2013 MINI Cooper Convertible

Love My Mini

Performance: 0 Comfort: 0 Fuel Economy: 0 Fun To Drive: 0 Interior Design: 0 Exterior Design: 0 Build Quality: 0 Reliability: 0 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5 Safety Rating: 5 Technology Rating: 5 Value Rating:

It's a Lot of Fun!!!

Prepare to be Mini'ed!!

Performance: 0 Comfort: 0 Fuel Economy: 0 Fun To Drive: 0 Interior Design: 0 Exterior Design: 0 Build Quality: 0 Reliability: 0 Comfort Rating: 4 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5 Safety Rating: 5 Technology Rating: 5 Value Rating: 5

Three and one-half years into this car, I have never been disappointed. Kickass performance, BMW-equivalent service levels, and go-kart like handling says it all. Holding on to this one!

Again?

Performance: 0 Comfort: 0 Fuel Economy: 0 Fun To Drive: 0 Interior Design: 0 Exterior Design: 0 Build Quality: 0 Reliability: 0 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 2 Safety Rating: 4 Technology Rating: 4 Value Rating: 3

I'm the original owner. I have kept this car up and broke it in properly. Let's see: 3,000 miles new engine. Caught it before it blew and stranded me. Next was the wonky stereo that wouldn't play nice withe the iPod. Now, less than a week after its second service I am sitting on the side of the freeway, waiting the hour and a half for Mini Roadside Assistance to come get me. My clutch went out at a little over 18,000 miles. I know enough about cars to know that when you let the clutch out and give it some gas it should go forward. All I get is a revving engine. So much for BMW quality.

Buy something else

Performance: 2 Comfort: 3 Fuel Economy: 2 Fun To Drive: 4 Interior Design: 4 Exterior Design: 4 Build Quality: 1 Reliability: 1 Comfort Rating: 1 Performance Rating: 1 Interior Rating: 1 Reliability Rating: 1 Safety Rating: 1 Technology Rating: 1 Value Rating: 1

Bought a mini brand new. We drive the speed limit and keep up the maintenance. The tires had to be replaced at 24000 miles, not covered by warranty. Right after warranty expired we had to replace brakes and rotors and battery. The transmission stalls in first gear after stopping at a light, but only on hot days. The water pump is bad and leaks coolant; $900 fix at the dealer. The water pump goes bad a lot on this mini; you conveniently do not have a Temp gauge! It also leaks oil from the valve solenoid; $2500 fix at the dealer. Overall worst vehicle I have ever owned, period.

Every day is fun on this car!

Performance: 5 Comfort: 5 Fuel Economy: 5 Fun To Drive: 5 Interior Design: 5 Exterior Design: 5 Build Quality: 5 Reliability: 5 Comfort Rating: 5 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5

Having owned over thirty cars this is the only one that I look forward to driving every time I get in. The absence of electrical overkill (nav,sensors,power seats, etc.) is refreshing especially with a REAL steering wheel with NO buttons! A real driver's car with plenty of torque and not unusable excess for the sake of numbers.

Your speedometer won't be even close to accurate

Performance: 5 Comfort: 3 Fuel Economy: 3 Fun To Drive: 5 Interior Design: 2 Exterior Design: 4 Build Quality: 4 Reliability: 4 Comfort Rating: 3 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 2 Reliability Rating: 4

Before you buy, do a search on Mini Cooper + speedometer so you will know inaccurate speedometers are their policy. I asked them to recalibrate my speedometer which is running about 7% high. They refused, quoting an internal bulletin not to repair speedometers that are within 10% of accurate plus another 2.4 miles. I.e., if you and your Garmin know you are driving at 65 mph, your speedometer will not be recalibrated unless it is displays OVER 74 mph. So much for their claim that they fix new cars. I even bought the extra coverage so this "guarantee" would continue for extra years. I would never buy another Mini Cooper. Still talking, but I may have to sue to get my new car fixed.

Fun Car but Mini Service is Bad!

Performance: 3 Comfort: 1 Fuel Economy: 3 Fun To Drive: 5 Interior Design: 3 Exterior Design: 4 Build Quality: 3 Reliability: 2 Comfort Rating: 1 Performance Rating: 3 Interior Rating: 3 Reliability Rating: 2

Beware - Mini service is the pits! I loved my Mini until something happened to it. I was hit and my car had some minor damage. I took it to an authorized dealer. First time - my door wouldn't open when I got home and my tail lights were messed up. I have now taken it twice to repair the same issue - second time they left parts in the back. Mini corporate tells me my only recourse is to take it back to the same dealership. Isn't that super!!! Will never buy another one even though I like the car. You have to have a car that you can get fixed when you need work done. Also, run tires do not work - pull over immediately!!!

