Well people I see from this post and other post under this forum that there are a lot of issues from the 2011 CM. I can tell u as of 7/18/2012 the problems continue in the 2012. So I wrote up my problems under the loss engine power/ poser loss section. Car engine stopped last Thursday in the desert on I-8 in AZ. Had to have thermostat changed. Now yesterday I took CM back to local dealer to inspect, said there was no problem. Today I drove to work and car loss power again.

I do agrees with the original gentelman about paying 34k+ plus for a car with less than 3 k miles and two months old having major issues.

And from my research after my purchase these problems continue to happening from the 2011 and continue in the 2012.

Wish I found this site before I bought the car

 

i have a 03/2012 build cms all4 manual with 5,500 miles and my dad has a 09/2011 build cms all4 auto with 5,500 miles and neither of us has had any problem at all, none, zero, ziltch

no hesitation problem with either car
no thermostat issues
A/C will freeze you even on 100F days
my car, manual, 20%highway/50% rural/30% city is averging 32+ mpg,
dad's car,automatic, 80% city/20% highway is averaging 27+ mpg
neither of us has any rattles, even from my dad's sunroof

so by my sample size of 2, these are great cars and i would not hesitate to recommend to anyone to buy one, in fact if i get one more referral sale, the dealer says i will get a "referral commission"

scott

 

There should have been a recall with the thermostat issue. They have decided apparently to just wait till ones fail to replace. Unfortunately this means you and I could be stranded! From the sound of it you may have a thermostat or fuel pump issue.

 

Kunzman, you seem very knowledgeable about the thermostat issue. What % of the cars would you guess actually ended up with bad thermostats? If the problem is that widespread, one would think BMW would be motivated to inititiate recall to avoid having to pay the towing bill on all these cars. Do you agree?

 

Well, mine went thru two on it's own. Many others have had multiple thermostat failures. I would bet that a high % have failed.
My greatest concern is two or three years from now, when the 7th or 8th thermostat is fails, and the car is no longer under warranty, the entire repair cost transfers to me. Even if they never designed it right, I'll end up footing the bill.
And I will NEVER be able to consider this a dependable car until someone shows me what is being done different with the thermostat design to allow it to work without failing again.

Mark

 

I find these threads to be nothing short of hilarious......

Not that the OP is having problems with his car (if he's real and he and his car even exist) cause that's a serious situation.

But, what possible good does it do to come to any forum site and tell the world that your car is a POS and therefore all of the same cars are a POS?

How does this do anything positive for the OP or anyone else?

Does he think he's going to "save" someone from the same pain?

Does he think somehow it will "shame" the mfr into buying his car back or sending him a big check for his trouble?

Does it somehow make him feel better for buying said POS to proclaim to the world how he was clearly duped by clever advertising and forced to buy said POS?

It seems to me if someone has a real issue what they'd want to do is ASK for some suggestions on how to get his car fixed, or failing that see about how to get it returned to the MFR.

But to come on here and wail about what a lousy car it is and how badly he's been inconvenienced after spending $34K (like none of the rest of us spent that much or have even been inconvenienced by a car before) stikes me as pure trolling. He's looking for reaction, trying to get as many people outraged as he is............IF he even exists or even HAS a Countryman.

It would not surprise me in the least to find that he and his car are made up by Honda or some other mfr's advertising dept to spread negative info about MINI.

That fact that you see the same exact type posts on every make's enthusiast's forum makes me wonder......the fact that you never see someone come on later and tell us how or if his problem was resolved also makes me wonder. If it was worth his time to come here and **** in everyone's Cheerios, why isn't worth his time to come here and tell us how badly they screwed him on the trade in or return or how the car got lemon lawed or anything else?

Absent facts (notice how they never post a vin, build date, color, options or any other factual info on the car?) to the contrary, I'll continue to view all these threads with the scepticism they deserve.

 

Minidave,

You can deny that this car has problems, and you can try to pretend the OP is making up a story; but my 'new' countryman left me stranded twice already. In 30 years of owning new cars, that has never happened to me before. I absolutely believe the OP about his problems, because they happened to me also.
You say he should "ask how to get his car fixed". Why should he have to ask. It's a new car, and they aren't supposed to need to be fixed. Especially twice for the same issue. Unfortunately, Mini has chosen to simply replace bad parts with more bad parts. Don't even try to tell me I'm not accurate here, because, as I have said, they already did it to me. The OP is pissed, and rightfully so.
You state "the fact that you never see someone come on later and tell us how or if his problem was resolved also makes me wonder.", as if someone is making up the problems. It makes me wonder also, because the problem is very real, and Mini is doing nothing to fix it.
I have tried everything I can to get Mini to listen, but it is like talking to the wall. emails, letters, talking to the service manager...Never a response from Mini. Never anything.
You want facts. Mine is a 2011 All4 Surf blue, built on April 24th, 2011. It failed every piece of trim, has had two of them replaced twice, had two thermostats replaced. Stranded me both times.
I guess you feel we should only say nice things about our Mini's, because we wouldn't want to upset anyone... I had real issues with the car, and I posted the results because I hope others who experience the same will understand that they are not the only ones who have had problems. Had the OP read these things, he might have avoided buying his POS, as you call it.

