On 3/1/16 my 2009 Mini Cooper caught fire after I turned the engine off and walked away. It started smoking and the engine compartment was fully engulfed in flames in just minutes. My car only had approx 69,000 miles on it. The result was a total loss. I never received any recall notice about my car despite the fact that I took it in for maintenance numerous times. Ive read that other owners had engine fires back in 2012. The dealership did perform a turbo heat shield check on 10/28/13.On 5/ 13/11 I had to have the turbocharger and oil supply pipe replaced at a cost of $3212.38. I recently received a notice for a class action suit against BMW for timing belt issues and engine failures. Dont know if that is relevant to my fire issue. I have received a settlement from State Farm Insurance for the fire loss but I think Mini Cooper and BMW should be responsible for these issues. How many other Mini are on the road that may catch fire? I would just like to know where I should start with these companies. I would appreciate any advice. I have all my receipts and images of my car fire.

OK, my last review gave the 2014 Cooper S manual trans a 4 star rating. Ill retract that now. My 3 yr lease was coming to an end and I did 6 months of research on sub compacts w/6spd man trans, turbo, power seat on drivers side, at a minimum, & good repair ratings, dealership close by. I could not wait to get rid of the MINI, the drivers seat was killing me. I didnt realize how irritating the dash functionality was until I leased a 2017 Chevy Sonic Premier, thats right a CHEVY! First domestic model car since 1976. 15 K less than a high end MINI. Fully loaded, great radio, intuitive controls all the way around, comfortable seat, easy shifting, 32 mpg on mostly suburban, inner city driving, not as noisy as the MINI. No complaints. The standard features on this model would have been pricey extras on a comparable MINI.My last hours as MINI owner had me wondering if it was going to make it through the 20 mile trip to the dealers. It had been sitting for 3 days and would not go into 1st or 2nd for a few minutes. Okay, my Sonic is not cute as a Volcanic Orange button, its turbo is not a rocket like the MINIs was. And, it looks like a Chevy. I had my own personal paradigm shift on what was important to me in a car. After owning 3 Euro cars for the past 25 years, Volvo, Volvo, MINI, I decided I was done, done, done. If you have the need for a cute car, the MINI certainly is that, but youll find the irritation factors outweigh the cutes in about 17 months or less. BTW, Im not seeing 2014 Volcanic Orange MINIs on the roads/highways lately. I assume they all went to the bone yard (auction) like mine did.

If I didnt like the car type, I never would have bought it. But it has been a nightmare to work with BMW on fixing something that is clearly their fault. BMW refuses to provide a satisfactory solution with a recall on a known flaw in the thermostat gasket on 2006 Mini Coopers. Thousands of consumers in United States, and even more across the world, have spent thousands of dollars and countless hours to find/fix radiator fluid leak through both dealers and special mechanics only to find out that the original gasket starts to leak through ever so slowly. A drop here and there at about 20,000 miles (more or less) due to the cheap mesh material. Because it leaks ever so slightly, the fluid falls, blows, drops down onto various parts of the engine and throughout the engine compartment. Even though the company, dealers and specialized mechanics are well aware of this known issue, they take full advantage of the consumer by pretending to speculate that it is caused by a leak in a hose or the radiator itself or some other issue, all of which allow these individuals to charge outrageous amounts to fix or replace parts that down need it. Most places have a minimum labor cost just to look at it. Add the unnecessary parts with additional labor on top of the base cost and you drive away without fixing the issue, only to return again and again until they finally bring up the real issue and charge you yet again to fix something they knew and should have fixed all along. It is a known issue for crying out loud. If they just fixed that, the parts themselves are less than $50. Add a minimal labor cost and you are still under $200 total. But no, BMW has systematically ignored the issue in an effort to sell parts, charge labor, and collect vast amounts of unnecessary dollars because it make them more money. The truth is, after the 2006 models, BMW intentionally changed the design to a poly urethane gasket. No recall, no recourse, no satisfaction! BMW should recall these or reimburse the wasted costs created by those that represent their firm. Thieves!

My 06 Mini Cooper convertible transmission died in 08 @ 28,000 miles. Mini replaced it since under warranty but now it is dead again. Not sure under warranty any longer. There is a class action lawsuit in California for mini owners there with faulty transmissions.

Brand new 2015 Cooper S with sunroof. Protective netting of the sunroof slid open as I drove. Gas mileage is 25/26 (I was quoted 32/38)! Brought it back for repairs. 1st time, 2nd time - No fix. Glue globbed on the sides of the netting; that didnt work and looks awful. They intimated gas mileage due to the way the car was driven. Loaners got much better mileage (same driver)! They tested 3 other like models and advised that the netting did the same and they didnt know what to do. I wanted to replace this car. Mini USA Execs denied my request. This is a DEFECT, and DANGEROUS! I was told that since the other models did the same thing, there was nothing they would do!

I bought a 2012 Mini Cooper non-turbo hatchback in September of 2011. In the nearly two and a half years I owned it, it was in the shop seven times, more than a week three times and for two months once. The water pump failed early on and took the head with it, that was the two-month repair. I have had problems with sensors, brakes, starter, and the before-mentioned water pump. While the car is well-conceived and a great amount of fun to drive, the reliability is miserable. I work in a tough part of a major city and cannot risk being stranded anywhere near my office. Mini Cooper road service is a joke. Of the five times the car stranded me Mini Cooper Road service only effected a rescue tow one time. I traded the car last week just before the warranty expired. Glad to be out from under that nightmare.

Since owning my 04 Mini Cooper, I have had to replace the automatic window control, the sport shifter, the whole gas line system, and a few other things on it. The gas system was the latest and greatest fix in the world of my Mini Cooper. I have had my car at the dealership in Dallas and Fort Worth, TX. They of course, after much haggling, fixed the issues with my car. The gas system was fixed in Kentucky only after my car decided that it was going into limp home mode and break down completely in Indiana. That was tons of fun. I am now thinking that my timing chain and tranny are starting to go. Granted my car has 109,000 miles on it - she is barely broke in. I love my car, but the issues and constant being in the shop for repair are starting to take its toll on me and my pocketbook.

I bought my daughter this Mini Cooper Clubman S 2009 a year ago. AMAZING condition... Only 55,000 miles. We did not know there was a Recall on the timing belt tensioner. The tensioner backed out and the car lost all oil. Therefore damaging the engine. Mini Cooper of Kennesaw took the car in and said that due to the recall, Mini would cover 50% of the cost of the repair. After 4 weeks they tell me the engine cannot be fixed. Now we need to replace.The cost to repair further is prohibitive. They changed the offer, Mini will cover 50% to install a new engine, but I am 100% responsible to pay for the repairs up to this date. They refused to cover more as they needed a service history for the car. I researched and provided a FULL service history for the car because one of the mechanics on the list was no longer in business, they claimed his service records were fraudulent and have removed all financial assistance. I am devastated!!!!

People only tend to write reviews with they are very angry and over the brink. I have my 2012 Mini Cooper S for more than a year now and it has 20,000 miles. The car drives like a dream and has had one service issue and I have had 2 oil changes done by the dealer. Each time they gave me a nice loaner car. I feel you cant ask for more than that. None of the visits cost me any money. Great dealer at Prestige Mini in Ramsey, NJ with nice people.

I bought a Mini Cooper S John Cooper Works 12000 miles, paid £16500. Last year I was driving and the screen kept telling me boot open. Sometimes I could open other times it was impossible to open. Took into my local garage and he shook the boot door only to find it full of water!!! If I did not have it fixed the water would eventually mess electronics up. I looked on internet and it is quite common. I called Spire Mini and they wanted £120 just to tell me what was wrong with the boot (like they did not know). Took it to be fixed at a BMW garage. Now again I cannot open my boot, went to garage. Everything is soaked and the boot door again is full of water. I am so angry. It is obviously a fault. It is disgusting to pay that amount of money for a Mini and all they are interested in is more money on a faulty car. I want to go to a solicitor and demand they replace the boot door and pay for all my damaged goods. Does anyone know the details of the managing director of Mini who I can contact?

I bought a 2003 Mini Cooper new and it had been a great car up until 70,000 miles. The automatic locks stopped working, the car would overheat when idling, but the biggest issue is the transmission went and I was told it would cost approximately $8,300 to replace. This is just wrong to have a transmission go at 70,000 miles. From what I have read this is a common occurrence. I was expecting a decent trade in value but now my car is worthless. Im very disappointed. The only reason I gave 3 stars is because I did enjoy the car for the time I was able to drive it.

I just bought a 2009 Mini Cooper S from Carmax last week with 21,000 miles on it. I drove it less than 400 miles before the clutch became an issue. I took the car to Carmax for warranty work and was told that the dealer would have to do the service. Sure enough, the dealer stated it was not covered under warranty due to normal wear and tear. Based on all the comments Ive read on this forum, I am returning the car to Carmax for a full refund since I am not the only one with this same issue. I understand that buying a used car is a buyer beware situation, but Mini Cooper should be more responsive to a problem that exists for many owners. Mini Cooper is not building a quality product and I will never buy another Mini Cooper.

I privately purchased a 2006 MINI John Cooper Works with very low miles of 11,000 and was still under warranty at the time. Within a period of owning this car, the gear box has locked up three times a year. The third time it happened, I took the car in to get the value of the retail price. I felt that I needed to sell the car because it was undependable. While they were test driving the car, it happened again. The clutch went to the floor and was stuck. They told me that the repair would be costly now that its out of warranty. I would not leave owning this car so they made me an offer way below retail. I accepted the offer because I could not sell this car with integrity to a person without them knowing the problem. The bottom line is that Im disappointed in the MINI Cooper. I take care of my cars and drive them for many years. This car was not dependable for a long time.

Bought my MINI Cooper S hardtop new over 3 years ago, and so far no major problems. It has been my favorite car I have owned after the x 1/9 I had many years ago.

The Mini is fun to drive, has been reliable and almost trouble free. It is also comfortable and spacious for its size. Annoying things are a poorly designed heater, it only produces heat or demisting the glass when set to the highest and noisiest setting, the AC is very poor. The windshield wiper just has two speeds fast and very fast, great if raining hard but a pain in drizzle or lighter rain as one has to constantly turn the wipers on and off. Hate the no flat tires, the car has no spare or jack, so effectively cannot drive further than 50 miles from the dealer as the low flat tires can only be fixed by them or more likely replaced at $500 a pop. If Mini had the common sense to fix these 3 basic issues, they would have a terrific car.

I have a 2003 Mini Cooper, with only 44,000 miles. I have everything original, and have had extensive service and care since it was new. It never had track time, or abuse, only 2 sets of tires and original brakes. The car is a lemon, and BMW Mini knows it. I have contacted them about the following problems, and their answer is this is normal operation, and the vehicle is out of warranty, sorry. The problems thus far, have cost nearly $18,000 in repair, and it’s still not working as it was designed. The following has happened: transmission failure/manual; 2 AC systems; 2 power steering systems; navigation system; radio failure; auto temp control failure; left high beam headlight stays on (I had to unplug it); internal lights and gauges are not working; and power steering leak. I am a disabled combat veteran, and would rather be back in war, than deal with this thing one more second. BMW Mini is junk. Never buy one.

MINI USA apparently got my address as an incorrect address from a customer who bought a MINI. They failed to confirm my email address, instead immediately putting me on their email list, and also sent my email address to 2 other companies (which fortunately honored unsubscribe requests). I have tried to unsubscribe and complain to MINIs customer service, but I continue to receive emails from them for 3 weeks now. They need to fix their customer service and their IT infrastructure to honor unsubscribe requests immediately.

2005 Automatic Mini Cooper. I had always kept up on the service and oil changes but suddenly when I was driving there was a strange noise. I brought it to a mechanic; he said I need a new transmission. It will cost up to $9000 when the blue book value of the car is from $4000 to $7000.

We should have known that it would be a mistake to purchase this car, when we were treated very rudely at the BMW dealership... but we really wanted a convertible. Biggest mistake we ever made. Less than a year old, and drivers side window motor had to be replaced. Less than a year old, and engine mount had to be replaced. 2 years old and the fuel pump had to be replaced. Multiple repairs spanning multiple years on the obviously flawed cooling system (out of warranty). At 5 years old, had to pay $7,000 for a REBUILT engine. 6 weeks after the rebuilt engine, and now the entire electrical system is gone. The dealer says its $400 just to diagnose it (and he cant get to it for a week, causing me to have to rent a car) and that he has no idea what is wrong, and has never seen anything like it.

