J.D. Power has released their IQS for 2008 and the results for MINI aren’t good. Out of 9 categories ranging from all aspects of design to overall quality, MINI scored 2 out of 5. From Autoblog.com.
>It’s that time of year again when automakers either cringe or giggle with glee at the results of the J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study. The IQS measures problems per 100 vehicles during the first 90 days of ownership in the areas of quality of design (i.e. poorly designed cupholders) and defects and malfunctions, and the entire auto industry deserves a pat on the back for improving its average in 2008 to 118 problems per 100 vehicles versus 125 PP100 in 2007
Follow the link below for a nice breakdown of all of the major automakers overall scores.
[ J.D. Power Releases 2008 Initial Quality Study ] Autoblog.com
[ Quality ratings by brand ] Jdpower.com
Hum, It would have been interesting for MF to do an overall comparison from 2002 to now. I’m hoping that my 2004 MCs is better than “The Rest” category MINI is now in.
Lexus. Gotta love those cars, even if the styling is pretty vanilla, for being the best year after year. Wow Mercury better than a MINi, sad but kudos to the folks there.
I’ve never really kept track of things like this but has Porsche always been on top?
Doesn’t jive with what I’ve seen, but oh well.
All I can say is that our 3 month old Clubman has been flawless so far. And my 3+ year old R53 S only “major” problem was a clutch replacement @ 25K miles. The car otherwise has been perfect.
BMW spanked in general and Mini in particular, coming in just above Jeep in dead last a rather odd rating for Mini.
Not sure if there is just a huge disconnect at JD Power though after Mini sales have been bursting through the roof.
As an owner of an ’03 R50, I can say that it was less than brilliant for the first 2 years I owned it. But, everything got fixed or replaced and it has been (relatively) trouble free since 50K miles (I’m now at 190K).
I also have to wonder if this is still a lot of complaining about cup holders or the speedo?
My problem with these surveys is that they tend to lump together a cup holder complaint and a serious engine problem as the “same” problem.
I wonder how “serious” some of the reported issues truly are?
My experience is that MINI’s initial quality is not all that great. But the dealerships have been quick to fix them and it has not been a hastle to have the problems resolved. The MINI has been a joy to own and drive, but there are those nit picky things that needed fixing at the beginning.
I would think the better, but more subjective measurement would be the amount of hassel a car owner gets in getting problems resolved.
I usually leave my MINI dealership happy, whereas for other cars, sometimes I’m just livid.
Really doesn’t look like much has changed in the IQ (Initial Quality) survey. Since 2003 the MINI has rated around 2 1/2 out of 5 in IQS but remained 5/5 on performance and style. With resale prices of MINIs remaining among the highest on the market, there seems to be a disconnect somewhere. Maybe it is all about the lame cup holders or the style and design of many interior items i.e. the interior door handles. How many times have you seen people in your passenger seat perplexed about how to open the door and when they do find the handle it doesn’t work the first time? Things like this give a bad first impression but once you get used to the inherent style in the design and subsequently re-train yourself in the simple function of opening a door, for example, you come to appreciate it.
Most Americans have been lulled into a sense that cars are function over form (have you seen or driven American cars lately?) and that whenever something as simple as a door handle is given a little style they start running for the hills and throw 2/5 ratings on things like interior design quality.
Granted, some of the BMW/MINI designs are complete crap, center stack cough, side scuttles cough, iDrive cough. But overall I believe MINIs are some of the best cars on the road today in terms of value, performance and style. The recent spikes in sales and continued high resale values would seem to support that.
Sounds to me like there is enough curiosity here that MF should some research to see why MINI scored so poorly. These results are from survey submitted by MINI owners who had complaints severe enough to send back the survey.
As for Porsche, they were a mid-pack finisher for years, and now have bumped Lexus out of number one. Nice job. BMW should be able to do the same.
I second that view Todd.
How did Infiniti score so much higher than Nissan? Even in Powertrain? Are there more than cosmetic differences? I assumed (yes, I know) not.
