Comments on: 2002 MINI Ranked 3rd Worst in Reliability

By: hc2001

hc2001 — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 18:00:00 +0000

I can see no one has written anything for a while on this forum… But I just happened to come across it and hoped someone might be able to offer me some advice. Â I am looking at buying a 2001 (51 reg) mini cooper. Â It is priced at Â£3,195 as there are a few marks, but he is willing to MOT it for 12 months so the only damage is cosmetic, and only if you look very hard! Mileage is roughly 63,000 which is great for 2001, all others I have looked at are around the 73,000 mark…Â

My previous car was a VW Polo (2002, 52 reg) and although it was a great first car, it ended up costing Â£2,200 in repairs over 3 years. Â I am now at university and looking for a fun but mainly RELIABLE car, that won’t need expensive repairs on a monthly basis…. My budget doesn’t stretch to the 2007 latest version, what’s everyone’s opinion on a 2001 mini for reliability and running cost? Think it would be about 40mpg for me, mix of town and motorway driving…Â

By: Clare

Clare — Mon, 16 May 2011 12:44:00 +0000

It's now early 2011, I love the cooper, my 4 year old does too and I just found an '02 for sale w/138000km.Â Looks good, no rust but I'll do a test drive tonight & look for the bubble wrap noise, yo-yo effect and steering click. Gonna look closely at the strut towers too. We have a BMW/MINI dealer opening in town soon so it should be good for repairs (or i may wait a few months and look at their used lot) but this '02 comes at an appropriate time for me.

My question is should I stay away from '02 and look closer to '06, or by 138000km should all the gremlins be worked out?

By: Bob

Bob — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 01:08:44 +0000

I have one of the first 2002′s…took delivery August, 2002. Two problems covered under warranty since then…driver’s power window and power steering cooling fan. Otherwise, zero problems. Still looks and rides like a new car.

By: J-Flo

J-Flo — Tue, 22 May 2007 21:09:53 +0000

Am not sure what you guys are talking about.. I have a 2002 Mini.. AND I LOVE it.. it runs great.. the service technicians are great at the mini dealership in fife washington… i am still zooming around town..

By: David Mac

David Mac — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 01:25:44 +0000

After reading all this I still think I want to buy a Mini.Im looking at an 02.What are the “early” VIN # or build dates? Also Toyotas arent boaring.Of all the cars/trucks Ive owned the most fun was a 1988 4runner.Had a great road trip to Cape Bretton N.S.Drove top off the whole time.

By: MotoringFile » Archive » 2006 MINI Initial Quality

MotoringFile » Archive » 2006 MINI Initial Quality — Thu, 15 Jun 2006 03:43:56 +0000

[...] One bright spot in the survey was that a BMW factory in Germany was the recipient of a Plant Quality Award. While both surveys mentioned above are only measures of initial quality, last year the 2002 MINI was ranked 3rd worst in long term reliability. The long term study is an ongoing look at the models put into the market three years prior. [...]

By: ALEX

ALEX — Fri, 09 Jun 2006 17:00:19 +0000

I HAVE AN 02' MCS WHICH WAS BOUGHT USED IN 2003. THERE HAVE BEEN NO MAJOR PROBLEMS EXCEPT FOR THE OCCASIONAL WARNINGLIGHT. THE AC SUCKS FOR AN ARIZONA CAR, BUT FOR 8 MONTHS OF THE YEAR I HAVE THE WINDOWS DOWN. MY FAMILY GOES ON ROAD TRIPS IN THIS CAR (4 OF US), AND IT HAS FAILED TO LET US DOWN. WITH 35K MILES THE CAR IS GREAT.

I LOVE MY MINI AND PLAN ON KEEPINGI IT TILL SHE DIES

By: James

James — Thu, 29 Sep 2005 22:00:38 +0000

Hi, just a word from across the ocean, dash rattle has been one of the bains in our 04 Cooper. Has any one out there had dealer issues when fitting the dash back into place? We are on the 3rd dash in the space of 10 months of ownership! We love the car to bits but having issues with noisey brakes thin paint/no paint external wheel arch trims not fitting flush to the body and the internal trim falling off.Most of this has been cured but our gear box is now getting tight to select reverse! Any comments please.