I own a 2007 Mini Cooper S. Its had all regularly scheduled services done at dealers (Phyla, PA; West Chester, NY; and Darien, CT). Now the car has about 50,000 miles on it (December 2011). In June 2011, with about 38,000 miles, the engine started having rattling sounds during cold starts. I brought it to an authorized Mini dealer (West Chester) and they found nothing wrong. Two weeks later, the sounds got worse, and the dealer checked the Mini. They said the timing chain guide (plastic) had cracked in pieces and scattered though the engine and oil pan. The dealer replaced timing chain, timing chain tensioner (broke too!), and guide. Its been less than 6 months (December 2011), and the same sounds are coming back!There is obviously a timing chain mechanism design flaw (just Google Mini Cooper timing chain problems). Mini should correct this on all affected vehicles. Mini is responsible for their design mistake regarding a substandard timing chain box.

My son was excited to buy his first car. Bought a 2007 Mini Cooper S fall of 2016 and this week the timing chain broke while he was on the freeway. Lucky he was able to make it off the freeway before he was hit. He found out that the timing chain was recalled. The recall was extended to 7 year or 100,000 miles last January 2016. But that wouldnt do him any good as his car is now 10 years old. What was the purpose of BMW doing a recall that most owners couldnt even get. When the chain broke it dented his valve and now he is stuck with a $3000 bill. He is a new college graduate and trying to make it in the world, to be screwed over by Mini Cooper/BMW.

Were the crazy car people you hear about. Every year we go to the Detroit auto show, New York auto show, Philadelphia auto show, etc, and we generally replace one of our cars every 2 - 3 years. In 2014 I was impressed with the Mini Cooper at one of the auto shows that I ordered a nearly fully loaded Mini Cooper S Hardtop with the John Cooper Works package. After all was said and done, I spent approximately $36k. After waiting a few months, it finally arrive on the docks of New Jersey but it had a recall on it (already) and it wasnt allowed to leave the docks to be delivered until the recall had been satisfied. That process took a month for someone to change a part on the dock, which is very disappointing knowing that your new car was being held captive by slow moving dock mechanics.After about 4 months of driving, the oil filter exploded. Yes, EXPLODED. The mini dealership did a pretty good job of towing the car and bringing me out a loaner for several days until they could fix it. At that point, things went downhill. Heres everything going wrong with it to date: During driving, several times the stick shift came completely off its base, leaving me scrambling to shift but could not. This was fixed when the oil filter exploded and have not had any problems since. Several times a month, when the car is started (warm or cold) the RPMs will go back and forth from 0 to 1000, then die and restart itself (all while the auto start/stop is disabled) and will continue the same cycle for up to 10 minutes.During normal driving, I lose all power to the car. Just last week I was pulling out of parking lot into traffic and lost all power, even with the gas pedal to the floor. I was lucky enough to get into the center turning lane before being struck by oncoming traffic. The window seal on the rear seat window (on the drivers side) has slowly begun to unravel and hang out of the space between the window and the hatch on the back. The service department at the dealership said they had seen it before, and a glass company claimed it shouldnt effect the seal, but I can visibly see space between the window and what should be the seal. The low tire pressure monitor displays warnings about tire pressure even after I have confirmed the tires are inflated properly.Getting additional errors on the display in regards to a discharge of the battery while the engine is stopped (perhaps a draw on the battery somewhere). The voice recognition software is either just plain horrible, or something is faulty. When I supply a valid, easy to understand address or location for the GPS to navigate to, it changes the radio station. While in reverse, the backup lines on the reverse camera disappear every now and then. The only way they show up again is if you go into the settings and re-enable them manually. When I buy a car, I keep it for 2-3 years before even considering trading it in. With the problems Ive listed above and having only owned it for about a year, I asked around for trade in quotes. I was astonished to discover that the car I had paid $35k for a year prior, was now only worth $18k on trade in. Thats nearly a 50% drop in value in one year. When the car is running ok, its a lot of fun to drive... A LOT. But the issues that Ive had with it arent just annoying, theyre dangerous. In fact, due to the loss of power on occasion, I cant allow my wife to drive it because I fear for her safety. Im not sure how much longer Ill have the car (or how long Ill be stuck with it rather), but Im truly disappointed. I expected better from BMW. Ive owned a lot of cars, but this one was by far my biggest mistake.

I have a MINI 2009 Clubman S. At 48000 miles, I had to replace the turbo. At 58000, I had to replace the engine for a failed timing chain. I will have put 10000 more into a car costing 28000 with 56000 miles total. Both the turbo and the timing chain gave me no warning lights from the super duper computer system I was sold on. My dealership in Memphis Tn is horrible as well. I went to one of the dealerships in North Atlanta, Wonderful service! I had been missing the passenger foot mat for all the visits to the Memphis location for years. They never replaced it. The Atlanta dealer did at no charge. I did not even ask. I am at my wits end with my dealership and this lemon of a car. I am talking to an attorney tomorrow.

If you are thinking of purchasing or leasing a MINI Cooper, don’t. You would be dealing with a company that does not take responsibility for their franchisees, their employees, and their third party affiliates (ergo Roadside assistance). I was stranded in Yellowstone National Park for two days to no avail and had to turn to my insurance company. MINI then left me stranded in the Idaho Falls airport without a rental car. I am from Georgia. MINI is not taking responsibility for their negligence and an alignment that resulted in my tire’s uneven wear-and-tear and, ultimately, its ripping to the wire. You’re better off with another car/company. If BMW is anything like it’s daughter company, I wouldn’t go near them either. Save yourself an enormous headache down the road.

I recently brought in my 2005 Mini Cooper S Convertible for some jerky shifting issues about three weeks ago. Mini told me that they connected it to a computer to modify the timing of the shifting and sent me home after telling me that they fixed the issue. After a few days, the jerky shifting returned and I drove the car back to Grand Rapids Mini to have it checked again. I was told 45 minutes later that I need a new transmission. My car has 68,000 miles on it and has been services consistently at Mini for ALL maintenance issues, during and after warranty. The cost, $10,580.00 with parts and labor. After doing a bit of research, I found that there was a class action lawsuit settlement regarding the CVT transmission in the older model Mini Coopers, of which my particular mini falls under the category.After posting a complaint on Minis Facebook page, I did receive a phone call in reference to my issue. Tina, a Mini Cooper motoring relations team member, called to tell me that she was instructed not to discuss my case with me until I have received information from Grand Rapids... A very unproductive discussion. Grand Rapids called to offer a whole 25% off the cost of parts and labor with the new $10,580.00 transmission. I declined and told them that the offer is unacceptable and frankly, disrespectful. I called Tina back to discuss this case with her further only to be told that the offer from Grand Rapids was the only offer that could be made. After requesting to talk with a supervisor or manager THREE times, I was forwarded to Simon ** at Mini Corporate.Simon talked over me several times, told me that there is no record of my car being serviced at Mini of Grand Rapids, which it has been serviced there and ONLY THERE since 2008, for which I have documentation, and told me that my car is too old to fall under the category of the class action lawsuit, even with only 68,000 miles on it. He stuck to the 25% discount on parts and labor and that was it.I cant believe that BMW/Mini Cooper can really pass by without a recall of this transmission considering all of the well-documented material online regarding the lawsuit. How can we get a recall? Does it take death? Are faulty transmissions not considered to be a safety issue? This is ridiculous. I will NEVER purchase another Mini again and I will advise my friends and family against it. Customer Service is horrible and not taking responsibility for your own manufactured issues is disgusting. Mini sucks.

My 2006 Mini Cooper S convertible has the same transmission issues as others here. Very dangerous to drive. Hesitates and then slams into gear and lurches forward without warning. I have been without a vehicle for about 6 months. I was hoping to get a rebuild on the transmission through a third party, but was turned down for most of the financing. My situation has changed since I purchased the vehicle and I am no longer in a full-time paid position because I am traveling back and forth 3000 miles two to three times a year to care for parents who recently lost their mobility.Now, I find myself in a similar situation because of a car company that did not care about putting out a quality product and denies the problem. What they didnt tell me when I shelled out the 36,000 for their vehicle 6 years ago was that in 3 to 5 years the car will theoretically be totaled and there is nothing you will be able to do about it. I would not have bought the car. One of the reasons I bought the car was that I thought BMW was a good make. I was familiar with their motorcycles. When I first bought the car, I raved about it to everyone who asked. I can no longer recommend Mini Coopers to anyone, and I’ll let people know whenever I can not to buy their vehicles. There should have been some kind of back up plan for the failed CVT transmissions. It is not like it is a $2000 fix. It is a $6,000 to $9,000 fix, and even a new or rebuilt one is the same situation. No guarantees, really.

One star for the Mini dealership, four stars for the car. I own a 2007 Mini Cooper S that I have owned for three years with just over 100,000 miles. I absolutely love it. The car did have a major oil leak, but my boyfriend (who is a trained mechanic but doesnt work for a garage) and I bought a kit from Detroit Tuned and rebuilt the turbo ourselves based. Using Mini forums for people who had a similar leak was a huge help. We repaired it for a tiny fraction of the cost it would have been at the mini dealership. Its not perfect, but the leak is fixed. Oil leak aside, this car does consume a lot of oil and you need to keep an eye on it. There have been a couple of other minor issues, but paying close attention to the car made it easy to nip those in the bud.I dont trust the dealership at all since I went in for a quote on the oil leak and they quoted me five grand for that repair and a bunch of other repairs I didnt need. For example, I had a faulty brake sensor and they quoted me all new brakes despite the fact that they were brand new and Id just replaced them. If you get a Mini, I highly recommend NOT getting your repairs done at the dealership unless its totally under warranty. Youre paying for the brand with them, not the repairs. Despite all of this, I love the car. Not a day goes by that I regret buying this car. It fits me, its fun to drive, I enjoy how compact it is but I can still haul tons of stuff. Im looking right now to trade mine in for a newer one, simply because its getting older and I might as well upgrade to some newer features while there is still a strong trade-in value.Moral of the story, this isnt a car you can just drive and ignore between oil changes, but a car that you need to pay close attention to otherwise it can become high maintenance. And find an independent shop or friend who knows auto mechanics, and know what the common issues are with these cars before you buy so you can anticipate them. That may sound like a lot of unnecessary work, but this is more of a little novelty sports car than your run of the mill family car. It needs a little extra love.

1. Right and left engine mounts cracked at 55k. 2. New transmission at 55,123 miles. 3. Weather stripping rotting and replaced often. 4. Convertible roof replaced due to rotting weather stripping (twice). 5. Power steering hoses leaking and replaced. 6. Thermostat replaced. 7. Thermostat gasket replaced. 8. Oil pan leak and gasket leak. 9. Trans harmonic converter replaced.10. Bushings.... The most exciting part of this car is that indicator lights dont come on for some of these issues... I can tell you from experience that its very unsettling to have some of these issues arise when on the freeway or on busy city streets .P.S. I maintained this car accordingly my Mini advisor told me so... along with that he stated he just didnt understand why I was having so many problems.

At 38,790 miles, my clutch suddenly failed on my 2008 Mini Cooper. The car was towed to the dealer. Although it is still under warranty, the dealer first said clutches were never covered. When I read the warranty to them stating clutches were covered (unless misused, a vague reference), they said it was mostly, always the drivers fault and refused to cover the cost of replacement. The estimated cost is $1,710. I have driven manuals for nearly 30 years and have never had a problem. The car has been at the dealership for 7 days, and they are hoping to finish it in the next couple of days. I was not offered a loaner. I am disappointed in BMW, and after reading so many other complaints, I am considering selling it.

