All makes/models will have % of vehicles with issues. It is a part of manufacturing and design. MINI will constantly makes changes/upgrades which leads to differences even within a model year. I had a service advisor tell me that cars coming of the line on the same day could have different parts and software programming. I'm a half full glass type guy. I love driving the MINI....Not a a big fan of bringing in to be serviced. I have just under 11,000 and am considering trading it in before the warranty is up. Would I get another MINI...probably not, BUT they are fun cars. I have a service appointment again this week, hoping it will be the last time I need to bring my car in for service outside of maintenance. Goodluck everyone and spring is just around the corner, let the spirited driving begin!!!!!!!

 

Well said, rixter.

 

If you just have to have a Mini, I'd get whatever the newest lowest mileage one is you can afford. If you're just pondering a Mini, I would definitely recommend looking at some other cars. "Quirky" just means the car's a fun POS. It doesn't matter how many times I go into the dealer, they really can't really solve any of the ongoing issues, carbon buildup, sunroof that won't open/close, high pressure fuel pump that fails, timing chain rattles, .... maybe it's because Mini doesn't want to hire real technicians, maybe it's because they know it's a limited market and hope the current owners will just replace their Mini's with a new one every time they get close to being out of warranty ?

I can't imagine owning something else, but I sure wouldn't recommend a Mini to anyone in my family.

 

I have a MINI non-S version, it has been quite reliable, currently it has 90K Kms, knock on wood.

 

The non-"S" Cooper is the way to go!

I've recommended MINI's to several people. My only advice - skip the turbo engine and the sunroof. Go light on the options, get only the ones you will use - most MINI options are overpriced and you won't miss them. Use the thousands of dollars you save for a road trip, or save it for a new set of tires (the run-flats don't last long). Enjoy the steering, braking, handling balance and the nice zingy engine. Great fuel economy and reliability, too.

Just my opinion, of course.


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If you look at cars on the road you assume they are all great cars. At least that is my feeling. I can look at a Nissan, Subaru, Toyota, etc... all seem like good cars. If I go hunting on forums I will find all kinds of issues that people seem to complain about w/ each manufacturer. My wife has a Toyota, it has had no issues at 180k miles. I've gone online several times for advice on how to change the in-cabin air filter and things like that. I have come across many complaints on her Toyota ..many report the same issues (which we have not experienced). Yet most would say a Toyota is a great car, but you read forums and you'll find issues.

Same for MINI's, ...ask most drivers who own a MINI how they like their car and they'll rave about it. You go on a dedicated forum for MINI's and you are going to find people who report their problems, ...I have a hunch that a forum is a place for people to converge and report their issues. So again, just a hunch, but when problems are reported on forums it probably represents a very small portion of the actual population (in regards to problems w/ cars).

I've owned my MINI S since 2008 and have had ZERO issues. It's a GREAT car, I love driving it and plan on keeping it for many years. I get MINI car magazines, etc... there aren't mentions of any "bad" years of MINI's in the magazines I read. Last, if a problem was so widespread (such as faulty accelerator pedals on Toyota Prius's) there would be a recal and/or lawsuits leading to a recal. I've not heard of a recal for MINI's (other than the exhaust pipe recal/voluntary fix). If you are unaware of the tailpipe fix, it was basically that MINI felt (probably due to some lawsuit) that people could get burned on their legs if taking something out of the trunk of their MINI as the tailpipes on some models particularly the "S" models stuck out a bit far. -It was not a performance issue w/ the car, but a saftey issue.

I'd recommend you buy any year MINI that you like and that you get a MINI that meets your needs in terms of mileage, condition, color and model.

 

Yes, all cars have some inherent design flaws, take Subaru and their head gaskets that all start leaking after 60-100k miles. It's a pain the butt to replace them, but I can R&R a non-turbo engine, clean the heads, properly prep the block, replace the headgaskets and re-seal the rest of the engine (R&R oil pump, cam seals, spark plug tube seals, valve cover gaskets, etc) along with a major service in 6-8 hours and a couple hundred dollars in parts. Even the turbo engine in your Porsche 930 with the usual air-cooled oil leaks can be done in the same (or less time) with only a bit more in parts costs (I've worked in a Porsche racing shop as well) ..

The Mini is not nearly as nice to work on, the engine's meant to be replaced not serviced and the most of the subsystems can only be replaced (programmed/added to the bus) by the dealer for some truly outrageous costs. I would way rather own and maintain an old aircooled Porsche than a Mini that's out of warranty, it's just too bad the 911 isn't terribly practical for going to Costco or Home Depot :P

Mini doesn't seem to do recalls on the R56 because they don't seem to have any real fixes for their problems, even the HPFP problem isn't a recall, it's just an extended warranty on the one component. You'll seldom see recalls in the industry for non-safety related failures. Internal TSB's are another story, and Mini has LOTS of those.

It's definitely worth doing some research before deciding to drop a size-able chunk of change on a used Mini. If nothing else, see if there's a good independent Mini repair shop nearby and have them do a pre-purchase inspection. If they don't find anything wrong, it's a small fee for some peace of mind, if they do find something wrong, you'll at least have some idea what to expect in the near future and some bargaining power.