2006 R53 with 66k, trouble free, period.

 

Apparently you have a 2009 "S" automatic transmission car with a JCW kit dealer installed on your car.

The OP is talking about a Factory built 2009 JCW. No comparison,(Two entirely two different cars)

I'm really sorry to hear about all of your troubles you had with your car (Even the Craven dipstick being defective) or the window that shattered all by itself without anyone shooting a BB gun or something at it. I'm sure you will be very happy when you unload that car and get a Porsche or maybe a new Mustang or a rear wheel drive KIA.

A 2009 Mini Cooper "S" with an automatic transmission is """NOT""" a factory JCW and to me answering the OP, """YES""" you do have a great high performance car. "ENJOY IT"

I re-read the OP's original post and I have to apologize to him. He only asked a question and not really made any statement.
-------------He is not a "TROLL"-----------

 

I had a Pinto. It was more reliable. Not any fun to drive. It was sold as a very cheap economy class car. Mini is sold and priced as a prestige class car. We expect more. We paid for it. Cost of Mercedes maintenance, legendary in frequency and cost. You don't see one outside my house.

Buy a Mini with your eyes open. It is a hoot to drive. (After you replace the shocks). Then join the chorus to remind BMW if they want to hold their place in the market, they had better do more than advertise a 3-generation old 3-series as the soul of the company. (Better car, wish they still made "Sharks.") They should at least be polite about the engineering and quality defects, not condescending. Why am I so hard on them? My background is as a quality engineer. I understand design and manufacturing. I have also been in the field service business. One of the first lessons is not to further tick off a customer that has a problem. Treat they well, they may tell a friend. Treat them poorly, they will tell a hundred. Old lesson. Now we have the Web we can tell thousands!

Drove a Mazda 2. Fun little car. Needs a turbo. Shocks were fine.

 

If I would have read these boards before buying a MIni, I would have passed. I am reserved about the purchase as it is. Maintinence is over the top expensive. Parts are even unreal.
The jury is out for me. A little over a year and 25K, not a hiccup. So perhaps the Justa was the right move for me. I hope so.
There are plenty of posts regarding the breakability of the Coopers. Seems like the S is a large culprit, but then a gain, if you start squeezing every pony you can out, something is bound to break.
I hope it is a reliable car. I like it and it is comfortable.

 

 

After owning cars/trucks/suvs made by Toyota,Mazda, Honda, Nissan, Bmw ,Volvo and now MINI, I can safely say that its just a matter of luck if you get one that is a POS or reliable. The worst vehicle I have ever owned was a Toyota truck. It seemed like everything went wrong. My wife is on her third BMW 3 series and they have had their issues. My Volvo XC90 was a first year model and it was riddled with problems. My MINI is only 6 months old and its been great so far, but Im not expecting it to be perfect.
The reason I got the MINI was that it feels like such a solid, fun car. It has a feel that you just can't get in many small cars and if its not quite as reliable as Consumer Reports favorite of the month, so be it. I bought it because I love it and sometimes love comes with a price.

 

First car was a Jeep Grand Cherokee -- don't even get me started on that thing's reliability. Yeesh.

In comparison, my MINI is a miracle. Two problems since I've had it -- driver's side window would randomly roll down (software reprogram) and oxygen sensor went out.
Am I OK with these? Perfectly so. Things happen. At least it's not in the shop every two weeks like the Jeep was.
09 with 11k miles. Brought him home one year and three months ago.
Just posting to say I'm another happy camper here, not trying to prove or disprove anyone's point.

 

Also, remember that at its core, the MINI is a $20k car, and should be compared to other cars in that range if you're going to compare quality, fit and finish.

Sure, you can option a MINI up to $50k or more, but none of those options affect the basic build quality of the car. In fact, the overwhelming majority of the electrical/mechanical systems are going to be the same no matter what options you've added.

This is one of the drawbacks of MINI's "low base price/huge option list" pricing system. It's easy to spend $35-40k on one and start thinking of MINI as a "prestige" brand, forgetting that what you really have is a fun, sporty economy car with a bunch of options added to it.

 

Timing chain tensioner
Fuel pump
Loose lug nuts and chassis bolts
Windows possessed
Sunroofs binding
Hatch rattling
Worthless gas gauge
Trim falling off
Wrong valving in the shocks
Radio intermittent
Clutch problems
Valve cokeing
Hoods melting
Don't forget the Gen one transmissions and steering box fans.

Now, have worse cars been built? You betch-ya. Will worse ones be built? Yup. That is no excuse. No excuse for the attitude of the company. It gives me no solace that a $70K M3 gas gauge is just as far off as mine when the company response is "so what". It tells me the company does not care about it's products or customers. I expect more. The Mini IS marketed and priced as a step up. It's "fun factor" is a big step up no doubt. It is not like when Jaguar sold the Mk VII as "Almost as good as RR at half the price".

I am not so much complaining as I knew the reliability issues when I bought it. I am giving BMW fair warning to get their act together before someone like Cherry kicks their backsides. It is only a matter of time. Get it together in both reliability and attitude or you will wake up in a couple of years as the Beijing Motor Works.

 

I find MINI's to be hit or miss with quality...there are definitely Wednesday cars, and definitely Monday cars.

My previous R53 was bulletproof, drove the pants off of it and never had an issue. This R56 has its share of issues....nothing major really, but it just seems like it never quite works as well as it should. They certainly have their quirks. It has never left me stranded on the side of the road or anything like that. Just small annoying stuff here and there.

I've had friends that have had their MINI's lemoned...both an R53 and R56. And then I know people who have never had a single issue on either. It's just like any other car, there will always be problems in some.

 

I guess it helps if you know beforehand what you are buying into. I just picked up my first MINI, a 2008 MCS, but before buying I was fortunate to read these forums and had an idea what I might be up against.

If I had purchased the vehicle without knowing what to expect and was hit with the routine issues, I would probably have had a bad taste in my mouth about the car. (Already went to the dealer with a laundry list of warranty issues to take care of, they were awesome and did it all in just a couple hours).

So far I am very happy with my R56... BUT... I traded in my bulletproof 2006 Kia Rio for her. As much a people might talk smack about Kia, the new ones are well built. They just don't have any soul (even the Soul, lol), which is why I was happy to turn in my gas-n-go daily driver for a vehicle that may (or may not) need a little more love and attention, but keeps me happy.

That being said, I would be ecstatic if my MINI was a reliable as my $12k Kia was, hopefully she will be She reminds me a lot of my '04 VW R32 (which I very sadly had to trade in for the wife's SUV when we had our kiddo). A ton of fun to drive, but some had a number of issues, and most ended up with squeaks/rattles. And yet, still a ton of fun to drive