I purchased my 2006 Mini Cooper S brand new in January 2006. The car currently has 108,000 miles, which are mostly highway miles as I commute to a job out of state a few days a week. Since purchasing the car, I have had a myriad of serious and unsafe issues starting with the replacement of run flat tires within the first 2 years of owning the car. Those tires run $350 a pop and if you run over a nail, you have to replace the whole tire. They didnt warranty them back then, though I think they do now. For the first 65,000 miles, I did all my maintenance at the dealership, but switched to a National Auto Care chain as the dealer costs were 40% higher for the same work. I changed tire to regular tires with a warranty to stem the bleeding.The latest issue began two weeks ago when I noticed the car was slipping between second and third gear when running for a while in stop and go traffic. The car shifted fine when cold. I brought the car in for a check up where I was referred to a National chain transmission repair shop where I was informed that my CVT would need to be re-manufactured at a cost of $6,000. I was also informed that my power-steering pump is leaking and the power-steering cooling fan is not working, so both need to be replaced. As much as I love this car, and even with these problems, I still do love the car, but I cannot recommend it because the premium price I paid for BMW engineering does not translate to reliability. These issues should not be occurring at this point in the cars life.I will be without a car for another week, at least, because the valve joint they need to re-manufacture the transmission is on back order as they re-engineered a new valve joint, for the originals were prone to premature failure. One would think BMW would address this or work with their customers on a reasonable repair cost for this. Unfortunately, when I called the dealer I purchased the car from for assistance, they quoted me over $10,000 for the same repair. Needless to say, I will never buy a Mini or BMW ever again. I am aware of class action suits in NJ and CA regarding this issue, but I cannot find anything in MA. If there is, or if there is an attorney looking to start one, please contact me.

I bought my 2007 Mini S brand new. At 40,000 miles I was hearing a loud rattling noise. Ended up being the timing chain and the tensioner. Then: Valve cover assembly, thermostat housing, cleaned intake solenoid, cleaned valves and ports, replaced turbo coolant pump, second valve cleaning, spark plugs, catalytic converter, oil pan gasket, valve cover, ignition coil, second timing chain, intake valve cleaning, wiring harness. A total in excess of $7,000.00!! None of this was preventive maintenance. This was all done because its the biggest piece of Crap Ive ever owned. Thank the Lord, I just sold mine. Finally I am stress free!

I purchased a 2009 Clubman S as a certified pre-owned vehicle. The dealer never processed the proper paperwork to actually get the car warrantied through Mini. Mini refuses to cover the car. The dealer has given me a letter stating that they will cover any repairs, which would normally be covered under a CPO warranty. However, I paid an increased price for this car, and that value is not, nor has ever been with the vehicle, since it is not a CPO vehicle. Mini USA refuses to certify the car, and other than the letter I have received from the dealer, there has been no attempt to correct my situation, which was the result of the dealer not completing and submitting the proper paperwork with Mini. I feel that they have profited from their mistake, at my expense. No attempt to properly rectify situation or refund the increased price, which was paid for a CPO vehicle, that the CPO process was not completed. Mini USA refuses to certify the car, even though the CPO inspection was completed prior to the sale of the vehicle, and the Federal Warranty notice clearly states the vehicle is being sold as a CPO vehicle, with a warranty. Complaints have been filed with the Attorney Generals office of Ohio, in which the dealer has stated they made a mistake in not completing the required paperwork. The AG office is attempting to put a value on a CPO car vs. a non-CPO car.

I have had my Mini Cooper for only three years now. I bought the MINI COOPER - 2009 / CPO with 22k on it. LOVED the car and it was a nice ride which QUICKLY became a NIGHTMARE!!!! The first almost two years of ownership, it was just maintenance on the car which was fine but quickly became a PROBLEM.1. With key FOB issues the car would not start with the FOB, but on other occasions it would. After going to the dealer in Massachusetts several times and pushing the issue that it might be the FOB, the dealer decided to try keeping my car for a week and said they didnt see the issue the car was fine. Just painful!!!! Finally after several attempts and being stranded a few time, it was the FOB and I had to pay a deductible and got the new FOB car then was fine.2. Window malfunction, light came on during the dead of winter and then the car COMPLETELY shut down and wouldnt start. Again, back at the dealer for another few days and they decided it was a computer that caused the problem. Replaced the computer.3. Car started stalling for no reason, VERY rough idle.. Surprise, back at the dealer. Another week the car was in, they couldnt figure it out. First they said it was the battery REALLY!! It wasnt after a week they decided it was another computer and had to replace that.4. Again car is running rough and RPMs are dropping and the car is ready to stall then my mini started having the RPMs ramp up at a complete stop and no foot on the gas... Weird. So I got concerned and knowing that the mini means business, the car is back at the dealer for another week. Actually is still being worked on. So far they said I have timing chain tensioner is gone and INTERNAL VACUUM LEAK IN ENGINE/CYLINDER HEAD NEEDS TO Be REPLACED so far.... OMG. I have never experienced a car like this in my life. Again I have owed the car for three years. Although the dealer is trying to fix the mini as the problems arise. This is NOT ACCEPTABLE for any CAR to have these issues so early in ownership and VERY disappointed.

I bought my 2009 Mini Cooper @ Mini of Universal City with 38,000 miles. It now has 54,000 miles on it. Within the past month the check engine light has come on a couple of times. First time, I was told it was going to cost me $4,800 to fix! I STILL owe $17,000 on the car! They told me that my exhaust side cam and rings were worn, vanos solenoid adjusting sprocket and solenoid valve were not working, I needed my exhaust side cam shafts replaced and vanos adjusting unit sprocked and vanos solenoid valve replaced. They also said my vacuum pump and oil filter housing gasket were leaking.TWO weeks earlier I had it in the repair shop for new brakes, and oil change, so my service adviser was SHOCKED that I was losing so much oil. He also said that I shouldnt be paying so much for a car I had JUST BOUGHT and JUST had in the shop for repairs! He called Mini and they agreed to pay for all of the cost minus $400 (which I had to magically come up with). My monthly car payment alone is $401.00! THREE DAYS LATER the check engine light came on AGAIN! This time, (same service adviser) told me it would be $1,000 to fix! Apparently my mass airflow sensor needed to be replaced and they had to reset my camshaft timing chain. I declined having them repair the sensor, and instead called Mini to complain. I ALSO spoke to SHAWN who informed me that he would do his best to help me, because $6,000 worth of work on a mini that only has 54,000 miles on it is ridiculous (his words). He told me he would get back to me within 3-5 business days. Its been 3 weeks. I have called him over and over and have yet to get a response from him. I seriously want them to buy back my car. This isnt fair. Plain and simple. Does anyone know about the buy back process?

I have spent over $4000 and it is still not fixed. The engine light - Engine malfunction - operating at reduced output. Possible to continue. Drive with caution. Have the system checked by the nearest Mini Center. The message should read Prepare to pay high dollars for repairs that will NOT repair the issue. This is the 4th time and it is not fixed!

I had the steering go out at about 50k miles. The dealer wants over $1200.00 to fix it. The doors wont open from the inside. You have to roll the windows down to get out of the car. If the power fails, you will die because you cant get out.

Well before I owned a 1995 Honda accord and the catalytic converter went out and it was a 200$ repair, bought it used AND THAT WAS IT! It was a 19 year old car with 200k miles on it. It was a God compared to my 2012 brand new off the lot German made piece of junk mini cooper S, four days after I bought it the crank shaft pulley fell off. Fell off? yes, fell off. Along with my passenger window breaking; shortly after my clutch went down, my radiator gasket broke, battery went out, the brakes, and now the high fuel pressure pump is going out. I have 37k on my car and every last mile I have had to pay for in some way, thanks the legalities and fine print that you agree to buying the car. Keep in mind Im still making payments on the thing. All the while the big wigs at mini could care less. Im 100% for a class action lawsuit against Mini. Worst car/experience of my life.

Has anyone else had trouble getting the wheel-controlled Bluetooth phone controls? Mine comes and goes, without any apparent cause. Dealer said he could fix it for a thousand dollars US. No way. Others have told me this is a known fault. Any and all suggestions appreciated. By the way, I love my Mini Cooper S 2008, 54,000 miles, hardtop.

Loved my Mini for 10 years. Now everything is breaking! Most recently 2 pulleys related to the engine have melted and would not turn belts. Also at have a problem with pulley related to air conditioner... Any advice?

I bought a 09 Mini Clubman s and at 53k the turbo oil line started leaking. Fought with dealer to repair and dealer just played games. Mini America didnt seem interested in helping. This oil leak is a known problem and Mini should have recalled this. Now it failed completely and I had to pay to have it fixed. Mini knows its an issue by they put a cheap heat shield over oil fitting to stop the fitting from failing! But wont acknowledged this is faulty and dangerous. When it finally failed and started spraying oil all over! My brakes were soaked and couldnt stop fast enough! Not to mention the smoke that overwhelmed the cabin and windows. Anyone who has had this issue needs to make a complaint and get together to make Mini pay. Another issue is the carbon build up inside intake that makes your Mini have horrible acceleration before 3k rpm. You have to have it walnut blasted and buy a delete plug to stop the returning of emissions being put back into intake.

Mini Cooper knows there is something wrong with the air bag seat tensioners in their cars in the first generation and now in the 2nd generation because of all the online complaints and act as if nothing is wrong. I have a 2007 mini coopers with 54,000 miles in excellent condition. Back seats sat in twice and front seat around 6-8 times and that dreaded air bag seat beat tensioner light is on. Oh yeah, whenever I was my car. It wont crank either. What the hell is that. This car is too expensive to have these problems. BMW/Mini.Cooper need to take Care of their customers or stop making these cars. I contacted BMW/Mini and they were like sorry, l cant help you. I wanna file a class action lawsuit against them.

After reading the bad reviews I felt I had to say I bought my 2006 Cooper new from Mini Irvine. It has 115000 miles on the clock and has been trouble free. I recently had to replace the AC pump, but apart from that it had been only tires and brakes. An excellent car. WE have however serviced it regularly and Im sure that helps.

I bought my first Mini used. It had 77,000 miles on it at purchase. Overall condition of the car inside and out was excellent. I drove the car for a test ride and all was great. Only after 4 days of driving, the engine is developing a rap. The car was purchased as is as shown from a used car dealer.

We had several malfunctions on our Mini Cooper convertible, which the dealer was happy to cover under the original 48 month warranty. I actually got the feeling that the dealer was on my side. I then purchased the Mini Cooper USA extended warranty when the car had about 18 months left on its original warranty. About two years later, something in the steering failed, and also the trunk stopped opening. It took them a long time to determine that the latter was simply a short in the wires to the electric trunk opener latch in the truck door. The dealer appealed to Mini Cooper USA, but the response was that neither repair was covered because all rubber wear was not included in the extended warranty. It cost me close to $800. I felt cheated.

I purchased my 2007 Mini Cooper S used in October of 2010. Shortly after purchasing, I was contacted by Mini to tell me about a warranty recall in the transmission, which resulted in replacing the transmission, clutch, timing chain, all of that. This did not cost me anything as it was under warranty. Ive always followed the regular maintenance schedule for my vehicle and have only had small repair issues for the most part. However, I took my Mini in for an oil change Nov. 21, 2014 and also to ask about a knocking I was hearing in the engine. I got a phone call from the dealership near the end of the day with some pretty bad news. Apparently, my timing chain is broken and has also broken the guide rails (Im not sure what those are), causing pieces of metal and plastic to fall into my oil tank. The cost to replace the timing chain is $1566. I was pretty shocked, since there was no indication anything was wrong with my vehicle. I was told that a leak in my turbo oil supply line is what caused the timing chain to break. Basically, every time the turbo was engaged, oil was just spewing out everywhere... I never saw it on the ground because it would burn off and didnt leak while the turbo wasnt engaged. I was told by the dealership Mini doesnt have an internal oil sensor to tell you if your oil level is low. My Mini was almost bone dry when I took it to the dealership and thats what caused the timing chain to break. So, to fix the leak and the timing chain, Im looking at almost $3,000. To me, this is completely unacceptable. Ive always taken good care of my vehicle, and the fact that there is an engineering flaw (not having a low oil LEVEL sensor - they have a low oil pressure sensor... but that doesnt come on until your car has about a quart of oil left) isnt my fault. And I dont really think I should have to come out of pocket $3K for it. So now, my Mini is sitting in my garage and not being driven because I cant convince myself to fork out the cash. Im working with the company right now and Im hoping theyll pay for this repair since its a systematic breakdown of their own engineering flaws.

