Just saw the latest issue of consumer reports ranking the Clubman S the least
reliable car in its class. I had a 2008 base Clubman and drove it 45K trouble free miles. I am now driving my new 2012 Clubman S and I am wondering what is the problem with this version that is giving it such low ratings?

 

I can't answer for the 2012's, but my 2010 has several "irritating" issues with fit and finish. I'm taking it in this afternoon to try to have a leaking Driver's side window fixed (third time for this issue), a door sill plate re-attached, and the timing chain tensioner looked at (second time for this). All that said, I love the car and the way it dives and handles. It still brings a grin to my face when I'm in it. It's definitely not a Honda though.

 

Before I bought my 2010 Clubman S I did a lot of research; any basic Google searches will tell you that MINIs have never been regarded as very reliable cars, and this just underlines that fact.

Of course there will always be some people that are lucky and never have problems (like you with your first Clubman), but overall MINI has never been a reliable brand. My car has embarrassing problems for a $32,000 vehicle (nothing engine-related yet, but tons of fit and finish issues, window problems, clunks and knocks that no one at the dealers can identify, etc).

I'm considering selling it and never looking back, though when I drive it it's often hard to consider doing that. There aren't many other options for a car with actual storage room that has this much power and slot car handling (well, aside from the atrocious bump steer). Too bad BMW can't get their act together with overall reliability and quality control for these cars, or I'd be a customer for life.

I don't recommend this car to anyone who asks me about it, due to the issues I've had and read about. The Consumer Reports rating supports this.

 

It could just be the problems with the way Consumer Reports does their ratings and not so much the Clubman's actual reliability.

 

MINI generally doesn't do well in any of the major consumer surveys.

It's OK for us to admit that these are generally not the best built cars in the world, overall. Doesn't mean we can't still love to drive 'em or that all of us will have problems.

 

Before I bought my Justa, I read through all the trouble issues posted on this forum. My immediate impression was that most of the problems were related to S Minis, not Justa's. That convinced me to forgo the extra performance and so far (36,000 miles), I happy with that choice.

 

someone said it was "not a Honda"...and I say, I hope not. I loved my 2004 Accord and my 2008 Civic...but the Accord was in the shop more often than the P.O.S. Dodge Neon I had in college. (leaky sunroof, squeaks and rattles, clear coat flaking off, broken drivers seat frame, etc.) and my Civic had a cracked engine head at 38,000 miles. Both cars were babied, garaged, and dealer maintained their whole lives, and both fell very short of my expectations from Honda. Point being, there are bad apples in every bunch I guess.

 

Meh, never had a problem with my MINI, I've had it a year and a half now.

Dave

 

My two cents worth. I'm setting at the Tempe AZ Mini dealer right this minute. Changing the oil/rotating tires at 55073 miles. I do this every 5000 miles. Outside of a couple of small items fixed under warranty I have spent ZERO dollars on problems.

 

Does that really surprise you? Most BMW cars are not recommended by CR either. I think MINI focussed and continues to focus on fun cars that don't have all the kinks worked out yet.

The original Minis were problem plagued and I beleive that it could have been a viable brand if the engineering had been better and if the looks of the vehicles had progressed a little more with the times. You would see a lot more of these pocket rockets if they had been more reliable and less prone to rust away into heaps.

You also have to remember that the CR cut-off values between good car and bad car can be very slight. You have to take the CR results with a grain of salt unless the difference between cars is huge (i.e. Toyota vs Yugo).

Clubman S is still a good vehicle. Not great, but good.

 

When I filled out the JD Power survey I quickly understood why MINI has not done well on that one. I had 3-4 minor problems by the time I got the survey and after I recorded them in the survey I thought to myself, "jeez, this is why MINIs rate so low." Minor irritations to me (and all easily "fixed", but nonetheless, reflected in the survey results.

 

repair cost $ /per total car price its very high to work on. finding that out now.