However, if the review was different, everyone would say how valid JD Powers is.
I think broken cupholders are equivalent to a bad clutch or leaking master cylinder. It’s a survey of initial quality, meaning things that are broken when you get the car (though you may not discover them for a couple weeks). If a cupholder broke on a MINI with 750 miles on it, you bet I’d be in the dealership complaining. If it broke with 175,000, I’d just superglue it. Since to me, there’s no financial difference between a slipping clutch and a broken cupholder, I don’t care what breaks, I’m having to go back to the dealer and have something fixed for free. The time wasted is the same, or nearly so.
The IQS at least DOES break it out into catagories so you can determine your own ranking if clutches are more important to you than cupholders, but MINI scored 2/5 across the board, you can see that it isn’t JUST cupholders that are a problem.
Me, I would be more concerned about failures that happen after the warranty expired, but there’s no way to track that.
I think the mention of cup holders and speedos is a reference to people flagging things as defects that are design decisions. If you get your new car and the radio does not work – that is a defect and a problem with quality. If you get your car and you think the speedo is too big – that is not a problem with quality, but rather that you have bought the wrong car…
JD power must be high on crack. Mercedes 4th in initial quality? How can that be when consumer reports rates every single one of their vehicles substantially below average in reliability. I have a small cosmetic imperfection under my clear coat in one spot and a scratch under my hood on my Mini but that wouldn’t cause me to rate the car as “the rest” mechanically.
Amazingly the cars with high ratings on J.D. Powers suck wind in Consumers Reports. Methinks something fishy. For instance Mercedes in general.
And amazingly when Consumer Reports trashes MINI, that is fishy too. the rancor here about how Consumer Reports does not know anything about cars is ear busting. So which is it? Or is it a big conspiracy? Face it, our cars are cool, but not that fantastic in quality.
They’re measuring two different things. CR is reporting on how cars do (or are estimated to do) over the ownership period. IQS is all about how a car is when it rolls off the lot.
A theory:
Many MINIs are custom. Made special, just for you. That means no one has driven the car until you have. No one has played with the radio, tried out the washer jets, floored the accelerator just to see what happens, etc.. So if you are the first person to sit in the back seat, and you notice that the seat belt doesn’t release easily, you are the one reporting it. Bam, IQS rating takes a hit.
Many Toyotas, Lexuses (what’s the plural?), MB’s, are bought from dealer stock. Joe Average or Joe Upper Percentile goes into the dealer, test drives a car on the lot, can’t get the seat belt to release properly, dealer apologizes, puts Joe in another car, and Joe drives off happy. Dealer calls service department, seat belt gets fixed, and dealer waits for Jane Average to come into showroom and try out recently fixed car, only Jane doesn’t know it’s been fixed. IQS improves because Joe doesn’t have a problem with his car’s seat belt, and neither does Jane.
…my R53 was miles and miles better built than my R56. So I’m not surprised if I’m honest, and this vindicates me saying so 18 months ago.
Still… I shall be ordering a JCW in 6 months regardless.
I can’t believe that VW scored better than MINI. That’s craziness! My 02 Beetle sits in the driveway…I’m afraid to drive it because every single time I do, something major breaks on it. The 03 S had a few problems @ first (rattles in the doors, electrical issues), but they were quickly fixed and nothing since. The VW is constantly breaking…water pump, timing belt, entire dashboard replaced, ignition coils, cracked head gasket, the windows, on & on & on…. even the roof inside the car is falling down! Who rates these cars?!? PS-I’ll be trading in the crappy VW for a new S in about 2 months. Hopefully no more car problems then!
I’m beginning to wonder – my ’06 Cooper two months ago thermostat housing leaks coolant fluid so replaced, and then last week engine mount seal breaks drops fluid, and not yet 30,000 miles.
MINI came out with a statement about the survey.
70%+ of the owners surveyed bought a convertible.
The number one complaint – cupholders too small.