I was so excited when the Mini came to the US and bought one of the first off the boat in SF. Little did I know the nightmares to come. My husband and I were US Park Rangers in the west when we started to hear a whirring noise coming from my Mini. We were about to transfer to a Eastern NP September 2009. We have always had the car serviced and people would remark how well we took care of our car and how it looked new!The government moved us but we drove our vehicles to Virginia. The whir seemed more prevalent when arriving. It was quite upsetting, as we knew we were on a tight budget. I have not been working for a year due to illness. My husband starting doing investigation on the web and was reading about so many people with transmission problems. He got very upset when he saw the costs to replace it. He then wrote to a ask the mechanic online, paid his fee, and he also said it sounded like a transmission problem. We did not have the funds since we had to find a rental, put down deposits, etc.Our daughter had a new baby who was premature and I offered to help while she went back to work for a month until he was strong enough for daycare. I kissed my husband good-bye as I headed to Florida. Little did I know that it would be the last kiss of our 38-year marriage.He was so worried about the car and if I would make it. He called around to dealers to find out pricing of a new transmission and we were shocked! I found a nice mechanic, not a dealer in Florida to at least drive and confirm if it was truly the transmission. It was, I remember calling to tell my husband. It was nearly the end of the month and time to return. He did not want me to drive alone back to Virginia. He decided to have my son follow me home. Yes we were upset and worried about the costs but decided to at least get it back to the area. I tried consoling him on the phone that night, all was going to be Ok, and we would just have to take out a loan. It was stressful enough just moving and starting a new job. I was going to return home in 9 days. I never heard him so upset.The following morning, my cell phone rang. I received the dreaded phone call. He was found dead in bed. My nightmare began. After many E-mails and phone calls to Mini USA, I was told they would surely look into helping me. Before they could give me any assistance, I needed to take my vehicle to Mini Sterling first for a diagnosis. She seemed compassionate. I needed to fly back to Florida and drive it back. It had been only one month since my husbands death and kept in contact with Mini USA to let them know my progress.I spoke with a local Mini Dealer and they also seemed compassionate. I really thought I would be compensated for a bad transmission. There were so many articles and complaints online regarding faulty transmissions.I made a appointment, they took apart my car, and I wound up paying full price less a 10% coupon discount off of the labor. It devastated me! I was led on that there might be help by both Mini USA and local MINI. My cost was close to $5,000. I was informed that it would be in my best interest to have the clutch done at the same time, even though it was not needed because in the future it would be costly. I was told it would cost thousands of dollars to have to drop the engine, transmission, etc to get to the clutch. I agreed. I knew, with no income it would be even more difficult in the future.I had close to a nervous breakdown, had to meet with a therapist and was put on medication. This was too much for me to handle.Lets now fast forward to the present regarding this costly transmission and clutch! I moved to Pennsylvania to be closer to my 90 year-old mother. A couple of months ago, I noticed that the car seemed to shutter when letting up on the clutch in first, second and reverse. I could not get it into the shop earlier since I am having health issues and my time is filled with doctor appointments and therapy. Finally, I looked at the warranty on the clutch and saw it would be running out in March and figured I needed to get it to a dealer ASAP.Last week, I took it to PA mini, gave them all the invoices and told them it was under warranty. I get a phone call that day saying Sorry, it is your flywheel which is not under warranty and that will be $2,100! I am disgusted! I have been online. I have talked to mechanics and everyone says that it should be under warranty. Mini VA should have seen if there was any problem with the flywheel when they did the clutch and transmission. I was also told that a problem with the flywheel is caused by the clutch not working properly! I nearly had another breakdown. I am so disgusted. Does MINI never stand by their work? Do they always find something else to blame it on? Why do I think this way? Let me tell you about the last problem I had with their dealer in VA.When I had the clutch and transmission done they also did an oil change, oil filter, and air filter. The very next time I went for an oil change, I used a local shop that worked on Minis. It was closer, I did not have to drive nearly one and a half hours and they were cheaper. This was a very reputable place. I sat and waited in their office. The mechanic came out and asked who did the last oil change? I said minii and he said, they stripped the oil pan screw. I was upset, immediately called Mini, spoke with the service manager and he said they probably stripped it. My guy said you dont strip a screw taking it out, only when you tighten it. Mini said bring it in. Then, my guy could not even change the oil filter. It was so tight. He did not want to break anything so I said just leave it. He physically showed me. His mechanic worked for 35 years and never had this problem.I took it to Mini. I explained that I needed this done ASAP because I was just informed I had cancer and needed to drive to Floridas Cancer Hospital for Women. I also wanted them to check over the car that everything is in good shape.Can you just imagine what happened? They said it was not their fault for the screw and that it happens after time and I need a new oil pan and gasket. The bill would be around $1,200! This was unreal. They said I also needed a shaft seal and element if I wanted to safely go to Florida. They said they checked out the car totally and that is what is needed. I felt they should replace the oil pan for free, they would not but did not charge me for labor on that job after really losing it! So I had them both done.Now here is the kicker. When I went to MINI PA and found out about the flywheel they do a inspection. On the paperwork I received, they suggested a new crank seal and oil pan. Just what I had done! I told the manager that and he apologized and said he had not seen that I had it done but there were some dried oil drops.Can you now see how I do not trust any of the dealers? I am out thousands of dollars and still have a car that needs a new flywheel. Is this the way an owner should be treated?

2009 Mini Cooper S Convertible - I havent even had this car one year - the turbo has been replaced and now the check engine light wont go off and they are saying it is carbon build up... but the In Drive that I utilize with State Farm says Power Train failure.

I leased a brand new Mini Cooper Countryman S only 6 months ago. Everything has been great until recently. I was three hours into a 5 hour drive when suddenly a red light came on telling me to stop and shut off the car since the engine was overheating. I immediately called my salesperson who said to use the SoS in the car to get a tow. I was told to not drive for car. Unfortunately, I was on the side of I-95 where 18 wheelers were flying past. Well, I sat there for 3 hours, THREE hours, waiting for my tow that Mini organized. It was terrifying to say the least.It was towed back to Alexandria, Va where I live and leased the car. I was informed that a stone hit underneath and damaged the radiator and that I had to pay for it. What? How could that be? My drive was smooth and nice - no problems. I have since discovered that is a design flaw that exposes the radiator to this type of damage. I had to get my insurance co involved, and I have been waiting two weeks already since a needed part is coming from Germany and they have no idea when it will arrive. I have been car-less except for the first several days when Mini gave me a loaner. After all of my complaining, they have since said theyd give me another loaner which I will pick up shortly. First of all, this is a lease, and this is a corporate problem so I should not be responsible. Secondly, if my leased car sits in their garage for a month (?), why should I make a payment when I dont even have the car. Needless to say, I am dumping this car after my lease, and I am not leasing or buying another Mini Cooper.

Last Friday when I was driving home and my 2015 Mini hit a telephone pole. The car hit the pole at about 35 MPH on the drivers side at about the level of the headlight. The car was totaled. For whatever reason, no airbag was deployed. I hit the steering wheel with my chest and have bruised ribs but fortunately I am going to be OK (I was wearing a seatbelt). Up until now I was a loyal Mini owner (this was my second) but I am concerned how this car could hit and damage a telephone pole so severely it had to be replaced, without airbag deployment. More of a concern was what if the accident was even more severe. Has this happened to others? Obviously, my replacement vehicle will not be a Mini but others may want to use this as a cautionary tale.

2005 Mini Cooper - My first problem with my Mini was the power steering pump. The original went with less than 10,000 km. Replaced with used - it broke down very soon after. I bought one from Mini for warranty - last summer. Since then, my tranny failed. The mechanic said it had a hole in the lower left section. I bought one from a salvage company from Quebec. I replaced that one in Feb. and due to bad weather, only drove it short distances 3 or 4 times. April 23rd (90-day warranty), it broke down when I had my disabled son with me - good thing we had just gotten into London, ON. 2 weeks left on warranty, the salvager wont honor. I will go to small claims court. We managed to get to the Mini dealer. They were only going to get rid of my airbag error light. They did and told me after their scans that this automobile has numerous problems. Not once did they indicate all the problems associated with these cars. They tried to tell me that it was old. It has been OFF the road more than on in the 7 years Ive had it!! Less than 98,000 km! The horn wouldnt work so we put an aftermarket one on. My son did it and works great. One side of the hood wont catch, 3 power steering motors and pumps, and now 2 trannies!! Mister transmission will tell me tomorrow whether or not they can fix it, and if so, will give me a warranty of 100,000 kms or 5 years! I will get it fixed if not too much and then sell it or trade it if the warranty goes with the car. Gas mileage was always great, BUT it is DANGEROUS and I will NEVER RISK DRIVING WITH MY FAMILY AGAIN!! Mini would NEVER admit any of these problems and KNEW it all along!

October 3/11 I purchased a 2007 Mini Cooper with 50,000 kms from the BMW/Mini Cooper dealership in Winnipeg Manitoba. It had at the time one year left on the warranty. In 2012 the timing chain and Vano sensors went while we were in Winnipeg. It went to BMW/Mini Cooper Winnipeg, the timing chain and Vano sensors were replaced under warranty. February 13/2015 the car died again. It was found that the timing chain went again and Vano sensors. BMW/Mini Cooper Winnipeg did that work again. Told me the reason that the timing chain went again was that a bolt was loose. I asked why had not that bolt been torqued? I got no answer. They did that work under warranty however they charged me for some seals and a hook seal cap. They also told me I needed a new alternator which is odd since my alternator was replaced June 26th 2014. The car still did not work properly so I had to have it towed from BMW/Mini Cooper Winnipeg to the shop where I work. My technician found that my new Wilson alternator had been trashed and there was 6.0 liters of dirty oil in my car. My car only takes 4.0 liters. When it got towed from Morden to Winnipeg it had 3.5 liters of clean synthetic oil in it because it just had a service job and the alternator was working fine. We sent the Wilson alternator into Wilson to be repaired. They did not repair it. So I ended up ordering a BMW alternator over $900.00 and a new battery. My technician was very upset with BMW/Mini Cooper. Tried to get answers from them about the alternator and dirty oil, he never got any answers. My technician got the car going however it still did not sound well. It got towed back to BMW/Mini Cooper Winnipeg. They did a diagnostic. It was still related to the whole timing chain situation. They said it was fixed.Both my husband and I took an afternoon off from work, drove into Winnipeg to pick up the car. I didnt even get the car off their lot when the engine light came on. They pulled the car back in. Did a diagnostic, said a hook seal needed to be replaced. This hook seal comes in a unit that costs $4000.00. So that is $4,000.00 plus $150.00 per hour labor. Now the car is still at BMW/Mini Cooper Winnipeg, not running. I am still paying $357.00 per month car payment on a car that is not running. BMW/Mini Cooper said the used car department would buy the car from me for $3500.00 but I would still have to pay $2840.00. Or they repossess the car and screw my credit. My question is there such a thing as a hook seal worth $4000.00? We cannot afford the so-called hook seal and the labor. What is going on here?

I was in 2 accidents a month apart (Its not my fault.) in my 2007 Mini Cooper. So, I sent it to my local Mini dealer, thinking they knew what they were doing. When I had a warranty, I got excellent service, but not after my warranty was up! They broke things on the car, lost pieces, put things in backwards - it was a nightmare. I was told that all those things were wear and tear. It happened in the accidents; it was fine before. They would not fix the things they broke, and they were just so rude, saying I was making it up! Im not! So, they told my insurance company that its like that before the accidents. So now, they closed the claim and would not fix the problems. Problem is, they broke the parts or did not fix it right. They would not say they did it and made it right. They were very sobbing, and they think they are some great fancy place, not just another car repair shop. And in my accident, I broke my nose on the steering wheel. The air bag did not go off and the seat belt did not hold me back! I was slammed hard from behind. The problem is the dealership.

