We have a 2012 (owned since new in late 2011) COOPER and a 2009 COOPER, owned since early 2012 and both have been reliable cars with no real issues other than a leaky sunroof (fixed under warranty) and the other car, a leaky water pump, also fixed under warranty.

Both warranties are up this year, so I may feel differently 365 days from now, but I generally put a lot of miles on my 2009 and just drove it all the way from St. John's NFLD and back (3300kms in 4 days driving) with it running smooth as silk.

YMMV

Mike

Some MINIs, just like any car brand, may have some issues.  When purchasing a used MINI, you never know the 'real' history with maintenance, driving style, or the environment it was driven.  Even if you owned the car from new and took really good care, you can have plain 'bad luck' and have problems.  I know of many Toyota's and Honda's that have their share of 'issues', and they are supposed to be 'trouble free' cars.  I've also heard from many 100k-150k+ mile MINI owners that have had very little issues other than some maintenance items.

MINIs are made by BMW, so the parts and repairs carry BMW like prices. 

Owners typically post on the web when they have issues with cars - very few post when all is well. The result is you find everything 'bad' about a car when you research on the web.

Your decision to keep the car depends on your comfort level - yes there are risks with new or used cars.  You can hope for the best and be aware of the risks, or you can sell the car.  Of course, there is no guarantee the replacement car will be any better.

Good luck!
Ken

15-40 Diesel oil in an R53?  Never heard of that!

when you say clutch problem, what exactly is the problem in the clutch system? the governor? worn clutch pads(normal wear and tear doesnt count) or what?

if it were gear teeth broken that's due to  poor strength of material./ bad quality of steele used to manufacture parts.(chinese products does that a lot) or caused by bad driving habits, and it doesnt fall on religious maintenance issue.

i remember one member here driving on third gear at the speed of 35pmh then he accidentally shifted it to 2nd gear instead of 4th gear....ohhh, needless to say what happened next.. it was a freshly rebuilt engine before it happended....ouch!!!! we all know who he is...

aaanyway.,

just be a responsible driver all the way and in every way..

I ordered my 2010 Clubman S from the dealership exactly the way I wanted it, and loved it. I read all of the reliability horror stories but convinced myself that if I was religious about the maintenance it wouldn't happen to me.

But it did ... at 70K the clutch needed replacement (I don't pretend to be easy on a clutch, plus I used the Clubman to tow the Classic). On his way to the clutch, other parts fell apart in the mechanic's hands, so the clutch job ballooned from $1600 to $3600. Then I had it back for two weeks when the oil filter mount cracked open. Another $700 job. And the mechanic identified another $2000 in repairs that would soon be headed my way. And I had not yet experienced the known issue with the timing belt tensioner. Not every car has the issue, but I was clearly unlucky.

I traded the car.

In JD Powers reliability awards the ony vehicles worse than MINI are Jeep, Land Rover and Fiat. For MINI there were 193 problems reported per 100 cars.

I had one of the first BMW Minis a 2002.  I found it in a junk yard in 2005 with 30k miles, and it had been hit moderately in the right front.  I picked it up for $3500 and $2000 later had it back on the road.  It had a few issues but never left me stranded.  The worst part was that the check engine light came on all of the time.  The dealer in Milwaukee was an absolute condescending POS.  The second car was a 2006 Mini Cooper S loaded.  A blast to drive but the power steering pump went out.  $500 to replace, parts only, brother in law provided free labor.  The check engine and low tire lights were on all of the time and the O2 sensors were bad.  My worst complaint was with the dealer as I lived 150 away and drove down there twice and they f^cked up the repairs twice and did not reimburse me for my travel and time.  I'll stick to the old Minis for now.

My 03 JCW Mini just passed 110k miles with no major problems. A knock sensor and wheel sensors have been the lot. 15-40 Rotella every 5k miles. I drive the car "spirited" but not abussive. I consider this car, like my 67s, a long time keeper.

ALL depends on one's driving habits and how religious you are on doing the maintenance...unless the mini is made in china , no amount of good maintenance can make it last long.

My ex has a Cooper, and my brother has an S and both have been very reliable. There have been a few repairs required on both cars, but nothing I wouldn't consider wear/maintenance parts. Wheel bearings, water pump, power steering pump was a warranty replacement. They can have electrical gremlins, but I haven't seen them in the cars I have worked on.

I think that if you are complaining about things breaking at 100,000 miles, you have unrealistic expectations on how long "wear" parts should last. A clutch at 66,000 could be indicative of the PO's driving style.

Just my 2 cents. I think those of us with classics would like to have anything last 100,000 miles...

I think I just responded to a similar post a few weeks ago. I just traded in my 2010 mini Cooper clubman for a new Honda HR-V due to a lack of long-term reliability. Near the end of last year with just a touch over 100,000 miles I had my Alternator go out. My water pump was also leaking where it attached to the engine so it had to be replaced as well. On top of that the car was making a lot of funny noises which ended up being the timing chain tensioner meeting replacement, then of course the serpentine belt was near the end of it's life as well so it got replaced.  The water pump and alternator for a huge job that required the removal of the inside of the wheel well plus dropping the motor by several inches after unbolting it from the motor mounts, in order to access the area.  In addition there's been a lot of other minor things going weird as well. The cowl that protects you from touching the exhaust manifold has broken one of its mounts and rattles, minor electrical issues like an electric window that likes to go down if you try to make the both go up at the same time, and A faulty harmonic balancing dampener for the air conditioning system that has broken twice since I've owned the car.

I love to my car, it was a blast to drive, but I'll never own another mini Cooper again unless they have a dramatically better reputation for reliability. Also, to be honest their dealers are kind of jerks , and their parts departments/Service departments are way overpriced, require appointments way ahead of time, and typically have pretty poor customer service (at least at my local dealer).

I just bought a 2009 MCS with JCW, 66500k miles and appears the clutch is bad after 500 miles of driving. After researching new clutch costs I find a lot of bad mojo towards MINI's and how often they need repairs.

I bought the extended 5yr/100,000 bumper to bumper warranty but of course it does not cover the clutch.

My thought is that ALL cars have their issues or needed repairs, but are MINI's really that bad to own?

I love my car but am scared now, and wonder if my extended warranty will even cover most the future issues. 

Should I fix the clutch and unload the car or will any used car I buy have possible issues?

Thanks, 

Murf