Mini Cooper Reviews

What makes this dealership even more exceptional is Lisa, the Sales Manager. Her desk is positioned at the front entrance, not hidden away, which allows her to monitor dealership activity and engage proactively. Lisa stepped in effortlessly when needed, and her visible leadership style created a sense of openness, accountability, and support that you rarely find in automotive sales. It’s clear that customer satisfaction is their shared top priority.

The MINI Countryman itself has exceeded my expectations. The driving performance is fun and responsive, while the exterior design turns heads. The interior is thoughtfully designed with quality materials, great storage, and comfortable seating. The infotainment system is sharp, easy to use, and integrates perfectly with Apple CarPlay. The driver assist features enhance safety without being intrusive, and the MINI App with the Digital Key keeps me connected and in control wherever I go. The technical advances far surpass my last vehicle, and thanks to the dealership’s one-on-one familiarization sessions, I feel confident using every feature safely and effectively.

This was hands-down the best dealership experience I’ve ever had. Antonio and Lisa make a phenomenal team, and their dedication to transparency, professionalism, and customer care is why I’ll be a customer for life. I highly recommend San Diego MINI to anyone looking for an exceptional vehicle and world-class service.

My mother is a senior citizen with custody of her 15-year-old granddaughter. She needs safe, reliable transportation. We can’t afford to replace the engine or buy a new car. What makes this even more heartbreaking? I’ve been a loyal Mini driver for nearly two decades. I had a 2006 Mini Cooper S for 15 years, and I now drive a 2012 Mini Roadster. I’ve loved and supported this brand—but this experience is an utter betrayal. @MiniUSA, do the right thing.
You sold us a $40K lemon, and you're leaving a loyal customer’s family stranded. #MiniCooperFail #MiniCountryman #WarrantyScam #MiniUSA #FlowMini #KnoxvilleMini #DoBetterMini #CustomerServiceFail

The Pros: decent gas mileage with plenty of pep in the city and highway, tight steering, braking and overall handling. I'm only 5'-8" so it fits me perfect but I've had 6'-4" tall passengers who were comfortable too. Heat and AC work well as does the double moon roof. Heated seats, power windows, mirrors, wiper controls and cruise control are all well thought out and function well as do the interior lights. It's a 2 seater, don't expect it to be roomy for 4 adults or you're a fool. It works well as a 2 seater for me, I often have the rear seats down so I can get groceries and luggage and other things in the back. All of these things are at least average if not above and well above average. It's quick sporty and fun to drive especially in the warmer sunnier months.

The Cons: the radio/Bluetooth/console device is far below average, it continually loses the Bluetooth connection with my phone and won't reset until I try it over and over again. It's never happened with ANY vehicle I've owned in 20 years. When you turn it on the device takes a long time to sync because it has far too much useless things. No navigation/map-type feature but it can tell you how much air is in your tires. It also annoys you to get an oil change or a check up, but after you do, half the time they can't turn off the warning lights, beeps chirps and noises.

Thanks for nothing and creating distractions to cause an accidents. The fob is also poorly designed and takes forever to actually lock, unlock open the trunk and doesn't even chirp so remember where you parked. All things that probably get bogged down by the Bluetooth dashboard console system very poor design and execution of technology that every car manufacturer usually gets right these days. The seats are faux leather and can cause your backside to sweat more than cloth.

The ride can be bumpy and rough since it's so small and set up in a more sporty fashion for handling. The other thing that's stupid, yes, stupid is the run-flat tires. Sure, since it doesn't have a spare tire it's good in theory. This decision was made by children on a board or committee after they reviewed the promotional data and made a financial deal with a tire manufacturer before actually reviewing data of how they actually perform. You really can't repair or patch them, they're more expensive, special order, cause an even worse ride, less gas mileage and overall something to avoid at all costs. If you plan to buy a Mini, demand they put on regular tires, RUN FLAT TIRES SUCK! The tires were only 6-7 months old when I got the car, maybe several thousand miles on them and I've had 2 flats in only 3 months.