 

I got my Clubman end of April 2011. I haven't had any engine or mechnical issues.

However, on my passenger side, when the door is open, the sticker on the foot rest is coming off. The one that says "Mini Cooper S." Sorry, kinda difficult to explain....

On my driver side, the exterior black A pillar is coming off.

Both of these issues are very minor and I'm sure it will be covered by the warranty. But this type of issue shouldn't be happening. The quality just isn't there.

 

This is my third MINI so far. Previous two were lease take overs and I drove them average of 16 months before returning them back. Now, I got this one for long haul. 2011 Cooper S Clubman. I could not be happier. Previous two and this one are far better and more reliable than numerous American cars I drove over last 15 years. And not because the cars were bad. It's because poor maintenance by authorized dealers being that Ford or GM (never owned Chrysler , sorry). I had been ripped off by dealer services so many times. No jokes... Usually, every issue required multiple trips. I had enough! Never again the big three!
My experience with MINI maintenance at the dealer is perfect. I had one issue with 2008 Clubman S (death rattle) and it was fixed under warranty with no return as long as I had that car. Now, after 5k (Km) my 2011 Clubman S did not go to dealer for a single issue (being mechanical, fit and finish or else). Zero problems! When I recall all my Ford and GM cars, first six months were always growing pains getting rid off all the small and sometimes big problems... go figure...
I am a happy customer... Thank you.

 

CR is OK for toasters and some appliances, but is simply not appropriate for things that are to be enjoyed.

They never got stereos right.

Cookware must be non-stick.

I remember when they would not test 4x4s without training wheels. They never understood that high ground clearance was incompatible with high speed cornering. FN Morons at times. I guess they flunked high school physics.

Minis are for FUN.

Basic executive transportation appliances they are not.

In their own weird way our cars are high stressed thoroughbreds. Miss an oil change or go cheap and things may explode. The CVT was a bad idea, but it could have been great. I have never had a car that was so much fun. Even my daily commute is a joy.

 

The one question that says it best is "would you consider buying one ever again?"

Some will answer "No", however in spite of a few problems I believe most would answer "Yes".

This is my first MINI and its has had some issues, but its definately been worth the trouble. Any survey that doesn't objectively include the satisfaction factor is worthless.

 

Note that the regular MINI, non S, is highly rated and that all MINIs, Clubman included are rated average reliability, except for the s engines.
The Clubman is rated toward the bottom of the small wagons, where it has to 'compete' in cargo space and other traditional categories, even though acknowledged as 'fun to drive'.
In contrast, is the Hyundai Elantra Touring (our other car) highly rated and quite plain to drive. My wife does prefer it to our MINi, but then she drives only to get from A to B.

 

Let me preface this by saying that my Mini was loaded onto the ship at Southampton today and I am excited as hell about it being here soon. I chose the MIni because I'm coming out of a 2008 335i that was a kick and a half to drive. I test drove the Genesis coupe and that car has all the bells and whistles standard and it's fast, but I was spoiled by the ride of the 335. On my way home from the Hyundai dealer I stopped at Mini because it was on the way. About 30 seconds into the test drive, I knew this was the car. The drive felt like the 335 and it had five times the cool factor as the 335. So, I'm definitely not a "Mini basher". However, I've heard the argument over and over here that only people with problems post here and they represent a very small minority of Mini owners. This may be true, but CR, JD Power and other national surveys are statistically valid and they have no bone to pick so I consider them reliable. People here talk about "little problems" like leaky windows, rattles and squeaks, parts coming loose, hood scoops melting, etc. I don't see them as "little problems" when you're paying over $30,000 for the car. These are exactly the kinds of things that should not happen on $30,000+ cars. (Nor should you have parts and repair prices that are more suitable for $60,000 cars.) Once you get over $30,000, fit and finish shouldn't be an issue and neither should be MA's that don't return phone calls or emails, service advisers that pretend not to know what you're talking about when you describe a problem that has threads of 20 pages on here and which they probably worked on within the last five days. So, you're probably asking, why did this guy buy a Mini? Because the primary thing I was looking for in a car was "fun" and this is one area where very few cars beat the Mini, especially at the $30,000 price level. However, I have had probably a dozen new cars in my life and this is the very first one I have ever leased because I couldn't see myself owning it for the long term or even after the warranty had expired. If, for whatever reason, I didn't have the option to lease my Mini, I would have probably bought the Genesis. Just my two cents...your mileage may certainly vary.

