Yikes...MINI drop 3 places to 3rd from last in this years Consumer Reports Predicted Reliability Report.
Since VW is 0% better than average, VW reliability represents the industry average. I never would have guessed that. Nor would I have guessed that Mini's expected reliability is 35% worse than VW! I don't remember what Consumer Reports uses to define predicted reliability, but I know we have had many discussions about whether the average Mini owner is more likely to notice and report problems than owners of other makes. Nevertheless, that wouldn't account for being 35% worse than VW. On the other hand, the bottom of the list is generally populated by smaller volume, specialty marques. It could be that the lower production levels mean faults are more likely and Mini is just fitting that trend. Porsche at the top goes the opposite direction, while Chrysler and Dodge go the opposite direction to the bottom.
Something tells me that the 2011 model year -- with the benefit of the mid-cycle refresh and three years of lessons learned -- will end up being the MOST reliable year of the 2nd Gen MINI.
To see that the MINI fairs below Mercedes-Benz is really distrubing. The Cold-start, HPFP, stuck-sunroof are all wide-spread problems that BMW/MINI refuses to acknowledge and fix (on a broad scale).
I can believe it. You all should see the stacks of repair tickets I have on both my cars. 3 roofs on the convertible, 2 sunroof repairs on the tin top, belts, pulleys, clutches, seals, axles. And that's just the big stuff.
:incazzato: So do I. But not right now. Left work only to find the battery dead in the vert. Have to wait for the wife to bring me tools to pull the STB to get to the battery. :mad2:
At Goaljinky, what year is your MINI? Also, interesting on Audi......I've heard several mechanics lately, when asked Audi or Mercedes, that they're seeing better reliability these days with Audi.
I really take consumer reports with a grain of salt these days. In the last decade or so they have lost allot of cred. in my book. Stuff they recommend often is just crap and you have to read the end user comments disputing their findings to find out what people are really have a positive experience with Problem is that some people do give them credence That said I had several issues with mine that seemed to have been resolved with the head replacement, that was over 30K miles ago. Mighty fine motoring ever since My wife's 2010 has been perfect, not a lick of a problem 1 year after picking up
I have two. An '05 MCc and an '06 MCS JCW. I've never done the hard count of my repair tickets from the dealer, but I would say 3-4 per car in the first 3 years of ownership would be an accurate guess. My beef with Audi is not based on mechanical issues, but on how they treated me as a customer. Basically, their 3 year / 36,000 mile free maintenance ran out in 14 months and 12k miles. They've lost me as a customer at that point. Never mind about the crooked azz Keys Audi Dealer in Van Nuys, CA. I've learned my lesson not to buy a car on a whim and a buzz. :crazy:
Only problem I have had that req'd a dealer to address was a bad ground that caused a rear brake light not to function. Took 2 weeks to figure out with the help of a factory troubleshooter from Oxford. But I only have 40K on the car so far......
I'm starting to think I must have gotten a good one. Only problem was the stupid window dippers. They now work, but not like they are suppose to. I have ceased to care, but I do listen when the doors are shut to hear them go up the tiny bit that they do move.. Jim
Everyone... needs to remember that their own car is just one of hundreds of thousands produced, and may or may not represent the typically ownership experience. From my perspective as someone who writes about the cars, and has been involved with them since 2002, MINIs ARE worse than they need to be. The MINI organization is LESS supportive, in general, on "problem areas" of the car than I think that they should be. That said, the whole auto industry is making better and better product with time, and that we are all expecting a better and better ownership experience that is "trouble free" for an ever increasing amount of time from an ever more complex product. And in general, we do mostly get that. Matt
I gladly except the quirks of owning an R53 MINI. The car has soul & personality. While it would be nice if it was problem free I would not trade it for the automotive equivalent of a Maytag. God would that be boring.
Here is our MINI ownership reliability record(more or less) We have owned 4 MINIs StLouieLo, aka, Mrs lotsie, has owned 3. An early 03 Justa, a very early 05 Justa Cabrio, and a Launch Edition Clubman S. I have owned an April build 03 Justa, since July/03. So has any of these left us stranded? Yes, the Cabrio, and the Clubman. Blown clutch on both, both under 30K miles, both fixed under warranty. Has there been "drive-ability" issues? Yes, the roof on the Cabrio was replaced 3 times under warranty. The 03 of mine lost a tranny at about 30k miles. Axle seals froze at -45C, dumped fluid slowly for 50 miles, did not know till I stopped, went to the dealer instead of work. Tech said new tranny. On the spot, swapped out the old axle seals, drained, filled, drained the tranny, filled again, sent me on my way. Old tranny worked like a charm till the new one got installed, 3 weeks later. In those days I was driving 100 miles a day, 5 months of COLD winter, on bald a$$ prairie . Reliability was very important. Nothing else, besides some paint work after saving my life as we ran 100 feet off a gravel road(rear tire blew at about 45mph) and regular maintenance has kept Poco from motoring. The Cabrio and the Clubman have a longer list of warranty issues that have been dealt with. So does the "Predictability" of reliability of 2011 MINIs mean much to me? No Mark
When opportunity presented itself to get my 07 MCSa in 2007, I looked at 05 and 06 R53s, too. I have been very lucky with the 07, it is not driven hard except on the track and a few twisties. I decided a first year turbo with a new engine could not be any worse than buying a high end Porsche or Lotus. Thus far I have been very happy with the decision, enough so we ordered a first edition Countryman ALL4 for my wife. Perhaps I will get lucky twice. Don Hey, I noticed my garage went away, must have been that refresh a few months back. :lol:
Just curious, why has Mrs Lotise owned 3 and Mr Lotise only 1? I probably know the answer, but thought I would ask anyway. Jim