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