Final score a 3. I rate the car a 5 but the stupid Bluetooth/radio/dash console and it's useless features a 1. That's a total of 6 divided by 2, equals 3. Hopefully, they'll have upgrades to it or be able to reprogram the stupid dashboard device. Who cares about changing the color of the lights around the console, or so many other insignificant "features" if it doesn't even stay synced to your phone. It's gone out of sync during phone calls or turning off the car to go inside and pick up a pizza, coming back a few minutes later. Then it won't sync after 5-10 attempts, even turning the car and radio on and off as well as your device multiple times. This feature alone is problematic to the point of causing distractions enough with all the beeps and chirps and losing connectivity to cause accidents.

YES, IT'S THAT BAD! The Bluetooth/radio dash device needs to be recalled and reprogrammed its below the standard of Mini and far below the standard of BMW. Again a child would do better and besides that it's a great car. So turn off the radio and forget about using the stupid device and have fun! It's hard for me to do that because I'm so into music.

I began with 27k miles on it in 2015 and it is now 2023, I have 134,600 on it and I have kept up with maintenance, oil changes, brakes, tires, etc. I have not had to do anymore than that up until 2022 when I had to change the oil gasket, thermostat for about $1000 and the cooler in 2021, extended warranty covered this. I was thinking of selling and purchasing a brand new one, but after the reviews I'm going to hold off. I was on the fence because this one has been so good to me and I still enjoy driving it that anytime you change cars, no matter which brand it could be good or bad. But I still will purchase another Mini after I run this into the ground most likely.

This car has driven up and down 95 between Northern New England and Southwestern Virginia and between Southwestern Virginia and DC on a very regular basis. It is great on the highway and the ONLY car I will drive on windy mountain roads because of how well it hugs the curves. I am someone who gets car sick very easily and if I am a passenger in this car I do not get sick on windy roads. I've driven it up and down the Blue Ridge Parkway, Skyline Drive, through the White Mountains in NH, in the snow, driving rain, and have never felt unsafe. We lived up a huge hill in Central New Hampshire, do not have AWD and am able to get up a steep snowy incline with minimal effort or problem.

Maybe these other Mini owners do not keep up with oil changes. BMW is known to begin having oil leaks. I only just had this issue in late 2022 and I have always changed the oil they recommend every 3k miles. I also use 93 gasoline. It is important to use 93 and since I get such good gas mileage even though it can be much more expensive we still found this to be a better option on long drives than when we had a Nissan Rogue. If you switch back and forth with Regular and Plus or Supreme it is not good for your car and maybe that is the issue with these other reviews?

Bottom Line. I bought mine at CarMax. So have never dealt with a Mini Dealership and the service department at the 3 different CarMax's this car has been to has been superb! My mom's car was bought used at a BMW dealership and they have had no issues with Service either. I bought my tires, brakes, and changed lightbulbs there and have found them reasonable and reliable. Get the CarMax Extended Warranty no matter which car you purchase from there, it covers everything imaginable without a problem and will cover whether the part is from Mini or aftermarket so don't be afraid to ask for Mini parts. In the beginning I did have to change spark plugs, they used Mini factory ones, and was told it was because the previous owner probably used cheaper gas and changing to 93 consistently I never had a problem after that! I love my Mini, other Mini owners I meet love their Mini and I am looking forward to exploring my options for a new Mini!

Our $2000 4 year extended warranty excluded coverage for this. We dumped this warranty and called mini to get some type of reimbursement for this obvious design flaw. They offered nothing- not even a partial refund. Looking to sell our mini cooper asap. BUYER BEWARE- MINI CORPORATE DOES NOT STAND BEHIND ITS PRODUCT

Well, that was then and this is now: I’m sorry Andre is no longer at Mini. I used to be treated like royalty there and have continued to patronize the shop. However, current service (06/09/20) team seems a little adversarial/contentious. The repair bill today came to almost $2000 — isn’t that outrageous? I was shocked. Even worse is that I wasn’t warned of the full cost ahead despite being a woman in the middle of a pandemic, widespread unemployment and riotous unrest.

Frankly, the advisor was not so eager to help with my insurance adjuster, which would have been a relatively minor issue due to specifics and deductible. I resent that he, instead, took it upon himself to feed the insurance adjuster information he never discussed with me first, extrapolating from whatever he thought led to this Mini repair. Our conversation is, by the way, substantiated on texts due to my bout with laryngitis. Again, that was very disconcerting, as I’ve been unable to talk and on antibiotics to boot.

