Most liked posts in thread: Looking for info on Mini reliability

Mike, word of warning. Buying the first round of donuts for this bunch could require taking out a loan.

Jim

 

Welcome, thanks for joining Motoring Alliance, the FUN and Friendly MINI Community.

I see you are in Central Ohio. We gather once a month on the 3rd Sat of the month for donuts, conversation and tire kicking at the Tim Hortons in New Albany from about 8.30 to 10.

I sure do understand your concerns, yet please keep in mind that what one reads on sites such as this is the issues people have. There are 10's of thousands of people that have no issues, are not members of these types of sites and are perfectly happy with their MINI. People don't pop on here and report they had yet another great trouble free drive.

 

Some times they do.

Welcome Aboard!

Come join us at Tim's on the 18th. The local guys don't care what you drive just as long as your a car guy

 

Well at least not until you officially buy a MINI...

 

:cornut: My Margi(08 R56 BRG MCS/JCWm) has had a few 'clangers' here and there but she is the most fun car that I've ever driven and she'll be my car until she's only a lump of rust on the side of the road.

Jason

 

Well... here's my report: I had yet another great trouble free drive! In fact, nothing but trouble free motoring! No problems whatsoever!

 

Welcome to M/A Mike.

Someone will be along answer your questions shortly.

 

Welcome to Motoring Alliance. Please stop out and visit with us on the 18th in New Albany. We're a friendly bunch and can answer most questions that you may have....about MINI's.

 

Welcome to the coolest MINI forum on the net...


I work in the MINI parts business, I have customers who get maintanace parts and have over 100,000 trouble free miles. I hear all the time when something does fail " This is the first time in years or ever that something broke" Like Nathan said most people don't go on forums and say " Today my MINI drove perfect with no issues"...Do a couple test drives and after the first couple of miles you will completely forget about any issues you might have read about.........Happy Motoring!

 

I don't have a 2013, but I'll be happy to tell you about my 2008 MCS.

I'm the second owner, and bought the car while it was still under warranty. I did have the timing chain done at about 45,000 - before the warranty was out, but to tell the truth I may have been overly paranoid about the noise I was hearing.

I've also had the clutch replaced recently (about 75,000 miles) but I blame that on the former owner. I've never owned an automatic and certainly do know how to drive a stick, so I know it wasn't me. Other than those two things, my MINI's been rock solid for reliability, and has only required regular maintenance items like oil, tires, and brakes. It's a daily driver that I take out for twisites when I can.

I've not modded my engine or anything along those lines - that's beyond my budget and ability. I am planning on slowly doing things like removing the rear seats, and adding a few bits here and there. There are people who do heavy modifications here, and they can tell you about that - this place is a great resource!

On the whole, if I think my 2008 is reliable and solid, chances are that a 2013 is going to be even better.

 

i cannot directly address 2013 models, but i have an 03/2012 build date cms all4 manual

it is now 13 months old with ~11k miles, been back to the dealer 2x, once for a service campaign and once for an oil/filter change ... i have changed the oil/filter 3x myself

the service campaign was for the coolant temp sensor, i had no trouble from the sensor before the campaign was performed, but as it applied to my serial number, i had it done

zero problems, mucho fun

my driving style is "aggressive", ~60% rural, ~20% city and ~20% highway and my overall mileage since new is 28.8 mpg

this is by far the best automobile i have ever owned

scott

 

My MINI is just over a year old, with 26k miles, and no issues.

I had a coolant sensor replaced via a service campaign, done with my first MINI-provided oil change; it had caused no problems.

The carbon buildup on the valves issue is not MINI-specific, but affecting several makes with direct-injection engines. I think the jury is still out on whether MINI's crankcase ventilation changes helped remedy the situation, few have many miles on their 2011+ models at this point. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. If not...I'll just assume that it's an additional maintenance item that needs doing ("50k miles: must be time for a walnut blasting; now it runs like new!").

 

Mike, unlike our typical invitation to donuts, we won't make you buy the first round!

 

Donut Holes FTW