MINI Clubman Owner Reviews: MPG, Problems & Reliability

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Excellent car with no issues as yet. Had a puncture in the summer when towing my caravan but the tyre repair kit worked ok. The only problem was getting a replacement canister as bmw had the part number mixed up and it took a while to replace. Thankfully no more punctures.

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Luxury personified. I love this car, good to have four doors and the rear doors are quirky. The downside is a major and unresolved rear parking sensor problem. I've returned to dealer three times and one sensor has been replaced. Parking is now an adventure to be remembered and sometimes avoided. I just hope it's fixed soon

Would you recommend the car to a friend?

No Red thumbs down

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I traded in my cooper s 3 door hatch for the Clubman as I needed 5 doors, more rear legroom and more boot space. So far i have not been disappointed as the car is not far off my previous car as far as performance and handling are concerned despite the increase in weight. The only things I have noticed in comparison are the increase in width, the restricted rear vision due to the design of the rear doors and the greater fluctuation in fuel consumption between town driving and out of town driving. Overall this is still a great car to drive.

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Well, I am absolutely delighted with this car. It feels special. I've swapped from a previous model Clubman to this one, and the step forward in ride quality, fittings and space is everything I was hoping for. Biggest positive surprise for me is the fuel consumption - I am a very enthusiastic driver and will overtake at every opportunity, so was anticipating getting about 35mpg. But my average over 3000 miles in winter has been 41mpg, and if I drive steadily it's easy to maintain 44mpg. Given the performance, and that it is petrol, that's great.

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Yes Green thumbs up

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A zippy and powerful car which is also very frugal, probably because I prefer driving it in its 'economy' mode. My first MINI, it's well built, roomy, and no major problems to date. I only have a few gripes, the driver's seat – although fairly comfy – could do with being a bit more generous width wise; the indicators are a bit of a pain to turn off, and the rear doors have burst open a couple of times whilst in transit, they also take a fair bit of force to close properly. Boot space is good and I can usually fit in quite a large amount of shopping. It came with most of the bells and whistles which leaves nothing much to gripe about, although front sensors might have been useful, and the rear camera sometimes mists up which is an obvious problem. Overall, a car which does what it says on the tin.

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Yes Green thumbs up

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I'm very happy with my 2.0 cooper S petrol. It's quick, practical and such fun to drive. Quality is also excellent. Ride is on the firm side but worth it for the handling.

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Yes Green thumbs up

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This is an amazing car. I don`t understand motoring magazines and critics giving this car bad press. It has great loading space capability great road handling

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Yes Green thumbs up

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I moved over from a Golf 1.4 SE TSI to the new Clubman, and I've found the Clubman generally as good as the Golf in most areas, with a higher level of luxury, but also a few niggles that stop this being a truly great car. The biggest bugbear in the car is the manual gearbox, which is very firm and has a very difficult to select reverse gear. The car only has 2600 miles now, so maybe it is the newness, but I drove a Hyundai i40 as a hire car the other day and the gearbox on that was better. I would suggest a trigger select for reverse if you can on the next gearbox version BMW. Otherwise, the seats are very comfortable, you could cook your dinner if you set the heated seats on full! The drive is good balance between comfort and sporty, the boot is very usable, as long as you don't reverse into your spaces, and I love the look and style of the vehicle, it's very different to most of the competitor cars out there, which appear to have all been designed in the boring department of AN Other car factory.

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Yes Green thumbs up

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As a family car, so much better than the 5-door for young children. We had the 5-door for several weeks and the children would constantly kick the seats in front, no space in the back, they couldn't reach their seatbelts or fit any of their toys in. The handling of this is so much more relaxing than the standard mini. We also have a Golf and the space in the rear is better than a Golf - children can't kick the seats in front while they can in the Golf. Comfort access is useful as you never need to take the key out of your pocket. Back doors aren't that practical as it tends to be 2 doors to open rather than 1 but you feel happy every time you use them as they are fun and unlike anything else. Lighting packs are also fun. My only criticisms would be that clutch is quite heavy and gears quite notchy considering nearly all cars sold will be manual. Otherwise, completely happy with this as a family car, would say that like a Golf this is all a family needs 90% of the time.

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Great car. Really enjoyable to drive, very well built, interior feels very high quality and has lots of kit.