Horrible interior design & engineering/road noise

Performance: 5 Comfort: 3 Fuel Economy: 3 Fun To Drive: 4 Interior Design: 1 Exterior Design: 5 Build Quality: 4 Reliability: 4 Comfort Rating: 3 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 1 Reliability Rating: 4 Safety Rating: Technology Rating: 2 Value Rating: 3

People are going to get this mini because its "cute" and has "style". Maybe you buy into Mini's whole "lifestyle" and marketing gimmicks. I think you either love this car or hate it. My wife loves it, I hate it. Its her daily driver, so there you go. Its a small car. I knew that. Realize you are basically buying a 2 seat micro-car. I'm 5-8 and skinny and think this car feels cramped, and i grew up driving all models of small air cooled VW's. You might as well fold the back seats down and use it as trunk space. My 8 & 10 year olds have no leg room and barely get space to plant their feet when 5'-4" mom is driving. Don't tell me adults can fit back there! I *Hate* the Mini-Connected system with it's joystick and horrible look/software. Confusing, not user friendly. In the world of touch screen everywhere, this lack of, is archaic. The seatbelts get caught between the seats and door post. You have to open the door to get your buckle. The seats are hard to adjust to get right and comfortable. Too many confusing dash switches. Hard to get to the back seat. Ugh, glad I leased not bought!!! If you like the old school, kind of meets the future, this is your car. Mini holds onto stuff like retro toggle switches, the big bezel dial like speedometer, but then puts a tiny digital box on top of the steering column with a digital speedo, outside weather temp, etc, but it takes like 5 different presses of a button to get to different parts of the display and the screen is too small to be useful. Spring for the black wheels. The stock silver are always dirty and a pain to get and keep clean. I gave up. ***Update*** 2016: After 3 years, glad I am turning the car back in at the end of the lease. If you really want a mini, test drive an "S" and the standard engine. I think the standard is underpowered. The freeway noise (lack of noise insulation throughout the car) and the god awful mini connected interface are the worst things about this car. Don't fall for the sales pitch to buy the extended tire care warranty. The run-flat tires are expensive to replace, but not as fragile as the dealer makes them out to be. They made claims that curbs and potholes would cause them to blow out easy. Never had an issue with them, not even a nail in the tire...

Not Good in the Rain

Performance: 2 Comfort: 2 Fuel Economy: 1 Fun To Drive: 4 Interior Design: 2 Exterior Design: 3 Build Quality: 1 Reliability: 1 Comfort Rating: 2 Performance Rating: 2 Interior Rating: 2 Reliability Rating: 1

Caution! Don't drive your MINI in the rain! I purchased a Mini Cooper S Countryman in July, 2013 from New Country MINI and have been very pleased until this past week. I was unable to open the door electronically and upon entering via the manual system found that a number of electronics were not working, no ww wipers, no power locks, no speedometer and every conceivable warning light flashing.. Upon bringing it to New Country they diagnosed the problem as "water inside an electronic module" and repairs will cost $900. No problem I thought MINI tells us what a great warranty and maintenance plan they have. But guess what it doesn't cover water!!! They say I opened up the passenger side

Fun car to drive

Performance: 4 Comfort: 4 Fuel Economy: 4 Fun To Drive: 5 Interior Design: 5 Exterior Design: 4 Build Quality: 4 Reliability: 4 Comfort Rating: 4 Performance Rating: 4 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 4

I had larger cars in the past and decided to venture out for a smaller fun car. The MINI is all this and more. Hugs the road with great handling, great fuel economy, tightly built and dependable. The car takes premium fuel. The dealer had indicated you can get away with regular or mid-grade. Do not try it. You will lose the driving performance you hear in some other reviews. Otherwise, do not regret buying it and still having fun after one year.

Bad. Very. Very bad.

Performance: 3 Comfort: 2 Fuel Economy: 1 Fun To Drive: 3 Interior Design: 3 Exterior Design: 5 Build Quality: 1 Reliability: 1 Comfort Rating: 2 Performance Rating: 3 Interior Rating: 3 Reliability Rating: 1

I'm a writer. It's what I do. I've gone looking for the words to say about this car, and I can't find them. I'm instead overtaken by gusts of anger, confusion, and a general bitterness that this prop, this four-wheeled thing parading as a car, has consumed me this wholly. Look elsewhere. Do not get this car. Do not. Get. This car. Just last week I racked up my twelfth (12th) service appointment in 15 months. MINI has dealt with almost every problem I've submitted, aside from the car running out of oil at 5k and a wheel bearing coming off, by repeatedly denying their existence. When they find a given problem, seven service receipts deep, they say it's "spec."

Best Car I've Ever Owned

Performance: 5 Comfort: 4 Fuel Economy: 5 Fun To Drive: 5 Interior Design: 5 Exterior Design: 5 Build Quality: 5 Reliability: 5 Comfort Rating: 4 Performance Rating: 5 Interior Rating: 5 Reliability Rating: 5

I've never fallen head over heels for a car before, but my MINI has certainly charmed me and then some. I've owned my Cooper Hardtop (automatic transmission) for almost a full year and I can say I will never own any other car than a MINI. Not only has it been extremely reliable, but the handling on this car is amazing. When people say their car "hugs the road," they really have no idea what that means until they drive a Cooper. Taking a hard turn at 40 mph feels no different than at 10 mph in another car. I feel safer in my MINI than I do in any other car I've driven. I actually get a higher mpg than listed here. So far I average about 42mpg highway and 38 mpg on surface streets.

Don't buy this car

Performance: 1 Comfort: 2 Fuel Economy: 2 Fun To Drive: 1 Interior Design: 4 Exterior Design: 3 Build Quality: 1 Reliability: 1 Comfort Rating: 2 Performance Rating: 1 Interior Rating: 4 Reliability Rating: 1

There is something very wrong with the throttle and/or transmission in the 2013 model that mini is not interesting in fixing. Mine started missing and experiencing erratic acceleration after just about a month. I hate driving this car. I never know if it will go when I press the gas pedal and have almost been rear-ended and hit from the side when the car delays before accelerating or stops accelerating abruptly. Had one before that I loved, but I really hate this car.