One person can truly make all the difference in the world. I’m disappointed and more. I hope Mini service makes it up to me for my follow-up to this here review. After all, I had my Mini flatbedded there from Goodrich tires In Glendale where I drove right as the tire sensor light came on. I don’t need attitude. I need good friendly, honest, fair service and advice as a loyal customer. We all do. I continue to be speechless. Deserve response.

I was told by the dealership that the screws were not tight (finger tight) and there was bright yellow paint on the problem area cleaning indicating an issue - this Mini dealership told me to contact the seller of the vehicle as it was clearly done by them.... This is where it gets super shady... When I told them I bought it from another Mini Dealership - they quickly put me on hold and then changed their mind and said it was my fault.. I had driven down a pothole or ran into a curb!! What?? That’s not true!!! There was no damage caused by me and had I driven it into a curb how the heck did the other tire get so worn that I was not allowed to drive it!!

Unfortunately this seems to be Minis way now, they sell you a vehicle but the second you drive off the dealerships courtyard you are 100% on your own!!! The original dealership has washed their hands off me and have only called once to pretty much say it’s not our fault.. 2 months in and I’m about $8,900 in the hole. Oh and don’t call Mini Corporate because they don’t care - they will take notes but will not follow up with you or help because ‘each dealership is independently owned’ so you are not covered. So disappointed in Mini, it’s such a fun car but it’s a huge risk - would I even buy another one? Not on your life!!!!

It was towed back to Alexandria, Va where I live and leased the car. I was informed that a stone hit underneath and damaged the radiator and that I had to pay for it. What? How could that be? My drive was smooth and nice - no problems. I have since discovered that is a design flaw that exposes the radiator to this type of damage. I had to get my insurance co involved, and I have been waiting two weeks already since a needed part is coming from Germany and they have no idea when it will arrive. I have been car-less except for the first several days when Mini gave me a loaner.

After all of my complaining, they have since said they'd give me another loaner which I will pick up shortly. First of all, this is a lease, and this is a corporate problem so I should not be responsible. Secondly, if my leased car sits in their garage for a month (?), why should I make a payment when I don't even have the car. Needless to say, I am dumping this car after my lease, and I am not leasing or buying another Mini Cooper.

"Courtney" from Mini USA called to give me her speech on this not being a known problem, even though they changed how they made it the next year. She also said it was too bad for me since I agreed to pay the service department for the repairs. I told her I was stranded at the grocery store when the lights came on and had to have it towed to the dealer. Was I supposed to walk to work? She said the warranty expired and I should've bought the extended warranty at purchase. I said the car should've lasted more than 4 years without an engine issue! Obviously, BMW USA AND MINI USA couldn't care less about standing behind their cars once they have your money. Your only recourse is to spend more money for when they break down. IF I CAN GET RID OF THIS LEMON, I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER MINI EVER!!!

I have taken my car at least 10 time for the same issue with the transmission. I told the service Mgr. if I would have known about the tire issue prior to my purchase I would not have purchased the car. I also said that the transmission is a safety issue as I was stopped at a red light and it turned green but I have no transmission as the car would not move until I raced the engine and it grabbed into gear and I almost hit the car in front of me. NOTE: I feel this car is a LEMON but Mini will not do anything.

I bought her a brand new Nissan. It has had no issues nor do I expect it to in the near future. I just spent another 2300 on the car to have other "Plastic" components fixed to repair the car to make it usable. However, if I had thought it through I would have taken the car to a scrap yard instead. If I could have given Mini a negative star review I would have. The kicker here is the fact that they "Mini" knowingly sale crap vehicles to the public. Knowing the issues exist but failing to accept responsibility for the shortcomings is truly the real issue that makes me hate them.