 

OK, let me ask you this......

Does posting here get issues resolved on new cars?

If so, how?

I'm sorry your car had problems, and it's great that you got them resolved, but even you know that the number of problems posted on forums only represents a tiny tiny tiny per centage of the number of cars sold worldwide.

Is that a valid reason to not buy a car, because a few vocal people typed a terrible story of their experience on a car forum?

Cause I can post people who also have extremely early production countryman (My best friend took delivery of his just after xmas day, 2010) with absolutely no issues. No thermostat problem, no running problems, no peeling chrome problems.............nothing.

So isn't that just as compelling a story?

 

Compelling story... no
Expected performance... yes

Saying a new car didn't break down and leave you stranded is not compelling. New vehicles are expected to perform. Having multiple failures is not what is expected.

The CM is a fun, but heavily flawed car. Maybe they will fix the issues over time. Maybe not.

You seem to be complaining that people post about the problems they have with their cars.

If no one posted about the issues they have, why even have a forum?

Mark

 

i have been reading this thread for a couple of days and i see why the OP is pissed i would to. but the problem i see with the original post is it's not asking for help or solution to fix the problem but bashing the brand, model, ... there are ways to get problems fixed but coming on to an enthusiasts site and saying MINI is a POS and you should never get a MINI your going to get people that will defend MINI. also like MINIdave said he's only posted five times!!! if you have a problem like this why wouldn't you keep posting about it and updating other CM owners about your progress so that if they have the same problems the can have solution to fix it ? yes it sucks i don't like seeing this happen to MINI but you have to take it with a grain of salt and look at what is really going on. kinda seems like the OP meant to do this to see people fight over this problem and put a bad name to MINI

just my 2 cents

 

Mark is correct. I have also left numerous emails to MINI asking them about when a newly designed thermostat would be out, but I got no response. I also posted in the Owners Lounge (their website) and only got responses from others with the same issue but none from MINI. My thermostat was only replaced once, but the car could leave me stranded again. In have no confidence the problem has been fixed since they have not come out and said any thermostats after mmm/yyyy are okay. IMO there should be a recall for it if they have a fix in hand.

 

Don't have any idea on percentage that have failed. You could count all the different posters in this forum that have claimed an issue and divide by total sold thus far. That would give you some % smaller than actual, but it would at least give you a lower limit and order of magnitude. I am not knowledgeable about why it has failed, I just keep asking MINI what's up with it and get nothing. So I am left to guess that they have done the math on percentage failing and needing a tow times the cost of an average tow versus recalling all of them and fixing. One would hope they also would consider the risk of leaving someone stranded in perhaps a dangerous situation. The thought of bad press from that alone should make them do the right thing. But maybe they haven't found a fix yet so all they can do is keep replacing parts. We don't know because they haven't responded to any of the questions which to me is the most frustrating aspect of it all.

 

I have a 12 CM and other than a glitch with the radio have over 14k of trouble free driving. I think that your problem is an isolated incident. Remember all cars have problems, at least you didn't by a 13 Ford Escape and have Ford tell you to leave it in the driveway until your car is fixed by the recall. I am sure that your situation will be taken care of.

 

Well mini Dave, I think it is a good idea for owners to bump ideas/problems off of each other. This will assist others with knowing how many CM owners are experiencing similar problems with their CM. Sounds like common sense to me Dave.

I noted that u r from Kansas and maybe in OZ everything is dreamy there, but in the real world ( not munchkin land) sorry fellow mini owners people need and want to communicate about their cars and document their car problems.

As I stated earlier I had my CM back in dealer this week where it remains for fuel sending unt. That's less then 4 days after thermostat went out. I mentioned this forum to the techs so they could get ideas on Wat the problem might b with my car, b4 it was finally diagnosed.

Case closed and don't beet up other members who are expressing their frustrations!

 

I went back and looked at all the posts, as well as the number of people who are frequent posters on the forum and either specifically mentioned that they had no thermostat trouble or didn't mention anything (under the assumption that since they are frequent forum participants they would have mentioned the issue if they experienced it). Seems like it's about 1 in 20 for 2011 owners and 1 in 50 for 2012 owners (just my best guess, and you could certainly shoot holes in my analysis). It might be that 2012 owners simply have not experienced the issue yet as they tend to have less miles on their cars. So it looks like it's much more likely any individual owner will NOT experience the problem....but a 5% failure rate is still far too high for any one component on any car, and what's more troubling is that several people have experienced the failure of their replacement thermostat, too. Seems like the failure rate for the replacement thermostats is about the same 1 in 20. I'm not trying to make excuses for BMW, but they certainly know the exact failure rate, and that might explain why there has been no recall (in theory they are wasting everyone's time installing replacement units that have the same chance of failure as the ones already in the car). And BMW would probably take the position that the thermostat is not a safety issue. At least we don't have the situation that the first generation Minis have where the power steering pump failure rate clearly exceeds 1 in 2 (the Canadian government forced a recall there, but in the U.S., NHTSA failed to do so), and it clearly is a safety issue.

