I just got one yesterday too! Again....

 

So are all of you going to be open and honest about how you feel? I look at this situation two ways:
1. We could all blindly blabber that it's a great car, great quality, great this or that (like the Ipod fools!) and this will have customers flooding the BMW-Mini dealerships!

2. Or we could all be careful when replying and it'll give BMW a subtle hint that they need to start improving FAST or another European maker might snow them in next model year!

One thing I noticed, GM of Europe (aka Opel) has been getting high marks for quality/reliability while BMW and Mercedes have dropped somewhat across the board -- at least according to Consumer Reports magazine but I question the accuracy as they HATE American cars and have orgasms whenever they review Japanese cars. I think they inflate the numbers on Japanese cars because how come Toyota recalled more cars than any other maker this year when they got the highest marks in quality? Something doesn't add up here. Also, one should note that there are quite a few Japanese brands owned by Ford that tend to be just as crummy as the Ford-badged versions themselves! From my perspective, CR's reputation has taken small but noticeable drop.

One last thing that worries me, a car magazine (can't remember if it was Car & Driver or Road & Track) found a significant correlation between car price and reliability among most brands. For example, a $30,000 Mercedes didn't have a chance against one costing $70,000. The more expensive car got higher reviews in all areas, especially quality and reliability. Makes me wonder how strongly they apply "quality control" to cheaper models.

 

I don't think BMW takes hints. Besides, what's the MINI's competition in the "character" or "style" sweepstakes?

You're mixing your data. CR may hammer American cars, but so does every other magazine if they do head-to-head comparisons. Their reviews are a completely separate thing from their reliability surveys. Those come from data gleaned from surveys from actual owners. So, as long as the owners are honest when they fill out the CR survey, the reliability numbers are ... reliable.

 

The tire pressure monitoring system is kind of a misnomer, it actually just looks for a change in the tire rotation from the other tires on the car, it doesn't actually measure the tire pressure. So that's why something like a nail stuck to the outside of the tire would cause it to go off even if it wasn't punctured.

 

Survey #2 showed yesterday.
This time I answered it online!
I guess I didn't read the intro letter on Survey#1. Imagine that.

At least survey #2 was about rating the dealership, buying experience and desire to purchase.

 

That's not true when you read the magazines. My '89 Jeep Cherokee was almost completely trouble free for 80,000 miles and 9 years but it gets an F from CR. And how do you know from surveys whether they're accurate or not? Surveys are not a necessarily good way to check out car ratings. What one owner considers a flaw, another considers a "quirk." That can change the ratings big-time.

 

IIRC - MINI as a whole is pretty far below the average for initial quality.

Fortunately that doesn't seem to affect resale $$ which is heartening.

 

But, if you weren't a responder to CR's survey, you weren't part of the database.

As far as the magazines go, I don't read them as much as I used to, but one article that stood out was a recent one in Motor Trend where they hammered the Dodge Avenger and the new Chevy Malibu, deeming the results of the tests not even worth printing in the magazine.

All due respect, but you're apparently not familiar with the two surveys (meaning CR and JD Power).

The CR survey asks specifically about "problems." It leaves it to the subscriber to determine whether that problem is "serious" enough to report. IF they have enough responses for a specific model (eg: MINI Cooper Clubman S, 6-speed), then they'll include that model in the reports. Those frequency of repair ratings are a completely separate entity from any editorial rating that they make in the magazine.

JD Power and associates best-known survey is of "initial quality." Since most cars are pretty good at the time of delivery, I don't put much stock in that particular survey. JD Power also has other surveys, regarding Performance & Design, Dependability, Green Efficiency, sales satisfaction, service, and safety. These are also surveys of owners, and are therefore subject to the same errors as CR. (The safety ratings are from NHTSA). Unlike CR, JD Power does not test products, including cars.

Love 'em or hate 'em, Consumer's Union has been around a long time, and AFAIK at least with respect to their testing, has never lost a lawsuit for saying a product or vehicle was unsafe. They are also 100% non-commercial. By contrast, if you search on JDPower.com for say, safety ratings of a Ford Edge, what comes up in a window next to those ratings? An ad for the Ford Edge. Feel free to draw your own conclusions, I'm just sayin'...

But, this is well OT; my apologies to the assembled multitudes.