Whether we like it or not, these results are statistic, not rating. It is collected data. We like the car, and we are able to live with some imperfections. But data is data. It won’t cheat and it is nobody’s subjective opinion. In fact, MINI is so much loved (by sales numbers)that many are willing to tolerate the quality problem. I, for one, love the car and I, for one, don’t care what others said. But I do know MINI’s quality is not so great.
I was one of those that scewed the curve a bit (new engine to address top end rattle at 10k mi.). I was without my car for 2 months out of the first 10! During that period of time and the subsequent break-in on engine #2, I have had the opportunity to do some pretty serious soul searching when it comes to the MINI brand. I’ve pretty much come to two conclusions:
1) I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone without a long conversation as to what they’re getting into: A contemporary British car. A high-tech BMW designed/influenced one, sure… but for better or wose, a British car all the same.
2) I don’t want to own or drive anything else right now. These cars are just too fun to ignore. I had the oportunity to order anew… or give mine back and order the 135… I just couldn’t do it. I just LOVE the tail-happy nature of the frantic little FWD that begs for the gas in EVERY situation. Makes me giggle on a daily basis. That, and the addition of a 10year/100,000 mile warranty for my troubles made it easier to look past item #1.
I can’t say i am suprised, even though jd powers surveys would never influence me on any car i bought.
If it did we would all be driving boring honda’s and toyota’s.However my 03 cooper S had many problems,and my 05 was not much better, and both cars spent a lot of time in the shop for repairs.My love affair ended
when the tailgate hinges broke and the tailgate almost
fell off.So for me the build quality is not what i would expect for what you pay,even the performance is’nt that great , it really is more style over substance.
Until yesterday, I was very skeptical about the results for MINI. My ’07 R56 has been flawless since I got it last October until yesterday. Last night, I started the car and got three Yellow lights; Transmission, Engine Lamp 1, and Brakes. I have no clue what caused this since as I said, I’ve never had a minute’s trouble with the car and never before seen a single error light. I’ll be calling the dealer 1st thing Monday morning…
If enough other owners are having a similar experience, I can certainly see how MINI could get this rating.
-Scott
My Service Advisor told me… The #1 problem with the R56 is software related issues.
Touching sheetmetal here…
actually, its known if you work in teh autobiz to never take IQS too seriously.. but for the marketing dept, this can be a godsend or a nightmare.
the problem with JD powers IQS is that it doesnt take in account the demographics of the owners. I am not an owner of a mini, just merely a fan of one.. i was waiting for the JCW mini, until it fell short of my expectations.
but anyway, you have to look at it this way. For a person buying a buick, what is their age and what is the reason for them buying the car?
then think about the mini owner… who are they, and why did they buy the car.
for a buick owner, the owner is most likely going to 55yrs+, buying the car because it was cheap, and it functions as a point A to point B purpose car.
for a mini, its an aspirational car. people love the car. they are emotional about their car.
for the buick owner, if they have a rattle in the trunk, do you honestly think they would notice, let alone care enough to bring it to the service station?
how about mini owner? if the door handle makes the smallest creaking noise, what do you think they’ll do? would they ignore it too? this is where brands such as scion or mini take hits in the IQS.. the younger crowd who are emotional about their cars, who only demand perfection.
porsche drivers… haha.. thats a joke these days. sure most of us gearheads would love a porsche, and would “know” how to handle one. but the people who are actually driving them in reality, are often clueless to the car, and buy it as a status symbol or ego extender. theyre only slightly better than buick owners. much like buick owners and soccer moms, they wouldnt know if they had a flat tire until they hit the center divider.
its things that like where demographics is really important, but marketers who exploit IQS hope you ignore.
Hey andrew,
My tailgate hinges froze and broke, too. I had to duct tape the tailgate on to get it to the dealer. Plus is dinged my roof when one snapped. Hmmm. Is this a dirty little Mini secret?
Overall, I’d rate my ’03 sort of mid-pack. Better than most, but not as good as my Honda Element. I still love to drive it every day, though. I can’t think of another car that I would prefer for my daily commute. 36 mpg highway is nothing to sneeze at these days!