So heres a lovely new behavior in addition to the occasional "super knock" that I've enjoyed so far.

Today the check engine light comes on, steady empty yellow (manual says emissions related). Also, the engine cooling fan seems to run constantly now at high speed even when the engine is cool and just crusing around the neighborhood. After shutting the car off, the fan runs for 5 minutes. I know this CAN happen when the car is very hot, but its 58 degrees outside. Turns itself off after 5 minutes. This happens even after starting the car, letting it idle for 10 seconds and shutting it off. Have never had the fan run after shutting the car off before ever.

I've owned 25 cars in my life, and this one has already had more problems than any of them. I'm really sorry I bought it now. I traded in a perfectly functioning Mustang GT for it. Bad move. Theres a reason MINI is at the bottom of the list on the surveys, these cars really are junk. Will never buy a BMW/German car again. I'll be dumping this POS as soon as possible in the next year or two when I won't lose my **** on it. Hopefully between now and then the dealer can fix whatever the hell is wrong with it. Its fun to drive when it works right (which seems rare).

2011 MCSa 2950 miles, owned for a couple months. Bought brand new.

 

Sorry to hear of the problems you are having.

But Please don't trash the brand yet.

I have had mine for three plus years now and have 73K+ on it and have had only one problem and that is a High Pressure Fuel Pump and MINI has been great about it and extended the warranty to 100K for that part.

My MINI has actually had the least problems of all the cars i have owned in the past 30 years. Both my Nissan's had engine replacements before they got to 50K miles and my Dodge and VW's were in and out of the shop a lot more than the MINI ever has been.

I hope the dealer can get the car straight for you and that you regain some confidence in the brand.

 

Worst car I ever had in my life was a Ford. I'll never buy another. Best car has been my 2011 MINI which except for two defective tyres has been totally trouble free. Every brand has it lemmons, for me it was a Ford, for you a MINI. Sorry to hear about your troubles but MINI, IMHO makes a damn fine car.

 

OP is ignoring the fact that his issue seems to be the same thermostat issue in the other thread going on right now, and that MINI doesn't make that component themselves. Like Ford, they source components like that from other companies (often, the same ones as other manufacturers).

 

I owned 5 Fords in a row, zero problems. A dozen Nissans, zero problems. (1) new MINI, couple months later, 800 miles super knock... 2900 miles thermostat shot. Dealer can't even get the car in for almost a week, which is another convenience. Theres nothing at this point that won't make me look at this thing sitting in the garage and think "piece of crap" unfortunately. I've had more cars than anyone I know, from nearly every manufacturer that sells one costing under 60 grand, and this ones the worst so far.

 

You didn't read too much of that thread, because I posted in it after making this one. Anyway, I'm not going to keep ranting on here, as I know the forum is going to be slanted towards people who despite this brand getting the worst ratings for reliability seem to think the cars are great. My dumb *** bought one anyway. Never again...

Will post back with whatever happens at the dealer. I'm on them now to get the car in earlier to fix their brand new broken automobile.

 

You've got pretty demanding standards...What would you envison MINI should have done to handle the thermostat issue? Hook each one up to a machine and test it under it's intended workload for 3 months before they put it in the car? I suspect you'd be annoyed that they gave you a car with used parts then.

You've owned 5 fords in a row with no problems. My mom's had 3 in a row that all have been in and out of the shop constantly - INCLUDING a Mustang. I know dozens of people with trouble free VWs. Mine needed over $18,000 in repairs over the life of my 60 month loan, and was in need of another $2000-3000 in repairs from failures when I traded it in.

You're also not taking into account that the vast majority of your 5 fords and dozen nissans didn't use computer controls to the degree that any modern car does. There are so many more things being constantly varied and monitored by the ECU in any modern engine that anything pre-2000 or so is almost incomparable. If your 1979 240z didn't report superknocks, misfires, detonation, rich mixture, etc. that's because it lacked the technology to notice them.