 

It's important to keep in mind that at its core, the MINI Cooper is a $20k car. The MINI has an incredibly vast array of optional equipment, more so than most cars, but very few (if any) of those options change the basic construction, fit and finish of the car. So while it's easy as pie to configure a $50k MINI, don't let that fool you into thinking that a quality comparison with other $50k cars is warranted.

All that being said, my wife and I have almost 150k miles between our two MINIs, and really couldn't be happier, even though we've each had several of the "minor issues" typical for the year/model of our cars.

 

You make a good point about the base price of the car, but there are other cars in that price range that are at the top of the JD Power Initial Quality and CR ratings (Hyundai, for example).

 

Check out the 2011 Initial Quality Rankings - Hyundai is actually slightly below-average.

The brands that make up the top ten are mostly ones that you would expect to see there (including several "premium" brands) - Lexus, Honda, Acura, Mercedes-Benz, Mazda, Porsche, Toyota, Infiniti, Cadillac and GMC.

And even among the top-ten automakers, I'd be curious to see specifically how their $20k models fared (among those automakers that even *offer* a $20k model, that is.)

 

I thought I had heard somewhere (on a Hyundai commercial perhaps) that Hyundai had beaten the Toyota Camry in initial quality, but this chart says no. I agree it would be interesting to see how cars in the same price range compared. Hyundai does have two models in the top three of their class (Accent and Equis). But the chart on the JD Power site does belie the notion we read on here so often that MINI quality is fine and the only reason people think it isn't is because of all the owners who complain on NAM. The fact is that it's not fine at all. It's beat out considerably by the likes of Kia, Chrysler and Chevrolet; not cars that most people would put at the top of their "quality car" list. I'm not bagging on MINI. Like I said, I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of mine. I'm just saying that we need to be realistic on here about what it is. It's a very cool, very fun, different car that has quality issues.

 

I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle. There's probably a disproportionate amount of discussion here regarding problems. But on the other hand, anyone who feels that MINI is on par overall with the likes of Honda or Toyota is pretty much delusional.

Like I said before, my wife and I have had both a scattering of "typical" problems AND a very positive overall experience with our MINIs. Even after 5+ years, we love ours and haven't found another car yet that could tempt either one of us out of them.

 

You should go back and read the link I posted earlier or do your own research so you will understand that the national surveys are not statistically valid, amongst several other problems.

 

Ok, I read the link you posted. I didn't click on it the first time because only the word "problem" was highlighted and I just figured it would take me to some irrelevant website or the Miriam Webster definition of the word "problem". The author makes some good points worthy of consideration, but we do have to consider the source. The website is a Chrysler products website and I can see where they might have a bone to pick with CU which hasn't rsated their cars highly for many years. They other thing they glossed over is the nature of the surveys themselves. I was a member of CU for a long time many years ago. ASt least at that time, they mailed each member a very comprehensive survey that deal with all sorts of consumer products, not just cars. Cars were one of the products, but it also covered appliances, electronics, etc. I think most people either filled it out or they didn't. I don't believe that they just filled out the car section and left everything else blank. I also believe people who did fill it out took it seriously. At any rate, there is an awful lot of subjectivity in any assessment of this kind and maybe there isn't a totally objective way to assess automobile quality. As I said tonight on another thread, psehaps more important than how many problems there are is how a company responds to those problems.