My 2009 Mini Cooper S Convertible with only 41,000 miles was experiencing the death rattle associated with the timing chain problem. My local Mini dealership at first told me they did not hear what I was hearing. I also had the problem with misfiring and rough idling. After I took the service technician for a drive and he acknowledged hearing the same things I did, the dealer quoted over $2,000 dollars in repairs which including timing chain replacement and carbon build-up removal.At the time, I was mystified at how we could go from no problems to that amount of money with no further diagnosis being conducted. I did take my car back to the same dealer for service and they ultimately fixed both problems at no cost. Unfortunately, I still have a high oil consumption problem and was told by the Mini Service Manager that I will need to add oil after about 750 miles. Based on past history, this is another known issue that Mini is just not yet willing to admit to.

Mini Cooper convertible S car is a very sturdy, fun ride. Mini has since updated their options which now includes a much more comfortable ride with a lot more options. Love the ease of the convertible top. The ride was a bit stiff for long distance motoring but has since been fixed to accommodate more comfort, electric seats, backup cameras, just to name a few. Such a sporty fun ride that I feel very safe in.

My 2010 Mini Cooper Clubman S had 14100 miles on it. Within 4 days to continue driving it I would have had to put out over $2,000. First the brake pads which needed to be replaced could not be done without replacing the entire brake unit... over $800.00. Two days later the engine started idling roughly and the check engine light came on. I brought it to the independent mini dealer I was using and they told me that Peugeot was actually providing the engine for the Mini and many of the parts were made of plastic. The error reading was indicating *engine misfiring... Like badly*. It would cost around $1,000 to fix it and it would take 2 days and of course there would be labor costs also and the same thing could happen again. They cleared the check engine light and said drive it until the light came on again and then when it did repairs would have to be done. They were surprised, very surprised, that at 14,100 miles brakes and engine part melting was happening. I had 2 extended warranties but they covered nothing (brakes aside - wear and tear items). Now tossing and turning about this all one night, you gotta figure $2,000+ is like 5 car payments. When they erased the error, I RACED to the Honda dealer and got a Civic. The simple maintenance cost and repair cost of having the *hottest* car on the road wasnt worth the lack of reliability and exorbitant cost to maintain. I was always having to have sensor lights cleared at the dealer and after the check engine light situation I, sorrily simply passed the problem off to a non-Mini dealership. I dont love the Honda but I feel safe that I will not have to always be ready for some costly thing to happen before the next car payment is due. Amazing dumping a car because it is a financial and safety risk to drive!

I bought a beautiful brand new 2012 Convertible Mini Cooper, and sold it after 1 year and 20,000 miles. I got rid of the problem car. I refused to listen to my friends who suggested to me to buy anything but a BMW product because it is overrated. I could forget about the inconvenience of having only 2 front seats, because the 2 back seats are useless, they are very uncomfortable, feeling as if you are seating on a rock, my 5- and 2-year-old kids refuse to sit on the back seats.The car is poorly designed. You have to reach far away and over the top to reach the window controls, sunroof and lights. I had to buy myself an air compressor, to pressure the tires, because the stupid tire pressure sensing valves will leak air all the time. I bought a convertible car to be able to open the top as I please, but frequently, anything on the trunk will trigger a stupid switch, that will prevent the top from opening. My little Mini used fuel as if it was one of those Lincoln Continental of the 60s. I bought a Mini without Turbo Charger, but it is a gas guzzler. They claim the car makes 37 miles a gallon on the highway. The best it can do is 25 mpg. The car has a massive 14 gallons of fuel and for a good reason, it uses a lot of gas.To be objective, I can only cite one or two good things about this car. As small as it is, it has a rough ride. It feels as a go-cart ride, but it takes the road curves really good. This car is a city car; it was not made to ride for longer than 2 hours. If you have back problems, they will worsen with this Mini problem. The other advantage is that for a convertible car, it is quiet. You can have a conversation and listen to classical music.I do not recommend this car if you like the comforts of being in the city. Please do not buy a problem. The customer service is horrible. When you are buying the car, they offer you free 36,000 miles maintenance. They ripped me off - I had for brakes after 15,000 miles, and it was not cheap, because BMW cars do not replace pads. They replace rotors, packing, pads and bearings - $500 brake job. The worst part of the nightmare was the overheating problem. The car has been poorly designed with a bad cooling system. It provides weak air conditioning. If it is freezing, the hot air reaches you after 15 to 20 minutes. In a hot day, the air conditioning is worthless, and on top of that, after 20,000 miles, the stupid car developed overheating problems. I took it to the dealer and they did not want to even answer the phone. I took the car 2 times complaining about overheating, and they could not fix the problem. Instead of doing the lemon law frustration, I just sold the car and gave the problem to another fool. I do not recommend Mini Cooper. It is the worst investment you can make.

Bought my Mini new (2012) and all it is a money pit!!! Every time Ill take it to get fixed it is a $1,000 to fix it. Mini should let other shops work on it. Never never never ever going to buy a car that only the dealer can repair. Dealers employees are rude and arrogant. I hope this helps so no one else make this mistake.

I have had two Mini Coopers, one the older model 2005, that everyone so loves to complain about, and the second a 2009 Mini Cooper S. I know several people that have Mini Coopers and love them. If you look on the internet, you will see countless websites for Mini Cooper fans; there is nothing wrong with Mini Cooper or BMW. These are singular issues. I think it is unfair for consumers to complain about a company because they made a poor and/or ill-informed decision when buying a car.

I am very disappointed at the sales practice in Morristown Mini. I would advise DO NOT buy car there, I had to bear a loss of $17,000 because this dealer didnt disclose the tire information at purchase. As a loyal customer, we have purchased a Mini Cooper two years ago and were satisfied with the car. However, when we decided to replace another car and got a Clubman last Sept. in the same dealership, nightmare started not long after the joy of having a fully loaded clubman. First snow, which as a resident of NY and NJ for 20 years, was really nothing, my husband though couldnt even drive the car up to a small hill for my daughters music lesson, it was a dangerous zigzag. We couldnt figure out why. Until we sent car to dealer, they told us its performance tire and cannot be driven under 40 degrees. Since we bought it at 6k miles, no one bothered to disclose this information to us. And I tried to call dealership, the manager never called me back. We are caught off guard. We purchased a car not suitable for weather here. After that, the car is mostly stalled on the driveway, upon recent snow storm, when we had to go out during and after snow to get gas for generator. So, after 5 months of suffering, we terminated car with $17K loss... Bought a SUV with all season tire.

At 43,000 miles the clutch went on my 2010 MINI Cooper S Clubman. Between towing costs & repairs, I anticipate a total bill around $4,500. The car is no longer under warranty and the dealer, although very understanding, expects full payment. An internet search indicates that clutch and transmission problems are a common problem with MINIs: particularly with the 2010 and 2013 models. My search results indicate that some clutch failures occur as early as 15,000 miles. I have always driven a standard; my last car had 139,000 and the original clutch. I know when/when not to/and how to use a clutch; I dont ride the clutch and I dont rip the car around, although all MINI TV commercials show the car being driven this way. MINI has had issues w/ the transmission also; in fact there is a class action suit against BMW North America that is pending settlement. I wonder if there is potential for a class action suit here since it seems to be a consistent problem, and I am sure MINI must be aware of it.

First, I got to say it was great for about 6 months. Love the look and seemed affordable. First thing that went out was the windshield cleaner boxes. I went to the Mini Cooper dealership because that is where my warranty was honored. 3 times I went back to fix them and never was it fixed properly, still doesnt work. The second thing was the air conditioner stopped working. And then the windshield cracked on the top. Come to find out, it was a manufacturer defect. I did receive a call back for that and the paper work was so extensive, I didnt even bother to try to get my money back. And then the little exterior pieces started falling off, there are so many pieces I cant even get through them all. Lets just say I would go back to the side of the freeway to find pieces of my car so I wouldnt have to order overpriced plastic pieces to make my car look halfway normal. And then the passenger door wouldnt open. And then the antifreeze is dumping out everywhere. I just keep filling it up until I have time to fix that too. And not to mention the tires for a turbo are $215 at the lowest cost. Oh did I forget to tell you there is a small oil leak also. Oh yeah, lets not forget the cigarette lighter stopped working too. Cant charge my phone either. Oh and both of the door interior door handles fell off too. Buyer beware. This car sucks!!!!!

2010 Mini S extended warranty - OK I purchased my Mini about a year and a half, bought all the bells and whistles to protect it from major work inside and out. 2 months after check engine light came on. Took it in, Oh it is just the sensor BUT you need new spark plugs. OK well should be covered NOT paid over $200 and they reset the sensor. My Mini run hot, towed it to the shop and it needs a lot of work. Now seems since I have been changing the oil myself they do not wanna honor my extended warranty to fix what is a $2,300.00 buncha crap stuff. So my question is is my 2010 Mini S extended warranty voided since I like saving money and not driving so far to the dealership for oil changes?

I have a 2009 Mini Cooper S with 58,000. I drive the car daily. Recently a oil drip started to appear in the garage. I take the Mini to dealership (they are the only ones I take this car too) and they tell me I need to replace the gasket for $1,800.00. I am also told - that this is a common issue and 1-3 are seen each month for the same work. I am told the cause of the gasket failure is the engine goes from cold to hot and then back to cold. I asked like normal drive - from the house to the office then back home 9 hours later - I was told yes. Upon further reading and investigation - the issue is not the gasket but the housing becomes warp over time - due to poor design - no bolts to attach the oil housing to the oil coolant - thus a heat warp is created and oil starts to leak out. So, even if I pay $1,800.00 for the gasket repair - the warped housing is not corrected and the oil leaking will start over again. If Mini is aware and so many are being seen each month - why not a recall and a corrective fix.

Only three thousand miles, so far so good. And Im extremely abusive with my manual mini cooper.

I bought my wife a Mini Cooper 2006 R50 in 2010. It already had 52k miles on it. It now has 120k on it. I do most of the work myself because its simple, but very time consuming. If I dont do this Id look at spending about 40k dollars (overall) at the dealership to fix everything that wouldve gone wrong with it. And I should point out that Houston where I live is extremely hot so the more heat the more prone to failure. I usually go to the dealer for an inspection every 10k miles. They tell me what the problems are (charge a fair bit) but its worth it to get their knowledge. I think I was around 400 dollars, but had them replace the oil & filter as well etc. Then I go fix it myself.To avoid costly repairs the engine oil needs to be checked and topped off if necessary every month (about 6 or 7 hundred miles! Not changed).. Topped off to the max. If the engine oil goes low thats when plastic chain tensioners start to get hot and fail/break off causing catastrophic failure. I dont go for the oil change every 3k garble. I have the dealership do it every 10k (when they inspect it).Lately Ive had a misfire on cylinder 4. It cost me 20 dollars for a compression tester and will tell you that it has low compression (could be something else). Note 400 dollars if you want Mini to do it. Youll also be able to figure out if its the top end or bottom with a drop of oil (Google it). In my case it was a burnt valve on the head. As stated before its very simple to do these repairs. Its just very time consuming. The head was put to a machine shop though. Machine shops are pretty cheap.Over the 70k miles Ive had suspension issues, radiator fan issues, thermostat issues. Oxygen sensor issues. Engine mount issues. And numerous others I cant think of. 400 dollars to change a crank shaft sensor O-ring is a little excessive especially if youre changing the pan gasket at the same time. But in all its not complicated. It just takes time and some elbow grease.I have to say though I was tempted to buy a 40 thousand dollar BMW, but after the last time I took the Mini in and the guy said Its pretty good shape for a vintage that was the clincher for me. Its clearly obvious BMW do not want to work on cars over 5 years old, that is why they are charging so much. They want you to buy a nice new car every 5 years. So look forward to either spending 40k in repairs or 40k on a new car. I remember when Mini was Mini. Cheap and cheerful and would save on gas! Now its just spend spend spend. And can we please stop making plastic manifolds and plastic thermostat housings!!!!!!!!! Geesh Ill pay the extra 1k dollars and wont complain either!!