It's a shame that you have such a short temper that one problem that could just as easily been your driving style as a sensor mishap (btw- MINI doesn't manufacture their sensors themselves, either - again one of those companies all sorts of manufacturers buy from), and another third party component failure that will be covered under warranty make you consider a car a complete waste. After having 17 completely flawless cars that never had a single problem ever of any sort in their whole lifespans (you do realize that sounds more than a little incredible, right?), I can understand your standards must be pretty high - but so far I doubt your MINI has cost you anything beyond possible diagnostic time for that superknock.

At least your MINI dealer is better about scheduling than the Subaru dealer I used to have do the repairs on my Impreza. They're a really old dealership, and they only have 3 repair bays in their service department.

I can imagine they'd just laugh at somebody that got uppity about accepting the fact that they might have other cars in line before theirs.

By the by, how old are you? You've mentioned 18 cars you've owned in this thread, and if you're not lying about owning one from "nearly every manufacturer that sells one costing under 60 grand", that's at least 30 more.

So...you've owned what...50 cars? And by your response to your MINI having a couple hiccups apparently you've never had any problems with them, so I'd imagine they MUST have all been new when you purchased. So, in that case you're either 266 years old or so (having financed each on an assumed 60 month loan), or so rich that a superknock and a thermostat should never make you scoff because even if you scrap the car it's ONLY $25,000...

Have you done any research into what changes have been made in the 2011 MINI? You own a car that's in it's first production year for both the engine and clutch being used in that platform, AND you bought REALLY early in the year. If you've really owned over 50 cars, you should KNOW well enough to know that you never buy the first production year of something important if you're going to get upset about something going awry.

There're just too many things that don't add up about your supposed previous quantity and quality of cars. If you don't like your MINI, just accept that and leave it at that. Don't go posting outlandish claims about how bad the brand is or how great your ninety-eleven other cars from everybody BUT BMW/MINI/any german car company were. This site isn't just full of fanboys that can't accept that MINI has used to lame engines and that many dealerships have given sub-par experiences. We WOULD be supportive if you just said "I think this car's flaky, and I think that sucks!"

 

I'm not reading your entire wall of text in detail, because just spot-checking it, I can tell its full of ridiculous statements not based on reality or any truth you could possibly know about me.

I don't have any idea how many cars I've had total, but its "a lot". My estimate of 25 off the top of my head turns out to be quite low. Since you're so interested in #s, here are some I could think of. I have always owned multiple cars at a time, these aren't sequential (I've only got 4 right now, not my all-time high). And I'm not listing them all, I have work to do here today after all...


Fords
----------
1995 Ford Probe GT
2007 Mustang GT
2010 Mustang GT
2006 F-150
2008 F-150
2010 F-150

Nissans
--------------------
1996 SE-R
1997 Maxima SE
1998 Pathfinder
1998 Frontier
1999 Pathfinder
2000 Altima
2001 Frontier
2002 SE-R
2003 Maxima SE
2004 Xterra
2010 Xterra
2005 350Z 35th edition

Other misc
---------
2000 Chevy Z28
2003 Subaru WRX
1994 Chevy Cavalier
1998 Hyundai Elantra
2006 Toyota FJ Cruiser
1997 Jeep Wrangler
2000 Jeep Wrangler
2009 Jeep Wrangler
2006 VW GTI
2005 Dodge Dakota
1988 Pontiac Firebird Formula
1986 Mercury Capri
2009 Mazdaspeed 3

I know I'm missing a couple. The 86 Mercury snapped a belt at 96,000. The 88 Firebird lost an alternator and ball joints at some point, too long ago to remember. The Dodge Dakota had an O2 sensor go bad at about 10,000 miles, caused CEL, dealer fixed.

No other major problems with any of them. The Fords and Nissans were flawless mechanically. I recall taking in the 2001 Frontier for a "rattle", it was just a loose heat shield on the catalytic converter. 2006 GTI was a rattle trap but nothing mechanical. Traded in at 32,000 miles.

