I bought a used 2003 Mini Cooper one year ago. It now has 45,000 miles. Almost two weeks ago, I was driving to work on the highway and it started smoking and the power steering stopped working. I had it towed to the Stamford, CT dealership since I could not get in touch with anyone at the Hartford dealership. I was told that I needed all wiring harnesses replaced because they were burned, and the alternator and all power steering parts needed to be replaced as well. I was given no reason for why the car caught on fire. I have since learned (through the internet) that a fault with the power steering will spark a fire. I have been without my car for almost two weeks and it is still not ready. Do all Mini dealerships take their time with repairs? Is there so much repair business that good customer service is not needed? Why does a known defect that causes a fire not warrant a recall?

 

I would advise that you go check out www.carcomplaints.com My girlfriend's last car was a 2001 Honda Civic. Read up on Honda's there. Get actual reviews. When people get pissed enough they want to go rant online. Honda does a good job of quelling owner complaints. They have ALOT of quality issues. Toyota has alot of quality issues, EVERY manufacturer has some kind of quality issue... Hmm a 400 dollar bill to fix an air conditioner<a $2200 bill for a new trans. I don't think you have it that bad.

 

Yeah right, go to a car complaint site to get the real truth - all you get there are the complainers and the bashers.
No, Honda and Toyota do NOT have "ALOT of quality issues", they're both ranked very highly year after year both in terms of IQS and long term reliability - especially Honda. Mini Coopers on the other hand are ranked much worse than average in several areas just like the poster is experiencing. They're also on Consumer Reports list of used cars to avoid. I suggest you not base your statistics on anecdotal evidence, but instead base it on actual statistics from JD Power, Consumer Reports, etc - you know, companies that actually survey more than just the complainers?

 

My 03 Cooper S with 47,000 miles has been back to the dealer 3 times since new, for its regularly scheduled service only. Its mainly a summer driver - I have no qualms about its capability in the winter but I prefer to keep it out of the harsh conditions of winter in Canada. At around 30,000 miles (after the warranty expired by its time), I installed a Minimania stage 2 kit with additional performance parts - 15% s/c pulley, header and Borla exhaust, air intake, JCW injectors, Unichip ECU, lightweight crank pulley, all in all about a 225 hp kit. I kept the stock springs/height and installed Koni FSD shocks and a stiffer front anti-sway bar. The car is street-driven only, I wouldn't say its driven "hard" but certainly spirited.

Maybe I just got lucky - mine is holding up remarkably well so far, but I do sympathize with other Mini owners that are having reliability issues. I once had a service rep comment that my S must not have been built on a Monday, because they have a lot of issues with cars that were assembled on Mondays (can tell from the serial no.) That doesn't say much for their quality control program, although last year I toured the Oxford assembly plant and was very impressed with the whole operation. My Mini has been a great car so far and I hope that's the experience for the vast majority of owners.

 

I never understand it when I hear people spouting off about 'the clutch going out' or other problems that they have had with their Mini's. I bought a used 2006 JCW convertable last year, had 60K miles on it. I have never had a problem with anything. The clutch usually goes out in cars when the driver doesn't know how to drive with a clutch. Going to the dealer 10 times for the same problem sounds like a person with a personal problem. I doubt the car is the problem in any of these situations.

 

UGH, Just bought a 06' JCW Checkmate S on Friday (May 6th) Oh will! the look on my wifes face will be ALL worth it when it arrives.. Been working and fixing cars for 30 years...... Educate yourself.....ALL cars breakdown, U can't be that ignorant that ur car won't breakdown...cmon.......There is a reason years ago the dealers but that sticker in the windows that say.. "AS IS". Most all warranty work fixes that problem. Mini's are a high sports car. Not a Camry or 525i. For me and my wife come what may...I'm gonna drive it like I (we) stole it....

 

I don't own a Mini ( yet ) so I cannot personally attest to their quality or lack there of. I have, however, owned 17 cars over the last 18 years and have had some problem-free ones and some problem ones. I take car of all my cars as if they are show cars, pretty much drive the same in each one, so I'll take myself out as a possible variable.

I've owned 4 Jeeps including 2 Wranglers, A Cherokee & a Commander. All purchased brand new. 1st Wrangler Sahara - constant problems with brakes, transmission and one night a piece of plastic in the engine bay broke off while driving and floored the accelerator - nearly killed us. All within the warranty period. 2nd Wrangler - 0 problems. Cherokee - brakes 3 times under warranty, paint peeled off the hood & roof in under a year ( Chrysler would not fix ). Commander random stalling @ 70 mph, Airbag sensors, O2 sensors multiple times. Trying to find a dealer to actually perform warranty work - near impossible.

However, I have family & friends who have Jeep vehicles with no problems.

Also owned a '99 TransAm WS6 & a '99 Camaro SS - virtually the exact same car. Both 6 speeds, same engine, same everything. The engine in the TA blew at 31k miles due to excessive oil consumption ( known problem) 0 trips to the dealer for the SS. I've never had a clutch go out in any of my manual cars, some with over 100k miles.

My last car was an '06 Chrysler 300 SRT8, $50k car. At 60k miles I found out it has a nice little feature that shuts the engine off at 80 mph for no apparent reason. Almost got me and my 3 kids killed in the middle of a busy interstate. All you hear is a "ding", you get a lightning bolt image on the cluster and the car shuts off. Pretty sweet, huh. After countless diagnostic checks, sensors replaced, etc. Could never find a cause, and it would still randomly do it (about every 600 miles or so ) until I totaled that car.

So long-winded story that basically says, all makes of cars have problems. Are some more prone than others, probably. Maybe you were just the unlucky one this go round, I have been sometimes too.

Good luck.

 

BLAH BLAH F'ing BLAH, trade it in a a Honda so that someone that truly appreciates your MINI can enjoy it, I feel bad for it right now.

 

Ken: that's ok if you would not buy another MINI again. I suppose there are no MINIs out there that would adopt you either. So that means more MINIs for those of us that still love them. My MINI is wonderful. I wouldn't trade mine in for anything.

Seriously though, sorry you're having problems.