MINI problems by model
Owners have filed 4,435 complaints with NHTSA about the 3 MINI models with enough data to profile here, covering 19 model years from 2002 through 2011. The Cooper draws the most at 2,404, 54.2% of the make's total.
Complaint volume tracks how many cars a make sold as much as how they held up, and NHTSA complaints are unverified owner reports rather than confirmed defects. Nothing on this page compares MINI against another manufacturer. Use it to find the model, then the model year, then read what owners of that year actually filed.
Every MINI model
| Model | Model years | Complaints | Most-reported year | Top system that year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cooper | 10 2002–2011 | 2,404 | 2005 440 | Steering (63.6%) |
| Cooper S | 8 2002–2009 | 1,916 | 2005 383 | Steering (56.1%) |
| Cooper Convertible | 1 2005–2005 | 115 | 2005 115 | Steering (68.7%) |
Model years shown are those with at least 100 complaints on file, the gate every page on this site has to clear.
Reading the numbers
Across every MINI model year on the site, steering is the system named most often — 1,564 complaints, 39.6% of those filed under a named system. Individual model years diverge from that sharply, which is the reason to read the year rather than the badge.
Of the 4,435 complaints, 111 describe a crash, 280 describe a fire and 5 report a death.
Most-reported MINI model years
The single heaviest model year of each MINI nameplate, 2002–2011. Heaviest is not worst — read it alongside the model page.