 

As soon as i have my resolution with Mini of America I will post every single service ticket and the VIN.

The problems are real. Believe what you want.

And yes, if I had read about these problems prior to my wife buying this car we would have gone elsewhere.

That is the point of the information super-highway my friends.

Oh and by the way, I love my 2009 Dodge Challenger! Don't buy a new one if you like modding them because the factory has locked up the PCM.

Do you think these 295/40/20's will fit the little bugger?

 

These should bite a little more!

 

She's a gem!

And yes that blower is 2.8 liters. Nothing better than 700 horsepower and 24 m.p.g. highway!

 

What gets me with this whole thread is that the people on here complaining about their cars problems and how bad they are...let me ask you all this question...have you ever had any other brand of a car break down on them? Mayeb once or maybe many times no matter what age it is?

Seriously the majority of cars now a days are mass produced and machine made (unless your spending a few hundreds of thousands on an exotic), so at some point there are going to be problems with the cars. It's great that you people have come on here and have informed us of your problems but maybe you should have done it as a "heads up people...I am having some issues with my car" not come on here and say this thing is the biggest POS ever. Come on I have had many cars and motorcycles in my 41 years of life and have had some that I never had a problem with and I have had some that have had problems. You know what I did...I dealt with the problems and got them fixed or if I had trouble with the dealer or manufacturer, I continued to go up the ladder until you get the problem resolved. It's not like I wanted to waste my time on getting problems resolved but I did.

On top of everything else...there is a law out there that is called the Lemon Law. I am sure you people have heard about it. If you feel your getting screwed over, then use the damn law and get them to buy the car back!!

 

This is the problems and issues department. If you wish to remain ignorant of the facts move along!

I have personally owned a few cars in my 25 years as a driver. Not one has had this kind or this many issues with less than 14,000 miles on it.

All of them made by American brands with the exclusion of a Volvo.

And yes Mini is pursuing replacing my car. Why would they do that you ask?

Well first off if it is replaced or "substitution of collateral" it remains off of the books from Known Lemon cases against the brand.

 

I can top that. I exchanged two Jeep Grand Cherokees by suing Chrysler under the Lemon Law, and finally the third one was "ok".

With the first one the front driveshaft twisted like a pretzel, and then the front axle had to be replaced, and then it failed again. On the second one the Check Engine Light came on with 4 miles on the truck. Attempted repairs only made it worse. The engine computer would blow a fuse weekly and the dealer gave me a supply of spare fuses to carry with me after the truck was towed to the dealer mutliple times.

Knownman makes a good point that (at least in New Jersey) the vehicle manfacturer is motivated to settle the case before it's heard in court. If the car is returned pursuant to a court decsion, that fact gets noted on the title, and assumedly the value of the returned car when the manufacturer attempts to resell it is reduced.

It's nice to hear that Mini appears to be willing to discuss a replacement car without forcing him to waste his personal time filing the Lemon Law suit and appearing in court first. In my two cases Chrysler's repesentative did not make any offer whatsoever until we had a pre-trial conference with the judge, and after reviewing my records and receipts the judge made it clear to him that it was very likely the judge would rule in my favor.

 

I'm not ignorant to any facts and how does venting on a forum in a subsection called fixing problems and issues going to help you get Mini USA to help you and your problem? This isn't Mini USA's customer service department. My point is that is a freaking car and all manufactures have problems. So if you can not handle getting some words from people then you can have a nice day and move along yourself!

 

Well under the forum for Coyntrymem one can make a topic and TALK about WHAT EVER they want as long as it is related Mini. So I suggest to the people who do not like to read posting about the Countrymens problems, then simply don't read the listing and move on to some other topic U are interested in!!

Once again the first individual who made the original post was letting other Countrymen owners know the problem he/she has with their car. Since that time others jumped in and soon after similar problems have occurred with the same vehicle.

So YEA this is a GREAT Topic. And I have had over 70 cars in my 49 years from 1969 VW Bug to BMWs Mercedes Benz, Toyota etc etc.

AND I have never had this many problems with any of my cars, used or new in such a short time (2 months old/1400 miles ).

So just don't read the post or leave your dumb comments that dont relate to the topic at hand.

 

I think this thread is valuable and have no problem with someone calling their car a POS, especially if it is. So far mine has been perfect at almost 4k miles. (fingers crossed, knock on wood). I also agree that MINI not responding at all to these problems is pure and inexcusable BS on their part.

 

4/2011, 14,000 miles and no problems. MINI USA dealt with my 2009 Clubman in a fair and speedy process, and BAM, put me in a CM. So I am going to post that I am EXTREMELY HAPPY/SATISFIED with my CM to date, and plan on getting the Paceman by year end. Love the Brand, Love my MINI Club, love the CM.

P.S.- It does appear that must issues seem to be happening to the "S" versions....Score One for the Little Guy(those of us who have a Justa!!)

MINI will come through, now I just hope the OP posts when they do and how they satisfied him.......updates/resolution are important to note....