Most liked posts in thread: Consumer Reports has no love for MINI

What a coincidence, I have no love for Consumer Reports. :incazzato:

Can't wait to tell Babs her justaclubster is craptastic. On second thought mums the word. :wink:

 

Well, I am just going to run right out and buy a Honda... ut:

Sorry if I just don't fit into the conform-to-boring-a$$ed-car crowd. I want a car that turns heads, is super fun to drive, and doesn't look like every other BMOT (boring mode of transportation) out there.

 

Long live my R53!!!

 

Cough...cough....:devil:...BS.:ihih:

 

My thoughts exactly John.

Jim

 

:cornut: This is why I love MA and Minis/Miniacs. We can all(USUALLY)see and understand the other guy's side of the discussion. Except for that dirty little panty waist hair dresser%%##@@&&**:devil:...........:lol::lol::lol:

Jason(R56.....R56.....R56....(maybe soon R55 JCW[rated even lower than the R56.........I'm up for the challenge] waiting for Sep12 to get the 2013 version of new JCW engine.):arf::drool

 

:cornut: Life Goes On. The love, appreciation and excitement/drivebility is hard to quantify/qualify. We know about it but nonMini people don't. Do we spend a lot of money on our Minis? Hell yeah and love every minute of it. Do we know ahead of time that we are adopting in to a controversial family? Hell yeah and we'll pamper our babies no matter what. If we wanted a Ford that lasts forever,even while being abused, then we would get one. We want a car that from 3 blocks away people will say,"there goes Bill.I'd know that car any where." Or a car where the passenger says,"better slow down for this turn up ahead" and go right through it while accelerating. We're Mini people and most others will never understand us. We are willing to 'keep ahead of the maintainance curve' and care for a car that is tuned to the 'inth degree.' We know that they will break and we accept that(and save rainy day money). No They'll Never Understand Mini People. It's more fun to stay quiet and just observe them scratching their heads and wondering what's wrong with us as we keep smiling and drive on..:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:

Jason

 

No really. It IS my favorite.

 

I'm not sure if you're referring to my post, but if so, I wasn't saying that MCS's weren't Coopers, just saying I would only specifically recommend a 'Cooper', not a Cooper S.

I agree that it's no surprise that the MCS is less reliable. I should clarify that the people I have recommended Coopers to are not 'enthusiasts'. If an enthusiast asked about a Cooper S, I would say go for it, but let them know about the potential issues. For people who usually drive Hyundais, Hondas, Toyotas, etc., I can only recommend the Cooper. It's very unfortunate, but for those people (in fact, MOST people), the Cooper will offer all the MINI character, performance, and efficiency that they need... So paying extra for power they don't need and getting less reliability is a trade-off most people probably shouldn't make.

 

We took CR's advice one time many years ago on what car to buy, it was a Puegeot. Need I say more other than we never put much stock in their car advice.

Mini Cooper is not a Honda, would have it no other way!

 

Ok I have to chime in on this one ! 1st I know Nathan is just being the messenger and so no blame to him ! It's an interesting thread and worth discussing . I don't like at all Consumer Reports at all !! I have made purchases (appliances not cars) based on their reports when I was a younger guy when was a 1st time home owner and absolutely totally regretted it EVERY time. By the time I was 25 I had realized this report for the most part is completely useless !! The parameters of there test are often arbitrary, inaccurate, and often down right silly. As a professional ( I worked as a professional research analyst in the technology sector for 8 years) I have come across direct information that this body (Consumer Reports) completely misrepresent themselves as a non bias total consumer advocate. (For legal and liability reasons I won't go into details) No more is this more glaring then auto comparisons. Often comparing the top trim of one vehicle to the base of another based on cost for instance or even what grade of fuel a car takes. I have seen them make track comparisons between two vehicles one testing a vehicle with standard rubber while the other vehicle tested is on performance exclusive summer tires. I have even seen test where they tested two sport cars where one car was just a flat out sport car and the other had a sport "mode" and did NOT engage the sport mode on the car that had one ! Then complained that the car not it sport mode was "Disappointingly tamed" a duh ! They also don't double check or verify that consumer reviews are made by actual owners. It goes on and on. In the current economic times they have (for I guess one would assume to be political reasons) heavily favored and some may even say embellished reports of cars by US manufacturers. Giving for instance glowing reviews of GM products they latter were plagued by obvious manufacturer defects and oversights. (I'm not bashing GM products but using this fact to make a point about Consumer Review) There were what could only be assumed to be purposeful oversight with some problems of Ford products. Problems that were not made in the European versions because these problems WERE detected early by the European quality control guys at Ford ! Why didn't Consumer Report catch these problems if they were so easily spotted by the European folks ? One could make the conclusion that they were either ignored or the evaluation was some what lacking. (Again not bashing Ford)

