If MINI would revise more than just $$$$$$$$$$$ parts to make them better and fix faults, then it would help.... Lets see...look at gen1 cars.... think they could to redesign the coolant tank..... or the engine mounts? Both are 30-35,000 mile parts.... things like rusty rear window squirters...Hm...water...corrosion...who would have thought... some of the BAD parts just defy explanation... Seem to me an engineer could spend a few minutes and make "service level" parts that are fixes....you should not have to relay on the aftermarket to fix the basic crap... How many times has the same stupid crap caused issues....OVER AND OVER.. on gen2 you have a sticking PCV valve that results in the need for a new valve cover....its MOLDED in... Guess I could go on...guess the guys that are in shops could list JUNK OEM MINI parts that FAIL so often it is a JOKE... Sure some were compromises...things like LCA bushings made of rubber.... but look at the QUALITY of the RUBBER.... But some of the CHEAPNESS of MINI goes back to production... My Wife's Toyota's rubber parts were like new after 13 years....on the MINI the rubber on the beltine, the moldings, all were all CRAP and cracking and stiff sooner.... WHY...EXCESSIVE CHEAPNESS on buying parts at the OEM LEVEL... SO much for PREMIUM SMALL CAR!!
Well, if you thought your MINI was unreliable: Why I would never by a GM car again. My previous family car was a factory ordered Buick Century. From day 1, the car had issues. The passenger door was misaligned and did not close without having to lift it a bit. I returned to the dealer 5 times to have it fixed. The fifth time, I went into the shop and showed the mechanic what I was talking about including what I had to do in order to just close the door. Wheel bolts broke while driving. Had to replace them on my own dime. Engine rattled when cold. Car was recalled because the highlight bulbs installed were considered too hot. GM's remedy, replace with noticeably dimmer light bulbs. Replaced battery every 2 to 3 years. tailight bulb sockets melted. GM's remedy, keep replacing light bulbs (wear and tear items so I paid for them). Turned out the plastic bulb sockets wer melted. So I paid $50 each for new sockets. Years 6 to 9 after the warranty expired, I was spending close to $5000 a year just to keep the car running. Year 9 was told my engine heads had cracked. Decided it was cheaper to own a BMW 5 series so got rid of the Buick as fast as I could. In spite of the few niggling issues I had with my MINI over the 11 years I've driven it, it has been the epitome of economical to own and reliability in my books. Even though I think they should have done a better job with the top engine mount and the bottom mounted power steering fan, at least MINI extended the warranty on it and I never actually had the fan blow out on me. and having this level of reliability and being a hoot to drive. It's been great.
My first MINI was a 2006 R53 (Nov. 2005 build) was totally trouble free from day one to when I sold it in Dec. 2011 with 75k+ on the clock. My second one, a 2012 R58 JCW (Dec. 2011 build) has also been trouble free with the exception of one coil going bad. I do really think that it is the luck of the draw whether you have a good one or a bad one.
Luck of the draw is definitely a factor. There's always quite a bit of variation from car to car, for all makes. What varies is the percentage of cars with no problems, and that of cars with many problems. But you always have both groups with any car. We cover this in the site's "repair odds" stats, which are more useful than averages, but which also require more data. So I'm always doing my best to get more people involved.
A whole lot of a cars reliability comes from the owner. Some folks can screw up anything. This is true, but I don't know how you'd add that to how reliable or unreliable a car is.