Overview & Reviews

Few cars are as instantly recognizable as the Mini. Loved for its diminutive dimensions and cheerful good looks, the British-born car has inspired passionate devotion both in the U.S. and abroad. The brand was briefly discontinued, but was revived in 2002 with help from BMW. Successfully paying homage to the original Mini Cooper of the 1960s, the reincarnated Cooper combines an athletic, BMW-engineered chassis with a space-efficient interior and a generous standard features list.

The history of the Mini make began in 1959. The original Mini car was produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) in England and its mission was to be a lightweight, agile four-passenger car that took up minimal space. In a sense, the brand was born out of necessity. The United Kingdom was subject to fuel rationing in the wake of the Suez crisis, and British consumers clamored for vehicles that offered optimum fuel efficiency.

The car was originally sold under BMC's Austin and Morris brands; the Mini name didn't make an appearance until 1961. Although it had just 34 horsepower, the Mini was the ideal urban car and proved popular in crowded European cities. In 1961, John Cooper, a man who built Formula One racecars, put his magic hands on the Mini and the result was the ferocious Mini Cooper. His Cooper S model had (at 76 hp) more than double the output of the standard Mini. That infusion of power, along with suspension tweaks and some really good driving, had Mini winning the Monte Carlo Rally four years in a row (1964-'67). The marque landed on American shores in 1962.

The '60s truly was the decade of the Mini. New variations on the car's theme came with the introduction of vehicles like the Mini Pickup and the Mini Moke, a vehicle that resembled a quirky cross between a Mini and a Jeep. The car's abbreviated proportions are even rumored to have played a part in sparking a fashion trend; the miniskirt raised hemlines and became emblematic of an era. Mini motorcars tore up the asphalt on the silver screen, with the brand's appearance in the 1969 film The Italian Job. By the end of the decade, more than 2 million Mini motorcars had been produced. Sadly, the vehicle was pulled from the United States in 1968, in the wake of strict new emissions regulations.

Though no longer available in the U.S., Mini remained in production in Europe through the '70s and '80s. By the mid-'80s, more than 5 million Minis had been produced worldwide. In 1994, the brand was acquired by the BMW Group. The marque went on hiatus in 2000, but was resurrected (and brought back to American shores) in 2002 with the launch of the entry-level, front-drive Mini Cooper hatchback. Thoroughly modern in every way, right down to its BMW-engineered suspension, steering and brakes, the Mini Cooper is sold alongside its cousins at BMW dealerships.

Today, Mini's offerings include various derivatives of the Cooper, including a coupe, a roadster and a convertible; the slightly longer Clubman; high-performance John Cooper Works variants; and even the crossover SUV-inspired four-door Countryman. With such a diverse, fun-loving lineup, it's no wonder that Mini has become one of America's most desirable small car automakers.

User Reviews:

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  mini has problems - 2004 Mini Cooper
  By tumara - August 7 - 10:00 am

  my mini was bought in 2002, and i have had about 12 bad things go wrong, from bad weather stripping, car not starting, loose fuel cap ( which makes the computer think your dripping gas), paint chipping off the gear shift, and much more, recently the moonroof screen on my broke in to pieces, Im a very getile driver and these things just happened!! :(

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  mini cooper aka bmw garbage - 2005 Mini Cooper
  By jon walke - January 16 - 11:53 am

  owned the car for 6 months,it was in the shop 8 times for problem with car almost stalling when air was on,bmw acknowledged there was a problem & didnt have any time when expected to have remedy,also had power steering replaced & the car had more rattles than a 1980s huyndai - bmw doesnt participate in the california arbitration for lemon law so traded it in on a new vw bettle before everyone figured out what a piece of crap the cars are.thank goodness they have a 3yr 36k mile warranty, youll need it

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  My mini....NOT so good! - 2005 Mini Cooper
  By Michael Button - December 25 - 10:00 am

  My Mini has been in the shop more times than I can count! I have had problems with the computer since day 1! I have had many things replaced and its only 6 months old! I DO NOT recommend buying a MINI at all! My dealership has been great but the car....SUCKS! My locks have a mind of their own! It is in the shop as we speak waiting to see if it will be purchased back under the Oklahoma Lemon Law!

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  Another Clutch failure - 2008 Mini Cooper
  By Disappointed_in Mini - December 2 - 12:50 am

  This is my second mini. The clutch went out in the first one after 2 1/ years years and only 22000 miles. The cause was determined to be a manufacture defect and was covered. My 2008 Mini S has only 10727 miles and is a standard transmission too. The clutch began slipping on this one. It is currently at the dealer and I am waiting to hear if the repairs are covered. I do not ride the clutch and do not drive aggressively or even need to shift that often (not a lot of stop and go traffic). I have read many posts on other sites about minis and clutch problems. Buyer be ware!!!