I have a 2005 Mini Cooper convertible. I love my car, but now she is costing me a fortune. First, the power steering pump went out and I had to replace that at $1,100 (that was going to a certified Mini mechanic, but not the dealer). Since this is a problem with Minis, why is there not a recall? Now, I am having problems with my convertible top, (also a problem with Minis). The dealer wants over $800 for the parts and $520 for labor. But they only want to warranty it for 2 years. So I have found someone who specializes in convertible tops and is doing the work for half the price.There are other things that I am having to replace all at once. But my issue is, Mini has recognized most of these things being an issue in just about all Minis and refuse to recall these items. I bought my car used, because I saw what other Mini owners were complaining about and I was not about to buy a new Mini and have to always go to the dealer for repairs. This will most likely be my first and only Mini unless something is done. I love my car, but this is getting to be ridiculous and with the price of gas going up and our economy coming down, you would think that Mini would start taking some responsibility.

I am writing to express my extreme disappointment with the recent failure of the original clutch/flywheel in the above referenced vehicle. The vehicle was purchased new from Mini of San Francisco on February 17, 2007 and all scheduled maintenance has been conducted in a timely manner including a recent scheduled maintenance on September 15, 2011 (Mini inspection), a mere seven weeks before complete clutch failure. No comments or suggestions were noted by the mechanic during this scheduled maintenance that clutch wear was occurring or should be monitored.The Mini Cooper was driven under extremely light driving conditions with an experienced manual transmission driver. The vehicle was typically only used for “motoring” trips on weekends. The previous manual transmissions driven were a 1986 Honda Civic DX (original owner 97,000 miles with one clutch replacement at 65,000) and a 1996 Honda Civic DX Hatchback (original owner with no clutch replacement as of 60,000 miles when car was donated). Furthermore, the driver was experienced in using the parking brake while resting on a hill to spare any unnecessary clutch wear. All maintenance has been performed by Mini of San Francisco and online service history is current per owners’ lounge website.The driver had never experienced a complete clutch failure with no prior warning signs. Furthermore, the driver had never seen a clutch fail under such light driving conditions so anticipated that it must be some sort of mechanical failure and immediately drove the vehicle to Mini of San Francisco. While the service department of Mini San Francisco provided excellent customer service, the driver conducted his own research into the situation while the mechanical review was being conducted and has noted that many other drivers of this vehicle have cited the same problem.The driver seeks a response from Mini USA on this very disappointing early clutch failure, the occurrence of this situation within the specific model, and the manufacturer’s guidance on extending the life of a clutch.

I bought a 2008 Mini Cooper couple years ago. Since the first day we have owned it, we have had nothing but problems with it. First week of owning it, a sensor went out on it, lucky still under warranty, cost 200 bucks to replace. We have had the body control module act upon it and have to unplug the battery to reboot the car regularly. The sunroof switch quit working right. The driver door window switch automatic quit working. The radio screen doesnt show up all the way sometimes. When its cold it sounds really loud and the exhaust is Really loud when its cold. Tires go flat in cold weather a lot. Just had to replace the coil wires due to misfiring on all cylinders. Seems like we havent went over a month without the check engine like coming on. For what you pay for a Mini you should get a quality car and Quality they are not... Nothing but junk. Will never own another nor a BMW see tons of post about same problems with them. Mini doesnt back their product. I am going back to American made once I get where I own less than the car is worth. DO NOT BUY A MINI COOPER unless you like to be broke fixing it. Now I know why they kept pushing the extended warranty and maintenance package. You have to use the the whole time you have the car because its constantly in the shop.

An engine light came on in my 2012 MINI. I live 100 mi away from my dealer so MINI Roadside contracted a tow company come pick her up and take her to the dealer. As per policy of MINI USA and MINI Roadside, she was put on a flat-bed tow truck. On the return trip, 14 May 2014, however, things did not happen per policy. She was towed behind a tow truck with back wheels on the road and the front wheels 3 ft up in the air traveling down Interstate 75 from Atlanta to Warner Robins. The entire front of the car has suffered from gravel impact damage. Everything on the front end needs to be either replaced or re-painted (hood, hood trim, head lights, fog lights, bumper, roof, side mirror caps, front air dam, and wind-shield). MINI USA and MINI Roadside will not cover the damage and the tow company (who was under contract by MINI USA and MINI Roadside), of course indicates they did not damage the car. Both parties did agree, through a posted letter and an email, that the tow policy was not followed but there was no possible way my vehicle could have been damaged. When a vehicle goes to any MINI dealer for service, it is inspected for body damage (so the dealer is not held liable for damage they did not do, MINI USA policy). The service report from the dealer indicates no damage at all. $5k worth of damage and no one is to blame and no one knows how it happened in the course of 100 mi from the dealer to my house. MINI USA and MINI Roadside will not repair your vehicle if damage, but they will offer to pay YOUR insurance deductible (I kid you not).

My 2017 Mini Cooper Coupe is amazing, she is so fast & compact, I can fit her in any parking space! I like the British racing green color & white accents, sunroof, futuristic look, and dealer personnel.

I bought a mini cooper s clubman 2008 model in September 2013 from a private seller financed by one of the major banks in South Africa. The car had only 58000 km on it. In Jan 2014, only after travelling 3000 km the engine light showed. Took it to bmw for inspection and I was told it needs a new turbo. Called mini South Africa and even sent a mail and I was promised feedback. To this day, they have not come back to me. The turbo was replaced and to my horror when testing the vehicle, the turbo blew again. I was told that the thermostat housing is faulty and has to be replaced. I had to fork out R4500 to get that. I was also told that that the water pipe needs to be replaced as well. Another R1000k. I am currently paying an installment of R4800k on this car every month for the next 5 yrs and within the 7 months I had to replace such expensive components and the manufacturer was not helpful. This morning I phoned the technician to find out how its going with the new turbo and I am told the oil pipe now has a fault. I am of the strong opinion that Mini/BMW should be taken to task as these are their products and why should it be the consumers problem to fix faults on their products. I say a lawsuit should be taken on against mini/bmw as I am extremely frustrated with their product and I am losing money everyday with all the problems that keep cropping up not budgeted for and especially with warranties that only cover certain aspects and not others of the same component.

Wife had been looking for a new car - one that fit her personality - and chose to order a top of the line Mini - specifically a fully loaded 2018 John Copper Works Countryman All4. After waiting for almost 3 months to have the car delivered from Belgium (BMW) factory, we took the train down to Mini of Portland to pick up her car. Upon inspection we noticed white slime coming from outside the interior of the car and staining the black trim. Dont worry we will get it cleaned up for you was the managers response. After driving it 2 hrs home we noticed the next day that the black trim molding was stained as the Clear Coat (extra by necessary living in the west mountain regions) was bubbling in the front bumper. After taking a day off from work it was brought to the dealership where I was told there was a notice out from BMW but since the model of the car they hadnt received it from corporate so they wouldnt fix it because they would have to pay for it!!! Doesnt matter that it is a 4 hour round trip plus my cost away from work. When it was finally down they had to take the hood off and clean the slime off - which is what they stated was used to prevent rust from the transatlantic trip. OK, if that is what a takes, even if it was inconvenient and expensive for us. She wanted her dream car and said it was worth it.A week later the white slime was back and a passenger side window molding fell off. Called the dealer and they said to take another day off from work and make a four hour trip down - of course at my convenience. While trying to figure when to take it down we noticed that some of the Mini medallions that are throughout the interior were starting to peel off. I finally got so angry I called the Mothership; BMW of North America to file a complaint. After nearly 2 weeks I was called today and told I had to deal with the dealership only and that BMW of North America had nothing to do with.I said the dealership didnt build it and that BMW of North America does indeed have everything to do with it as they represent the brand and factory and that whether a car cost $5,000 or $5,000,000 there should be no reason for shabby workmanship. He continued to deflect responsibility until I just disconnected the call. So, save your money and buy a used Yugo - at least you know the quality to expect.

My wifes 2003 Mini Cooper developed a steering noise and its steering boot was found leaking fluid in March of 2012 .Repairs were made to replace the leak and its steering rack in March of 2012. In May of 2013, we received a letter from Mini advising us of steering problem issues to the 2002-2005 models. In August of 2013, the steering became very stiff and was taken in for repairs. The repair facility found that the power steering pump was inoperative and the pump cooling fan had seized. These were replaced. Due to the severity of the steering problems taking it to the nearest dealer some 80+ miles to Seattle (we are in Sudden Valley) was considered too risky for my wife to drive there. So all repairs were done at European NW Automotive in Bellingham not a Mini dealer.These repairs were not covered by Mini and I have just discovered by phone were denied but no letter has ever been sent to us advising this. The coverage letter was 13 years or 150K miles whichever came first and to date this Mini has just reached 30K. All repairs were done at European NW in Bellingham not a Mini dealer. The Mini letter states repairs for parts are covered even if you had the repairs done at an independent shop. I have tried discussing this situation and cannot understand Minis explanation. Its my contention that although repairs were made after the letter of May 2103 all the repairs necessary fit Minis steering warranty coverage issues and should be honored and covered. Could you please help me with this? Note: I do understand now that I dont qualify for the 2012 repairs and do not expect Mini to reimburse us; however, on reflection I think that the 2012 repairs were a forerunner for the 2013 repairs outlined in their May 2013 Warranty Coverage Extension outlining the steering issues that needed to be corrected. The costs for the 2013 repairs were submitted to Mini in August of 2013 and are denied (without notice) for reasons I do not understand. Thank you.

60,000 and I need a new engine. Had the car 1 1/2 yrs. Mechanic told me damage was done BEFORE I bought it. Timing chain, oil, etc just like all the other complaints and Im getting the run-around. Thought BMW was a great product.... Guess not.

I bought my 2007 Mini Cooper S in July 2009 and in August 2009, I had to have the car flat bed towed to San Antonio because the clutch and all parts had to be replaced $2793.09. March 2011 - water pump drive belt cracked $1106.52. October 2011 - excessive carbon buildup $851.00. March 2012 - timing chain $941.98. Total spent on repairs $5693.05 in 2 years and that is with them discounting.

The fan kicked in the day I bought it in 2009, just after leaving dealer. Little did I know, it was in need of servicing then. $4,300 in repairs in under a year and still the vehicle overheats. Fan, water pump, thermostat, reservoir tank, all were done and now its going to be serviced yet again at local Mini dealer. They say the parts are warrantied but what part fails after eight months of regular use? The closest repairs are two hours away. I continue to rely on my insurance towing to get the car to be serviced as the vehicle will not make it there safely.I cannot recommend this brand to any one walking on a Mini lot nor can I express a positive remark about my experiences to family or friends. BMW should listen to all of the blog entries and issue a manufacturers recall on the entire line up. Faulty fans, transmissions and water pumps isnt enough to convince you to shop elsewhere? Then try your luck but there are plenty of warnings. A lot of disgruntled customers blogs had been available prior to my purchase. Had I read any of them, I would have steered away in a more reliable vehicle.

If I could give negative stars, I would. After owning this car barely 4 years, and JUST as the warranty expired, the engine pulley had to be replaced. Lights came on Battery Malfunction Engine Overheated- turn off car, do not drive, etc. Mini changed how they made this part in 2016 but have failed to recall it in this model. They only recalled the S Cooper. In spite of this part being a problem, they refuse to reimburse car owners for the very expensive repairs. Courtney from Mini USA called to give me her speech on this not being a known problem, even though they changed how they made it the next year. She also said it was too bad for me since I agreed to pay the service department for the repairs. I told her I was stranded at the grocery store when the lights came on and had to have it towed to the dealer. Was I supposed to walk to work? She said the warranty expired and I shouldve bought the extended warranty at purchase. I said the car shouldve lasted more than 4 years without an engine issue! Obviously, BMW USA AND MINI USA couldnt care less about standing behind their cars once they have your money. Your only recourse is to spend more money for when they break down. IF I CAN GET RID OF THIS LEMON, I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER MINI EVER!!!

1009 Mini Cooper S suddenly died after getting off of OC Freeway in the rain. Dead stop, cannot even charge battery. Clunking noise the day before. Towed to auto repair ... tensioner broke, blowing up gaskets, engine. Repair $3500. No warning light came on at all, just the clunking noise the day before. Engine light comes on for low tire but not tensioner!! The thermostat went out last month and then a week later the water pump. $5000 in one month. Very discouraging since after reading about it the tension will break again, since its such a bad design. Is there anything one can do?

