the shelf parts with a different body; ponycars in general were created using the drivetrains the manufacturers had available, but installed in a new body; even the first-gen new mini used a Dodge Neon block, as I understand it.

thanks for the discussion

 

A great post! Thank you! I've been so up and down regarding my Mini. It is tough reading all the negativity around here.

Cheers!

 

Just got mine, so my fingers are crossed.

 

Totally agree. Or they just want to complain (which I can't fault - I know I would.) Since my MINI is perfect, I just come to gloat!

 

1100 miles and six weeks, just made my first trip back to the dealer. They repaired a defective tire. It was leaking around the really big stainless steel screw that was stuck in it. Dam cheap tires, the good ones would have driven around that screw. :-)

Seriously, its all good. Had no appointment, they took the car in, popped the tire off, patched it, rebalanced and did a nice job washing the car.

 

...however, if that stainless steel screw was not a BMW part, you may find some serious questions should you ever need to replace your framistat.

(just kidding, of course, but I've had the same experience with both the local Mini guys and with the folks at Mini HQ. Nice folks.

 

What else did you expect from the Problems/Issues section?

There are still a few feel-good happy talk threads in other sections...

 

For what it's worth, I bought my 2009 MCS (w/sunroof) after reading in Consumer Reports that it was fun to drive, affordable, and had better-than-average expected reliability. I've found the first two to be true, but over the last 18 months CR has downgraded the MCS to worse than average reliability.

Because we live in the heart of town, we seldom if ever were able to take advantage of the turbo. As an avid reader of this forum, it seems that most of the reliability problems (at least the serious ones) are related to the turbo (e.g., high-pressure fuel pump, carbon buildup, cold-start rattle, etc.) and the sunroof (sticking primarily). I also found the run-flats to be a harsh ride on city streets.

As a result, we're taking delivery this week of a 2010 Just-a-Cooper in the same colors as our 2009, but without the sunroof, and trading in the 2009 MCS. Because we had only 5,900 miles on the 2009, we got a reasonable trade.

This post was just an FYI. We like the MINI, but also value reliability, and like to keep our cars for many, many years.

 

corcoranwtnet:

I went through the same logic when I bought my Mini -- I really wanted a turbo, but my wallet and my concerns with reliability said no. I've had a couple of turbos over the years, and I worry about things that generate that much additional heat.

So far, I have not regretted the decison. I have all the power I can use for the type of driving I do, and I have no concerns for the motor being at all stressed. I'll also most likely avoid a few tickets -- I'm pretty undisciplined.

I think you made a good decision.