Hello All,
I just joined the group and am wondering what the reliability is of a 2011 Mini Cooper S? I'm thinking of buying one for our third vehicle, as a run about town and for commuting in the city. I don't see the vehicle needing to do long trips on the highway. Before I go to the wife, I need some help. I'm in Denver and anything on reliability, the local dealers in my area, how good the car does in snow, etc. would help me.
Thanks!

 

I haven't seen any reliability ratings for the 2011s but the most current ratings I've seen rank the S as not having great reliability and the non-S as a little better with average reliability.

You're definitely not going to get the same type of reliability as you would with a Honda.

 

You're right with respect to comparing it to a Honda's reliability.
Since I wrote this thread yesterday, I've gotten Consumer reports opinion on the reilaibility of a Cooper S. Definitely pre-2010 models were spot on to what you said. But 2010 looks like MINI addressed a lot of the concerns and the feedback from their readers show this.

Bottom line: I'm trying to be objective, but am finding it hard!

 

My 2011 S, 5500 miles only problem a slight vibration at approx 60 mph which dealer fixed by replaceing two of the tyres. Overall, Its been the finest, most trouble free new car I've ever owned in my life.


About Consumer Reports, yea, I noticed that too and am suprised I have'nt seen that mentioned here before. In their Auto Buying issue the 2010 MCS had above average in just about all catagories.

 

Haven't seen the ratings for the new Coopers but there was a thread made here within the last couple of weeks talking about the earlier ratings where they basically trashed the Coopers reliability.

Would you happen to have a link to the new ratings you mentioned? Did they also rate the regular non-S Mini?

 

Yeah, it's tough. If I had bought a car based only on reliability, I would have bought a Honda Fit or waited for the new Hyundai Veloster to come out. But, I like Minis and also wanted a convertible. Since neither Honda or Hyundai make a cabrio, Mini was my best option. I'd actually been eyeing Minis for the last year or two and finally decided to pull the trigger after my previous car started having more problems than I wanted to deal with.

 

No link but I suscribed to the online edition to get it , Cost me $5.95


the 2010 MCS is MUCH improved over previous years, almost all catagories solid red (Best) a couple half red (Better) and just one in the black, Squeaks and rattles.

I'll post it someone well tell me how to capture a screen and post here.

 

If you're on a PC here are some instructions. Make sure to save a JPEG.

 

Here we go on the report (I hope)

 

Hey, I have other models reliability reports too, if you're interested. It's a pain to scale them down to the right pixels, but I figured it out.

 

Beat me to it......

 

I'm a little backwards on this-oh well.

 

Thanks for posting that. If you look back at all years, you will see that the gen 1 MINI got its best scores in 2006 (it's last year). Current rumor is that 2012 will be the last of the gen 2 MC/MCS...so nice to see that for those of us buying now, we are getting the best of the gen 2's (reliability wise).

 

Well this is a little disconcerting given that I'm shopping for a 2003-2006 Mini.

I loved my Miata, was absolutely trouble free. Not sure if I feel 100% confident buying a Mini as my daily driver now.

 

Sure but...at least you're armed with a little bit of good knowledge now! Imagine if you got a "deal" on one of these cars that was a lemon!

 

I purchased a 2011 MCS in January... I drive 160 miles round trip each day... just hit 15K this morning... so far so good! No issues!

 

Isn't it too early to determine the reliability of the 2011's? We're almost half way through 2011 here. From the folks on this forum, you can get some sense of the common issues. But to make any statement as to the reliability of a year/model/make, will require more user inputs and time.

I read that the automatic transmission that Mini uses comes from Japan. But due to the natural disaster they experienced, Mini is seeking another source for the automatic transmission. I don't know if this is really true or not since one can't believe everything on the Internet. But if you intend to order a Mini, keep in mind that you may get a different automatic transmission compared to the one they've been using. But if you pick one off the dealer lot, obviously you're safe. My point being the reliability of the 2011 will get even more hazy if this is true.

But never the less, it can give you a warm and unwarm fuzzy feeling for now.

I guess take comments and reports with a few pinches of salt. Just my $0.02.

 

My Yvette is an '04 MCS2 - She hummmss along just fine with 80k miles on her.. no problems!!!

 

Well I feel like a like a bad guy saying it but I've had quite a few problems, MINI has spent 13000$ on warranty work and at 48500 miles right now I'm really exploring options. ie. a GTI.

Maybe the point I would make is, you may have to be patient with service to be a happy MINI driver. I had/have no problem with the issues since I'm not paying for them. Sure it takes time and such but I'm ok but with warranty going out, I won't let the car cost me stupid money when I can make a change. I wouldn't buy another and if I could go back I'd get a GTI.

This forum however is the best forum I've ever used and it really makes some of the b.s. I've been through alright.

 

I have a 2011 Mini Cooper S with a little over 6500 miles on the clock. No problems so far. We just returned from a 3000 mile road trip. There were two adults and way more luggage than we should have taken. The car performed perfectly. Driving on the highway was a joy and we averaged around 34 MPG. So far I am very happy with the Mini.

 

I've got to agree with Darthen, there probably isn't a lot of owner's data out there to make a solid statement on the reliability on 2011 MINI's, but I think we can see a definite trend on improved reliability on the cars as the bugs are ironed out after the new model is introduced. I'm not in the automotive industry, but if the 2010 models are doing well, how hard is it to keep the factory humming along with the same quality of cars in 2011?

 

simply that they don't age well. Hopefully you are right, though many Euro engineered cars tend to not do so well on a variety of things as they similarly age.

Have a 2010 S. At 9K miles generally trouble free other than the sun roof is a constant rattle trap. Fits the 2010 ratings. But, from other posts, unfortunately not clear to me they have straightened out long term reliability issues for areas that w/ most cars aren't even a question any more for many years (like internal motor), Euro cars included. Fun car of course.

 

I'm just happy that the ratings are improving year by year, since I want to buy one next year for my 50th bday. So far the wife hasn't signed on for a third car for my daily commute and just running around town-so I need all the help I can get. Hopefully the test drive will win her over. I imagine living in Denver, CO that I'll have maybe 8 days a year in the winter where I'll drive something else to work.

We'll see how far the whole "mid life crisis" excuse gets me!
Pray for me brothers and sisters!

 

I have a 2006 MCS with manual transmission. It currently has 66k miles and I haven't had any problems with it at all. I made a 1000 mile trip from Dallas to Phoenix back in December and the car was a blast to drive!!!

Good luck with your decision either way!! :D