By: Beth

Beth — Tue, 26 Jul 2005 04:52:50 +0000

It’s good to hear that you actually did get another car out of MINI because I believe I have a lemon. Right now I am gathering information and rallying some supportive local MINI owners around me before I make my next move. I can’t believe I have to strategize like this but enough is enough! I know not all MINIs are bad, but I got a bad one. I hope they take care of this. Wish me luck.

By: Eva

Eva — Wed, 20 Jul 2005 16:39:51 +0000

I drove a 1991 saturn, which had more than 250k miles on it. I finally decided to get rid of the hand me down and get a new car.

I bought a 03 MC CVT, which turned out to be a lemon. I drove more rental cars than my own new car. The dealership gave me a new 04 CVT, which has been running fine except for a few minor problems. Still having the door getting frozen in the winter, but its summer now and they replaced the doorhandles, so we shall see how it keeps up. So far close to 40k and its doings well.

Bought a 05 MCS in november 04 and that car is running great. had 1 problem, which was quickly fixed by service. got rear ended and havent had my car for over 6 weeks. make note, if you get into an accident with a mini, it will take you a LONG time to get it back. The parts are not available and service does not do body work. Make sure you have a rental as a part of your car insurance.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Tue, 12 Jul 2005 13:50:27 +0000

Hondas are Reliable cars. We have a 5 year old CR-V which has never given us a day of problems. It recently had to jump-start a 1.9 year old Mercedes-Benz C-class whose battery had failed (in summer). The Honda with the 5 year old battery was starting up a 1.9 year old Mercedes, at a local service station in clear view of everyone!

By: Beth

Beth — Sun, 10 Jul 2005 01:03:41 +0000

Thanks Ian, The dealership, to be honest, sucks. I can’t even begin to tell you the problems I’ve had with them. They are an hour away, the only other dealership is more than 2 hours away. I’m at a loss. I just want to drive my car! I absolutely love it when it runs. I’ve talked to BMW, they know about the history. Last time the brakes had to be replaced they wanted to send a field engineer out to look at the car but the service manager at the dealership cancelled it. A field engineer is supposed to look at it this time…we’ll see if that happens. I agree with you, I think much of my problem is this dealership, they have dropped the ball so many times with this car that it’s amazing I haven’t ended up in a ditch somewhere. That is not an exaggeration.

By: Ian

Ian — Sun, 10 Jul 2005 00:54:15 +0000

Sad story - sorry, Beth!

What can possibly justify FOUR sets of rear brakes!? The rear brakes don't even work very hard - why are they being changed so much? Do you drive around with the e-brake applied?!

Of the VERY FEW stories I know of repeated issues with MINIs (ignoring the windshield issue), it is generally the case that the dealership is largely to blame - a repeating problem indicates the dealerships failure to correctly diagnose & fix whatever is actually wrong; they are fixing the symptoms instead of the cause.

Is there a different dealership you can frequent instead?

That said, there have been MANY improvements during MINI production, if you can "risk" another one.

By: Beth

Beth — Sun, 10 Jul 2005 00:44:45 +0000

My it’s difficult to get a handle on things with so many varying experiences and opinions. My previous car was a VW New Beetle which was in the shop constantly, including needing an entire engine rebuild after 30,000 miles…and I take immaculate care of my cars. My current car is an MCS ’02 and it has also been a headache which is also a heartache. I’ve wanted a Mini for 15 years and right now I’m very frustrated and…sad. I bought it 2 years ago, it had 16,000 miles. I immediately had to have the rear brakes replaced. In the first year and a half that I had it, it was in the shop, including having to be towed there 4 times, on average every 5 weeks. It is currently in the shop again to get set number 4 of rear brakes, a new set of front brakes, power steering rack, new door hinges and a new passenger window motor. The truly frightening part is, i brought the car in for the window, the doors being stiff and something rattling. Had no idea I was driving such a dangerous vehicle. The dealership gave me a loaner…which promptly died and had to be towed back so I am now driving a behemoth of a rental pick up truck. I want to be a Mini loyalist. I want a convertible when the lease runs out on this one. But I’m not sure it will happen now. I’m very disappointed.