This MINI is the most trouble-filled car I've ever had, and thats hard fact buddy. Good day to you, keep on making excuses for subpar quality and bad engineering if it makes you feel better. I won't even bother to report back the results, why bother clearly. /unsubscribe

 

With only under 3,000 miles and already numerous problems, personally, i'd cursed the heck out of the MINI brand too and will most likely call it a POS. I had a knock and CEL on mine, took it in and they found nothing. I hope that's the extent of "UNNECESSARY INCONVENIENCE" for me. Also hoping that my MINI would still be under warranty when something major does happen, so then i can make a decision in getting rid of it and not losing a fortune. Yes Yes i know, owning cars isn't a painless proposition, with what.. crack windshield from road debris, flat tires, nicks, dings.

MINI11 is actually in a better position than say, someone who is trouble free now only to have the problematic issues when out of warranty.

 

so who cares what other cars you have had.. i think this thread was asking for help not to know your laundry list of horrible fords and crappy nissans.

OP,

I was having some cooling issues - Thermostat and water pump in the same week. My fan doesnt run constantly but as it is warming up out here I notice it runs a little more often than it used to and runs when i turn off the car. Personally I dont think its an issue if its keeping my car cool.

Have you noticed any leaking coolant? have you checked the overflow to see if there is anything in there?

 

He said 58 deg and also comes on when started and left idle for 10 sec's then turned off. I don't think it's same with what you just said.

 

Well without running the CEL there is really no help that can be provided.. I would check your coolant level to be honest. You could be leaking and running low and therefore the fan is compensating for the fact you have low coolant, does your heat still blow warm? If not you are low on coolant.

I would start there and run that CEL.. There should always be a little coolant in your overflow.

 

Unless I've missed some other threads he's posted a litany of problems in, he's had ONE superknock and a failed thermostat that was manufactured by somebody other than MINI themselves.

How is that "numerous problems", or enough to call the car and the brand a POS? The superknock could be anything, he never says what was done or found about it, and the thermostat is a minor part.


Seriously...you people are PRETTY eager to get cheesed off about a mass-produced machine comprised of thousands of other mass-produced parts from dozens of different manufacturers. Batches of bad parts happen. Any rational adult knows that. They fail, they get replaced, you go on with your life...

On a funny side note, it's interesting to see how many of the cars the OP speaks of the reliability on had recalls on them. I stopped counting the recalls when I got past a dozen and hadn't gotten much past "Ford". Any reliability he may have realized out of them was purely because things like this thermostat issue were encountered and dealt with via recalls. You can get all shouty on the internet about it, or you can be an adult and bring it to their attention so they notice they have something that might need fixing.

That said, I'll never excuse MINI for not doing the obvious recalls they've needed to do for a while, but that doesn't make their car a POS any more than the fact that just about every F-150 ever built has had to have its power steering pump replaced at least once does to discredit the F-150 as a solid work truck.

 

I had unsubbed this thread and never looked at it since, but its probably the best place to report back.

MINI fixed the thermostat, took 5 hours while I sat there. Turned off the CEL. They are still unable and unwilling to admit to the "superknock" that happens constantly, and offered no fix. Visited the service department 3x in 4 months of ownership, and 3600 miles on the car. The worst record of my many, many cars over the years. Thats a raw fact, I don't care what other recalls or TSBs you can dig up. I lived it.

So I traded the car in a couple days ago. I guess I'll stick with my "horrible fords and crappy nissans" that have never let me down once, and skip the MINI from now on. There is a reason its dead last in the reliability surveys, and its not because of a global conspiracy. My survey got sent in a few weeks ago documenting my issues as well. Its a fun car to drive though, I'll give it that. Its also the last MINI/BMW product I'll ever buy. Maybe I'm just a quitter, call me what you will.

