Reliability Question

I'm thinking about trading in my wife's 1994 Infiniti G20 and getting her a Mini. I normally buy only Honda/Acura cars, but the Mini just looks to damn cool.

I am worried, though, about reliability. Traditionally, Consumer Reports has rated BMW products below Honda products in terms of reliability over time.

Could those of you who have had Minis for some time please comment on any problems you've run into? What parts seem to break first? Did the dealer take care of it without any trouble? Do Mini dealers offer a loaner while they are working on your car?

Finally, any idea what sort of financing terms are available? I live in northern Virginia, so my nearest dealer is in Sterling, VA.

Thanks!

Reply to
A Hungry Crocodile
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I've posted my problems in other threads, but I'll summarize here:

Jan 2003 - picked up my Mini with CVT, sunroof, Nav system.

Feb 2003 - took it back to the dealer for 1) jerky transmission, 2) rustling noise from driver's side at highway speeds, and 3) intermittently blinking battery warning light. Dealer was friendly but could not find anything wrong with the car.

Feb - May 2003 - Warning light went away, lived with the rustling noise, and transmission smoothed out a bit

March 2003 - Sunvisor will not latch tightly; i.e., the visor swings out on moderate car rattles.

May 2003 - loud vibrating noise from front of sunroof when closed.

May - June 2003 - Tranmission intermittently will not engaged in "R" until engines rev'd to 1500RPM's. First time this happened, the car rolled forward until the transmission engaged, causing scratches on bottom of front dam. Second and third times it happened, the car lurched backwards and almost killed a few people. After realizing the problem, I had to firmly apply both brake and accelerator until the transmission engages.

June 2003 - Because my dealer is 90 minutes away, and there was a wait to get a service appointment, I didn't take the Mini in until 9 days ago. For the 2 weeks prior to that, I used my second car. Dealer service guy told me that 1) sunroof noise is a design fault (those stupid front flaps which obscure the view with the roof open), and that the fix is to apply little plastic tabs to the roof itself (which I'm sure will be esthetically pleasing); 2) they will try software updates to correct the CVT problem. No loaner car, so I rented one for the long commute back home. Dealer tried several software tweaks (each one requiring new communications with Mini Central tech support) before deciding that the CVT needed to be replaced (another day or 2 for authorization from Mini Central). Hopefully this will be done by early this week. Dealer picked up the cost of the loaner car after the first 4 days, and has been generally helpful.

I don't think that the Mini is a well-built car; this may change as its growing pains ebb but we will have to wait and see. I think the other problem is that the small numbers of Mini dealerships and the few Mini mechanics at each site mean that even small repairs may be very inconvenient. (My dealer is 90 minutes away, and employs only 2 mechanics who work on Mini's.)

I have owned 2 new BMW's over the past 10 years, and both were absolutely rock-solid: no funny rattles and loose pieces. The Mini, despite its German ownership, seems to rather share the quirkiness and unreliability of its British heritage. I think the Mini is a cute, fun car, but I'm glad I held on to my Audi A4 as a second car.

Bill

Reply to
Bill T

This sounds like something a Chevy dealer would say.

That's poor construction.

Ditto.

I smell recall.

I face a similar problem. My dealer would be nearly an hour away.

So much for that extra care I've heard about elsewhere.

I think it's assembled in the UK, which may be part of the problem.

Thanks for the input. I am leaning towards passing on this car now.

Reply to
A Hungry Crocodile

I am hearing from another poster that this car isn't reliable. Cool won't help when it strands me somewhere. Oh, well. Thanks for the input!

Reply to
A Hungry Crocodile

I hope you're not THAT naive. Basing your research on a couple of posters here on usenet.? Usually the people with problems post more and are a louder voice than those with no complaints - nature of the beast. You may want to broaden your research, test drive and check other forums (e.g. roadfly.org, mini2.com, minicooperonline.com).

intermittently

Reply to
PhillyMCS

A Hungry Crocodile wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

I got an '03 Mini Cooper from Sterling in December. It's been fantastic so far. There hasn't been a single malfunction that couldn't be attributed to driver error (the flat tire light came on falsely once, but my wife keeps her wallet/purse right by the reset button--press that, get a false alarm!).

The only thing I've had to do that was out of the ordinary was take it back to the dealer for a recall on some suspension bolt. That would, of course, be fixed already on any car available now.