By: minimcoupe

minimcoupe — Fri, 08 Jul 2005 01:05:45 +0000

Never owned a Honda or VW and probably never will. My 05 Mini CVT has over 19K trouble free miles. One chip in windshield, other dings in the front end and just ok gas mileage (24/34) are my only complaints. (My 315hp M-Coupe gets 22/28 mpg if you keep your foot out of it!) Great daily driver. I have owned over 100 cars and love driving the Mini. Plan to order 06 MCS AT this winter and sell the SVT. (wife still wants the auto tranny) I don’t put much stock in JD Powers as I dont drive their kind of cars they rate highest.

By: Gabe

Gabe — Wed, 06 Jul 2005 20:58:14 +0000

As an owner who has now had two MINIs with no serious issues to speak of (and really not many at all), it’s just hard for me to understand why anyone would be hesitant at this point. Then again I’ve never owned a Corrado!

By: Heavy Sigh

Heavy Sigh — Wed, 06 Jul 2005 20:28:20 +0000

My impression from these posts is that even the newer models can be a mixed bag. See the posts from Luke, Nathan, Mark, David, Osmodius etc. I realize that some of these posts concern cars from the 04 model year, but it's still not encouraging. Other posters seem to be in the "jury's still out" camp regarding their 05s. I also realize that the "N" here is too low to be even close to meaningful - but all this qualitative commentary gets me looking at the right trouble spots over time.

Also, I think my decision is a little longer term anyway - order an 06 in late fall/winter or wait it out for a new 07. Waiting it out for the 07 brings up all the "first model year" issues mentioned above.

PS I was EXACTLY that Corrado owner mentioned in one of the posts. Too funny. A nightmare to own but still one of my absolute favorite cars (to drive) that I ever had. I do NOT want to repeat that love/hate experience!

By: Gabe

Gabe — Wed, 06 Jul 2005 19:02:29 +0000

I will continue to wait on the sidelines regarding an MCS until I am convinced my VW-ish frustrations will be reduced. This thread has me convinced otherwise for the time being.

Just curious - does the apparent improvements to the 2005 MINI not persuade you at all? I mean it would seem that there's overwhelming opinion here (from owners) that the newer cars are much better built. I would think this would be what you were looking for.

By: Heavy Sigh

Heavy Sigh — Wed, 06 Jul 2005 18:59:21 +0000

This is an interesting thread… I’m a lurker and an MCS owner wannabee. The problem boils down to the automarket in this price range being a rather unfortunate venn diagram: one group is “the reliables” (Honda, Toyota etc.), the other group is “the interestings” (the Minis, the GTI/GLIs etc). The intersection between the two groups is remarkably small. I am a four time VW owner, as well as Saab and Volvo, and my current 03 VR6 GLI is simply awful on the minor quality issues. It’s unfortunate that to drive something that gets your enthusiast’s blood going you need to make so many sacrifices. I will continue to wait on the sidelines regarding an MCS until I am convinced my VW-ish frustrations will be reduced. This thread has me convinced otherwise for the time being.

By: John

John — Tue, 05 Jul 2005 16:50:29 +0000

It's only fair to say that there were problems with all the cars in 2002. The Forums were filled with posts about: 1. actual problems with software, loose parts that rattled and buzzed, seats, the 5-speed manual transmission, and smaller items that would have been passed over if the car hadn't died inconveniently, and 2. perceived problems with systems or equipment that just didn't meet the expectations set by BMW Group, which ranged from the rear view mirror to the CVT to gas mileage.

It's turned into a classic great car, as a result of very hard work on the seriously flawed initial releases of software in 2002, now fixed.