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Yes Green thumbs up

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Overall I am thrilled with my Clubman. I wasn't sure what to go for when it came to a new car but then I saw the Clubman and I knew it was the car for me, I was like an impatient child waiting for it to arrive as it was a factory order and had to wait longer than expected. The car is a joy to own and drive. It has everything I wanted in a car and at first was thrilled to have it. 2.5 months down the line - Car is in bits at my local Mini dealership (been there 3 weeks at time of writing this) as the front footwells started flooding. This has been traced to a faulty Air-Con pipe that should drain water from the unit under the car but sadly mine was draining into the car. The entire interior from the front seats forward, carpets, console and dashboard have been removed. A new carpet is on order from Mini but could be 4-5 weeks before it arrives. So as it stands I am stuck in a basic Mini 5 door Hatch (which is awful) for the foreseeable future. I have now lost all faith in Mini and cannot wait to replace this car after 2 years (when and If I get it back).

Would you recommend the car to a friend?

No Red thumbs down

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I've owned old BMWs all my driving career (15 years) and wasn't a fan of the older Minis but the thing that struck me was how BMW like this car was, with the idrive system and the layout. However the mini was more fun with the changeable lights and the ring light in the centre dash board- if you are a bit of a show of, it's the car for you! Love the way it drives and the switchable modes - I use the eco mode 90% of the time and sports for over taking which is great fun. The suspension is a bit firm so I would recommend the adjustable suspension, and the options are quite expensive, but overall I love this car. It's fashionable, quite practical, economic and a joy to drive - makes me a passers by happy. I get a few comments when washing the car in the drive!

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Yes Green thumbs up

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I rate the car very highly in terms of passenger comfort, style, quality of design and build quality. However I am disappointed with the driving experience. The handling is great, but the car feels a bit lacking in terms of power delivery. On paper the performance was supposed to be the same as my previous car (Dacia Logan 0.9TCE), but whilst with the Dacia if you put your foot down, the turbo kicks in and the car really accelerates well, the Mini feels really sluggish by comparison, particularly when going uphill. The power is adequate for normal driving, but it doesn't feel like a driver's car. I was expecting the Mini to be a step up in terms of driving experience from the Dacia, but this is not the case. I would still recommend a Mini to someone who wasn't particularly interested in driving.

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No Red thumbs down

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We got this MINI after previously owning a brilliant Countryman diesel all 4 auto When speccing the car, we failed to add reversing sensors, a rear view camera or tinted rear windows. This was a big mistake – the sun turns the car into a sauna. With the rear double doors and the car's width it can be hard to successfully reverse into limited spaces. We initially thought it would be easy to fit a wheelchair in the rear, but were proven wrong – the option is chair or rear seat passengers not both. I really wish we'd chosen the Cooper s with the 8 speed auto very disappointed with the fuel consumption being returned. Don't expect to win any speed trials, either; it's just sluggish as soon as you have any luggage on board. What do I miss from our last car? Sat nav that warns of speed cameras! rear camera and front parking sensors - I don't understand why these aren't standard when the weird front collision warning is. Stereo is ok in the front but has virtually useless rear speakers. It does its job it would probably go round corners on rails if the engine had enough power. As they say buy with your heart repent at leisure and the colour supposedly called burgundy - but really the colour of old oxidised red wine; brown!

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No Red thumbs down

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I must say I love the new MINI clubman but I've found an issue with the split doors that worries me greatly. It is possible to open the LH door whilst driving and I've even had it open of it's own accord!! As you drive if you accidently press the spilt door button on the fob the LH door will open. You can set the on board computer to lock all doors upon driving away but even then at low speeds the door will open under the same conditions. In the first month of ownership it has happened 4 times and on one occassion has damaged the rear door by hitting an obstacle I was close to. I have now realised that I cannot reverse into a parking space ever again for fear of a re-occurrance. On saying all of this I must say I love the car in every other way and it's going into the dealers next week to see if there's a fault or if this is a design fault.

Would you recommend the car to a friend?

Yes Green thumbs up

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I had a previous MINI Clubman diesel automatic so I liked the style. The new Clubman Cooper D automatic is responsive with smooth gear changes and comfortable ride. However, the MPG is disappointing as I was led to believe it would be 58-60 MPG, but I only seem to manage 49 MPG and I am a cautious driver. The heated windscreen buttons front and back are low under the satellite navigation screen and it is impossible to tell if they are on when driving other than if the screen clears or if you have pressed the on switch hard enough. The comfort locking is not reliable when opening the boot. The BMW garage were hard to communicate with and I feel I will not be keeping this MINI Clubman for more than two years. I do hope the residual value is as good as BMW suggests it will be.

Would you recommend the car to a friend?

No Red thumbs down