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  16 MPG - 2008 Mini Cooper
  By Arzie - October 29 - 12:36 pm

  Ive got 3000 miles on my Mini S convertible and I found out the hard way the marketing in better than the product. Im getting only 16 mpg, horrible. The exterior styling is great, but the interior is lacking. The cup holders are useless in that they are too close to everything to put other than the smallest cup in it. And that is indicative of the entire vehicle, looks good but doesnt always work and its usually too small to do the intended job. I thought this would be a great fun car to drive but it seems Im always driving to the gas station. I had a Toyota before and boy do I miss it.

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  A great car if you have a spare one and money - 2004 Mini Cooper
  By hankmanz - September 14 - 6:12 pm

  It holds the road like it was glued to it and it is easy to drive, but after that it is all bad. I have lost track of the repairs it has needed. Three transmissions and four clutches with the first transmission and clutch at 10K so it isnt the driver. The front air dam falls off it you even touch a curb. The leather seats are falling apart. Heat and AC havent worked in two years. The third stop light leaks and goes bad every couple of years. The muffler failed at 21K. The key doesnt work if you are more than ten feet from the car. I would never buy another even though the repair record on the newer models looks a lot better than the one for 2004.

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  Watch out for MINI customer service - 2016 Mini Cooper
  By fchadly - July 23 - 2:43 am

  The car runs drives great and is surprisingly smooth going down the highway at 80mph for a short wheelbase auto. My problem with MINI is their customer service after the sale. So my wife and I get 60mi outside the Dallas dealership and decide to set up the Sat radio that supposedly came with the car. After fumbling with the radio trying to find the "Sat" setting, I called my sales person back to ask where the setting was, he said he needed to call me back. A few minutes later we were informed our car is "Sat Prep" which means me as the owner has to take the car in at MY expense, buy a $150 Sat code followed by $700 to install software in my factory NAV headset. This was not explained to us prior to leaving the dealership. When we called the sales manager back to get this worked out, it was an instant "there is nothing we can do, we should have worked it into the original deal". So at that point when it came to the survey about the dealership, I wrote what happened and in a couple of days got a call from a Dewey Gatts customer relations supervisor on my voicemail to call him back. And so I did not once, but three times over the course of three days with no phone call back. Got a hold of another customer service rep who we again laid out our issue too and she sounded promising of helping out. She said if you have not heard anything in 24-48hrs call back. Again I called Dewey Gatts POC, and again straight to voicemail, so I called again, got another rep "Tara" who was quick to just say what Sat Prep means and that their is nothing they could do. I posted on MINI USA the following: "so there In addition to our previous post about some misleading advertisement about Sat Radio on our new car, we have been back and forth with MINI customer relations since we have not been able to get a call back from our case manager Dewey Gatts. We have waited the 48hrs to hear back on our case since Dewey Gatts will not call us despite the 3 different times I left my number on his voicemail to call. When we asked the customer relations rep named Tara who the relations supervisor was so we could get some resolve on our case (at this point she started telling us there is nothing they could do), she could not tell us who it was, Tara kept telling us the next level are all supervisors. What?? All departments regardless of business type have ONE person/manager who is in charge and then that Manager has someone s/he has to answer to as well. You mean to tell me you cannot tell me who your own boss is? or who your boss boss is? MINI you have something seriously wrong in with your customer service reps if they cannot tell me who their direct line of supervisors are much less can provide a phone contact. MINI has put a huge damper on my "Motoring" experience. This type of customer service shows what MINI USAs true colors are in order to resolve an issue. If anyone is thinking of buying a MINI, you better have your homework down on what you want because MINI will use any misinterpretations to their advantage and continue to blow you off until you give up. The absolute worst customer service I have ever dealt with. I so should have bought a Fiat 500 or Chevy Spark that I was looking at in conjunction to this car. I know Ford, Dodge, and Chevy customer relations at least make an effort to right a wrong. MINI you have just lost a customer, we were planning to trade our Ram 1500 in next year for a Countryman but that will absolutely not happen at this point, I will stick with American or Japanese for next purchase".

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  Fun Car but Mini Service is Bad! - 2013 Mini Cooper
  By hippiechick - July 20 - 10:56 am

  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 wouldnt 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. Isnt 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!!!

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  DONT BUY A MINI! - 2004 Mini Cooper
  By Ali T - May 29 - 11:36 pm

  I bought this mini just over 6 months ago and have had nothing but problems! Got it from a local deal with a 3 month warrenty, kept having to take it back and now have a constant reoccuring problem that no local garage can find let alone sort!!! Warrenty has run out now the costs keep rolling in!!!

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  CVT Engine has flaws - 2005 Mini Cooper
  By Not Satisfied - February 21 - 7:56 am

  I had to have a MINI! I purchased it one month ago, the S with the CVT engine. It has been in the shop twice in one month, still is at the time of this review. Both times Ive been told its the DEM/Computer. It had to be sent to New Jersey, Im in Dallas, to be reprogrammed. Not good! Its been a week since it stalled on my in traffic. Bad safety hazard! I would not have purchased the CVT engine if Id known of the problems with it! I have one more time to have this problem before I can file the Lemon Law paperwork in Texas. In addition, there are not enough certified MINI mechanics to keep up with the demand. Poor, Poor, Poor turnaround time on service!