Most international reviews of the MINI are quite good. Also Many in this thread IMHO got it exactly right ! These cars are not just "grocery getters" if your not going to understand these are indeed sport cars and require extra maintenance and care in that regard one would probably be better served driving something else. That being said Most mini owners even the not sport crowd LOVE the MINI and are multi generation owners. I know some here have stated that they have a issues with BMW ownership and manufacturing of the MINI power plant. (I respect and understand that point of view) On the contrary however, I have also read sev auto journals and owners say that since BMW has come into the picture the reliability has dramatically improved. MINI is and hopefully always be a niche market ! That is what makes it fun ! Remember when BMW sold off a lot of it's various other auto company holdings in other original manufacturers the one auto company the didn't sell, or liquidate was MINI ! With every car especially one as unique as MINI there will always be a certain ratio of buyers remorse. However the culture, loyalty, and continue enthusiasm of MINI really speaks for itself. I would suggest that YES before one buys a MINI they should EXTENSIVE research multiple test drives and join a forum as educational, honest, and friendly as this one. That's what I did and in the process of doing right now ! SO MOTOR on MINI owners and don't despair... LOL and IMHO don't let any review good or bad from Consumer Reports effect your pride or experience in your or even future MINI.

 

Whadda they know.........Hell, what's it even matter? ut:

But thanks, Nathan, for reminding me why I never consult them for anything I'm looking at buying.

 

I just never felt CR were really testing cars properly... It's not the same as dropping a toaster from 4 feet or seeing which paper towel is more absorbent..... Just were is the grin test or the "yea ha" test on the MINI..... They just don't get it IMHO.....

 

Well......unfortunately the BMW/PEUGEOT motor is not doing MINI any favors and we own one. This motor is giving us a black eye. Steve from CMS has had some MAJOR repairs to these cars, last week a complete long block replacement, the customer really had to think if he wanted to spend the money....he eventually decided to. A month ago a lady turned in her car to the bank, in lieu of spending the cash to do the dreaded timing chain fiasco I mean if we decide to keep my wife's car, we will spend the cash for the extended warranty, you have to :fingerscrossed:

 

I drive a MINI because I like a MINI and the people that I've met while owning them. I don't give a carp what Consume-More Reports has to say.

 

So a MINI Cooper S is NOT a "Cooper", now? C'mon... Gimme a break. The R53's have their issues, also. Mainly you have to mod the crap out of them to keep up with the R56's... :devil:

In all seriousness, the MINI is a sports car. You can buy the Justa, and of course you will have fewer problems because there are fewer things to break and they are not typically being pushed as hard, but like any car, the more high performance it gets, the more issues will arise. Closer tolerances mean more opportunities for failure. Honda's and Toyota's in their most reliable forms are pretty boring. You start pumping up the performance, they start facing the same issues as anyone who has ever owned a sports car knows.

I love my MINI. It is the most fun car I have owned. Period.

 

Kinda like a tennis match. Cool.....:beer opcorn:

 

And even if you don't understand, it is wildly entertaining... :cornut:

 

How would you know? You haven't caught us yet... :biggrin5:

 

Oh stop it, your killing me...hahahahahahha ROFLMAO!!