I feel there are a few things everyone should know. Yes, the mini is a very fun car to drive when it works and while it last. However, this is few and very far between. The cars reliability rating should be sitting in the negative range. I say this because as long as I have owned the car it has sat in the service department more than it has been on the road. I have had lots of awesome rentals over the years though. Thus the reason for the purchase of the new Nissan. Do yourself a favor and stay away from this company that fails to own their mistakes. Instead, you will be left to pay for them if you make the purchase. I recommend any other manufacturer over Mini. I don't say that lightly. I haven't seen one that would provide such an inferior product all while failing to uphold a warranty. Take my advice and RUN from Mini. It is truly a terrible company to deal with. Worst reliability of any car I have owned.

First visit we tried a car but for some reason found it really rough, we felt like an egg that had been scrambled after driving it. When we got back we advised the two young men at the dealership and were told that was the Mini experience. At this time they snickered. We advised them of our previous experience and they said it’s the tires. They’re new. After a few more exchanges, I said, "I guess that means we aren’t Mini people," and the young man said yup. I want to point out that we weren’t offered to try another car to see if we thought the same thing.

We left and ended up at a used car place where we tried a 2017 and we actually enjoyed the ride. The first visit was on a Monday, and on Thursday my partner and I returned to that original dealership because they had four Demo’s at great prices and low kilometres. I asked about the last Demo that appeared on Auto Trader that same day (the same young man from the other day), he advised it was out. I had to ask clarifying questions, "Is it on test drive?" "No," "Can you find out?" He comes back and advises it’s on loan to a client. What does that mean? It’s on loan, When will it be back? I don’t know. So we took our phone out and looked up for another car to try, and apparently that was off site as well. He hadn’t seen it in a couple of days. Is it sold? No, Can you find out? He disappears.

I’m about to blow, you have to understand he’s just standing there and the body language is saying go away. It’s very clear he doesn’t want us there. He’s not checking the computer and when we ask him to check, he ask us what the vin# is. We didn’t know it and he said, "You should know what car you want," it’s like this the whole time. I asked him about the last car and he said, "I don’t know anything about it," but he did offer a new car. Interesting to note the first car we test drove was at the back of the shop in amongst other cars. I’m pretty sure there was something wrong with it.

So after we left on the first visit on our way to Burlington we were divided. I thought they were laughing at us because we were old and old people shouldn’t drive Mini’s (we are in our 50s), but my partner thought it was because we were a gay couple. My partner didn’t want to go back but we had such great service once before, I really felt it was worth a second chance.

I have to say we fumed all weekend, because we’ve been shopping for about a year looking at various places, from Toronto to St. Catherine’s at this point and we had tried Volvo’s, a Jaguar, a Cadillac, even a couple of pick-up trucks (he wants one thing and I want the other and it’s for me), not all places are the same but it has been some time since we’ve walked away with this feeling. Most places are "Here’s the key. Let’s go," or "See you in a bit." Most places are welcoming and the agent usually ask questions and if you don’t like the first vehicle it’s, "Let me show you another," and the end we exchange information.

I was so frustrated that night, I didn’t even realize how much. When we left that place we tried a BMW X4 that I spotted in a John Bear lot. The drive was excellent and the sales rep was in the back seat and at one point I started to laugh as I realized some of tension was beginning to dissipate, the difference between sales agents. That weekend we visited the Kitchener location and had an okay experience. We even stopped in Paris ON, and tried a AlfaRomeo Stelvio, again super great staff.

I had emailed the dealership and #Mini Canada about our experience, the Corporate office advised that they are independent of dealerships. The manager had investigated and found out that the first car was loaned out as the clients car was in the shop and the second car was getting cleaned, but this doesn’t address that we were shunned from buying a Mini at that location. I emailed again, more in detail like this explaining our experience of homophobia over the last fifteen years so they would know we were genuine about our experience not being right. Head Office #Kelsey ** again advised it wasn’t Mini Canada’s issue and to deal with the dealership. Finally I received an email from a manager for BMW/Mini in that area and finally he replies with an email that says they will review training with the reps in question as well as they are looking into sensitivity training as I had suggested.

So all good right?, No! I now need to know that Mini Canada head office are concerned that the people representing their brand and their products aren’t discriminating against older people and gay people and any other discriminatory combinations out there. I find it hard to believe that BMW/Mini wouldn’t ensure these retailers are representing fairly, but according to the replies I got IT’s NOT THEIR CONCERN. To me, it’s one in the same, different people may own the brand versus the product but they both represent the same thing. I’m hoping no one else has a similar story.