No rattles, no busted stuff, no nothing--rock solid car.

I would avoid the CVT like the plague, though--I've heard a lot of bad reports about those, lots more than with manual transmissions.

The downsides (as reported before):

  1. Chrome shift knob gets really cold/hot if parked in extreme weather.
  2. I'm a little tall, and if I'm the first car at certain stoplights, I have to hunker down to see the lights.
  3. Acceleration is noticeably weaker with AC running.
  4. Dealer is an hour from my house--but since I've only had to go once, and they detailed the car (for free) while I was there, it's not such a big thing.

Dealing with Mini of Sterling has been pretty easy--they're very busy, but courteous and helpful. I don't know about financing, since I borrowed the money from a credit union--super rates.

Reply to
Bikeboy

Actually, this is for my wife who refuses to drive manual. Go figure.

I'm looking at luxury brands because the service experience is generally nicer. Mini seems to be trying to attain that level of service, but it sounds like they are having to many problems related to the assembly of the car.

Thanks

Reply to
A Hungry Crocodile

Reset button?

That's good to know.

Alas, my wife, who would be the primary driver, refuses to drive manual transmissions. I wouldn't have anything else.

Hmm, that will be a problem for me (6'1"), but not my wife (4'10")

The curse of small cars everywhere.

I live in Old Town Alexandria, so I dread the idea of regular service visits to Sterling.

What did you get? We've got a credit union we can access, too. I haven't checked them out yet.

Reply to
A Hungry Crocodile

The mini does not have a spare tyre, it uses run-flat tyres that you can drive up to 200 miles on a flat. When you change the air pressure you hit the reset button so the car can tell you if you get a flat.

Warren

Reply to
Warren

Please don't buy one, especially if your wife is incapable of driving a manual.

Reply to
Jeff

Heh, in fairness, it's more a matter of willingness than capability.

Reply to
A Hungry Crocodile

Ah, I wondered about that feature.

Reply to
A Hungry Crocodile

TBH I think reliability is a bit of a non-issue nowadays. I think modern cars are soo reliable, that all the tables and so on are only comparing problems among a very small minority of people. Even if you buy one of the most un-reliable cars like an Alfa-Romeo, your still very unlikely to experience a problem.

As with many newly designed cars, the first few Minis did have a few teething problems, by now most have been sorted, and I expect they will continue to become more and more reliable.

Reply to
Oliver Keating

AngieB wrote in news:BB26DF52.4558C% snipped-for-privacy@wdntuliktaknow.net:

My Mini has the sport package and upgraded suspension. It's not an S, though with the upgrades the only difference is the engine (and the hood scoop and position of exhaust). It has both run-flats and a spare tire.

Reply to
Bikeboy

at

Ok, if you get a car with 16" or 17" wheels (One, Cooper or S) then you ill get runflats and prob an option on the 15" as well. You can only have the spare with 15" as far as I know. The spare is an optional extra as you only get a tin or tyre weld as standard if you dont have run flats.

The car detects a flat using the ABS sensors to measure the diameter of the tyres. If a tyre changes effective diameter then it is assumed to be flat and the sensor lights up.

No had a false alarm either here

Reply to
Warren

in article Xns93AB88600A3D1sorrynosoapcom@63.223.5.254, Bikeboy at snipped-for-privacy@nosoap.com wrote on 7/1/03 12:13 PM:

The positioning of the exhaust on the S is why there is no spare tire, from what I understand.

- Angie

Reply to
AngieB

Why don't you let her pick her own car?

I am worried, though, about reliability. Traditionally, Consumer Reports has rated BMW products below Honda products in terms of reliability over time.

Could those of you who have had Minis for some time please comment on any problems you've run into? What parts seem to break first? Did the dealer take care of it without any trouble? Do Mini dealers offer a loaner while they are working on your car?

Finally, any idea what sort of financing terms are available? I live in northern Virginia, so my nearest dealer is in Sterling, VA.

Thanks!

Reply to
Joan F (MI)

I'm sure they'll sorely miss you.....hehe. Did your research extend beyond posts on a Usenet newsgroup? If not, then you truly are narrow-minded and naive. If you have done extensive research beyond here, test-driven, etc, then I apologize.

interest---they've

Reply to
R. Somik

Sorry, can't help you, 30k miles and nothing has broken yet...

Reply to
jtpr

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