My car has 110,000 klics on it and the transmission is gone. To fix it they want $8500 for the parts and another $1500 for the labor. They have to put the same transmission in and the same thing could happen again. The sales manager said it would be just better to sell it as I wouldnt get much as a trade in. They have these problems with the transmissions from 2002 to 2007 then they changed it. I do not think its is acceptable for a company to know this and not do a recall or at least fix it. These are $40,000 dollar cars and I think you should get a lot more mileage than this. I LOVE my car and it has cost a lot in repairs, but am so disillusioned with the reaction of the company.

I purchased a 2003 Mini Cooper from Orange Empire. After 7 months of owning the vehicle, it started acting funny when driven more than 50 mph. It pulled back, hesitated. I took it back to the dealer where I purchased it and all they could recommend at that time was to have Irvine Mini Cooper check it out. So I dropped the car off at Orange Empire. They made the arrangement with Irvine Mini to have it checked. When I picked up the vehicle, they had reset the transmission and changed the transmission oil. This mickey mouse work only lasted for about a year and the same problem came back again. Mini Coopers are very hard to diagnose or at least several of the shops I took it couldnt find the problem until I took it to a shop that was highly recommended. Their diagnosis was the transmission needed to be replaced. The cost is approx $8,000 which is outrageous. Since then, I have been following a lot of blogs reporting the same problem Im having with Mini Coopers that were released in 2002-2005. I guess, BMW realized that the transmission in these models did not function to satisfaction and made changes from 2006 and above. But what about the rest of us that have bought Mini Coopers from 2002-2005? Are we stuck with such a high bill because BMW doesnt want to take responsibility? Im highly disappointed and angry. The car oil or any repairs arent cheap. Im still paying for my car and on top of it, I have to pay for a bad transmission? Not fair. Please help the thousands of us that own these vehicles. Thank you for your time.

Did you know Mini Cooper was a centerfold in Playboy Magazine? Got your attention now, dont I? Good!Thinking of buying a BMW or Mini Cooper Product, DONT! At least until youve read this and the class action lawsuit against BMW and Mini Cooper Aarons VS BMW. This lawsuit is being handled by Kurtzman & Carson Consultants, Philip Cooper. 886-381-9100.When I purchased my 2007 Mini Cooper I did so because I thought it was the cutest, coolest, and most fun car I had ever driven. Then the practical side of me took over and I did my due diligence and research. Who knew that the Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) would prematurely fail and without warning, recklessly putting me in a gravely dangerous situation in the high speed lane on the expressway way during rush hour traffic? BMW and Mini Cooper knew, thats who!! Its amazing that I wasnt struck by the semi behind me traveling at a high rate of speed, considering my Mini Cooper dropped down to 15 mph after the CVT permanently failed while traveling at a rate of 65 mph!BMW presented the Mini Cooper as a high performance, yet affordable high end premium small vehicle which emphasized their design and performance features, cornering abilities, good looks and fashionable styling. Did you know that the Mini Cooper even graced the centerfold of Playboy Magazine? Yes! Playboy Magazine!! BMW group bragged, through its aggressive marketing tactics, that the Mini Coopers design, layout, content and performance along with it being fun to drive, its price point, and high quality were enough to wear the BMW Badge.I thought I had died and gone to heaven! This was my favorite car ever! I babied my Mini Cooper and serviced it regularly, of course. None the wiser, I loved that car, still do. BMW & Mini Cooper not so much!I was so excited and proud to be driving a Mini Cooper and I remained ecstatic until recently. A Mini Cooper convertible was my dream car, BUT now it’s my recurring nightmare! Well, for once, I made my extravagant purchase base on emotion AND logic, what a change for me. Now I wish I didnt do the research to back up my emotional purchase, at least I could said, shoulda, woulda, coulda messed up again. Oh by the way, that BMW Badge, what I didnt know it means Badge of Dishonor! Shame on you BMW!Not only did BMW deny knowledge of the premature CVT but they also undertook affirmative efforts to conceal the failures through a series of TSB Technical Service Bulletins issued to repair facilities, thus stalling long enough for the warranty to expire before owners were made fully aware of the true problem. Its obvious that BMW knew of the problems based not only on the complaints made directly to them but also numerous complaints made to the NHTSA National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration. Yet BMW refuses to publicly acknowledge the problem or offer remedy, instead keeping it a secret as long as possible. As if this wasnt bad enough, BMW CONTINUED TO KNOWINGLY SELL VEHICLES EQUIPPED WITH CVTS PRONE TO PREMATURE FAILURE! Despite BMWs efforts to conceal the issue, customer complaints and CVT failures continued. Way to go BMW! Something to be said for your consistency.Thinking back now, Mini Cooper was always aggressively sending me marketing materials for the newest, latest, hottest Mini Cooper Convertible, of course wanting me to trade in my 2007 Convertible Mini Cooper, for a brand new sleeker, faster more stylish Mini Cooper Convertible. What would have happened if BMW would have put all of that time, effort, and cost into a recall? Or a Just FYI, your CVT might fail, please call us later. Well never know because that would be considered above board or proactive good customer service and as we have discovered, BMW possess NONE of those qualities.There is a saying, If it seems to be too good to be true, it probably is. This is so true with BMW. BMW knowingly under budgeted production and could not keep up with the demand it created. After all everyone wanted that beautiful, cool car that was featured in Playboy Magazine! Too bad the beauty was only skin deep! BMW sacrificed quality and turned out substandard parts and shoddy workmanship, all the while refusing to take responsibility for their actions knowing full well that they were recklessly putting their loyal customers in harms way when the CVT failed.To this day, even in the face of these numerous complaints, BMW continues to deny that there is a problem with the CVT and refuses to disclose the truth to consumers. I ask you, How is this possible in this day and age? Who does BMW know that we lowly (no longer loyal) consumers dont and why should we have to pay to clean up their mess?Never again will I own a BMW or Mini Cooper product and I will make it my lifes mission to share this message with everyone!

I have put less than 7000 miles since my lemon was purchased used. Over 2,000 dollars in repairs so far. Mini Coopers should be made obsolete because of unreliability and bad engineering. The salesman I dealt with do the two step and lie by omission. Buy anything else!

I just want to shed some light on here in regards to having a 6-year old car with low miles or hell could be a 20-year old car with 2 miles on it... Heres my point right to the point: If you do not get critical connections, joints parts where metal to metal or hoses that are meant to have fluids run through them and just sit, they will all began to either rust/crack/stick or squeal. Its just that simple!!!If you dont drive that much or buying a collector car, rule of thumb: go out on the weekends and at least start the motor and let everything get up to operating temperature and the fluids lubricate, hoses, etc. and it would actually benefit you to either get your car off all four tires because they will flat spot and if youre not careful, they can and will dry rot!!!So when I hear people say its this old with low or super low miles, I do a double take. If they are selling it for two reasons: one to see how nice the car is and secondly have they taken care of it by doing the mentioned above, and if not I walk away so please stop moaning about problems. Its typically not the cars fault but end user lacking in their responsibilities!! My .02.

I have a 2010 Mini Cooper S with 24k miles. I hardly drive the car and maintain the car well. All of a sudden I realize oil is leaking. I turn the car on ready to get it examined. The car is making a loud noise and starts to stall. I stop the car and get the car towed to the Mini Dealership. Six hundred dollars later and no real answer but it could be the cylinder, the timing bolt or the engine. Repair would run from six thousand to ten thousand dollars. After reading many blogs I see Mini Coopers are known for these problems and the car co. will not offer any discounts or take responsibility. I have a car which is not working and will be taking up space in my driveway.

Purchased the car new in 2007 for my wife. First NY winter, the car was towed to dealer twice for a frozen throttle. Same thing the following few winters. Lots of other little recalls and repairs. The dealer always had a must be something your wife is doing wrong attitude. Then at 67,000 miles, the engine died on the highway. Towed to the dealer and waited more than a week for a response. Diagnosis: complete engine failure. The dealer wanted $8,000 to put a new engine in the car. I fought with the dealer for weeks and they finally offered a reconditioned motor and I would pay for the labor to install ($1800). Immediately after the car was running again, I sold it for below book value just to get the thing out of my driveway. Waiting for a class action lawsuit.

I purchased my Mini from a Mini dealership four years ago. It was a used certified car. In the time that I have had it, I have replaced every major part, including clutch, alternator, water pump, thermostat housing, all coils, timing chain, cooling fan motor, blower motor, both rear electronic locks, headlights, brakes, and even the passenger seat (the airbag detection sensor went out). Even though I did most of the work myself, Ive spent over 6500.00 on it. If I had a shop do it, it would have been well over 10,000.00. I DO NOT recommend anyone buy a Mini. I am paying it off and selling it. Im done.

Do not buy a Mini Cooper! I have a 2006 Mini Cooper with 47,000 miles and the automatic transmission has gone out! I was told that you cannot buy parts; you have to replace the transmission at the cost of $7500! Shame on Mini Cooper for being aware of transmission problems and not standing behind their product!

I bought a used 2007 mini October of last year. The week before my year anniversary the check engine light came on and a message about the catalytic converter came on and I couldnt drive over 25 mph. I pulled over and hoped that letting it cool would work. Waited a while and drove home about 10 miles VERY SLOWLY. I had to ship it back to the mini dealer that did the original engine repair (200 miles). The car in total had less than 48,000 miles and I got the great news I need to install ANOTHER engine because this isnt the first, but SECOND engine this car needed. Mini has had my car for 6.5 weeks now and they offer to give me $500 to help...... Thanks.Im devastated that I spent 16,000 on the car and now a year later I need to dump another 8,000 into it. I thought buying a German car would be great, but they dont stand behind their product at all. Im so disappointed that they feel $500 is a reasonable compensation for a car that will have its 3rd engine in under 50,000 miles. Im completely gobsmacked. All I can say is NEVER BUY A MINI!!!!!! IT WILL COST YOU WAY MORE DOWN THE LINE!!! Its so sad because I really did enjoy the car and I would have definitely had another one down the line, if this never happened. Buyers beware!

I purchased my 2012 Mini Hardtop S on Aug. 2012. Salesman said its limited edition - Bayswater, only 13 of them in California. However, just few months ago I saw another exact same one on the road next to me, I wonder how low is the possibility will that be. Anyway, my previous car was Scion XA 2006 - I had driven that car for 5 years with 100k mileage. In the last 2 months, I had flat tire twice (due to some nail needle on the road). Therefore, when I purchased my Mini, I have tire insurance since the tire I have is more expensive than the normal one. At around 6~8k miles, my front tire at driver side had an area raised abnormally. I went back to Mini Service for oil change and also asked them to check my tire. At first, they said the tire was used. I said I purchased the brand new one thats impossible. Then the technician changed his word, said it was due to some hold on the tire caused by needle. Beside tire issue, the technician also pointed that something wrong with my engine, he has to check it and might take more than one day. Anyway, since the tire problem was under warranty, I did not say anything more, so I left my car in the dealer overnight.Just today, I took my Mini to another dealer for service due to the engine light was on 2 days ago. At first I thought it was oil change only, just the service guy said something wrong with my engine, but it is only 16k miles. I dont race my car, I drive average under 30 miles a day, rarely drive 50 miles a day. Later on, I asked him what is the thickened oil thing laying by the front cover of my engine, he said the original dealer did not do deep cleaning and the oil was leaking from the inside of the cover. I asked him to clean it for me. He said it costs $160.00. He suggested me to go back to where I purchased and they should be able to do it for free. The guy said since there are multiple issues with this car, they might need overnight to fix it.Mini is always my dream car, but now I miss my Scion XA, that car never caused any problem and always been in good condition. I regret purchasing Mini....the dealer attitude was bad and the car always has some problems in very low mileage, by thinking of the cost after Im past warranty period...I think I have to sell it ASAP.

My 2006 Mini S is clearly not meant to a quality automobile. Now even the radio/CD player is malfunctioning. The bargain basement way BMW built the engine is self-evident when you consider that parts of the timing chain assembly are made out of plastic. Yes, plastic as an internal engine component. Even a lawn mower engine doesnt go that cheap. But the worst was when a shallow puddle in the middle of the road destroyed the exhaust system. Good thing my step-son is a top notch welder. When the mechanic got the exhaust header off the engine, he showed me the collector all four cylinder pipes go to, which then goes the cat converter. My step-son showed me the cheap robotic weld between the collector and the cat. It was like two tiny spot welds. Im surprised it lasted as long as it did. The temperature shock of the cooler puddle water hitting the hot collector shattered those two spot welds easily. So suddenly, Im going down the road sounding like an old bulldozer. Mini wanted to sell me a new pipe because it was my fault for running into the puddle!! I can only imagine that cooperate meeting, No, they are not allowed to drive these cars in the rain... My step-son put a beautiful weld around the entire circumference and the mechanic put it back together. That was my introduction to Mini quality, and Minis philosophy towards customer problems.