Luckily, I did these changes myself which saved me about 2000 dollars. Ran good for about a month then the light engine turned on. Misfire on Cylinder 1. I replaced all spark plugs and coils. After a few weeks, light went on again. This time it was the valve cover. Replaced it myself. Light goes on again. This time I replaced several sensors. Again, oil leak. Oil housing gaskets changed again. Rattling noise began coming from engine. Open valve cover and noticed chain retention rail broken. This is common on all Turbo minis. Replaced top rail retainer and cleaned out the oil pan gasket. During cleaning parts of the rail were obstructing oil pump mesh. Mini recommended to chain whole chain costing me 2100 plus 600 for cleaning oil pan. No Ty. I will do it myself.

Mini ran good for about a week when light light up again. This time it was the vacuum pump. Replaced it myself. Vehicle ran good for a week until one day I get lots of white smoke coming off the exhaust pipe. No engine light though and no sign of over heating. What gives?? I’m afraid this time the head gaskets could be the issue. I’m done with this car. Two years of unbelievable headaches. Like I said worst car ever. Btw, I'm selling it to CarMax. I just don’t have the heart to give someone else this piece of junk... never again am I buying a Mini... I have noticed I don’t see them on the road as much as before.

Don't keep a Mini past the warranty. Don't buy a used one out of warranty (unless you have a few thousand dollars to spare for repairs). The quality and robustness simply are not there. The car has been cheapened to the point the quality is almost, but not quite as good as a Czechoslovakian Yugo. When Mini's first came out they were great value...but BMW was losing money on them. Year by year the build cost and the quality have both come down and the car is a shadow of its former self (in terms of quality and reliability).

By the way...Mini USA doesn't care if you are 1 day and 1 mile out of warranty....you are on your own (if you didn't buy an extended warranty)! I asked them if the car is only supposed to last 17,500 miles before major repairs. They were really, really sorry and sympathized with me. But basically said, "Tough luck, you are on your own".

Now I need a new battery; $300. INSANE. New FRONT brakes $700.00. REPAIR LEAK AT OIL FILTER MOUNTING FLANGE $1,300. I have owned a number of vehicles including Yugo, Smart, Mercedes, Porsche, THIS IS MY BIGGEST MISTAKE! My local dealer is immune to any logical argument about what is wrong or more importantly how it came to be so. Shame on them. The service costs are pathetically high- it's not a Porsche, performance is mediocre. I believe in "drive like a sport, pay like a sport." But this isn't that sporty. Next car; Toyota!

The 2004 was intended to be a little junker until I bought something new after my accident with the 2016 Cooper S. This car has been so reliable and is so easy on gas and economical that I will keep it till it dies, and I have already put over 12k miles on it for a grand total of 164k! There are issues with the dimmer switch for high beam headlights beginning to wear out which makes the brights come on when I put on the blinker if I'm not careful, and the parking brake no longer holds, and a previous owner dismantled part of the dashboard so I do not have the large speedometer, or a working gas gauge LOL! It had no exhaust system, only the manifold was left, and I put in a new exhaust pipe, muffler, and all of the components needed to mount it for about $800. But even with these quirks I love this car! No problems with transmission or engine.

The 2013 was my son's car and I admit he has been hard on this little vehicle. Not keeping up with all scheduled maintenance and racing any other sporty vehicle out there he could find, however this vehicle has had no high ticket issues. It has always started without issues and has been a very reliable car. I will be trading this car for a 2017 Cooper S Clubman because I want the AWD and a little bigger car, and I miss the 4 doors. All in all I am faithful to the Cooper vehicles and have been very happy with all of them that I have owned. I am truly surprised and saddened by the bad reviews posted here and that made me want to share my experience with them.

We will never ever own another Mini Cooper again even if they were giving them away for free, my wife Mini Cooper only had 46k miles and it was always in the repair shop. Meanwhile we traded her 2001 Honda Civic with a little over 200k miles and in all the time she had it, all it ever needed was oil changes and a new timing belt. We were so scared to drive too far from our home because we didn't know if we make it back home that night. BMW Mini Cooper that's one in the books for you as one of your biggest failure.