Looking at a Clubman, how's the reliability

I am looking at buying a Clubman S. I have owned many BMW's, but they are getting to be too high tech and expensive, so I am looking at a MINI Clubman.

I can tell from test driving it that it has amazing handling. It is much larger than I thought it would be, backseat and front-seat. Great leg room. Nice design.


MY QUESTION IS, how is the reliability. After-all, it is British.

If anyone has owned one for a while, I would like to know what, if any, problems you had and to what extent your problem was. For example, how much did it cost to get fixed, how long was if "IN the shop for" And how many miles it had on it when the problem started.


Overall, would you buy it again if you had the chance.

Thanks for the help.

you're not going to get much info here, head over to northamericanmotoring.com and you will find more information than you can handle

I think it is generally fair to say that Mini reliability is similar to BMW, they are definitely not as reliable as a Honda Fit, Nissan Versa, Toyota Scion, Yaris etc etc.

In fact, Mini may be a little WORSE than BMW, there are a lot of complaints about nagging little things, power windows, rattles, etc...

Great car, tons of fun, I'm looking to lease one in the next 3 months or so

Originally Posted by jackrules

MY QUESTION IS, how is the reliability. After-all, it is British.

We own a Rover, an R56 MINI Hatch and an X3.

The MINI is far more reliable than traditional British cars. Our Rover is a nightmare.

Mini engines are built at BMW Hams Hall along side BMW engines. The electronics are shared with other BMW platforms. Build quality is the same as the 4 BMWs we've owned.

The 2nd Gen Minis don't have Rover problems, they have BMW problems. The doors won't fall off, but don't expect a trouble free car. Most surveys put 2nd generation MINIs at or just below average.

If anyone has owned one for a while, I would like to know what, if any, problems you had and to what extent your problem was. For example, how much did it cost to get fixed,

3 Months in we have had zero problems with ours. Our car has not had any of the rattles that were common in the first year of production. That is a good sign.
I don't think any of them are past the end of the bumper to bumper warrenty yet. Shouldn't be anyone out of pocket.

Overall, would you buy it again if you had the chance.

Yes.

Originally Posted by pilotman

I think it is generally fair to say that Mini reliability is similar to BMW, they are definitely not as reliable as a Honda Fit, Nissan Versa, Toyota Scion, Yaris etc etc.

I'm still re-thinking about my decision to go with the Honda Fit instead of MINI.

A MINI isn't a Honda/Toyota/Nissan, period.

I still find the handling on the Fit to be similar to (although not as good as) the Cooper base, but it's a great hauler... I can fit an electric snow thrower and the box separately into the Fit. I wish there're pre-owned manual '09 Fit Sports when I was on the market a couple months ago...

But yes, the reliability is a big concern for me, that's the second biggest reason I decided to go for the Fit instead...

MINI handles alot better than a Fit for sure. You can almost roll a Fit by turning into a corner a little faster than normal.

Problems I've seen on the R56 mini's:
Knock sensor faulty
VANOS faulty
Chain tensioner faulty
Timing chain faulty

To be honest, I think they're a great car to drive. But I think BMW had made a very bad decision by working with PSA to develop the engine.
I have had 4 cars had 10kms on it came with a defect knock sensor. I see timing chain tensioner get change every week. So the majority of the problems are from the engine.