My daughter was driving our 2008 Mini Cooper which has around 85,000 miles. No warning lights were on other than the airbag light that stays on all the time because the passenger seat sensor is no longer working. That is another matter. When she stopped at a red light and tried to take off again, the car died and would not restart. We had it towed to the Mini Cooper dealership and they said it had over heated causing the engine to lock up and break the timing chain. The cost for repair would be $10,915.00 including parts, labor and tax. (We are unable to pay that kind of money so we have a cute piece of yard art). We later found out that lots of Mini Coopers have had the timing chain break which is inside the motor and when that happens it can ruin the motor. We believe that is what happened because there was no sensor light on showing the car was getting over heated. We have never had to add water or coolant except at regular maintenance times. They are just trying to blame it on us so there is no way they can be held responsible. There are just too many other people that have had the same problem. Apparently Mini Cooper has known about this problem with the faulty timing chain since 2008 and have not issued a recall. This is horrible!! They should also issue a recall for the passenger seat sensor because that is a safety hazard.

I bought this car from a Mini dealer in June 2011, supposedly to have a normal years warranty and full service when required. Within a couple of months the cam chain snapped on the M25, breaking the casing, which drained it of all oil. The Mini was repaired under warranty, and I was told that there would be no further detriment with the car. Within a few months, a leak appeared within the car and damaged all the upholstery, which again was cleaned under warranty, but has subsequently reappeared after the warranty expired. The car was recalled for a part replacement whilst still under warranty. The car had been burning oil at a phenomenal rate which it still is. I was told that this is normal and generally have to put two liters a month in the car, despite not doing many miles.Within a month of the warranty expiring, all four tires needed replacing, despite having only done 4000 miles since the purchase. A fault light appeared regarding the wiper reservoir, which will not reset. Then after only 39,000 miles, the clutch started slipping and needed replacing which cost over £1000 to replace, which seems to be standard as I know two other owners which have had to replace the clutch at such low mileage. Since having that done within a month the front two new tires have had to replaced at a cost of £150 each as a result of the suspension bushes wearing, and which this is going to further cost more money to rectify. All I get from the dealership is literature on new Minis and as yet they havent even offered me the service as promised. Buy a new one, no thanks.

I bought my Mini used with 39,000 miles on it, the dealership I bought the car from offered a 90 day 3000 mile warranty on everything and thank god because 75 day and 2500 miles in the timing chain and tensioner had to be replaced at cost of $2300 .Since then I have had a recall on the cooler for the turbocharge, just recently I had my thermostat housing and sensor replaced. Now Ive been dealing with major power lost as if the turbocharger isnt working at all....I bought the car to save money and it has been nickel and diming me more than my 15 year old Ford F150... And the car uses more oil than any car that I have ever owed and Im pushing 50...BMW/MINI needs to fess up and fix these design flops because its a reflection on both companies....

I took my 2007 Mini S to a dealer for a free recall repair last year and was told I needed new brakes. The car had only 27,000 miles and I paid over $1000 to have the work done I was told needed to be done. That was last year. This year, the warning lights for the ABS and traction control started coming on at random times although I dont see any difference in the handling when the warning lights are on or off. I went to a dealer which is 135 miles from where I live to have it checked and was told the black box that controls these functions has failed and would need replacement to the tune of $1350 plus 3 to 4 hours labor plus tax. Im still under 40,000 miles, and over $2,500 for repairs in 2 years on a car with this low mileage seems excessive. I was going to have them set up an appointment to do the work, but since there have been issues with reliability of this model for this year, Ive decided to hold off and see if I can get feedback to help me decide in what direction to move. I love driving this car. It has all the options I could want and then some. It cost $31,000 new in 07 but if repairs are going to start being a major issue, I may need to rethink keeping this car or trading it on a vehicle on which I can get service locally.

Updated on 03/26/2019: The last time I posted my Mini was in the shop (at 55k) having the head gasket replaced. 8k later the head gasket had to be replaced again. The shop wanted to re-check the car 500 miles after the repair, which they did, and all was well. Decided as soon as the first sunny, reasonably warm day came I was going to clean/wax the car and get rid of it. The other day fit the bill so I went to the auto parts store to buy wax, etc. Got out of the car and noticed the fan was running. Managed to make it back home without any lights coming on, but the fan continued to run. 10 minutes later I went to start it to move it a few feet in the driveway and the engine light came on and the car didnt want to start. The car just turned 65k and has always been maintained. We have mechanical breakdown coverage through our insurance and frankly Im hoping the entire engine is bad and we can just get whatever they give us for it and be done with it. Absolutely a blast to drive --- but from a mechanical standpoint its far and above THE worst car Ive ever owned.Original Review: Although my 2012 (hardtop) Mini is a blast to drive I will NEVER buy another one. Just turned 55k miles and Ive already had to replace tires/rotors, ignition coils, and the water pump. It is currently in the shop with head gasket/engine repairs to the tune of $2,500.00. Thank goodness for the mechanical breakdown coverage we opted to buy when we bought the new Mini! Its absurd to have this many expensive repairs on a car with only 55k miles!!

I bought 2 Mini Coopers. I bought a red 2005 Mini Cooper automatic for the wife and a silver 2008 Mini Cooper S 5 Speed for myself. I dont know which one of the 2 was the worst, they both spent more time at the repair shop than on the road. For such a good looking car they turn out to be one of the worst cars on the road. Even my dads old Ford Pinto was a far better car than the Mini Cooper. Why do people keep buying them is beyond my expectations, we spent almost what we paid for them in repairs, when it wasnt one thing it was another overheating problems, brake problems, electrical problems, sunroof problems, but the worst was when we needed to get the oil change, we was charged $110. per car. We will never ever own another Mini Cooper again even if they were giving them away for free, my wife Mini Cooper only had 46k miles and it was always in the repair shop. Meanwhile we traded her 2001 Honda Civic with a little over 200k miles and in all the time she had it, all it ever needed was oil changes and a new timing belt. We were so scared to drive too far from our home because we didnt know if we make it back home that night. BMW Mini Cooper thats one in the books for you as one of your biggest failure.

I bought my 2007 Mini Cooper S used in January of 2013 from a reputable and well known dealership in the Hampton Roads area. Since owning it, the timing chain failed at 50,000 miles and was repaired by the only Mini Cooper dealership in the area. At 62,000 miles, the oil filter housing began to leak and was also replaced by the same Mini Cooper dealership. Now at 75,000 miles, the timing chain, oil pump, and turbo has failed. The dealership is also advising me that my Mini Cooper might need a new engine. Really, a new engine at 75,000 miles? My Mini Cooper has been at the Mini Cooper dealership for almost two weeks as they try to fix this poorly built machine. This vehicle has always been maintained and has never been abused. Mini is aware of the issue with the timing chain and oil filter housing and yet they fail to take the responsibility to correct the issues for their owners. The dealership cant even provide you with a loaner vehicle because they have more owners with broke down Minis than they have loaners. So far, the warranty company has paid for all the repairs, but as of today the warranty is questioning if any more repairs should be done since the cost of repair is approaching if not exceeding the value of the vehicle. If you are considering buying a Mini, spend your money elsewhere and stay as far away from this poorly made, issue prone, and unreliable machinery.

I bought my Mini at East Bay Mini but soon realized that going to Mini of Marin was a lot easier than the drive to the East Bay, and so with that being said that is how I arrived at Mini of Marin. I feel that my 2009 Mini Cooper S was a lemon from the get-go. I have had nonstop problems with this car since purchasing it. The car has 67,000 mi at the time of this review. The reason I was prompted to write a review is because of negligence by Mini of Marin during yet again another servicing. This time I took the car in because I claimed the car was popping out of 2nd gear, they claimed the car was doing no such thing but kept the car for almost a week and after getting it back it never popped out (so why would you need to keep it that long if there was nothing wrong with it). So I have it back for a week plus and never opened the passenger door and today I opened the passenger door and find that the metal runner alongside the seat that says Cooper S is no longer sticking to the floor and is bent and making a terrible noise upon closing the door. I have always been very pleasant which is saying a lot after how many times this car has been in the shop, but there is a limit to how much abuse a customer can take. I really wanted to write a review to the Headquarters of Mini but I felt it would land on deaf ears. Within the last year this car has been cooked 2 times for carbon build up, had a new engine (which Mini headquarters required me to pay a portion, even though the car only has 60,000 plus miles), new clutch, popping out of 2nd gear. I feel like I spend more time at the Mini of Marin dealership than I do at my job.

I love my 2012 Mini Cooper, looks sharp and handles great, fun to drive, great get up and go, shifts good, like that you can easily customize the look of your vehicle. I like its color red, the 10 year US anniversary version, bonnet stripes, interior features including heated seats and cruise control, great cd player and sound, love the interior lighting. But it could be easier to get grandkids into the backseat. And as with any vehicle, it could have better gas mileage or electric, now that they have a 4 door coupe I would have selected it to better get kiddos in backseat.

I bought my car as an ex demo. I absolutely love the car, but the service isnt great and the build quality is not what I expected. The hood broke after a year - instead of making the components of the hood out of metal, they are made out of plastic. And guess what, one tiny part snapped. And as a result, the entire hood cover had to be replaced. On a positive note, it was covered under the warranty. Had it not been, I was told the cost would have been 1,800. No one in the UK had a hood in stock, so one had to be ordered from Germany. Of course, whilst waiting for the hood to arrive, it rained pretty much nonstop (when doesnt it in the UK?). As a result, the boot was filled with around 2 inches of water. By the time the hood arrived, all the carpeting in the boot had fungus growing on it and also needed to be replaced. The garage also allegedly spent 24 hours drying the boot out. The car is a UK registered 09 plate with less than 30k on the clock.I have taken my car into the Mini BMW garage today as (1) it is due a service, (2) the boot keeps opening as I am driving along, and (3) it needs new brake pads. Firstly, the service - the guy reads out a list of things that are due to be done under this service including new spark plugs. I pointed out that the garage replaced the spark plugs at the end of October and charged me 200 to diagnose the problem and replace the sparks. Why didnt they mention then that they are covered under the service? Then, he said they didnt replace the sparks - it was something to do with auto sensors. I pointed out I have the receipt and it clearly states spark plugs were replaced. I then get a story that it is something to do with the Mini service pack. Had they gone wrong this week, the cost would have been included under the service. But because it went wrong 2 months early, I have to pay. I pointed out that surely if they go wrong early, they are faulty. But no, that was not the case. It is just my bad luck they failed before the service was due.The reason why the boot keeps opening is because all the components in the boot have rusted and corroded. I immediately linked this problem with the faulty hood and all the water that got into the car whilst I waited for a replacement hood. Apparently, had the components corroded immediately, they would have been covered under the warranty. But because the corrosion has only now become apparent, it cant be covered under the original claim and basically I have to pay for any repairs as it is just normal corrosion. Now, firstly, corrosion does not show up immediately. So I couldnt have bought it back straight after the hood was replaced, as I didnt know there was a problem until now. I think anyone with an ounce of common sense would realize a car boot that sat in inches of water is likely to suffer early corrosion if not dried out correctly. But, hey, not according to Mini BMW. On that basis, I must conclude that all their cars after 3 years are likely to suffer serious corrosion of the electrical components in the boot or just general corrosion all round. Brake pads are being replaced as we speak - BMW charge around 200 for them. So before having yours done, check the price of other reputable garages. It is also worth comparing prices with other Mini dealerships. I only have a short drive to another county and the tires in my garage are 165 fitted each. But if I drive 20 miles down the road to another BMW dealer, they are 118 fitted. It has been a fun quirky car and I do love it; however, I will be reverting back to a Mazda MX5 - never had any problems with Japanese reliability.