Anyway, I traded it in for a brand new decked out Maxima. Also grabbed a new Titan too, because I wanted another full sized truck, and they were having a sale. I'll go ahead and assume these two "crappy nissans" will follow suit with the other dozen I've had and won't have me sitting in the service department 3x each in the next 90 days.

Good luck with your MINIs folks, I sincerely hope you fare better than I did with mine. I know some people have no issues, but obviously some do as well to earn the brand its reliability reputation. In any case, I would not recommend anyone have one of these MINIs out of warranty.

 

FYI... my check engine light came on @ about 4k miles. Brought it to my dealership, they replaced the thermostat. @ 7k miles, check engine light came on again, but they say I did not tighten my gas cap on correctly (i know how to tighten a gas cap).

Right now, my radiator fan is having the same EXACT problem as yours. 50 degrees right now, but still spins as if I just drove through the desert. Start the engine for 10 seconds, and continues to spin for about 5 minutes.

Going to call the dealer tomorrow, but this is going to be the 3rd time bringing my car into the dealer.

2011 MCS @ 9k miles.

 

Wish you had started a new thread, I unfortunately had to read the rest of it (although I did get a good laugh when the OP posted pics of his cool new Nissans...lolz).

In any event, interested to hear how the dealership visit goes. Good luck.

 

smylekids, it sounds to me like your "new" thermostat is dead as well perhaps. The MINI service department was courteous, albeit a bit slow, and found/fixed the thermostat issue readily as they should have. The superknock they blamed on the thermostat and it continued to do that the next day after the thermostat was replaced. They never did acknowledge it otherwise, all I got was a shrug and various theories, one of which was accusing me of using "cheap gas" which wasn't true.

Anyhow, I hope they can get things sorted out for you. I'm enjoying the new Maxima quite a bit, its a little faster than the MINI was and is actually somewhat entertaining to drive in the canyons despite its size. I'm not a fan of CVT trannies, but using the manual shift mode or just the auto "sport" mode causes the thing to mimic a standard auto transmission quite convincingly. All in all, a great car so far. I expect it to be solid as hell like my 97 and 03 Maximas were.

For what its worth, I had paid $26,500 for the MINI back in March. I got $24,500 on trade in for it, so not bad at all. The Maxima was bought at dealer invoice minus $3000 in rebates. The Japanese manufacturers are hosed after the earthquake/tsunami. Toyota and Honda have responded with no deals trying to get a premium on anything new they might be able to actually get a hold of, and Nissan has gone the other way just trying to make deals and up the volume. I got like $8000 off the Titan because nobody is buying 14mpg trucks anymore. Good thing I just work from home on my own business, so commuting/mileage isn't an issue for me.

Take care guys, good luck with your MINIs.

 

Having the same issue with the fan. I just had a couple thermostat related codes come up on AP which didn't on my cheap obd2 scanner. Going to change the sensor and thermostat and see what happens. For the record, my car (the mini is the girlfriends, this is her acct) is an 07 G35 that i have owned since new. I come from a long line of old BMW's and a few other randoms. The G35 is the single worst car i have ever owned. it was on its 3rd engine by the time warranty was up, first was at 17k. I have replaced the fuse box (ipdm) 3 times also due to an inherent flooding problem. I was pretty active on the G/Z boards for a couple years and have many friends with them. I would say a good 30-40 percent have had engines or trannies replaced. I'll deal with the minor quirks of the mini while nissan hands out engines and hard parts like they are candy on halloween

 

I got a random PM which brought me back to the board to check it.

The Maxima and Titan are both running flawlessly with double the mileage of the MINI when I ditched it, just as the other dozen Nissans I've had. Since then the wife bought a decked out Murano that has 6000 miles on it so far, with zero issues as well. Thats about 15+ Nissans total in the past few decades. Still waiting for a failure. When I saw that last TSB about the MINIs catching on fire, I was disappointed that mine never did, lol.

Take care...